“A Hasidic Jew is not somebody you’re going to find in Hempstead,” Dr. Shimon Waronker said.
Waronker has a Harvard Phd. and a history of working wonders. He’s now tasked with turning around a district with a paltry 48 percent graduation rate.
“I’m very hopeful,” he said. “I don’t see how my religion is going to affect –other than Jews value education, and I bring that philosophy and spirit to this district. And the children will be like my children.”
It’s a district fraught with administrative chaos, dysfunctional classrooms and alleged rampant nepotism
The former Army intelligence officer turned around violent city schools by suspending gang members, firing substandard teachers and instituting uniforms.
"One has to have discipline in order for there to be a safe community, but at the same time, there has to be love,” Waronker said.
Choosing him came as a result of the district’s first ever national search. Opponents say the community didn’t have enough input.
“The board majority took the liberty to sort of kind of silence the community,” Hempstead School Board member David Gates said. “This is going to be the new superintendent, and you have no say.”
The opponents are even planning a protest.
“This is a matter of racism, and that’s very sad. We have to come together instead of continuing to foster this otherness,” fellow school board member Melissa Figueroa said.
“The deadly seven words ‘that’s the way we’ve always done it,’ is a curse upon the Hempstead School District,” civil rights attorney Fred Brewington said.
Waronker, an immigrant from Chile, speaks fluent Spanish. He plans to begin with a listening tour, meeting every teacher one-on-one.
Waronker said he’s not deterred by high expectations, and it’s low expectations that for years have harmed the district.
His contract is for four years. He said a long term commitment is needed to make significant improvements.
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/05/05/dr-waronker-takes-over-li-district/
Reformers finally won a 3-2 majority last May when Melissa Figueroa won a one-year seat, but now she must run again in Tuesday’s election. She is opposed by two candidates, Deborah DeLong and Randy Stith, each allied with a warring faction.
Some in the old guard did not like the reform board’s recent appointment — by a 3-2 vote — of Shimon Waronker to the top job of all, superintendent. Waronker is an outsider and an innovative reformer. Already, opponents have scheduled a protest rally on Thursday, and some district insiders say a Figueroa loss next week could lead to an attempt by a board under traditional control to reverse Waronker’s hiring.
TL; DR- The people of Hampstead are frustrated because they believe they didn't get to choose a leader for their district and some are speculating that it has to do with his being Jewish/ the wrong color/ an outsider. They'll be protesting on Thursday to voice their disapproval.
If a man known for fixing problem schools comes to your poorly preforming district, would you protest his arrival even thought it would harm your child's education/safety?
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