You'd think every principal jumped in ecstasy at every mandate from Tweed, to hear some of them talk. But that may not be the case after all. Many, upon discovering from local papers that their budgets would be cut by 70,000 bucks, seem not to have responded positively at all. But they filled out all those satisfaction surveys, didn't they?
(Principals' union rep) De Vale said the results were distorted because many principals were not under the impression that their answers were actually anonymous.
"This is a climate of fear," he said. "Principals don't speak the truth."
There's a familiar-sounding remark. And it's refreshing to hear it spoken by someone who represents administrators. Many teachers told me they had the same suspicions about the surveys we took. The atmosphere of fear and loathing that took flight after the arrival of this administration is palpable, and it's only reasonable that principals should feel it too.
A historian of the New York City public schools, Diane Ravitch, reached a similar conclusion after giving a speech to a group of more than 500 principals on Saturday. She said the principals applauded loudly when she criticized Mr. Bloomberg's education record. Puzzled, she asked some principals afterward why the survey results had been so positive. "They said, 'Everybody is afraid to say that they're dissatisfied,'" Ms. Ravitch said. And who can blame them? After having given up tenure, principals live and die at the pleasure of Tweed. It's important for Tweed to be able to hold people accountable. After all, their own chief accountability officer literally runs from public school parents, so it's important for them to be able to point fingers at principals, who can consequently point fingers at teachers. The atmosphere in city schools is toxic. That's not good for principals, it's not good for teachers, and it's certainly not good for the 1.1 million kids who learn in our public schools. It's regrettable that so few of us trust our leaders, but after watching them for six years, it's very tough to give them the benefit of a doubt.
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