Thompson: "No Excuses" Supe Blames Everyone Else

The Broad Center proclaims that "the superintendent is responsible for the education of every student in the district," and poverty must not be blamed as an "excuse." So, how did the former superintendent of the Broad Academy deal with the data on school violence provided by the Philadelphia Inquirer’s year-long series on the mayhem in the city’s schools? According to published reporters, Superintendent Arlene Ackerman blamed everyone but herself, claiming that  "school violence is a national ‘public health problem’ that will require an entire community to resolve: ‘We're going to have to fix it as a collective effort and not expect the school to take on the responsibility for trying to do everything.’" Then she blamed teachers, "Good discipline occurs in classrooms with good teaching." And then she blamed her principals, "When young people rush into a classroom, when they roam the halls, that's an adult problem - of the educators in that school. Having been a teacher, having been a principal, I never had that happen in my classroom, and I sure didn't have it happen in my school.".- JT(@drjohnthompson)Image via.

Comments

[Roxanna Elden]

Well said, Dr. John Thompson.