Hey, there! Log in / Register
BPS brings in retired administrator to help fix racial climate at Boston Latin
By adamg on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 2:15pm
Albert Holland, who came out of retirement to help steady Madison Park when it fell apart on the very first day of school two years ago, is coming out of retirement again, this time to help Boston Latin School to create "a more inclusive and respectful school culture and helping faculty address issues of racism and bias," BPS announced today.
In a statement, School Superintendent Tommy Chang said:
I asked Dr. Holland to take on this important role, and partner with Headmaster Lynne Mooney Teta, because of the tremendous work he has done for the district during his distinguished 31-year career serving our city’s youth.
For the remainder of the school year, Dr. Holland will join the BLS administrative team to help move the school forward.
I want you to know that it is a top priority of mine to improve the cultural climate at Boston Latin School. Dr. Holland will be a great asset in this effort. He will work in collaboration with Dr. Teta, but will report directly to me as we take the necessary steps to ensure all students at Boston Latin School are in a safe and supported environment.
Holland retired in 2008, after a career that included serving as headmaster and executive director of what is now the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers, headmaster at Burke High School, executive assistant to the chief of staff in the superintendent’s office, and as an administrator overseeing all of BPS's headmasters.
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
How can I filter out these
How can I filter out these types of posts? I am not interested whatsoever.
oh please no
And deprive UHub's readers of your fresh hot takes on all things Boston?!?
Seems like you are basically sticking your fingers in your ears and shouting "la la la la la" about topics like this. Ignoring them won't make them go away. Hell, that's why we're in this mess in the first place.
And how can I filter out
posts by anons?
That's easy.
Just look at Facebook, and enjoy more quality posts like this one:
"This man ate a sandwich YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENEND NEXT!"
Quickest way
Most of my posts about Boston Latin have a "Read more" link. Don't click that link!
how can you filter these posts?
Step 1. Don't click on them
Step 2. Refer to Step 1
i filter out posts all the time. if i can't race bait, politi-troll, or use religion to upset people i definitely don't ever click a post.
Boston Latin School
http://newbostonpost.com/2016/03/02/mother-of-victimized-boston-latin-gi...
Whoa!
This story just keeps getting stranger and stranger. Worth viewing the whole video.
Aha , the plot thickens......
Aha , the plot thickens.........
Dr Holland
should run for a mayor of the City of Boston.
I think these types of groups
I think these types of groups, such as the NAACP, have proven over the years that they will never be satisfied so how could you "fix" these types of problems.
Pathetic
This young women (a minor; not sure if it's disrespectful to refer to her as a girl), makes this claim and all this BS is the result? And now this hack is being rehired to presumably lecture and harass the faculty and students at BLS?
If the claim can be absolutely proven to be true, the boy should be expelled from BLS. If not, end of story. The school, school system, and city should not be essentially blackmailed (and please: absolutely no racist pun intended) by this young woman, her mom and presumably their legal advisors/lawyers.
It wasn't just one incident
BPS said that was the only one that was not handled properly, but that there were additional incidents that suggest possible issues at the school.
teaching and patience
Schools like BLS are competitive and have a lot of social pressures like getting the best grades and being good at the things they think are important. So factor number one is social pressure on top of a highly competitive environment.
Second, all kids needs to learn social norms about how we communicate with and treat each other. I think the rules are spelled out in code of conduct. Effective teaching is done by patient and caring teachers and students motivated to get it right. But for decades, public school teachers have been instructed not to parent so this is one factor that makes it hard to teach social norms. Students hear racially insensitive language outside of school. In fact we have a political movement that thinks it--racially insensitive language-- is nothing more than a political tool, that in fact no one is offended when they are disrespectfully called a n*gger, sp*c, g**k or threatened with violence, such as lynching. Oh, that's political correctness they say, Mexican are rapists and Muslims are terrorists. These things are easy to say unless you know better.
Third, students as well as parents teachers and principles have to be allowed to learn from mistakes too within bounds.
How did we end up with an investigation by the US Attorney, did Walsh and Chang try to close the investigation too quickly?
lol at how hard you tried to
lol at how hard you tried to be inoffensive
Here's how you pay off the NAACP and cover up the real crime
Did I not call this? This way the HM will be given time to leave gracefully or get kicked upstairs in a year or two, because if she got fired she would sue.
Doesn't this look like the point of the NAACP in Boston is to carve out city jobs for black people? and save jobs for bad black teachers at the BLA?
And I'm aware that there is a white network to do the same thing for white administrators and bad white teachers.
Is justice really a matter of even-handed incompetence and multi-colored layers of administration?
Thinking back to a principal
my kid had in elementary school, well intentioned but a little heavy-handed sometimes, who once tried to form some kind of parent committee at our very diverse school by saying "ok, I need one white, one Asian, one black..." and people pretty much raised their hands and volunteered. I appreciated the spirit of the gesture but boy...I don't know where identity politics gets you in the BPS. This whole approach seems destined to end badly.
It would be great if
BLS got to the point that parents could take great pride in the diversity of their student body, and every neighborhood in this city were represented on their roster.
Speaking for myself, I'd love to find an environment that would match my child's drive, her sort of competitive spirit and her commitment to academic excellence. I'd feel so fortunate to have that in our city.
We should all welcome Dr. Holland's contribution, and hope his important work results in student-driven and faculty-advised programs, such as peer mentoring, a RESPECT (anti-bullying) initiative, and the student council promoting an explicit mission of providing support to fellow students. I feel confident he can bring parent, alumni and community involvement at the school to a new high.
Do you really believe this?
The only thing Dr. Holland is going to do is line his pockets! He is being paid $46,000 for less than 4 months worth of work. Nice work if you can get it! He is there to put the nail in Lynne's proverbial coffin. She is gone by June (if not sooner). The school will be destabilized. A "person of color" will be brought in as the new headmaster. BLS will be a shell of its former self in 2-3 years. They will try to weaken the admission standards to let in more students of color (not Asians though) and the curriculum will be watered down to meet the skill set of the new students. Good teachers will leave and bad teachers will hang on until they can retire and get their fat pensions (same as it is now). The sad thing is that public education in America is like everything else in America (health care, housing, etc.) - those with money get a private and higher quality product, those without money get the crap that passes as the public version. Most smart people with money (even in the tony suburbs) are pulling their kids out of public school and fighting to try to get them into private school. Even the crappy private schools are better than the so called "best" public schools (including BLS). I work in education, so I know what I am talking about. You can refute what I say all you want, but you don't know what you are talking about. I am so glad my kids are no longer in public schools. Once you go private you never go back (unless your kid gets kicked out)!
Should I
Let him in on the joke?