Hiring Leon Dudley was a big mistake, Vicki Phillips

It was clear from the beginning that Leon Dudley was a poor choice to lead Jefferson High School.   Or any high school in Portland, for that matter.

Jennifer Anderson's latest report on Dudley's difficulties at Jeff --this time it's sexual harassment-- merely adds to the evidence that Dudley was a lousy choice for principal at the troubled North Portland high school.  Other than supposedly raising test scores in Texas, Dudley's resume as an educational leader is, to put it charitably, less than stellar:

• He lasted one year as principal of an Oregon middle school, where he reportedly alienated much of the teaching staff, before returning to Texas.
• He was under investigation for misuse of district credit cards before Phillips brought him to Portland. 
  
• In seven years, Dudley worked in five different high schools. 
• Willamette Week reported that Dudley left his last high school in "worse condition than he found it."

The bottom line is that a good principal and an effective educational leader should, at the very least, get along with his teachers.  That's what I said last August:

"No one with a documented  record of alienating rather than empowering teachers should be considered an 'educational leader.'  These are public schools, for godssake, not the Marines."

So when will you admit your mistake, Vicki Phillips?

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Speaking of Jeff, here's another problem that can be laid at the feet of Superintendent Phillips --her top-down, one-size-fits-all plan for Portland's schools (which has also alienated teachers.) 

Case in point is this vignette from a Jefferson High government class:

"On a recent afternoon, Repollet launches into the day’s discussion of George Orwell’s '1984' soon after the bell rings.

"Almost no one is paying attention. Two students stuff their iPod headphones in their ears and stare into space; a few girls sit at the back of the room chatting and diving into their lunch from Wendy’s; and a few more stroll in late and take their seats."

Some blame the kids for "disrespect".  I blame the district for standardizing the curriculum and making it more "rigorous".   Nothing against Orwell's classic, but why would anyone expect poor black teenagers from inner city Portland to take an interest in an English treatise on totalitarianism? 

Why not have them read something sure to pique their interest, something that might resonate with their own life experiences,  something like Claude Brown's Manchild in the Promised Land?

No disrespect to Ms Repollet.  Maybe they have read Manchild.    The point is that the one-size-fits-all model just doesn't work.  At least not in a diverse school district like Portland Public Schools.

Comments

[Anne]

Terry-

Actually, I think "1984" could be a great lesson in any high school, but especially at Jefferson. The students could take any of Phillips' speeches, and compare her bureaucratic doublespeak with the language intoned by the characters in "1984". More than one person has called Phillips' plans and motivation "Orwellian". "Academic rigor" and the infamous "Why should you trust me?" speech at Jeff come to mind.

The raw abuse of power and mind control in "1984" have many parallels in Bush era America.
Anne

[Terry]

Good point, Anne. I don't know how many times I've used the term "Orwellian" in the past couple of years.

But do you think those teenagers at Jeff even know who Vicki Phillips is?

[gus]

Jennifer Anderson's "Latest Trib Report" shows some current power struggles at Jefferson. Students against students and teachers as well as teachers against principal and students as evidenced by a teacher's indifference to student tardiness and misbehavior detailed in the article. Dudley's patronizing behavior toward students, employees and the central administration also evidences his need to have the upper hand.

We also know from past history that the Jeff community and teachers are hostile to changes they feel were forced upon them by the administration.

As student Mercedes Whitecalf was quoted in the last paragraph of the article, she thinks only a miracle can improve the learning environment at Jefferson.

Without positive cooperation of all stakeholders Jefferson will continue to decline in an atmosphere of non-cooperation and petty power plays. Nor is the problem restricted to the Jefferson cluster.

[Doris]

Is it just me, or is there a puzzling disconnect between what appears to be happening at Jefferson and the District/Vicki saying that there will be an IB Program at Jeff, as if that will somehow be a magic panacea to fix everything? I'm scratching my head...

[Chanell Hopson]

I am a student at Jefferson High and I have seen principle dudley maybe twice in the whole school year! These two times were pep assembleys. He broke his promises which were being in classes/offices for at least 24 hrs. a week. He is not bringing students to his side, but he is turning away many other students to come. He has involved unfair rules to the student body. We have no off-campus lunch, which we were fine with at first, but we were promised an alacart that we haven't recieved and probably hasn't crossed his mind. Three-fourths of Jefferson students dont eat lunch because of it. I am pissed! PLEASE GET RID OF THIS GUY MS. VICKY PHILLIPS! IM BEGGING YOU!

Chanell Hopson

[Tyrone White]

I agree with Chanell Hopson. We need to recieve the things we were promised or we should go back to last years scheduele. Dudley hasn't showed up to school much and I only see him at the sporting events. I don't even recognize him half of the time. To me, this guy is a joke and that is what he takes this school for!!!

Tyrone White Jr.

[Horrified Parent]

I agree. Leon Dudley has got to go. He has made Jefferson a toxic place to teach and to learn. I can no longer enter the school without feeling angry, hopeless, and terribly sad for the students.

The superintendent and school board is destroying Jefferson with their repeated disruptive reorganizations; obsession with imposing inequitable and extreme discipline policies that don't apply to students in other parts of the city; utter lack of concern about the lack of curriculum choices and enrichment opportunities for our children.

Students, parents, and teachers have been fighting tirelessly for real improvements, but the superintendent and school board refuse to listen. And Leon Dudley has unfortunately made a bad situation even worse.

[jefferson teacher]

Jefferson students are organizing a walk out to protest this jackass principal. He learned the plan and today (April 04) he scolded the whole teaching staff for half an hour. Jefferson's staff meeting looks like a broken family.

[Sascha]

To me, not only does it sound like this Vickie Phillips but this Leon Dudly also, do not know what a mess that they have caused.
I think that all students, no mater where they are within the Portland Public School system, should be treated fair and equal. Just because some go to one school vs another school, they should not be treated as differently as I have read/heard that they have.
I know I would not like to go to a school where there is one set of standards and then go to another school where the standards are totally different and both are within the same school district

[Air Jordans]

A man is not old as long as he is seeking something. A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.

[red bottom heel]

I follow you VIA GFC and I love your blog!

[mulberry alexa outlets]

Thanks, I'm going to have nightmares tonight.