DISTURBING PATTERNS: THE HISTORY WE’RE DOOMED TO REPEAT PART I

The crackerjack research unit of Team Unruly has spent the past few months combing the archives of alternative media sources from around the country. Our goal is to prove through a preponderance of evidence that ESUHSD Superintendent Esperanza Zendejas has an established history that validates the lack of confidence ESUHSD employees, students and parents have in her leadership. We see these as disturbing patterns of behavior, echoes of failed policy decisions and divisive management practices from her experiences in other districts that relate to current events in the East Side.

Recently we uncovered a wealth of material from The Indianapolis Recorder, an alternative press newspaper predominately serving Indianapolis’ African-American community. Over the next few months we’ll publish these articles to draw parallels between Zendejas’ history and similar events that are taking or have taken place during her tenure in East Side.

This month’s focus is on the firing of African-American administrators. In Indianapolis, Zendejas’ axe-weilding management style was sharply criticized when she announced a reduction in site administrators, most of whom were black. A few weeks later, that decision was rescinded. Read the stories from the Indy Recorder first. We’ll follow with analysis and a recent tale from the ESUHSD.

Are Black principals out at IPS?

Indianapolis Recorder; 12/21/1996; Tysha Hardy-Seller

The Indianapolis Public Schools Board voted 4-3 on Dec. 10 to notify 12 principals of their possible dismissal. The basis of their tenure is academic performance. Since her installment, Superintendent Esperanza Zendejas and the School Board Commission have been formulating a plan that would produce academic prowess and progress throughout the system from students, administrators and teachers.

The formula for academic success included statewide and national achievement tests and adherence to the district's accountability plan.

The administration will formally release the principals' names to the board in January. A total of 12 principals will receive notice early February, 1997 of their possible dismissal. The superintendent's original plan would have warned 17 principals, but some board members were concerned that principals new to schools would be unjustly punished.

"There are a lot of different points of view on what the factors should be," said Superintendent Zendejas.

She continued, "As superintendent I was given a major responsibility to make sure that students make academic progress. As we measure it on the results of the scores we need to make improvements. Even if the results are improved by just a few percentage points. In some of our middle schools 80 percent of our students are failing. That's simply not acceptable. We did make improvement from last year, but some schools didn't. I want the principals to focus on these factors as well," Zendejas said.

Board member Hazel Stewart believes that the real question is why does IPS have to go under such harsh scrutiny when township schools are not or must not be achieving as well.

"IPS is his hard by the 340 and 256 laws (applying to academic achievement and desegregation). We may be the largest school system in the state, but if we are so bad in testing scores as they say - the 75th in the nation - wouldn't the score of the other school systems raise us higher than that? If you ask me, everyone needs help. Why is IPS targeted?" Stewart said. "Now getting back to the principals, I think that they are getting a raw deal. Let's look at it. Out of 16 or 17 principals originally listed nine of them are Black. Out of the nine principals listed in the Indianapolis Star, six of them are Black. Are we eliminating our Black principals? I can't say minority, because that means beneath or below and that does not describe us, but are we eliminating our Black principals?" she questioned.

Zendejas commented, "The list I initially had was balanced. The Board asked me to adjust the list. They did not like some of the recommendations. When they told me to amend the list I told them that it would look different. That it would look unbalanced. I want to make it clear that this notification does not mean that the principals will not have a job."

Board member Michael Rodman said that there are many factors that went into making the decision.

"Last year basically everyone was on the list. The criteria for the decision was that the schools on the list did not make progress or they improved only a little but not enough to get off academic probation. But, I am pretty confident that a majority of the schools will get off of the list. I am very confident. This is sort of a legal requirement. We cannot renew a principal’s license unless we give them some notice. Even if the principals do not have those positions they will probably still be workings with IPS in another capacity. When all of the results come in I truly expect that a majority of the schools and principals will be off the list," Rodman said.

Some principals, who were named in the Dec. 5 Indianapolis Star article, respect the superintendent for the role that she is in. Others feel smeared by the media and do not wish to speak on the matter.

Janice Newsom, principal of School 43, who was listed in the article under the headline "9 principals whose positions are on the line" said that she respects the superintendent's decision, but is also concerned about the criteria of the board.

"Zendejas is doing the job that the board hired her to do. It's unfortunate, but some of us are caught up in the mix. It's also frustrating because the criteria for these decisions depends on our test scores. Our test scores have improved for the last two years. We are on the academic probation virtually by a hair. In some respects we should not be. Half of a percentage point. Attendance for our teachers was also off by a percentage point. We were short just by a hair on almost every factor on the accountability list for schools," she said.

Newsom continued, "I guess it's frustrating because we are giving a standard criteria when mostly all of the schools are starting at different levels. I can be showing more progress than another school in the district but that is not taken into account. Our colleagues understand that this is not because we are not good administrators. But, the publicity around all of this is so negative that we also fall into the negative light, no matter if it's true or not. Now with our names ending up in the Star we have felt a lot of repercussions."

"In our 1996 state accreditation, we surpassed every standard. Our school received awards. I guess what's most frustrating is that the criteria of the board seems incongruent with what's going on. That's just my story. My colleagues may have different stories. I respect the superintendent for doing the job that the board has expected her to do. But, I question what the board really wants done. That's the concern."

Joyce Macke, president of Indianapolis Education Association, the union representing nearly, 3,000 IPS teachers, believes the use of test scores as the only criteria is unfair.

"I believe it is very unfair the way the principals are being treated based on one factor, the test scores, and being told that they may not have a principal job. The majority of the schools are middle schools. Across the nation middle school students test scores are not that of the previous years'. A lot of that is due to the students having a lot of different things on their minds.

I am disturbed that board didn't seemed to be bothered that one criteria seemed to be used in this decisions. That bothers me. It doesn't matter that the principals brought the attendance of their school up. It doesn't matter that parent participation is up. It is just not fair," she said.

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Just how much of this history has repeated in the East Side? We all know about the administrative shuffling. Last year, Art Darin headed up the REACH project, similar to the Accountability Plan Zendejas initiated in Indianapolis (REACH seems to have been superceded by the budget crisis and the administrative exodus that relegated Art Darin to the Silver Creek principal position). Zendejas used the threat of pink slips to force Indy’s principals to improve; she bragged about pink slipping administrators in her first meeting with East Side’s principals. Zendejas used Indianapolis’ major newspaper, the Indianapolis Star, to demoralize the principals she intended to axe; according to a Team Unruly informant, Dr. Zendejas contacts San Jose Mercury News’ Jon Fortt to provide him a variety of contact numbers every time she goes out of town.

And we don’t have to remind Unruly Advocate readers about how many times she used her Information Minister at the Mercury News to attack the teacher’s union.

Another disturbing parallel has to do with the reaction from those targeted Indianapolis administrators, like IPS’ Janice Newsom. Her statement to the Indy Recorder in 1996 echoes an opinion rapidly spreading throughout the East Side: “Zendejas is doing the job the Board hired her to do. [ . . . ]But, I question what the board really wants done. That's the concern." In other words, Zendejas doesn’t issue commands; she just follows orders.

Indianapolis has a large African-American population; in fact, the largest demographic in the IPS system is African-American. Every agency tied to public education knows finding qualified administrators of color is an challenging national dilemma. Over half of the principals Zendejas wanted to fire in IPS were African-American. And when the IPS Board moved against her overall school restructuring plan, the Recorder claims “it was clear that Zendejas was not pleased with the vote.”

Team Unruly followed up on the story with a few phone calls to reporters in Indianapolis. We learned Zendejas eventually managed to dismiss some administrators. One of them was a former IPS student whose childhood mirrored the daily lives of many IPS students: born into a single-parent family in one of Indianapolis’ most poverty stricken areas, he graduated from an IPS high school, went on to college, and returned to teach in his community. He was driven out of IPS and became an award-winning and beloved superintendent in a neighboring township district, where he works to this day. Zendejas left IPS about six months later.

The parallel story? In March of 2004, all but one African American administrator in the East Side received a pink slip and a letter stating their contracts would be terminated by the end of June. Rick Callendar, president of the South Bay chapter of the NAACP, tried to speak to the issue at a Board meeting on at least two separate occasions. When he seemed he would finally have his opportunity to speak to the matter, the Board agenda was suspiciously altered, preventing Mr. Callendar from addressing the matter on public record. By the end of the month, the pink slips were rescinded, but a number of those administrators received a demotion.

Are we implying Zendejas is racist? No. In fact, most of her public comments about race emphasize promoting and celebrating diversity. We’re just showing that two similar events took place in two different districts under her tenure.

How did the East Side Board’s only African-American Trustee respond when he discovered all but one African American administrator received a pink slip? No one but Craig Mann knows for sure, but this interesting article, “Fight the Power” from the Metro archives, will clue you in on the depth of Mann and Callendar’s personal conflict (editor’s note: those who’ve explored the Unruly Advocate’s website will also notice a curious pattern of gratuitous attack e-mailing): Metroactive Article.

It's also worth noting that Rick Callendar tried to raise his concerns about Zendejas with the Mercury News. He had a frustrating conversation with the Information Minister, who spent the majority of the conversation defending Zendejas in response to Callendar's criticisms. Fensterwald tersely acknowledged the NAACP's criticisms in this line from the Merc's "September report card": "And there is a perception among some teachers and community leaders that she is remote and autocratic. She has angered some in the African-American community who feel she has ignored issues they raised." (read the whole editorial here: www.mercurynews.com) As usual, there are no specifics concerning "the issues they raised." One specific item was laying off nearly every African-American administrator in the district.

We’ve got more—a lot more—from the Indianapolis Recorder. Look for Part II in the April edition of the Unruly Advocate.