>>>In 2009 and 2010, while Ms. Worrell-Breeden was at P.S. 18, she was the subject of two investigations by the special commissioner of investigation. The first found that she had participated in exercise classes while she was collecting what is known as “per session” pay, or overtime, to supervise an after-school program. The inquiry also found that she had failed to offer the overtime opportunity to others in the school, as required, before claiming it for herself.
The second investigation found that she had inappropriately requested and obtained notarized statements from two employees at the school in which she asked them to lie and say that she had offered them the overtime opportunity.
The department sought to fire Ms. Worrell-Breeden, a spokeswoman said Monday, but an arbitrator instead issued a written reprimand and a fine equivalent to two weeks’ salary.
She moved to P.S. 30, another school in the Bronx, where she was principal briefly before being chosen by Teachers College to run its new school.
Teachers College Community School, which opened in 2011, was meant to be racially diverse in a neighborhood where white and Asian public school students are few. Admission is by lottery, and this year 464 families applied for 50 kindergarten spots.
Nancy Streim, associate vice president for school and community partnerships at Teachers College, said Ms. Worrell-Breeden had created a “culture of academic excellence” at P.S. 18, where many students are poor. She said that Teachers College was aware of the investigations but decided that they did not substantially detract from Ms. Worrell-Breeden’s record of academic success.
“We felt that on balance, her recommendations were so glowing from everyone we talked to in the D.O.E. that it was something that we just were able to live with,” she said.
Because this was the first time the school had third graders, this year’s state tests would be the first comparative measure of how the school was doing. In Community School District 5, where the school is, only 15 percent of third- through eighth-grade students scored as proficient on the English tests last year. Many students statewide have had trouble finishing the English tests. This year’s results have not been released.
Statewide, roughly 1,000 tests are invalidated each year for improprieties, out of 2.2 million tests taken, a State Education Department spokesman said.>>>>
NYT : 7/28/ 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/28/nyregion/harlem-principal-said-she-forged-test-answers-education-dept-says.html?_r=0
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