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Boston Latin School headmaster resigns
By adamg on Tue, 06/21/2016 - 3:30pm
A BPS spokesman confirms that Boston Latin School Headmaster Lynne Mooney Teta is resigning after a year filled with tumult over the racial climate at the school that led to an ongoing probe by the US Attorney's office.
What follows is the letter she sent to the BLS community today:
June 21, 2016
Dear Boston Latin School Community:
After considerable reflection, I have made the decision to step down as the head master of Boston Latin School effective the end of this school year. This has been a very difficult decision, but one which I believe is in the best interest of our students, faculty and our historic institution. I believe that it is time for a new head master to lead the school and carry on the tradition of excellence.
While I am saddened to leave Boston Latin School -- the school from which I graduated in 1986 and which first inspired me to become an educator -- I believe that our mission remains steadfast. Boston Latin School has and will continue to provide an unparalleled contemporary classical education to our students so that they may pursue successful college studies, become responsible and engaged citizens, and enjoy a rewarding life.
We have faced challenges this year, and I have been greatly encouraged by the commitment of students, faculty, families and alumni to work together to collaboratively address issues of racism and discrimination in our community.
Over the nine years of my tenure as head master, we have built the foundation to create a more welcoming and inclusive school environment. There is still more work that needs to be done. However, I am confident that the school community is moving in the right direction, and will continue to advance the progress that has been made.
I would like to express my gratitude to Superintendent Tommy Chang for all of his support. I am also thankful for all of the students, families, faculty, alumni and colleagues who have contributed in positive ways to the evolution of our school into a nationally recognized model of exemplary urban education.
Sumus Primi!
LMT
School Superintendent Tommy Chang sent the following:
Dear Boston School Committee Members:
Today, I accepted the resignation of Lynne Mooney Teta, effective at the end of this school year. I want to thank Dr. Teta for her tremendous dedication to Boston Latin School and the Boston Public Schools. We at BPS celebrate her legacy of carrying on the BLS tradition of being a national model of the very best in public education, and further increasing the academic rigor of this great institution, the country’s oldest public school.
During her nine years as head master, BLS significantly expanded access to Advanced Placement courses, increasing participation by 50 percent (from 645 students to more than 1,000 sitting for exams) while also raising passing rates from 80 percent to a nationally recognized 90 percent. Through the school’s commitment to the districtwide Exam School Initiative, the percentage of BPS students earning admission to BLS has also climbed from 35 percent to 62 percent. Meanwhile, this year’s graduating class of 411 students has gained admission to the most selective colleges around the country and abroad, and earned more than $25 million in scholarships. Twenty-eight students will be joining the class of 2020 at Harvard College, more than any other secondary school in the world. In recent months, several students bravely shined a light on the issue of cultural proficiency at BLS, illuminating a problem that exists not only at this school but across our city and country. Under Lynne’s guidance, BLS faculty worked with student leaders to develop a comprehensive plan to create a more welcoming and inviting environment for all students. These efforts must continue, but I feel confident that the steps taken have firmly put BLS on a path of continued growth.
As we look to conduct a national search for the next Boston Latin head master, I want to urge the BLS community to come together and support the transitional leadership team. Boston Latin School represents an educational experience that is unrivaled among public and private schools, and we are committed to ensuring that its tradition of excellence continues to thrive.
Sincerely,
Tommy Chang
Superintendent
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Comments
Disgusting
Hard working woman who did her job correctly (Yes, she did) succumbs to the too stupid to get into Latin crowd.
The Globe, you know the one owned by the guy who paid $25M for a house lot, has claimed another head in their never ending quest for "justice" and "equality"
They gave Tito Jackson a boost by going after Lynne. They run a story nearly every other day talking about Marty's emails and calls on the Boston Calling / Union issue. The Globe is trying to get back control of City Hall and this action is another notch in their belt.
This whole controversy about one student being a jackass and the supposed racial climate at a school that is based on getting to the top, and not just getting by, was blown way, way out of proportion.
A lot of you from flyover country who live here now may not care, but Latin prepares anyone willing to do the work, like me, a chance at a much better life than getting on at the T or some other job.
I don't care if the guy who replaced Chavez in Venezuela is running, after Mahty is indicted, I will support anyone trying to block Tito Jackson from being mayor.
Very well said
Both regarding the current climate and Tito's never ending pandering parade.
You guys are so close.
Don't let me down.
Bingo
I just needed "white hipster from JP plays holier-than-thou" to win.
Oh my god
That's... that's the first time anyone's ever called me a hipster.
You don't know how happy you've made me today, sock_puppet. Yuppie gentrifier, sure. Holier-than-thou? If it would fit, it'd be on my license plate. But hipster was the last nut to crack. It's the shoes, I think.
Anyway, this will for sure be the first thing we talk about at drum circle tonight.
Sorry, but BLS did/does have problems and issues
Which I say as a (now former) BLS parent.
Yes, the problems at BLS got way, way, way more attention than far more severe problems at other BLS schools (where was the NAACP or the US Attorney's office during the Madison Park scheduling fiasco or in the cavalcade of administrators at Madison Park and English High, at least one of whom left under a legal cloud? How about that Dever School?)
No, I don't think Mooney Teta deserved what she got. But please don't think that BLS was some perfect Nirvana where kids are treated solely on the basis of their academic merits, because it wasn't, and isn't.
Adam you sure to live to
Adam you sure to live to prove the world wrong don't ya big guy?
If you have something to say about the specific topic, say it
Otherwise, maybe leave the discussion to people who do.
But then why, in that case...
...go off on the "BLS has issues" tangent? Anyone with any history at the school knows that. I've probably ranted here at length--OK, I know I have--about the ups, downs, pros, cons of the school. I don't think anyone, even its biggest fans, would call it Nirvana. And as a parent of a non-white BLS grad who spent a lot of time there wrestling (figuratively) with the admin and LMT and the rah-rah-Westie school culture in general, I have plenty of stories. But there is no school on earth that doesn't have "issues." None. Public, private, city, suburbs. When it comes to this specific topic, I think it's pretty clear that there are many of us who, while we could talk all day and night about the school's "issues," feel that this story, instead of sparking a constructive conversation, turned into a classic witch hunt that has damaged the reputation of both the school and a principal who by no means deserved this. I'm sad. My kid is really sad. And I just don't see how this will lead to any great changes at the school or at the BPS generally..
Teta's resignation
In response to Sally who said the school has plenty of issues, I am glad you recognize that racial incidents happen everywhere, in every school both public and private, and that you thought it was a witch hunt (which it was), and that people are sad about Teta leaving. Teta made tremendous efforts to encourage non-white students to study and take the entrance exam She did not have to do this. She also improved the already high standards of the school, and should be commended for it. I hope she gets a position where she is honored and rewarded for improving the academics of the school.F
Tangent?
In this context, how is it a tangent?
Now THAT's a tangent. Or perhaps, simply a derail.
Oh look--it's my favorite suburbanite.
With the usual pithy personal commentary that contributes sooooo much to the conversation at hand.
Do they have dictionaries out there in the leafy ex-urbs? Look up "tangent."
Adam - Nobody is perfect
However, the controversy with BLS is like complaining to the cleaning lady that you found a stray sock under the bed while most of the rest of the house is infested with rats, the basement is flooded, and there is someone shooting up horse in the pantry.
It is not Nirvana, it is high school and it has all the problems that any other high school might have. If she can get fired, and that what this is, how come other principals / headmasters aren't fired for their failings in terms of academic under achievement?
There is a clear, crystal clear, double standard at play in this case. Boston loses again to the forces of "justice".
Re: A few things become clear from reading the comments...
Some Boston folks will never change. Some are just itching to say the "n word" for some reason because they hear others use it. I have yet to hear of these same people wanting to use the "k word" or the "b word" for Jewish people or women respectively. Why is that? Because they're full of nonsense, most likely racist and think it's badass to stretch the "PC Police" narrative which has always been led by whiny conservative crybabies.
It's sad the headmaster resigned, but you need to look at City Hall and BPS if you want to assign blame. This solved nothing. But, some of the so-called adults have decided to threaten the children...remember these are children...who decided to speak up about what they were feeling and experiencing at BLS.
Yes, there are "issues" at other schools. Why should that mean we ignore the climate at BLS? As the "jewel in the crown", BLS should get special attention. It doesn't mean we don't address problems with violence and performance at other schools. But, BLS is the gateway for opportunity for a lot of kids and if some turn away because of an unwelcoming climate, the "New Boston" will continue to be a myth.
Itching?
Somebody on a skateboard called me (THAT WORD!) in anger on June 6th on Third Street in Cambridge at about 2 in the afternoon. It happened right outside the Kendall Boiler Works Building.
Funny thing is he is black, I am white. I did not respond with any racial epithet whatsoever. I only called him an asshole for smacking my car as he went the wrong way down Third Street. You are only half right. Some people just come out and say it.
PS - I did not need counseling afterwards.
Re: And, there it is...
Of course, you didn't need counseling. The word isn't loaded for you. Plus, you're a grown man. Again, we are talking about children at BLS.
Some people are itching to say it with impunity. I know the modus operandi is to pretend racism doesn't exist or to minimize it. Which, of course, means you're telling 30 million Americans it's all in their heads. That's not your intention, right?
You could see this coming a mile away.....
And I think I predicted it in an earlier thread.
The Brookline (also a white/female) principal also stepped down this week, and did it under similar circumstances to Dr. Teta. Although I'm going to say both of these women may have simply not wanted to deal with these charged racial enviornments for various reasons.
Both are very qualified and will probably get high administrative positions in white suburban schools this summer. Kind of like the "white flight" for school administrators.
I will say this about school principals. They do a much better job when they are personable and outgoing. Teta did not really have these qualities.
Teta's resignation
You are right, John Costello. Not only Tito Jackson, but the other black City Councilors and all the groups, especially NAACP, jumped so quickly upon this issue, and demanded Teta's resignation the day the news broke about 1 of 7 incidents not being disciplined according to protocol. Well, the instigator of that incident did not repeat another like it. Teta must have given a stern warning, at the least. I guess the black and social justice people have never made mistakes. They have the ulterior motive to get more blacks into the school, and more black teachers. They will be hard-pressed to get a new Headmaster that could be any better than Teta,
Flyover Country?
Way to dismiss people. But assuming you're joking about preferring Maduro over Jackson for mayor, I hope the "flyover country" comment was meant in jest because that could really hurt some feelings.
Question on policy
Is it still ok for black students at Boston Latin to call each other the n word? Because I am sure the kids I've seen hanging by Longwood with BLS gear, cursing at each other and shouting across the street, or shoving around the smaller Asian kids waiting for the bus (I've seen it) are in no way considered part of the problem and can continue to do what they like and take the oppurtunity presented to them at full value.
Yes it is
Same as it's OK for a bunch of Jews to start a magazine called Hebe. What members of a particular group call each other is different than what they want to be called in polite society. Thanks for the false concern, though.
It shouldn't be ok though.
It shouldn't be ok though. That word no matter how it is said is still offensive to a lot of other black people that don't like to use it or hear it.
Ummm
While you are entitled to your opinion, I don't believe you are the ultimate arbiter or what is OK and what is not. There remains tons of controversy within and among racial groups/ sexual groups etc about the in group use of words which have been historically derogatory, Larry Wilmore's use at the Correspondents dinner re: the President is a good example.
Yeah, I'm a regular macher when it comes to this stuff
Who says I'm the Ultimate Arbiter of anything? And, yes, Wilmore got considerable flak for his comments - and a laugh from the president himself. But it's equally ridiculous to ignore the fact that members of particular groups have long felt more comfortable using self-deprecating terms they would strongly object to if an outsider used them.
This is simple: if you are
This is simple: if you are not a member of the group yourself, don't police communication within the group. If one black person doesn't like hearing another black people use the "n" word, then that first person has every right to speak up. And can. They do not need someone else to do it for them. You do not need to swoop in and save them. That's patronizing, and implies that your voice somehow carries more weight than the voice of the offended black person.
If you aren't black, it's not appropriate for you to barge into that discussion uninvited. Similarly, you shouldn't tell my girlfriends they can't use the word "bitch" because it might offend me. If I want to tell them that, I will-- no one cut my tongue out.
If it offends *you* then you can tell them that you are offended by it, and take your lumps with whatever their responses are. I don't need a white knight to protect me from my girlfriends' language.
If you really have the itch to police someone, please feel free to police people of your own race/gender/sexual persuasion/etc who use slurs against other groups. If you're already mounted on your high horse & looking for a place to gallop, there's your target.
You are talking about teachers here librarygirl.....
They have every right to break up a conversation which throws around racial slurs, regardless of race. In fact, that is their job to break it up and explain which words may not be appropriate for the general public to hear.
And if the word offends you, speak up and say it to them, regardless of who you are.
Is Freddy Benson a teacher?
Because that's who I was addressing, and he did not say he was talking about a classroom. Actually, he specifically talked about kids on the street. A teacher in a classroom has a different responsibility.
If you, Pete Nice, are offended by a black person using the "n" word, by all means, speak up. Say that it offends you. But don't make it because "other black people might be offended." Some are, some aren't, and they all can speak for themselves.
Even better, if you, Pete Nice, are offended by a non-black person using the "n" word, then you absolutely should speak up.
ok
your response was several posts below Freddy's so I didn't make the connection. Point taken.
Sexist much?
You are speaking to a grown woman. Grow up yourself and show respect.
I have a black child. My
I have a black child. My child and many of our family members(including my wife) and friends who are black are not comfortable and do not need to hear that language at or around school.
disparaging words
Those words are disparaging, at the least. Both words should be unacceptable to all. It doesn't have any kind of positivism. Rather, it undermines those who use such terms. They should have more respect for themselves. Just my opinion.
That arguement is horseshit
It's either a bad word or it's not. I know there are plenty of people who don't like the phrase Redskins, but if I happen to mutter it in any context I don't have to worry about being raked over the coals and losing my job because of it. On the other hand, if I get even the first three letters out of the other "bad word" and it's on tape I'm f'd. And after the uproar, while I'm unemployed I can sit in my living room with the windows open and hear all the people "offended" by it using it as a filler word.
If it's that bad when it comes out of one persons mouth, its has to be that bad when it comes out of everyone's.
Nope, sorry. More complicated
Nope, sorry. More complicated than that - you don't get to tell others what they can feel comfortable calling each other nor what they feel comfortable being called. Why are you itching to use the N word tho
I personally am not talking
I personally am not talking about what white people feel about that word. There are many people of color that find that word offensive. They are uncomfortable when hearing it.
Polite society
So should the halls of Boston Latin School not be considered, and not aspire to being, a part of polite society?
According to a lot of posters here
No, they absolutely should not. It's funny how people get so hung up on what people are allowed to say, but ignore how coarse it is to say it.
And nobody bothered to address the bullying.
False concern?
You determined it's false concern how? I see the same things on a daily basis, and what's really disturbing is the adults like you who look the other way or make excuses because the perpetrators are a 'protected class'.
No! It is not okay for
No! It is not okay for children to use ugly derogatory names against one another just because they are the same race.
She left before the PC Police removed her
Now maybe the US Attorney or the Attorney General or the District Attorney might take a peek at other issues in the Boston Public Schools such as shootings, stabbings, sexual assaults, civil rights violations, bullying, fighting in train stations, teacher beating and attacks on unarmed school police.
PC Police?
I don't think Adam has that much pull! Just saying.
More Politics
The headmaster was forced out by city hall due to a make-believe race problem that absolutely never existed. Racial agitators started this up. This woman has been forced out and I'm sure was made to sign some type of agreement that says if she speaks the truth, she will not get any type of severance package. Cowardly politics by Boston politicians up for reelection next year. What is troubling about this situation is that the minorities who are complaining about her will not be the least bit satisfied by this move. I'm disgusted that the mayor would allow this good educator to be hung out like this. Shame on the parent of BLS who don't rise up in support of her. Once again, the silent majority remains silent and the small but vocal agitators get their way.
I just said it above
And I'll say it again: There were and are problems at BLS (and, yes, there were and are problems at other BPS schools). Whether they warranted the resignation of a headmaster who had been highly regarded up until this point is another issue, but, no, BLS was not quite as idyllic as its reputation suggests.
Whether or not BLS is "idyllic"...
... is beside the point. {Rest of comment deleted -- as I am too angry to post anything printable}.
P.S. As far as I'm concerned, it's about time for Walsh to resign.
Followed by Chang
I don't know how much good it's going to do the BPS to have a Superintendent whose nuts are in a jar on Tito Jerkson's bookshelf.
Don't worry
Tito has castrated himself and any future higher position in the past year.
I still remember seeing him when he was loosing elections at every run like Matt O'Malley until he finally got it. Call it the Dougie B strategy.
There were no problems
Whatsoever while the spoiled little princess was a student there, but you have absolutely no problem with BLS turning into another Madison Park or English in the name of PC and the great white guilt now that she's done. Typical...
Do you actually know anything about BLS?
Or are you just looking to spit some insults?
And I must contest on your
And I must contest on your insistence on saying it, no matter how futile to say it to you. This is absolutely the wrong moment to reflect about "problems". There is no need for you to be conflicted between outrage that someone undeservedly got her head chopped off and give qualifiers "but, yes, BLS have problems".
This is outrageous. And there is no need to be relative about it - no need to say BLS is undeserving because other schools have it worse. No, this is outrageous because she is innocent got pushed out because this is a media circus. Just straight up by the universal question if BLS did something to deserve this. And no, BLS did not.
This isn't about intention or "innocence"
No doubt Dr. Teta was well intended, but she screwed up. Maybe her screw-up was not serious enough, in your eyes, to warrant her stepping down. That is up to debate, I guess. BLS deserves a headmaster with the strengths of Dr. Teta but who also is good at handling cases of students being harassed or bullied, and who will make sure that teachers don't single out students of color in awkward, misguided ways. It should not be up to the students to tell teachers how to teach.
Parents thought that the harassment of their children, online and in person, was not being taken seriously. These parents have a point: if you found out that your daughter went to her school principal because she was being bullied, and that school principal did not bother to contact you, the parent, about it, wouldn't you be disappointed? If a teacher out your teenage kid on the spot to be the voice of X Experience, wouldn't you question the competence of that teacher, and hope the principal would address it?
I don't have a kid at BLS, and I didn't attend it. I work with a few recent (in the past 5 years) graduates, and am close to two current students. The anecdotes I hear are about an overall good school but with some serious problems: a math teacher who told female students that they don't have the right sort of brain for math; a group of boys who attended a private school together before coming to Latin, who now gang up on female students (especially minority female students) and harass them on the way to and from school; an "all sides are equal" attitude held by some staff and faculty when addressing racial tensions that's simply wrong.
BLS does deserve a great headmaster. For everyone. I trust that BLS will get one.
Seven cases.
And allegedly one was mishandled. One involving a black student being harassed/bullied/spoken to inappropriately by a non-white student. That's really all we know at this point. Oh, and a bunch of tweets, some of which were by BLS students and other nastier ones that turned out to be from teenagers in other states. This doesn't, in the grand scheme of things, seem like enough reason to axe a principal or even to condemn her as someone who can't handle bullies. All it makes me think is that you couldn't pay me enough to do that job. Monitor the online interactions of 2500 teenagers? Play Solomon for a bunch of he-said-she-said claims about who deserved to get into what college or which teacher looked at who funny when we were talking about slavery/ the Holocaust/Islamic terrorism. Not on your life.
My student of color was singled out, btw, in an "awkward, misguided way" at BLS by a clueless black foreign-born male teacher while he was trying to prove some point in a classroom. Let's just say it was memorable and mortifying but that she also just put it down to his cluelessness (and the cluelessness of some of her classmates) and moved on. i just don't see where this all lands us, though my worry is that we end up like Oberlin where you have Jewish students offended by the anti-Zionist Facebook posts of a black professor and then you get a standoff and no one wins. Oh--except Trump. Trump wins.
Sorry, Adam
I agree with this poster. To say, 'well, there were problems' isn't relevant unless you think these problems were of a level to justify firing a headmaster at the flagship school of a $1b school system. This appears to be political headhunting and you're inadvertently providing them with cover.
Not what I was saying
What I was saying was that the problems were getting outsized attention solely because it was BLS and that a bunch of publicity hounds at the NAACP and the US Attorney's office decided to jump in when there were problems that were far worse at schools that nobody cares about (except their students, their parents and their teachers). No way would be at this point if the school were the O'Bryant or BAA, or any school other than BLS.
Maybe that's what you were thinking
But it's not what you were saying.
This part here, where you _say_ it, helps people understand your perspective better.
By "Racial agitator," do you
By "Racial agitator," do you mean the non-black student who called a black female student a "n****r" and joked about lynching her? That non-black student was definitely a "racial agitator."
Probably
In reference to people like Tito Jackson who pander at every possible chance.
If I was a "betting man" I would guess race will supersede qualification in finding her replacement. Though her replacement regardless of race won't be able to feel her shoes.
Also don't forget the useless and outdated local NAACP who was heavily involved in this dispute and first called (along with Tito) for her to step down.
I don't think she should have
I don't think she should have been fired.
Also, that place ever have someone of color running it in 400 years?
Proof?
What there any proof that the white student called a black a name that I have heard many black students call each other? If there is proof of this, does it mean that there's a race problem at Latin, or just a problem with this student? It's interesting that there is never any allegations of black students harassing students of other races. The black students must be predispositioned to not do that.
"A black"? Seriously?
"A black"? Seriously?
Mistake
Yes I wrote "a black". Pretty sure I meant to write "a black student". My covert, inner racism must have gotten the better of me. When I was correcting my kids and a bunch of their friends the other day, I used the phrase "you people" when I said "you people are making a big mess out here". I hope they don't call the ACLU on me.
While we're on the subject of me, writing "a black" in this instance, what if I wrote, "The harassment was causing stress for an Asian.". Would writing "an Asian" be unacceptable?
Censorship
It seems my comments, that contain no profanity, are being censored by someone at Universalhub again. Free speech as long as it's speech they agree with.
If you want your comments to go up in a timely fashion ...
Get an account. They're free and I don't do anything with your e-mail address (except to send system messages - such as telling you how to finish applying for an account). Because, sorry, I normally close my laptop during dinner rather than spending that time approving UHub comments (yes, there are comments I just delete because they're out and out racists, or call for violence or consist of name calling or just whatever, I admit that).
Now, if only...
they could get rid of the Principal at The Umana. She appears to ignore some of the violence that goes on there and treat parents who are not recent immigrants or Spanish speaking with disdain.
Que
Umanidad!
If anyone from BlackAtBLS is
If anyone from BlackAtBLS is on Universal Hub is reading this with glee. That if you happen to ever bother to read the comments. This is just not justice. She was never your enemy and now she undeservedly been sacrificed. You have created an injustice. I will remember this.
What does that mean?
.
While it feels off to use
While it feels off to use something from pop culture and fiction. But the line "The North Remembers" in Game of Thrones is quite fitting in the sentiment and feelings it evokes
I'm guessing it means
Meggie Noel and Kylie Webster-Cazeau shouldn't look forward to a future in politics in this city.
Why don't you do a story on
Why don't you do a story on one of the video gals who has already filed racial discrimination charges against the university she is not yet attending? Just call Temple and ask them.
Temple?
Could've sworn that's in Philadelphia, not Boston.
The point is
I think the point is, if this girl has already filed a lawsuit against Temple University, and hasn't even spent a day there, this might lead one to believe this is a person who looks for racism behind every door.
The real point is ...
Somebody is dredging up stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with Boston to try to make a point about Boston. Yes, I'm pretty parochial sometimes. I'm sure there are many fine sites on which to discuss Temple University, but this normally wouldn't be one of them.
I disagree, Adam
If one of the BLS students who filed complaints about racism at BLS is actually already filing complaints about racism at the school she has been admitted to (for classes that do not begin until the fall) that does indeed have at least _some_ relevance to the BLS controversy.
However, I don't see any proof of this claim being offered (and find none by Googling).
It is an injustice
For BLSs future student, this may very well be the bigenning of the end of Bostons best public school.
What's to follow will be ugly.
Goodbye
Latin. Hello English 2.0. We all have a pretty good idea about the replacement headmaster, and it's only a matter of time before exams are done away with and we're left with a typical BPS shithole.
The totalitarians won.
I'm guessing they will be invited to be part of the search committee for the next headmaster, too, because the people who will be running the search are such spineless cowards. How very sad.
Disgraceful and Unjust!
Dr. Money-Teta did not deserve this treatment or outcome but that did not matter to those who wanted her head and those cowardly politicians who delivered it.
Her name and reputation have been unfairly dragged through the mud. I don't blame her if she couldn't take it any longer and felt stabbed in the back by her "superiors." Money-Teta's "resignation" will solve nothing except maybe some relief for her and some momentary feeling of victory for her vindictive opponents.
This is a terrible loss for BLS and a bad message to the entire BPS community, including the students, about fair treatment. And, don't bother to lecture me about how BLS isn't perfect. As a parent of three graduates and a former GLS student myself, I know that only too well. But, Mooney-Teta was an exemplary Headmaster and leading BLS in the right direction. I wish her Peace and Good Luck and offer my gratitude.
I really hope
She sues those clowns for defamation and takes every last penny of theirs, just to set an example. She has nothing to lose, now that Jackson and the blmonkeys have buried her under a mile-deep pile of shit.
"blmonkeys"
Adam, why did you approve this comment?
Maybe just to show us the unfiltered crap
that he has to deal with? Smdh...
Big surprise
This is why we need an elected School Committee.
We lose
The City loses a GREAT educator. I can't blame Mooney-Teta for removing herself from a subjective situation involving race, where usually no one comes out unscathed. Good Luck in your future endeavors.
Bumper Sticker's Ready
BOSTON LATIN SCHOOL
"ERAMUS PRIMI"
Statement by Black at BLS
Source.
oh yeah
the knives in Dr. Mooney Teta's back are completely independent of the blood on our hands.
To be fair, it was mainly outside groups
Who called for Mooney-Teta's removal.
It's not our fault!
We have no responsibility for her decision, or this situation! Don't blame us!
Will this alter the fact that blacks are underrepresented there?
I imagine Chang et al will now feel obligated to hire an African American headmaster, who will still preside over a student body that is disproportionately white and Asian. Thanks, Judge Anti-Garrity! Real helpful decision. It's probably time to rethink that one...talk about separate and unequal.
In terms of Teta, principals handle dozens of disciplinary situations every year. Sounds like she effed up on one or two. Doesn't mean she's a racist, or should go to federal prison. If she's looking for powerful racists to Investigate, Ortiz might want to look at the Bristol County DA's office, where an assistant d.a. thinks it's funny to share racist emails and mock rape victims.
Strange that we know next to nothing about the actual perp here, or the parents who raised him to think it was ok to threaten a classmate with lynching. Instead we get a proxy villain and a fake resolution to the situation.
Political response
If a student actually made these n-word and lynching statements, that's a problem with the student, not the culture of the school.
Just curious, what kind of false allegations could the white students make up about the black students to create this type of racially charged, political reaction?
That wasn't the issue, though
The issue wasn't that one kid did some horrible thing, but that the administration didn't respond to it correctly based on their own guidelines. Or as BPS put it in a report:
The link might also be good for people who are questioning whether the incident happened. BPS and Mooney Teta acknowledged it happened.
Or..
It just didn't happen the way it's been reported in the media. True that no parents were notified, and that's a serious issue. But otherwise, investigated, minor infraction not of the sort reported, minor punishment that fit the issue at hand. But the rest, well, just didn't happen. Of course, once a witch hunt starts, the truth of what happened isn't the issue anymore.
No, no it won't.
To alter that fact, you'd have to improve BPS elementary schools.
Too hard. Let's just have another witch hunt.
I'm so glad that I graduated
I'm so glad that I graduated from pubic school decades ago! No one was calling anyone the N-word, no one was calling girls bitches, no one was threatening anyone with lynchings... we just didn't act like that. I'm not saying high school was a utopia, but the level of aggression kids display these days toward one another seems to be far worse than anything I've ever witnessed or been subjected to.
Good Lord, just how old are you?
And where did you go to school? Pleasantville?
Working class small town in
Working class small town in NH -- I graduated in the late 1980's. The focus was pretty much on academics as the town didn't have enough money to support many school sports or anything else really.
Working class small town in
Yeah, well, I'd imagine that nobody was calling each other "n****" if there weren't any black kids in town.
Hahahahahaha
You clearly didn't go to any school in the BPS.
Re: Yeah, those are known as the "good old days" here in Boston
Back when you could have "separate, but equal" schools. And, talk about pandering. Back then, you could ride the race card all the way to a School Committee seat and eventually a City Council seat. If you were white.
Angel (not verified) on Wed, 06/22/2016 - 12:44pm
Who are you directing your comment to? I didn't see anyone waxing poetic about the "good old days" in Boston.
Re: Those who are in denial
My comments are directed to anyone who denies racism exists.
time, money and energy that could have gone to fixing problems..
Will now go to finding a new headmaster - what a waste
Possibly impossible request
But try to keep it civil, even if you have to imagine that the person you're about to hurl invective at is sitting right next to you at a table.
I just deleted a sub-thread that involved some person responding to some other person by calling him "a sorry-ass racist" or words to that effect. I know some of you are blinding white-hot balls of rage right now, but count to 10 or something, maybe?
Re: Of course
What I find interesting is why people are "blinding white-hot balls of rage". Some context. The narrative on race usually goes like this. A person of color brings attention to an issue. One of two responses: A. Nothing or B. An outsized response, which seems to have happened here. And, I forgot C. Some whites buckle down, express doubt the incident(s) ever happened.
But, in the context of Boston and it's ongoing grappling with race only one thing can change this narrative: Stop automatically dismissing racism. It's fine to calibrate your response or call out those who may be fanning the flames on both sides. But, also remember this is all happening on a continuum for people of color who have been in this city for many years.
People bitch about busing, but seem to forget the city was given the opportunity to correct the problem. Instead, there was a doubling down on rhetoric and fear-mongering that some rode into City Hall and even the State House. In the meantime, those of us who have been watching from the 70s onward have seen the same narrative play out over and over again.
You cannot keep dismissing the concerns of fellow citizens and not expect unfortunate outcomes like what's happening at BLS. One avenue for parents of color to have some impact on BPS was taken away with the move to an appointed School Committee.
I started out in Kindergarten and first grade at the old Ira Allen, then the Tobin for second grade. Bused to the Winship for 3rd, back to Mission Hill for 4th and 5th grade at the Farragut. Back to Brighton for 6th grade at Edison Middle. Finally was accepted at Latin Academy in 1979.
I never encountered racism on the scale of what was happening in South Boston and Charlestown in those early years. But, I remember when Daryl Williams was left a paraplegic on the football field at Charlestown High. That scared my folks and a lot of other parents. I always wondered how his life would have been different if the city of Boston just complied with the initial court order.
That history is the prism through which I and many others view the relationship between BPS and people of color. So, those who like to lie ( I won't say "pretend" as that implies child-like innocence) about racism and think we're making it up, this is where I'm coming from.
Civil, please yes
It is a shame that this has cost BLS a Headmaster and brought on federal probe. Once the Mayor and the Superintendent dragged their feet it was inevitable. I also understand how both the teachers and staff at BLS feel under attack as well as those students who publicized their concerns. I am a proud alumnus and arrived at BLS in the fall of 1972 the busing era. Important to remember that busing was created because the School department was not equally funding and supporting all schools in every neighborhood. It was a radical solution to the problem. It was scary I lived through it as did many others. The under representation of minority black students has been a problem at BLS since the 1970’s and maybe even before. Only when there was an outreach program did it get any better. The program is now gone and black enrollment has waned of course just adding more minorities to the student body is not an automatic cure for tension at the school. Question is how much of this is a BLS problem how much is the school system as a whole? It is time for some calm rational planning and outreach. I wonder if that can happen?