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Saturday, August 30, 2014

Education Matters looking for more First Coast High School parents and teachers to tell their story

I have already talked to numerous members of the faculty at First Coast high school, those not to afraid to speak  but I would like to talk to more and to get their stories of bullying and abuse of power out there and that goes for any parents who may have been disrespected or slighted by the principal as well.

You can leave a comment here or send a note to cpgbonjovi@gmail.com and I promise to be discreet.

I know some people are afraid but I am reminded of the old saying all it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. Abuse and disrespect rarely stop just because you hope it does. 

10 comments:

  1. You could broaden your search To Englewood High School and Westside High School since Dr. Brennan served as the principal at both schools, and I am certain that you would he behaved similarly at both institutions. We were often told at teachers' meetings to quit, that he could easily find someone else. Not how professionals should be treated. Behavior like that is not easily disguised. If Al does not like education, then he should leave.

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    1. I have talked to several teachers from his tenure at Westside high and they reported the same despicable behavior.

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  2. I can not speak for how Dr. Brennan treats his staff, but I can speak for how he treats and speaks to parents. He insisted that I address him as Dr. while he referred to me as my son's mother, after I repeated my name twice. How is he suppose to teach respect when he does not give it to others. Also I have personally seen 2 episodes of special treatment for his friends. I was waiting in the guidance office (as were 10 other parents) waiting to speak with someone regarding the disaster scheduling nightmare, when Dr. Brennan walked in with a lady, walked up to the desk, snapped his fingers and told the lady behind the counter, "this is a friend, she is to be taken care of right away". She did not have to sign in nor did she wait the 1 1/2 hrs it took to see a counselor, she was in and out in less than 15 minutes. When can something be done about this dictator, why must out children suffer. Was stated in orientation, if you have a problem you are to go directly to him do not call the school board or any outside departments.

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    1. I will not defend Brennan or any other principal in an urban school. My observation is that urban school principals, usually black, are concerned with the efficient baby-sitting of urban kids, who are mostly black, and getting as much of them to pass the standardized tests to positively impact the school's grade and the principal's salary. The baby-sitting continues until the child reaches 18 and drops out or drops out before. There is no real concern for the well being and welfare of the black student; in the mind of the black principal the cut off point is approximately 18 years. I can remember distinctly Mr Hall telling us, all of the teachers in an assembly, that we have to think for them until they become 18 or leave. But, if Mr Hall was really concerned with the WHOLE BLACK CHILD he would implement a strict regimen of discipline and compliance in his school and get parents to buy in to his governing of a proper institution of learning. In this way he would be able to output better products for society.

      Knowing Brennan from Englewood High School, I can tell you he used to be real mad when students disrupted classes. He struck me as a no-nonsense principal who had zero tolerance for class disruption by students. My guess is that he is an old timer who believes that the school is an institution of learning and that no one at all has any right whatsoever to disrupt the learning process. I do think he is a very FRUSTRATED PRINCIPAL who is totally ashamed of the behavior of BLACK STUDENTS in our PUBLIC SCHOOLS, and the lack of involvement of their parents in their behavior, values, and education. Remember, he is a BLACK MAN with a DOCTORATE DEGREE; you have to be very disciplined to achieve that level of qualification.

      I would like to caution; " When you point a finger, three of them are pointing back to yourself ". When I worked at First Coast High, quite a few parents pointed their fingers at me with false accusations. Imagine - you the teacher - have to give a 17-year old a sheet of paper and a pencil,every class, and then at the end you have to pick them up from the floor/or desk, and there is no writing on the paper, but there are constant accusations, about you, to administrators, from his mother. Then, the Principal and AP's tell you;" You have to engage the kid". However, at the same time, you have a few other students with all sorts of disruptive behavior and a few could easily become 1/2 the class or more because they were totally aware that the administrators were totally detached and that all were left to the teacher who has zero power.


      I don't believe our purpose in life is to just pleasure ourselves and when a child is born send them to a school and say, "Hey I got one here, your job is to raise him for me". Many First Coast Parents target teachers because they see them vulnerable. And the targeting is strictly for the purpose of acquiring grades. SHAME!!! It is easier for American teachers to give passing grades because their primary consideration is one of economics. For teachers who originated from other cultures, many have to deal with the moral aspects of giving away grades and how that scenario affects the child for the remaining decades of their life. I had my experiences and I saw other teachers being ridiculed by parents even though the faults are with the parent and their child. In particular, they are vicious towards those teachers who originated from foreign lands and have foreign accents.

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    2. totally agreed!!!
      currently teaching at FCHS with same frustrations each day

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  3. First Coast High School did not suddenly become the cesspool it is. Apparently it continues further down the sewer network on its way to the Buckman Sewer Plant on Talleyrand, with Brennan as PILOT. Quite a hilarious scenario!

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  4. So, now that we begin mentioning names of BULLY PRINCIPALS, IDIOT PRINCIPAL, and ASININE PRINCIPALS, the Duval County School Board is reacting by replacing Principals' Names with Staffing Supervisors' Names, on the Teachers Vacancies List. Although this type of reaction seems silly, it is a welcome development because it seems that "VERY IMPORTANT PEOPLE" at the IVORY TOWER are beginning to worry, are monitoring Chris Guerrieri's Blog and his readers' comments, and have begun handing down instructions. I wonder how many of the Big Boys & Big Girls at The Tower are expending valuable time on this very important "EDUCATION MATTER".

    For some time now I wanted to comment on the List of Principals in Duval County Schools. One would observe that of recently the majority of Principals are Female and African American. There has been a FLIGHT of White Male Principals,in particular. Concurrently, has have been a Flight of White Male Teachers. I cannot speak eloquently as to the reason for the Flight of White Male Principals but I might surmise that its because of ALL the MEDIOCRITY coming down from the IVORY TOWER. It is quite noticeable that White Male Teachers are particularly disrespected in URBAN SCHOOLS and their persons and properties( such things as cell-phones and vehicles) are targeted by male students who intentionally disrupt classes and disrespect these male teachers because they consider them a threat. These men generally perform their duties within a decorum of discipline and as such do not use the terms - " Hi Sweetie" and "Honey, please stop disrupting my class".

    Of course there are no consequences for stealing a teacher's $600 phone or scratching a large image of a penis on his new truck. In fact, the Administration does not make an effort to get to the bottom of the matter, even though the teacher has reasonably strong suspicion as to who are the perpetrators. Oh, I wish that a list of the names, gender, and demographics of all Duval County Public Schools Principals be published so that we can see how efficient the Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action are at this time in our Great Democracy.

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  5. Any way you look at it, First Coast High School is the Southern Cotton Plantation, for teachers.

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  6. Now that commentators are stepping it up a notch, Vitti might have to step it up, too, with a large Monitoring Dept. Vitti might eventually be working as long hours as Duval teachers.

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  7. So now the Duval County School Board is playing the petty game of "Hide & Go Seek"; that is so hilarious! Come on Vitti, grow up, be a big boy, by publishing the names of the principals as you always did. Remember you and them are public officials, paid with public dollars. We must know who are the people leading our schools.

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