In some very good news for local parents, longtime District 17 Superintendent Buffie Simmons has been "promoted" to Central DoE. You may use the word promoted as a synonym for whatever you think is apt. She will no longer be making decisions that affect your and your children's lives.
In other D17 news, a new principal has been named for PS375, also known as the Jackie Robinson school, just north of Empire Blvd. Schwanna Ellman is off to a good start according to teachers. Let's hope that positive change is in the offing. If any of you are interested in asking her to join a meeting in the neighborhood, let me know. Maybe set something up at Play Kids?
Thanks to all for lending your voice and encouragement ever since longtime principal Marion Wilson was also, promoted, and a couple mediocre replacements named, by, you guessed it, Buffie Simmons. Catch ya on the flip, B.S.
5 comments:
Brilliant news for Dist. 17 parents and kids!
Disturbing to hear Buffy was promoted and not fired. But hopefully this is good news for district 17. It would be awesome if we became a district of choice, like d1 in Manhattan. I heard at my last PTA meeting that two more districts joined the club this year. A choice district eliminates zones which helps keep schools more diverse and allows one district to offer schools employing multiple educational models.
Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña dumps 36% of superintendents in biggest shakeup since taking office
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/exclusive-schools-chancellor-dumps-36-superintendents-article-1.1981379
Promoting Buffie Simmons to fill the void left by upper level DOE people booted by Carmen Farina shows you that nothing is going to change for the better. It may seem like a new day is dawning in the school system, but, as history has shown over and over, that's not how things work.
Whatever changes may be ahead lie far enough in the future that today's kindergarteners will be almost ready for middle school before the "new ideas" are put into action. And shortly after, the critics will decry those ideas.
Common Core is already anathema to many. The same holds for No Child Left Behind and every educational concept that preceded the. Edu-jargon. Neologisms.
The best bet remains the Gifted Program, but now that Carmen is assembling her team, the program is in jeopardy. Schools like Mark Twain Middle School are at risk.
Daniel, many District 1 schools are actually some of the least diverse in the city.
http://ny.chalkbeat.org/2013/11/07/les-school-diversity-study-raises-questions-about-dezoning/#.VEaZ-PnF8jU
FYI- within the DOE, a "promotion" is not what you think it is. Actually firing someone, particularly a superintendent, is quite hard to do (regardless of the fact that she's still under investigation for fraud among other things). Don't think that her "promotion" is something positive. This was simply a means to an end, and the end was her being booted out of our district.
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