abraham. go back and read joan vennochi's op-ed piece of jan.19, 2012. johnson is merely doing what she was hired to do which is to take the well paid heat resulting from the one person who really calls all the shots around here , that being the blithering wit(nit, half and dim) bagman mayor. the words from vennochi's column were right on then and right on now in that"menino should stop using boston school superintendent carol johnson as a cover." all the power as vennochi writes is concentrated in the mayor's office. anyone with half a brain knows it but some journalists are terrified at the thought of asking questions of this gasbag mayor that demand and deserve a response. on jan.19th2012. joan vennochi done hit it out of all the ballparks one can think of. ma

There's a lot of SELF reflection on Johnson's part. A correct "pain" would be for Johnson to appropriately lose her job. But a certain echelon of BPS school administrators simply do not: and kudos to those who might look into the constitution of the system--and, for example, the uber-Hacks like the Boston School Committee member who showed up to support Henriquez after he was also arrested for roughing up a female companion. What sort of "authorities" are these folks? Bad stuff.

I am so sickened by this story...it is unacceptable that this abuser essentially got a free pass after committing a violent act. There is NO excuse for condoning abuse and that is what happened here. Maybe it is unfair but I am so much more disappointed because in this case it is a woman and an educator that condoned this act. Of particular concern is that Johnson is a role model for students and there are rising numbers of abuse in teen relationships. You still hear all the time "she must have been asking for it" or "why doesnt she just break up with him" from not only adults but kids too. Domestic abuse is rampant and there is no good way to protect the victims. In 2010 33 people were murdered by their abusers...This issue is brushed under the carpet over and over and this is a perfect example. It is not a private family matter - it is a public health emergency. This story is just one of so many and most do not make the front page..

Why is a columnist who resides in the North Shore writing about BPS?

Point missed...this issue transcends geography. And it would be quite a blow to journalism if people could only report on their town!

What a courageous column, Yvonne...you had the guts to say she messed up AFTER SHE ALREADY ADMITTED IT HERSELF. Clap, clap, clap.

I agree that it would be quite a blow to place such an arbitrary and absurd restriction on journalism. However, I'd argue that a column appearing in the Metro section of the Boston Globe concerning Dr. Johnson and such a serious issue would be better written by someone with a connection to Boston other than traveling through it on the way to Morrissey Boulevard. Better yet, someone who additionally has children enrolled in BPS (or at least knows someone who does). Journalists should know their subject and the environment about which they provide commentary on. Sadly, the author of this article has yet to sufficiently demonstrate she has a firm grasp of the latter. Not saying this is a lousy article (I liked it), only questioning why the Globe has a suburbanite writing the Metro column. By their own demonstrated logic, Bob Ryan might as well start penning articles about the Senate race. Maybe the author should try her hand at the Globe North section of the paper.

I dont follow...can you explain please.

Johnson appears to be upset and reflective, only after her mistake, as she calls it, was revealed in the Globe. Before the moment she picked up the paper, there was not one sign she was the least troubled by Peterson's actions. In the Sunday story, she is quoted as telling Peterson he had nothing to fear "unless the media finds out." She should resign.

a silly and pointless question. and if you dont know why, you have worse judgment than the superintendent. a careful and fact-based column on a difficult issue at an important time. it is after reading this type of Globe commentary that I am reminded why I read this paper.

this near-brain dead comment reflects the anemic chorus of Globe critics posting here. since when does residency confer the ability to have an opinion?

It seems everywhere we look there are adults who minimize the dangers of abuse to women and children. Penn State, BPS, Rep. Henriquez and his colleagues who support him, and so forth. The Superintendent has admitted to this big mistake. But her accomplishments far outnumber her failings. And when people dig up her "mistakes" around school closings, my blood boils. No one wants "their" school to close, so there is always a bunch of hysteria (mostly driven by the teachers union and parent organizers) when the talk of a school closing happens. Yet the data and the dollars tell us that schools need to close.

can she begin by settling the teachers contract which expired in 2010.....

East Brewster, how is it pointless to wonder why race would not play a part in any of this? I think the originaly commentor makes a valid point, which you should agree with, it is, after all, fact-based. It certainly is not silly, either, to ask the question.

I hope that everybody thinks about the kids in the Boston Public School sytem as the beginning of a new school year approaches. I also hope that Boston voters think about those kids when we go to the polls to vote for Mayor in 2013. Personally, I don't think Boston can afford a change of Superintendent for the coming school year. I wonder just how good a candidate Mayor Menino could actually attract, his record and reputation such as it is. We need a Mayor who respects independence in a high ranking appointee and a Superintendent (and School Committee) willing to stand up to him/her. I am doing a little hand wringing myself right now, because I don't quite see a new Mayor on the horizon. I only see some potential Mayors voting and mouthing off about the schools with their own career goals glaringly apparent. I hope that changes. I really do.

East Brewster: Again, your comment needs to be addressed. Since you are such a fan of the Globe, I find it startling that you are not bothered by the fact that a person who lives over 30 miles outside of Boston is in charge of providing in-depth coverage of that city. Imagine how much more substantive and introspective her articles would be if she spent every day living in the town she covered? Or put her kids through the school system? By her own admission, she arrives to the city via the North Shore. Perhaps the next Globe Metro columnist should reside in Worcester? Connecticut? Imagine the NY Times hiring a Brooklyn beat writer who lives in Montauk. Perfect solution. One last thing: if you are going to use petty insults (brain-dead), have the guts to use a real name when posting. You so easily chastise the people who comment on here, but do so behind a curtain. Grow up.

Marythefifth, Parents and students from all over the city were outraged at the school closings. Did you attend any of the school committee meetings? It seems to me that those school closings were done in an arrogant fashion. Many of those schools were neighborhood institutions. Then all of a sudden, they close one after another. Did the city really NEED to close them, or were was it just trying to save money, which are are two different things. It's no doubt that the Menino/Johnson administration ran roughshod over many parents and children to close many of those schools.

I attended plenty of the community meetings regarding school closings and most were out of order, yelling, screaming, no respect for anyone. And I am not talking about the Supt.

marythefifth wrote "No one wants "their" school to close, so there is always a bunch of hysteria (mostly driven by the teachers union and parent organizers) when the talk of a school closing happens. Yet the data and the dollars tell us that schools need to close." Dr. Johnson and The Boston School Committee closed schools that had the strong support of parents and teachers, yet their voice was ignored at the many school committee meetings they attended the past two years! The Emerson School is just one example of this. Emerson Teachers and Parents disproved the data that BPS presented and fought to keep the school open. School Committee member, John Barros, led the Emerson School Community to believe he was on their side. Emerson Parents and Teachers spent countless hours refuting erroneous information spun by the BPS, pleaded their case at school committee meetings, and gathered neighborhood signatures of support, yet, that school was closed! Dedicated, Emerson teachers were demonized in the press because they were in the excess pool, and Emerson students were dispersed to other schools in the city. Then a short time later, that same BPS School Committee member Barros, as part of his non-profit Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI), submitted an application, which was approved by the state to open a Horace Mann Charter School in the Emerson Building! Just these past few weeks the DSNI received a "Promise Neighborhoods Planning Grant" for $500,000, which Barros applied for on October 25, 2010! What a conflict of interest, and what a slap in the face to the Parents and Teachers of the Emerson School Community! www2.ed.gov/programs/promiseneighborhoods/2010/narratives/u215p100187.pdf - 2010-10-25