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Friday, January 28, 2011

Queens Teacher: Many Leadership Academy Graduates Running Schools Into Ground

Queens Teacher: Many Leadership Academy Graduates Running Schools Into Ground

Many Leadership Academy Graduates Running Schools Into Ground

Dear Editor:

One of the most troubling aspects of former Schools Chancellor Joel Klein's tenure was the creation of the Leadership Academy. This academy was designed to take people with little or no education experience and give them a “crash course” in how to be a school leader.

Unfortunately, what has occurred in the last several years is that people were placed in charge of schools not fully understanding what makes a school community tick, and in fact, may have been brought on to run the schools into the ground.

Since Mayor Bloomberg has implemented the corporate model in running schools, administrators are forced to view teachers and students as data. Individuals not familiar with education, who are now in charge in schools, use this data to measure and punish the very people charged with educating our students.

These corporate-minded and often very young administrators are not equipped to make good educational