IHS? Amato? Shit Hitting the Fan?
I guess I’m naive to think it’s fishy for a Chief Administrative Officer of the RSD to be on the board of a charter school.
I know the heart of the controversy is the presence of Anthony Amato. One, I think Amato got driven out by impatience and flat-out racism. Two, why would a former superintendent agree to be principal/CEO of a single, new charter school? Yes, he’s been fired or forced out of the last four positions but if you look at superintendents of urban, struggling school systems, that’s the norm—no overnight blinding change in problems that have existed for generations? Fire the superintendent! Give us his head!
Amato was no favorite of mine. But I did not think he was ill-suited for the job because he wasn’t black. I did not agree that “the children” need a black superintendent.
Another point:
A governing board has chosen former New Orleans schools superintendent Tony Amato to lead the International High School of New Orleans, a move that would displace a popular principal and is vehemently opposed by many parents.
Parents, students and teachers packed a meeting of the school’s new charter board on Wednesday night to speak against the appointment. Board member Andrew Ward said Amato emerged as the clear front-runner in a field of 51 applicants, though he had been fired or forced to resign from his last four superintendent jobs.
Don’t think this is unusual. Boards run these schools, not parents. And it is made glaringly clear when things like this happen. And they happen. And will happen even more. Certain sets of parents think that a school being chartered means parents run the school then they get upset when the principal/CEO won’t meet with them or the board votes on something they disagree with and even complain about and gather to show their displeasure over.
Hm.
