Any time a New York City teacher who has been working a few years hears or reads of some outrageous behavior by a principal, ten to one a single question wells up within his or her head: Is this person a product of the Leadership Academy?
There is excellent reason for this. They almost always are. I know. I had my own Leadership Academy monster to deal with. Mine thought it was a good idea to have the cops come into the school and arrest the PTA president and secretary in the middle of the school day for stealing funds that were never stolen. Drag out two innocent parents in handcuffs while their kids are in class? No problem. And somehow no charges are filed against the principal. She wound up U rating a fourth of the teaching staff, and causing untold and unjust damage to the lives of three fine untenured teachers by discontinuing them, before finally being removed and warehoused in school after school on what can be called the Leadership Academy dole. And who can forget the notorious Iris
Bilge, among many others in the Leadership Academy Hall of Shame. And the list goes on and one.
Yes, Leadership Academy grads have been degrading education, debasing the lives of students and teachers and finding creative ways to disgrace themselves for years now, and Principal Jazmine Santiago, who according to The New York Post “used school funds to install her own private gym with a bench press, pull-up bar, treadmill, elliptical machine and thigh exerciser on the third floor of PS 269 in Flatbush,” is no exception.
Kids have no pencils or paper ? A pity. But check out these abs!
Still, because The Post is The Post I wanted to reserve judgment on the woman until I heard confirmation from a credible source – which is to say, something other than The Post.
Sure and soon enough, I did. An old friend who has the misfortune of working for Santiago confirmed the account. I asked her if Santiago was Leadership Academy.
“Of course,” said she.
Tycoon-turned-mayor Mike Bloomberg and federal prosecutor-turned-chancellor of-education-turned education entrepreneur Joel Klein both thought the Leadership Academy was a swell idea. Why wouldn’t they? Neither had any idea what constitutes education nor any interest in finding out. Both of them thought that teaching was as easy as running a business. Take anyone, they reasoned, sausage them through nine months of ideological, union busting, “leadership building “ boot camp and presto! An instant principal!
New York City schools are still filled with these people, meaning in a very real sense that Bloomberg is still present, still poisoning, still here. I suspect we will be hearing stories of Leadership Academy principals degrading the sacred trust that is public education for years to come.
Addendum: Yesterday was a big news day for NYC principals. Could not find out for sure if Principal Annie Schmutz Seifullah was Leadership Academy as well, but I’d happily lay odds that she is. Note well that both of these persons were elevated to these positions during the ( endless ) reign of “reformer” M. Bloomberg. Note too that Seifullah is one of the very few principals that are actually fired, rather than hidden somewhere continuing to collect their substantial salaries. Message: Ruining schools and the lives of students and teachers is acceptable, but sex…
http://nypost.com/2014/05/06/second-principal-reassigned-amid-sex-in-school-probe/
Raginghorseblog 
June 11, 2015 at 8:42 am
why is she still there?
June 11, 2015 at 11:33 am
I wish I could tell you. I cannot. It is indefensible — but there it is.
June 25, 2015 at 9:53 pm
this seems to be a dead issue
but she still gets her 6 digit
salary
June 25, 2015 at 9:59 pm
Yes, and she is legion.
February 23, 2015 at 8:55 pm
what is happening with Ms. Santiago? Has
she been removed or is she still collecting a
salary?
February 23, 2015 at 9:12 pm
As far as I know she’s still there.
April 12, 2015 at 9:26 am
how come nothing has
been done with her?
April 12, 2015 at 1:09 pm
I really don’t know but if I find something out I’ll get back to you.
February 11, 2015 at 8:20 pm
is ms. Santiago still there or has
she been removed?
February 11, 2015 at 10:22 pm
I don’t know but it usually takes a little while. Perhaps things have sped up under Farina. I’ll post an addendum if and when I hear of something.
February 10, 2015 at 10:23 pm
sorry I meant that now she could get a job
at CRUNCH or be a bar maid at some dump
February 10, 2015 at 10:59 pm
Might be in the cards. At any rate, sooner or later we all pay for our sins.
February 10, 2015 at 10:22 pm
poor Jazmine she could not get a job
at Crunch Gym or be a bar maid, that is
perfect for her.
February 10, 2015 at 10:21 pm
too bad Jazmine what goes around comes around
perhaps she could get a job at CRUNCH GYM.
February 10, 2015 at 2:22 pm
You should see what we are dealing with over here at my school. Google Minerva Zanca to get a taste.
February 10, 2015 at 2:36 pm
Will do. Hang in.
February 9, 2015 at 10:28 am
The DOE should do a clean swipe of any principal in the schools now who have no education experience as most of the bloomberg leadership academy principals have no education experience. Farina instituted a new requirement of 10 years education experience for principals and should remove any principal who does not meet that requirement now. MIkey Bloomberg was a sick demented crazed lunatic who does not care about people and it was a dangerous situation having him as mayor of NYC. Think about it, Bloomberg left office with all expired contracts for all the municipal workers of NYC — that is criminal and sick in that it mimics the middle east dictators such as sadam hussein and khadafy, etc…These dictators have all the money in the world and the rest of the people have nothing. Bloomberg left the mayors office in NYC with 35 billion dollars and left everyone else holding their crotch.
February 8, 2015 at 9:37 am
I worked under her and had to quit
teaching to save my mind
February 8, 2015 at 1:18 pm
I’m very sorry to hear that. You’re actually the second teacher to tell me that in two days.
February 8, 2015 at 6:45 pm
all older teachers were
pushed out
February 8, 2015 at 6:46 pm
hell knowing her
February 8, 2015 at 7:32 pm
Criminal that people like her were given power over teachers like yourself.
February 8, 2015 at 9:19 am
There’s something almost mythic/archetypal about the dysfunction and viciousness of the DOE. After all, you’d need a Carl Jung to fully explain their hiring, not just of sociopaths as Principals, but sociopaths with name like “Bilge” (rubbish/nonsense) and “Schmutz” (dirt/filth).
Perhaps they’re inadvertently telling the teachers and parents what they think of them, and what to expect from these people.
February 8, 2015 at 1:19 pm
I rarely laugh out loud but your last sentence made me do so.