Thursday, March 30, 2017

RICHMOND HILL HS BRAWL CAPTURED ON VIDEO

Cameras can sure expose a great deal. Sometimes that is good, sometimes not so good and sometimes it can be used to shed light on an out of control school.

A former Jamaica HS APO is now the Principal of Richmond Hill High School. Apparently, things aren't going too well as this piece from the Daily News with an accompanying video of a brawl shows.

It's becoming the school of hard knocks, and a safety agent union leader says students are scared.

Violence erupted at troubled Richmond Hill High School in Queens, as police responded to two incidents involving students — and a vicious brawl caught on tape.

School safety officials said a video recorded by students at the school on March 10 shows a gang initiation, with a crowd of students pummeling each other on campus.

Cops responded to the school after two girls struck another girl in the face, according to police records for that day.
The victim didn’t report any injuries, but a shaky cell phone video that safety agents provided to the Daily News shows a melee with a mob of students punching each other.

The safety agents union president, Greg Floyd, said scared students gave the video to agents at the school in a cry for help.

“The de Blasio school violence coverup isn’t working,” Floyd said. “Students are afraid of the gangs, guns, knives. They came to us because no one at City Hall is listening.”


Eric Phillips, a spokesman for Mayor de Blasio, said “No truth to it. No evidence behind it. No idea where the suggestion comes from.”

Looks like President Floyd has a point here.

Where the UFT is on this?

24 comments:

Michael Fiorillo said...

The DOE has been undermining local, zoned high schools like Richmond Hill for years. This kind of thing is predictable.

Anonymous said...

I say good. This has been going for years, fights recorded on cell phones, APs rolling n the floor, its quite the joke. But its my fault, I dont know Danielson. But they are really good kids, just dont look at their criminal records...My lesson plans are too boring...

Anonymous said...

What else would you expect from trash?

Anonymous said...

But it hasnt already collapsed? And you are blaming Trump? The uft shouldnt go bankrupt? You all need to open your eyes. This is no more than a torture chamber for the decent, educated, taxpaying teacher. Something is really backwards. Keep ignoring the citywide college ready rate, the fake grad rate, the chaos in virtually every school...Inmates run the asylum to say the least.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, agreed. The joke is on the staff who shows up to these disgusting workplaces and dangerous neighborhoods, are in the line of fire for doing nothing wrong. The supes will blame us, the students will spit in our faces and then spend their lives feeding off our tax dollars and the government. And it will never change. I suggest a walkout, an enforced discipline code, and a 3 strikes your out plan...

Anonymous said...

Where is the UFT? Why cant i get a bathroom key? Why am i given 6 teaching periods for free? Why an I cursed and threatened on a daily basis with no consequences? Why are there field supervisors? Why do so many schools still have no air conditioning? Why does my school have ants and roaches? Why did we get a deal for 10% over 7 plus years? Why is the TDA still 7% when the city and state are no longer in financial peril? Where is the retro? Where is the interest on the retro? Why, when I go for a pension consult does the expert give me incorrect info? Why did we get 0 plus 0 in 2011 and 2012? Why did our medical go up last year, and i assume will go up this July? Want me to keep going? Thats where the uft is...

James Eterno said...

You can't expect the union to do anything if the membership doesn't push them. The problem is we take all of the garbage the last person commented on and don't work together to force the union to back us up. They have zero accountability except in the high schools and that isn't enough (7 executive board seats out of 102). We are the answer. I wish people could see that.

Anonymous said...

James, have you seen some of these teachers and paras? They have no clue. A week after the 2014 contract they were asking where their $50,000 was. The list goes on and on. And besides, I know you wont like this comment, but the students are at a point of no return, the quality just isnt there. And its getting worse. They are glorified jailbirds and welfare recipients disguised as students, who come in and do nothing except party everyday. Its not changing. They are all getting pregnant, talking about getting their "income tax" and only concerned about perception, expensive, new phones and sneakers, while never planning to work, and showing no respect.

James Eterno said...

I started back in the eighties and I heard the same arguments about the kids. Many were on crack back then and the gangs certainly existed. NYC was in worse shape overall in the mid and late eighties compared to now. A kid was shot in the auditorium when I was a young pup at Jamaica HS in 1986. I had a pupil show me his court papers releasing him on bail from jail. I made the mistake of asking what happened and he told me it was armed robbery. Kid then asked if he had to make up the work he missed. (I told him don't worry about it!) Kids are kids.

The difference is now the system is totally political so teachers in so many schools get no backing because it is on us if the kids don't pass. That is the modern insanity. Back when I started, high school was in large measure a reality check for the students. Now, we are blamed if kids don't pass. My job is to teach in a way so the kids who work moderately (I am not a demanding teacher) can succeed but that is not good enough for many schools. We are being asked to make scholars out of kids who couldn't care less about education. As one of my friends in the nineties said about urban education: "We are selling ice to the Eskimos. They don't want it." We perform miracles every day getting young people who nobody thinks have a prayer through but we are expected to do that with every student. That is impossible.

Anonymous said...

It's the fault of white oppression and privilege don't you know. What a joke Spent 2 months in the Rockaways a few weeks at campus magnet, a few more weeks at August Martin and a few more at Beach Channel. Packs of students roaming the halls, smelling of weed, listening to the most disgraceful music, banging on classroom doors, cursing at other students and staff but was called a racists by the clueless progressives. Oh by the way looked at some of the kids grades and guess what... That's right most of them are passing. What a f-in joke. We don't hold the kids accountable, we don't teach morales, we don't teach respect, and we don't teach the importance of needs over wants. 2 1/2 more years if I make it.

Anonymous said...

Kids are kids james? Clueless! God Help this once great nation

Anonymous said...

Ok James, so if it was so bad in the 80s, and its 30 plus years later...nothing has changed or its gotten worse. How many times have i heard, i was absent because i was in court? If you are a student going to court, get the fuck out of school and stay out. Why should i be bothered with that? They are fucking garbage, i shouldnt be rubbing elbows with gangs and criminals and drug dealers and users, and those who steal from department stores.

James Eterno said...

I have been rubbing elbows with kids with some major issues for decades. It's part of the job. I wouldn't call them garbage. If you think they are garbage, you might have a more difficult time getting through to them. I try to teach them that there is a better way. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don't. None of us are perfect. However, holding us accountable for the baggage they come to school with is insane.

James Eterno said...

Kids are kids. They haven't changed. It is the system that has changed. That is my point. I guess it didn't come through.

Anonymous said...

The whole thing is going to change big time for everyone in September. You'll look back to these days with great fondness.

Anonymous said...

They havent changed, still lousy. Looking at the real numbers and violence, you havent succeeded much, none of us have.

Anonymous said...

7:26...Meaning what?

Anonymous said...

You're right kids are kids. I'm sorry that the kids got hurt. I subbed in Richmond Hill 15-20 years ago. It was a very quiet school, but I think overcrowded. Everyone should be and feel safe in school.

Anonymous said...

"The ATR pool will soon be over. All ATRs will be forced placed into teaching positions as of September 1st. PM school, after school and weekend school,and summer school will also be no more" , Mulgrew today 3/30/17 in Florida in front of a room full of retirees. Verified and verifiable - not a rumor.

Anonymous said...

Well, ive heard stuff before. It maybe true. Why would he say it in Florida and not here? But whatever...

Anonymous said...

Check out the Charles Murray Bell Curve book. You see why certain schools never get better, check the IQ scientific stats.

Anonymous said...

Anybody else hear about this ATR thing, its pretty important.

Anonymous said...

I started teaching more than 25 years ago. I agree with James; the students haven't changed. The system has changed. There is no support for teachers. We have teachers, administrators, superintendents, etc. who are so dumb, I don't know how they ever finished college or graduate school. These same people know so little about effective teaching and learning that they need to refer to a rubric to determine the quality of a lesson. They know nothing about leadership or how to manage a school. Thirty years ago, these same people aspired to be beer truck drivers, car wash attendants, and cashiers. Now, these same people with a paper from some mickey mouse university are magically qualified to be teachers, principals, superintendents, and even worse--politicians. It is rather comical.

I do believe that there are schools where teaching and learning is a priority. If you have a long way to go in your teaching career, search out these schools and stay there. That is of course until they are taken over by the know-nothings.

Anonymous said...

Watch the movie Blackboard Jungle (1955). The students are the same. In today's education culture, the teachers in the movie would have been blamed for everything.