Read Kwait's entire history as chronicled by Sue Edelman at the NY Post here.
Reaction among colleagues has been powerful.
From Patrick Walsh:
This is absolutely mad and completely consistent with how the NYC DOE disciplines degenerate or criminal administrators. Not only did this clown repeatedly engage in sexual harassment, and attempt to force fellow administrators to change the grades of students, he has already cost NYC taxpayers $600,000 with more likely to be paid out in continuing lawsuits. Consequence? He is reassigned, given make-work away from human contact, and allowed to keep his $157,000 salary. If a teacher acted in such a way or anything even approaching such a manner he or she would have been repeatedly humiliated by the NY Post, become a poster child of "reformers" and been, rightfully, fired. Hopefully, this outrageous story will provide non-teachers an insight into the cesspool that is the DOE.
I can't say it any better than Patrick did.
One of my Jamaica High School colleagues also worked at Bowne.
What is so troubling is we all are fully aware that Kwait is most probably just the tip of the iceberg. Does anyone think he is the only DOE administrator who is getting away with deplorable behavior?
In the Daily News piece on sexual harassment at the DOE, they briefly mention Carlos Borrero from the High School for Community Leadership. That is one of the four schools that replaced Jamaica High School. Now Borerro only cost the city $60,00 according to the Daily News (pocket change compared to Kwait) but where is the UFT to reign him in or Kwait for that matter?
While I was there, we filed multiple grievances against Borrero on safety issues and coaching positions as he was the head of athletics for the campus. I recall one particular safety grievance that a group of women from Jamaica filed. Borrero refused to meet with them. He hid in his office at the time of the scheduled hearing and would only meet with someone from the Queens UFT. We resolved the grievance but I was not at all surprised when this story of the lawsuit came out that he told kids if they did well, he would take them to a strip club. We stood up to his bullying but when Jamaica was gone in 2014, he had a much freer reign.
You see UFT when you let strong chapters like Jamaica's be destroyed, you often get weak chapters or virtually no chapters when they are replaced.
24 comments:
The UFT doesn’t care. Look at Iris Blige at Fordham fArts. I saw her put the Chapter Leader in a closet! Worse yet the CL had her chair facing out the closet and Blige had her turn her chair around and face the wall. For most of these schools it’s a revolving door of teachers and their dues. The ATR situation is great for the UFT. They get their dues AND the newbies that replace them. Two for one! No wonder they ignore the ATR pool and horrible principals. Blige has terminated and hired multiple entire staffs during her tenure. She’s part of a big club. When I asked the Bronx UFT why don’t they do something about Blige I was told she has an Angel.
Im in Bklyn. Forced jupiter, keeps us late for free, free coverages during Admin period, shorter lunch than instructional, people teaching out of license more than one period which breaks the incidental teaching clause, staff is sick to the stomach every day, whole staff young, 5 first year teachers, only 2 teachers with more than 10 years, CL silent and sits there as principal abuses us.
If any principal needs to get removed it has to be Blige at HS for Arts in Fordham. This woman is so disgusting that her staff hates her to the bone. The staff there is so mistreated by this principal it is beyond belief. We all know the stories regarding this principal so I will. not repeat it here however if anyone with any authority at all reads this they should remove this woman principal because the staff there is demoralized and only working there because they need their jobs.
When I was there the staff was so petrified they only whispered if you talked to them. Most of them seriously believe she’s a voodoo practitioner. Maybe she is - right after the Chapter Leader won her suit, she died.
The ATR pool is a dumping ground for the most experienced teachers, and it is a disgrace that the Union have tolerated discrimination for so long.
rumor is...might become deputy sup...
The UFT, by it's silence with regards to abusive admins, has become their enabler. Along with the DOE, they are responsible for this attitude of "I'm the boss","I'm the most important person in the building"
No,excuse me asshole, you're not.
The Queens UFT office has protected the Leadership Principal Dwarka while she was going after good veteran teachers. Now the school is destroyed, and not even a word from the UFT that the school has been destroyed.
I think what's going on is the UFT has lost its leverage and doesn't want the members to know it. They just want the gravy train to continue.
Quite a number of people complain on the blogs about abusive, morally bankrupt administrators, yet how many people have filed Part 83 complaints about the administrators with the NYS Education Department?
www.highered.nysed.gov/tsei/teacherdiscipline.html
www.highered.nysed.gov/tsei/documents/complaintform.pdf
https://govt.westlaw.com/nycrr/Browse/Home/NewYork/NewYorkCodesRulesandRegulations?guid=If811fe70ab3811dd9e3f9b6a3be71c54&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)
www.nyssba.org/news/2012/04/05/on-board-online-april-9-2012/new-state-test-security-unit-seen-as-improvement-in-sed-s-ability-to-police-teacher-misconduct
You don't have to be an attorney to complete and file the Part 83 complaint form.
Just clearly respond to the following:
"Describe your complaint here. Be specific. What happened. When? Where?"
If you need more space than what is provided on the complaint form, you can attach additional sheets.
You think complaining to Mary Ellen Elia is going to get you justice? May as well grieve.
When I started in 1992, principals and APs were afraid of the UFT. I won all my grievances and the Chapter Leader was very effective. Now the Chapter Leaders are only there for the period off and don’t know basic contractual rules. Even worse the principals treat them as buddies or if the Chapter Leader actually tries, ignores them completely. They know the UFT isn’t going to do anything about anything. All it cares about are dues.
To: Anonymous -- Tuesday, May 15, 2018 10:19:00 AM
The Part 83 complaints do not go to Commissioner MaryEllen Elia.
They go to one of the units of NYSED called the Office of School Personnel Review and Accountability (OSPRA):
www.highered.nysed.gov/tsei/aboutospra.html
And that office has been known to take its Part 83 work seriously.
Here is an example of an initial contact letter from OSPRA with identifying details redacted:
THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Office of School Personnel Review and Accountability (OSPRA)
Legal and Investigative Unit
89 Washington Avenue, Rm. 981 EBA
Albany, NY 12234
[DATE OF LETTER REDACTED]
[NAME AND ADDRESS OF RECIPIENT REDACTED]
PERSONAL & CONFIDENTIAL
Re: Part 83 matter -- Proposed Settlement Agreement
Dear [NAME REDACTED],
I represent the New York State Education Department's Office of School Personnel Review and Accountability. This office commenced an investigation into whether or not you have the requisite moral character to retain your license(s) to teach in the public schools of the State of New York. This Office is fully prepared to proceed against you in a formal hearing under Part 83 of the Commissioner's regulations (see 8 NYCRR § 83). The record and result of such a hearing would become a matter of public knowledge.
In an effort to resolve this matter without further action, the Education Department is offering you the opportunity to resolve this matter through a proposed settlement agreement. To that end, I have enclosed a proposed surrender agreement for your review. If the enclosed agreement is acceptable to you, please sign, date, and return it to my attention at the above address no later than close of business on [DUE DATE REDACTED]. I will then forward you a copy of the fully executed agreement. If this agreement is not received by me in accordance with this deadline, the enclosed settlement offer is revoked and this matter will proceed forward.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the proposed settlement agreement, I must refer you to speak with your own legal counsel. I thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
[SIGNATURE, NAME, AND TITLE OF SENDER REDACTED]
This is what it says on the page.
Complaints against certificate holders including teachers, administrators and school service workers, e.g., school counselors, should, in most cases, be filed with the Department only after the matter has been reported and addressed for remedial action by the appropriate authorities at the local level, including school building principals, superintendents of schools and State and/or local police.
I'm going to complain to SED when none of this has been done but we are going to get the principals who are forcing us to change grade to have their certification taken away by the state. I'm a little skeptical that this will work.Nobody heard of this but you got it going on and can get rid of your principal. May it work for you.
Do tell us all the successes you have had. We'll surely file.
Give us specifics about who was goten rid of through this process.
@10:10 am...and after you file this complaint watch for the full hatchet called DOE legal to fall upon your head and the 3020A train will arrive toute suite. Cue up folks,whose first. How do I know!? My former colleague who is now a teacher in the private seting. Thanks union for helping him...NOT.
I wish you much success.
I was on the phone earlier tonight with one of my "sources." I was told that Howard Kwait has been reassigned to a "reassignment center" (= "rubber room") at 30-48 Linden Place in Flushing, which is the building where the Queens High School Superintendent, Elaine Lindsey, and the District 25 Superintendent, Danielle DiMango have offices. Can someone independently verify where Howard Kwait was reassigned?
why do you care where he was reassigned? You going to go visit him?
Why are all of you even complaining, he was removed from his school. There are hundreds of teachers that have similar offenses to Howard Kwait or worse that are floating around the DOE. Why should Kwait be an exception?
Please don't dare tell me that that all ATR teachers are great teachers and innocent. A large portion of them have been removed from the classrooms for some type of offense. So there is no double standard!
UFT blog pages are full of sensationalism rather than unbiased truth! James you are a hypocrite! You cover up when teachers do wrong but run to the mountaintop as soon as you hear an administrator does the same offense as one of your UFT members.
According to the Daily News, here’s what DOE spokesperson Toya Holness had to say about Howard Kwait:
“The chancellor decided to reassign him to a central office where he will be closely supervised and will no longer be permitted to manage other employees.”
www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/principals-remain-job-city-paid-1-5m-settlements-article-1.3985233
If, in fact, Howard Kwait was reassigned to a rubber room, then Ms. Holness’ statement is misleading.
A rubber room is not the same thing as “a central office.”
The DOE employees in a rubber room are not “closely supervised.”
It is rather well-known that no DOE work is being performed by the personnel who are reassigned to rubber rooms.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7O7C25U73w
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT8t4TSmFJA
A teacherwould have been brought up multiple times for what Kwait did. I have seen people terminated for much less.
Hopefully, his skank lover Namita Dwarka, is next. Hey Namita , still stealing federal monies?
Well...now he does...Quality Reviews. Yup. he gets to go around and rate other principals and schools. So much for being disciplined....
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