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A primer on school change
Aug 13, 2009 12:16 PM
Union’s Principals in Need of Improvement campaign can help
Teamwork gets results
“It was a total team effort,” said Chapter Leader Tabio Da Cruz of JHS 8 in Queens, as he described their relentless efforts — also part of this year’s PINI campaign — to remove principal John Murphy from their school.
“When a team is together, it’s difficult to defeat,” he said, and their story certainly bears that out.
Murphy had systematically abused his power, intimidating and treating teachers and other staff disrespectfully from his first day on the job, culminating in a reprisal so vicious that a paraprofessional was taken to the hospital on March 18, 2009 after one of his tirades.
That was the final straw. The school community — parents, staff, community organizations such as the NAACP, plus clergy and elected officials — protested daily before the start of school for 44 days in a row.
That action was all the more impressive, outgoing UFT President Randi Weingarten told a recent Delegate Assembly, given that “65 percent of the teaching staff was new and probationary.”
Their perseverance and teamwork paid off on April 28 when their bully principal saw the handwriting on the wall and resigned.
When a principal gravely mismanages a school and this is hard on the staff, it tends to happen in the shadows. We all know the telltale signs: a tyrannical principal who threatens and intimidates staff, squashes teacher autonomy, rules by fear, and divides and conquers. But what to do about it?
Don’t just complain to friends and family or make a dartboard to vent your frustrations — unions are all about collective action, and that’s what is called for.
The UFT’s Principals in Need of Improvement (PINI) campaign was born from the need to tackle the behavior of recalcitrant principals head-on and change the school’s culture in the process. It has already made a difference in a number of schools.
“As a chapter leader who dealt with these issues, it would have been great to have this program,” said UFT President Michael Mulgrew. “What the public should know is that when a staff gets to this point of frustration, it is because they know what is happening is hurting children.”
School safety and respect are essential in every building, and “gone are the days of suffering in silence,” said UFT Director of Staff LeRoy Barr, who has coordinated the campaign. “When members are willing to stand up, speak out and fight back, we are always there to help.”
If your school has a principal in need of improvement, here are the five key steps to turn the situation around.
- Talk with your chapter leader and colleagues. Get together with school staff to discuss the situation. Identify what the issues are. Which are schoolwide, which are department-wide and which affect only one person?
- Involve your union leadership. That means calling your district and borough representatives to start with, and they can ask for additional assistance from UFT headquarters as needed.
- Solidarity = strength. This is such a truism that it is the basis of most union work. When members stand together and speak with one voice, great things can be achieved.
- Take action. First, try to resolve the issue through consultation, using the school-based consultation committee. If this doesn’t help, depending on the situation, your next action can involve wearing buttons, handing out leaflets and petitions, calling rallies in front of your school, and getting an article in the New York Teacher and outside media to highlight your situation, as well as using other means to publicize the situation.
- Reach out for community support. You can bolster your strength by involving parents and community organizations where appropriate.
