Superintendent Moved for Being White, Tolerating Abuse at PS 333, or None of the Above?

There's a lot written now about superintendent Ilene Altschul, who has somehow been moved to central. A lot of people get moved to central. When principals find themselves in the midst of some shitstorm or other, that's often where they end up. Sometimes they portray it as a promotion, as in the case of the embattled Forest Hills principal, what's his name, who seemed to tolerate pot smoking and leave his bathroom door open so his secretaries could watch what he did in there.

Ms. Altschul does not seem happy with the move, and there are now allegations that she's being moved because she's white. Yet Chalkbeat has this to say about her interim replacement:

Loughlin comes from one of the city’s whitest and wealthiest school districts.

That doesn't scream minority hire to me, but what do I know about that?

What I do know is that PS 333 is a veritable sewer. It's not an open sewer, because there are people there who don't want their stories told. Some want them kept private out of fear, and others want them kept private out of simple respect for privacy. However, I'm personally sitting on two stories, both of which are worthy of wider press coverage, and neither of which I can share here. Nor will the press, which is sitting on at least one of them.

I can tell you, though, that anyone who protects a person who enables the sort of things that go on at PS 333 has issues beyond skin color to contend with. While I won't share information against the will of those victimized at PS 333, just yesterday there was a feature in the Post about the parasitic business model used by PS 333, a model first revealed right here last week.

This is a school in which parents are terrified to come forward for fear of reprisals against their children. I've spoken to several of them. It's unethical to pressure parents to use a service that inflates prices not only for its own benefit, but also so a school can receive kickbacks. I don't know how much disposable income PS 333 parents have, but it ought to be their choice as to how it's disposed. If there is no regulation about schools using a parasitic company like Yubbler, there ought to be.

Now I'm not sure, in actual practice, whether superintendents are really responsible for principals they supervise. Given the volume of Bloomberg leftovers still infecting the DOE, I wouldn't be surprised to see outright abuse rewarded rather than punished.

But I can tell you with 100% certainty that there have been cruel outrages perpetrated at PS 333, and superintendent Ilene Altschul has not lifted a finger to correct them, let alone discipline the principal who oversaw them. Neither of the two with which I'm familiar seem to relate primarily to skin color, though both have to do with discrimination that ought not to have been tolerated.

I can also tell you with 100% certainty that if teachers were to engage in the kinds of actions that took place at PS 333 they'd be facing 3020a and job loss. This superintendent is getting a transfer to a job that pays exactly the same. The principal of PS 333 gets to stay principal, and things the staff and parents know well get to stay conveniently buried.

I hope the superintendent sues and it all comes out.