MGJ Hires Gregory King for Detroit
According to the Detroit Free Press Gregory King has been hired as a principal for one of the elementary schools in the Education Achievement Authority of Michigan, the school district of struggling schools administered by Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson.
The press release from the EAA referred to his twenty years as a teacher and a principal and that he won an award in Atlanta. It doesn't mention his service in Seattle and it certainly doesn't mention his recent ethics violation.
EAA elementary school principals will be paid $120,000 a year. And that's in Detroit.
I guess Lowell should be looking for a new principal.
The press release from the EAA referred to his twenty years as a teacher and a principal and that he won an award in Atlanta. It doesn't mention his service in Seattle and it certainly doesn't mention his recent ethics violation.
EAA elementary school principals will be paid $120,000 a year. And that's in Detroit.
I guess Lowell should be looking for a new principal.
Comments
-former Motown girl
I am wondering about the moral these days at Lowell on Capitol Hill.
-LL
But wishing the best for Mr King. Any clue who is going to replace him?
- Curious
Taken out of context (another city) with such an egregious example (a principal who blatantly set up teachers to cover for his own incompetence) makes it look so...wrong.
Make a web of all the connections of people in administration and who knew whom from where--many links emanate from a few old timers and some new timers (Susan Enfield has mastered this game).
I'll scratch-your-back-you-scratch-mine keeps basic protocols and ethics from being followed. Nepotism also values allegiance over competence and accountability.
--enough already
former motown girl
- Curious
ps.: what is pujah?
And barf.
-skeptical-
PS Let's just remember that the Seattle business community in the form of The Alliance for Education backed Goodloe-Johnson even as she was fired.
To the thread earlier this week by the national Chamber of Commerce about why Business should have more input into public school administation, I hold out the Goodloe-Johnson + King story.
What a stunning display of connections/patronage to the detriment of students. It is every reason why business is a horrible model for how to run a public schools system.
-skeptical-
We have been able to discover the detrimental influences on our district and on our children so far. Let's continue to do the same not only in terms of our district but also in terms of our state.
There are folks trying to take on particular legislators that have fought on our behalf and that of our children.
The next battle will be with the next legislative election in November.
Stay tuned.
Dora
-fmg
The people of Detroit really don't deserve more bad actors.
Poor kids? No money for class room resources? No money to pay teachers well? How sad, too bad...
You appear still to labour under the illusion that these people REALLY DO WANT TO MAKE LIFE BETTER FOR OUR CHILDREN, FOR THE COMMUNITY....
That really is not the agenda here...
I find it funny that people care more about what Gregory did than a principal that stole money from kids and kept it in a shoebox
What King did was arguably far more serious than that. His actions helped decimate the school, caused unprecedented attrition of teachers, created a poisonous atmosphere in the school last year (which lingers in some places today), caused such stress among staff that some developed health issues, called security on a teacher, tried to intercept the climate surveys that he is not supposed to go near, fostered a vile environment that pitted some teachers and staffers against others, and refused to investigate reports of improper touching between an instructional aide and special ed kids, but instead launched an investigation into the very staffers who had the diligence to report their concerns about the incidents. He was officially found guilty of misconduct by the district after a 10-month independent investigation and formally reprimanded, but he has denounced the investigation and never admitted any wrongdoing or failing whatsoever.
He helped destroy the school my family belonged to and cared about for many years. A new principal of high integrity and good judgment is the best thing that could happen to both Lowell locations right now.
He is no superman.
Blah, blah,blah
You need a life.
Can you please help me to understand how can be the moral great at Lowell @ CH when a principal is trying to leave for the second time in 3 month? Something is not adding up there. Especially that I remember you saying the exact same thing a couple month ago also...
-I just don't get it
Has the District contacted the BLT about putting together a hiring committee?
What does this mean for Lowell's application as a Creative Approach School?
Who will lead the CAS effort over the summer and how will the new principal's cooperation and support for that effort be assured?
How do you explain to the principal candidates that about 2/3 of the school's students are off campus and are getting their day-to-day administration by the assistant principal, but that officially they are still at Lowell, still part of the Lowell budget, and still part of the Lowell principal's responsibility?
My kid is at L@L and I haven't seen Gregory King since September. He has nothing to do with the school and the budgets are no longer connected. The only connection is the name.
Rina Geoghagen was promoted to full principal, and is not assistant anything.
L@L parent
curious
L@L parent
"On paper, they are connected. In the eyes of the state, they are connected. They share staff. It is confusing. Perhaps you personally have severed your connections to Lowell, but the District hasn't made them two schools. SNAPP does not have school status, only program status. That gives the Superintendent power to move the program at will, without Board vote. It's a program in a building that is not a school on it's own."
- need a nickname (otherwise it will be deleted)
Gregory has not accepted the job yet and is focused on Lowell. We are moving foward with our creative school application.
Charlie Mas of all people you should know that Rina is in control of Lowell at Lincoln.
The moral at Lowell Capital Hill is great. We just had great movethon with all the kids and staffs. Everyone was excited and have a great event.
Seriously, the moral is good for the staff, parents and especially the kids.
- Please
None of the above changes with an APP move to WP - if it actually happens. The district would still call SNAPP a program and not a school. Why would one APP school be treated differently than all the other APP programs around the city?
With the move, SNAPP will still be a program at a school, just like at TM, Washington, and Hamilton. Yes, we won't be called Lowell at anything, but SNAPP will still be a program in a school.
L@L parent
I think this is little confusing what you just wrote. SNAPP is a program, but TM, Washington and Hamilton are SCHOOLS. And SNAPP is not in either of these schools.
- Confusing
I'm with other people; this is the second time, in a year, that he's planned to jump ship. That says a lot.
To split hairs, SNAPP is actually the name for the North end APP PTA, so SNAPP is not the program at L@L. The program is "Lowell at Lincoln."
I don't know how to be more clear. I will try once more. Hamilton, TM and Washington all house an APP program. If there is a "SNAPP" school in its own building at WP, it will still be a program inside of a building. It will not be a "school." The district can't make one APP location a school and have the other three be a program.
L@L parent
--par for the course
Then you have Lowell. MSP scores are reported on a school wide basis (L@L scores are reported as Lowell). It is one school in two buildings, with two principals. They have the same start and end times.
If Lowell@Capitol Hill becomes a Creative Approach School, why wouldn't L@L? Or would the Creative Approach School designation necessitate a true separation?
According to the rules, 80% of the teachers need to sign on to apply for Creative Approach designation. Does this mean all of Lowell? They can set modified school schedules, use "experiential learning," adopt different textbooks, etc. Wouldn't APP like to have that flexibility? Hmm, but then you have TM, how would that work?
confused
Erik knows this because he was at the Creative Approach meeting when Phil Brockman answered this question for the Lowell group at the meeting.
- Confusing
I agree that the situation for both campuses is unfair to the six hundred kids that are affected. The district seems to be doing nothing because they can not make up their mind about APP north. The staff and parents at Lowell capital hill just sent a letter to the school board and all of the district asking to seperate the schools.
Considering King's misconduct and the debacle at Lafayette, I'm thinking there are real concerns rearding oversight of Creative Approach Schools. Wow. Thanks for pushing this poorly thought out approach- DeBell, Knapp and Burgess.
"I still can't get over RG lying and retaliating, and she gets PROMOTED!"
And the worst thing is yet to come, if Ms G stays the principal at Lowell at Lincoln, if or when the program moves she could be a principal for the whole building. -scary
--enough already
- school name won't change anything
I find individuals making excuses for misconduct both odd and disturbing.
Don't understand your second comment and how it pertains to the creative school process.
Love him or hate him all you want from the safety of your keyboard. Have you met him? I have. Do I have mixed feelings about the guy? Sure. Am I surprised that he's following gj? A little, but not a lot. But I base my views on actual experience, and I don't imagine that my view of him means that the school he works in is just a reflection of his approach.
- freshaire
The plan that Lowell formed prior to the meeting was just for the general education students at the Capitol Hill location. There was no plan to change things for students at the Lincoln location or for the special education students at the Capitol Hill location. Nevertheless, the special education staff and the Lincoln staff are counted among the 80% agreement that the school needs to move forward and they will be covered by the agreement if the school does move forward.
My concern for the creative approach application was that I believed Mr. King was a critical member of the team putting forward the initiative and that the effort could be delayed or even discontinued without his continued involvement. I would certainly like to see the effort continue, with or without Mr. King, and I was concerned that his departure could be an obstacle to the application's progress.
"District watcher" types will of course be confused, because they mostly get their info from web sites, blogs and board meetings. But if you are at the school, I can only assume the nebulosity you refer to is around district messaging. Inside the school I see no evidence of confusion about whether Lincoln and CH are one school or two. They are two in every functional sense.
- freshaire
If it is only me who is confused about Lowell being one or two schools then please explain me the following:
One 5th grader class from Lincoln went to a boat day trip a couple weeks ago. And guess who did they go to the trip with?
They didn't go with any of the other two 5th grade classes from Lincoln but they went with the 5th graders from CH.
And you are not right about one more thing: the 5th graders for sure do have friends from the other school.
- Confusing
Hilarious.
The trip you are talking about is a field trip that APP has been going on for years. It is a marine research trip and there is only room for two classes on the boat. All three classes at L@L couldn't go together, so it wasn't a big deal to have Lowell CH go with one of the classes.
Each school is doing their own graduation this year. I don't know why going on the same field trip means it's the same school, but doing separate graduation may convince you they are separate schools.
L@L parent
Also sounds like chances are that north APP will always be attached to some other school even if it won't be Lowell in the long run. Does anyone know what the odds are of SPS actually splitting it off into its own school?
- an observer
I think morals will improve too!
-breathing a big sigh of relief
-Still doing my job and loving it everyday
Are you talking about the same Mr King with Erik T?
Just because he stated many times on this blog that there was (is) no bully and harassment going on this year on Capitol Hill. As he stated: "The moral at Lowell is great. We are having our annual movethon fundraiser and the kids and staff are looking foward to Gregory running in a superman outfit. "
-LL
- freshaire
Well, now. Tut, tut. "People on this blog" is a bit of an exaggeration. You are doing something very similar to what you accuse us of doing -- overreaching. Even last year (when it sounds like things were worse), there were plainly people who thought their kids had a great year, who saw nothing unusual. I credit this to two things:
First, to the extent things were bad, there were/are staff and parents there determined to isolate other kids (and families) from it, at sometimes great cost. Bravo to them! The lengths that people in harms' way will go to in order to prevent harm to others is one of the greatest things about humans. Really -- I am in awe.
The second "thing" is less awesome, and consists merely of the fact that most people who wish to abuse their authority over others and intimidate them understand they have to have a base of power from which to operate. That is why "mean girls" run in groups (and have each others, or the leader's) backs. It's great if you are "in" (and are either clueless or amoral). It is horrible if you are "out."
In any case, in the end, there is always the possibility that people decide they don't like who they are, or how they have behaved, and seek to change. It is my fervent hope that somewhere, at some point, both Mr. King and Ms. Geoghagan listened to the feedback, took stock of their management styles and abilities, realized that the "old style" wasn't working for them, and have committed themselves to do better, to BE better. One can hope.
-breathing a big sigh of relief
Me: huh?
eric t: The creative school application and program changes would only cover Lowell at capital hill. Unfortunately we would have to get the staff at L @ L to agree, but would not affect them and how they teach.
Me: WHAT?
Can someone please tell us what proposal has been submitted? And how Lowell can expect to get an 80% vote when some large % (75%?) of the staff actually won't benefit from the CA MOU?
(link?)
We have reached out to the staff at L@L and don't seem to have objection to what we want for our kids. So we are continuing to move foward in the application process.
What I meant by nebulous was "unclear", with regard to whether L@CH and L@L were two schools or one. Obviously since L@L is a program, it is not a school. So Mr. K. and Ms. R. are both full principals. She is in charge of a program at a building. He is in charge of a school. Is he still responsible for the program that is part of his school? Do they add up the two budgets together to measure them? Do the scores still get added together when they analyze the success of the school? That is what I mean by nebulous. It doesn't matter if I have seen Mr. K. at L@L. That is less than irrelevant. The building functions separately, but how is it calculated and controlled by the district? I think they view it one way when it suits them and the other way when it suits them.
...the last time King was trying to sneak out of Seattle in the middle of the night, somebody screwed up and told the people in Tacoma he was on his way there so they sent him back to us at pitchfork point.
This time, please, nobody tell the people of Detroit that he's sneaking into their school system or they'll send him back to us like Tacoma did and Enfield will let him right back into Lowell again.
Sorry, Detroit, but with GoLoJo there you're already doomed and we've got to look out for ourselves this time.