Rodney Peterson, the Boston school headmaster allowed to keep his job after he assaulted his wife, was chronically absent from work and struggled with personal bankruptcy for much of his career here, raising questions among his former staff about why Superintendent Carol R. Johnson spoke highly of him as recently as last month.
Johnson, who has apologized for not placing Peterson on administrative leave after his assault arrest in June 2011, repeatedly championed Peterson during his three-year tenure in Boston, creating a $126,000-a-year job for him in 2011, describing him as “among our most outstanding school leaders” in a letter to the judge who sentenced him last August, and recently giving him a reference for a new job in Memphis.
Comments
a teacher speaks anonymously out of a fear of retaliation? that should be worth a separate story. retaliation by whom and in what manner? the administration of Boston's schools seems coming apart at the seams. this appears to be a much much bigger story than one guy ... there seem to be teacher's (or administrator's) pets while those, who know what everyone except parents and the taxpayers know, cower. sounds like bullying from the top to me. well? some reporting??
Gee, how come there are no comments? Now Johnson is trying to get the heat off of herself by pretending to be suprised that Peterson was raping the school system. Too late! Send them both back to Memphis and let them walk.
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That superintendent doesn't seem to know much at all. Except to launch "investigations" after the fact....
"She noted that the department sends monthly reports to headmasters and principals alerting them of any employee with high absences, but that the department does not produce any such reports on the attendance of headmasters." In most educational institutions, the folks on the front lines (i.e. the lower levels) are well aware of the slackers. It's a familiar frustration in the workplace. As for affirmative action based on race, let's not forget affirmative action based on heritage or nepotism or any other excuse that left people of color out of the running for decades.
Why does an exam school need "co-headmasters". I known this is the tip of the iceberg. The globe should check this out. Finally, it's nice to have an easy boss.
On the surface this seems like one more example of patronage gone awry. (I remember the days when candidates ran for school committee merely for the patronage power). According to press reports, Dr. Peterson appears to have the academic qualifications but not the personal qualities for the job; but maybe we're only hearing one side of the story. I'd like to hear Dr. Peterson's side of this.
She sounds a lot like Billy Bulger - "I don't remember"! How do you give a letter of recommendation saying Peterson "worked tirelessly" when the guy clearly didn't do his job? It sounds like Ms. Johnson needs to get out and about and see what's going on in the schools she oversees. Lastly, it's funny how Peterson wound up getting a job back in Memphis where both he and Johnson came from. I wonder what glowing reviews she had for him for his new gig. What do you have to do to look bad in her eyes?
I seriously doubt that Mr. Peterson has a legitimate doctorate if his former job in Memphis was as an "academic facilitator". The Globe should do more investigation into this man's background. The public should be made aware of the increase in the number of management jobs at Court St. that have made under Dr. Johnson. Continue to blame the teachers' union for the increased cost of education as it sells papers but let's have the facts, please!
Duck and Cover! Good leaders know what is going on with their subordinates. PERIOD Something tells me there is flawed leadership in the Boston Public School system. This is the best we can do. Time for a search committee, I think.
Yesterday we learn that BP submit paper time cards. Now we learn pre-hire credit checks are not performed at all. One would think that high compensation roles and other important positions should be subject to this. There seems to be core administrative process problems in the City administration as a whole.
What's a school principal doing with a Mercedes. That alone should have reaised red flags.
The more that is reported, the more John Connolly is correct in hi sassessment. John should also be given credit for bucking the mayor in this. How can the BPS have any credibility in union negotiations when they can't keep their management house in order????
The public perception of impropriety here is enough to indict the Superintendent and her administration of incompetence and nepotism. How many people from Memphis have been placed in administrative roles in Boston? It just smells of impropriety. How does someone not go to work for 20% of the year, get paid, and no one in Court Street notice? This administration has to go...now. We need Boston professionals running the Boston Public Schools.