larry babes,you and everybody else screaming for johnsons scalp should first read your editorial colleague joan vennochi's piece "Menino's broken vows on schools"OF JAN.19TH2012 and than lets have us a real hoe down on who really runs what around this formerly proud and once great city. i'll leave you with vennochi's last paragraph to ruminate on. "What would it really take for menino to deliver on his promise for the boston public schools?given menino's penchant to please it might take a decision not to seek reelection. that would allow menino to do what it really takes to leave a better stronger school system as his legacy." end of quotes. carol johnson is paid more money than the blithering wit(dim, nit and half)bagman mayor to do one thing and thats to take the heat that comes with this gasbag mayors playing politics with the boston public school system all these years. menino DOES NOT have the stones to do whats right. never has and never will and i refuse to believe that this schlemiel of a mayor wasn't informed about the obryants headmasters problems from the get go. he makes all the decisions and than runs for cover behind his well paid puppets when things go dixie. ma

Why haven't women's group had anything to say about this sorry handling of an unfit administrator? It seems to me that she was protecting her reputation and judgement by concealing Rodney Peterson's domestic assault. He never should have been allowed to interact with students for an additional year.

Rewarding criminal behavior and failing to educate the children is enough to say good bye. Time for an even handed judicious educator to take over and revitalize whats left.

The self-annointed leaders of these organzations are themselves part of the club who do nothing but supporty mediocre actions. Connolly has shown guts. Johnson has proved only to be skilled at offering up well packaged apolgogies. It seems that public officials need to be well versed in saying I'm sorry than actually delivering results.

This is a shocking and unfortunate situation. All involved have much for which to answer.

Okay, you've single-handledly gotten rid of the President of Roxbury Community College; you've "brushed back" the Chairman of the Urban League; and now you're calling for the resignation of the Supt. of Boston Public Schools for a non-school related incident. All done within a 6 week period of time. Let's see, what do these leaders have in common? Nice work BG!

Spousal abuse is something to be condemned, but couples sometimes get into arguments and some of them might become violent. One incident does not a pattern make, and a pattern is what's important -- plus the extent of the violence. I don't know enough facts about Mr. Peterson to know whether he deserved to have his career trashed or not, but the judge seemed to think probation was enough -- and that should have been the end of it because it has nothing to do with the school system or the students. I don't know how "glowing" Johnson's recommendation was. Maybe you should given us that information, but instead you merely stood in your pulpit and preached.

Disclaimer: I work for the City but I am, in no way, affiliated with nor accountable to the school department. She does not even know my name. However, I am a believer in Dr. Carol Johnson. I see her at almost every public event she attends... which is almost daily! She is a workaholic with a schedule that even our mayor (who works 24/7) can't fathom. My guess is that she puts in about 100 hours/week... minimum. That said, let's talk quality time. She spends endless hours and days trying to fix our heretofore broken schools... and has succeeded for the most part. The woman is an amazing education administrator... we will never find another like her. Spend some time listening to her or speak to her directly... you will be mesmerized by her warmth and depth of knowledge. No wonder the mayor backs her... she is good. Very good. She communicates with students like no other person I've seen (in 26 years on the job), and she is likewise the same with corporate executives and politians... no easy task! OK, so she made a decision that she regrets - she has recounted that move. Give her a break and don't throw her under the bus. For G-d's sake - give this 'gift-to-Boston' a break! Quite frankly, I happen to agree with her original decision to allow the court system to determine his fate. I don't know him (the former principal) but from all accounts, he seems to be a talented administrator. But, by no means, do I condone his actions of that night. I just don't think he should, given the facts, have his career destroyed. Please respond only if you know the facts of the case. If you don't know all the facts and personalities, please resist the temptation to reply with uneducated pablum. I'm looking for an educated discussion. Thank you kindly.

You know that these are in all likelihood to be Democrats. Women's groups had never condemned Democrats for abusing women. Now if this is a Republican, bet you they would be all over it.

When I attended a benefit for a city school, I was stunned at how poor a speaker Carol Johnson was. I have never heard such an educated person say ..."Um..." more often. Thinking maybe she was caught unaware, I gave her the benefit of the doubt. The next year, it was the same astonishing poor performance. It was all the more glaring because the others spoke extemporaneously and wonderfully. Coupled with the problems in the schools...I must say, I am not impressed.

Sorry but this is a pet peeve. How can the woman work 100 hours/week...minimum? That is 14 1/2 hours a day, seven days a week. Assuming the woman commutes, showers, sleeps, grocery shops, cooks, eats, sees friends & family, this is almost impossible. She may work a lot but 100 hours? Minimum? No.

But let's keep bashing BPS teachers because they are the root of all evil. It couldn't possibly be a problem with the administration.

7continents -- I don't know about the school superintendent, but anybody who's been in the navy knows that 14 hours is a relatively short day when your ship is at sea. 16 hours is common and we survived. There are definitely people who work harder and longer hours than you can imagine. That's particularly true for some non-union jobs.

I don't believe Stephen Hawking is much of a speaker either. That's a pretty superficial statement, don't you think?