Norwood News/Schools

PUBLISHED BY MOSHOLU PRESERVATION CORPORATION

Vol. 19, No. 9

May 4 - 17, 2006

Veteran PS 33 Teacher Removed
Parents Upset by Process

By HEATHER HADDON

Some PS 33 parents are up in arms over the removal of a senior teacher earlier this year.

The situation boiled over in March when the administration of the North Fordham school charged that Perry Lopez, a fifth grade teacher, was inappropriately aggressive with a student. Lopez denies the allegation, and says he is the victim of a newer school leadership that is looking to push out existing teachers.

Lopez was pulled from his class on March 27. He has been relocated to a regional office pending an investigation.

Many parents and students were devoted to Lopez. “I don’t understand what happened,” said Yris Perez, a parent of one of Lopez’ former students, in Spanish. “My daughter says she doesn’t want to go school now. No one is telling me anything.”

The city Department of Education (DOE) said that Lopez was dismissed after a corporal punishment incident, which involves “physical force [put] upon a student for punishment purposes,” according to city regulations. Lopez says that while joking with students at the end of class, he tickled a child, who got upset and started crying.

“I meant no malice,” said Lopez, 46, a Riverdale resident who taught at PS 33 for over eight years.

School administrators took the incident seriously, questioning students about the incident and Lopez’ performance. Lynette Vasquez, PS 33’s principal, refused to comment on the situation.

Lopez says that administrators were aggressive and inappropriate when speaking with students. “They were waiting for my kids after school,” he said.

Priscilla Robinson, a parent, said her daughter’s things were rifled through. “They looked through her bags. They went into her portfolio,” said Robinson, a University Avenue resident. “They were looking for work to prove that he’s unfit.”

Lopez was given an unsatisfactory rating and pulled from his class. “He was given administrative work,” said a DOE spokesperson, who wouldn’t comment on the specifics of the incident.

Lopez has spent the last several weeks languishing away in a “rubber room,” a derogatory nickname for offices housing teachers under investigation (the name supposedly refers to teachers bouncing off the walls from boredom). Instructors can spend years there before learning their fate.

Lopez fears the worse. “They are working on ending my career,” he said.

Parents are also upset, with some reportedly holding a demonstration outside the school on behalf of Lopez. “He helped my daughter an awful lot,” Robinson said. “A lot of the kids were crying. It’s just not right.”

Perez’ daughter is especially devastated. “My daughter loved him,” said Perez, a Morris Avenue resident.

Some parents say they have been left in the dark concerning the situation. Alimudeen Alli, whose daughter attends the school, received a letter in the mail from the principal, but is still confused about what happened. When Perez asked school staff about Lopez, she says she was told that he was still teaching. Robinson also contends that administrators weren’t forthcoming. She later filed a complaint with the region.

Elba Lopez, PS 33’s principal for the past 13 years, retired last summer. Vasquez took over this fall after 11 years as a school assistant principal. Leonardo Castro came on board as a new assistant principal, along with 11 new teachers.

Lopez suspects that his situation dovetails an effort to push out more experienced teachers. “Newer teachers are easier to manage,” he said.

A spokesperson for the United Federation of Teachers, the city teachers union, says he couldn’t comment about the PS 33 situation, as the school’s representative did not return his calls.

The union has found that there is a recent citywide trend in pushing out veteran instructors (see sidebar). Jacquie Wayans of insideschools.org, an advocacy group that profiles city schools, says that personality clashes can sometimes arise between new principals and existing teachers. In one Bronx school in Region 2, Wayans said a new principal dismissed a quarter of the staff.

Insideschools.org received a letter about the incidents at the PS 33. They intend to visit the school for an update, but haven’t yet gotten a green light from Vasquez, according to Wayans.

Lopez has retained a lawyer to fight the charges. He is not allowed to enter PS 33 during the investigation.

The Norwood News has written about Lopez’ work since 2004. A creative instructor and able builder, Lopez had his classes construct unusual projects — like a great white shark and model planes — to go along with their classwork. Students were excitedly planning on erecting a model prairie schooner until Lopez was removed.

“We were going to build the project, but now we can’t,” said Tracey Robinson, Priscilla Robinson’s 10-year-old daughter. “It’s sad.”

Union Suit: Older Teachers Face Discrimination

The United Federation of Teachers (UFT), the city teachers union, contends that a disproportionate number of teachers over the age of 40 have been given unsatisfactory ratings recently.

The UFT alleges that a high number of older, tenured teachers have been brought up on disciplinary charges or given unsatisfactory performance ratings since 2002. The union filed a lawsuit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency, last October.

Roughly 63 percent of tenured teachers are over the age of 40, but older instructors accounted for 85 percent of those brought up on disciplinary charges in 2005, according to the complaint. That rate was even higher between 2002 and 2004.

Jacquie Wayans from insideschools.org, an advocacy group that profiles city schools, says she’s seen an increase in disciplinary action against veteran teachers. “I have heard of individuals that were getting [unsatisfactory] ratings for the first time in their lives,” said Wayans, who focuses on Bronx schools.

The school system has undergone sweeping changes since the city took it over in 2002. Current teachers have had to adopt many new approaches. Well over 1,000 new teachers, who are already schooled in these approaches, come out of the city training academy annually.

“The concept is that newer is better,” said Marsha Silberman, District 10’s UFT rep. “They feel that older teachers are set in their ways.”

Madeleyn Dimitracopoulos, a high school teacher from Queens, says administrators started harassing her over the past few years. “Suddenly they have all these criticisms about my lessons,” said Dimitracopoulos, 65. “They are doing everything they can to get me out.”

Wayans thinks that, in the drive toward younger staff, some excellent teachers are being pushed aside. “The sad part is they have years of service,” she said.

The city Department of Education (DOE) disputes the UFT’s findings. “There’s no basis for the complaint,” said a DOE spokesperson, who wouldn’t comment further because the case is pending.
— HEATHER HADDON

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