South Philly High's principal: not good enough for New Jersey schools

LaGreta Brown, principal of South Philadelphia High School, was recruited for the Philadelphia School District even though her faculty at Atlantic City High School gave her a no-confidence vote when she was principal there. Furthermore:

The New Jersey State attorney general’s office also once tried to strip her of her administrative license after allegations that she had endangered children by ordering the fire alarm system of Atlantic City High School to be dismantled during a trash-can fire. The charges, however, were dismissed by the NJ Department of Education in 2007 after an investigation [PDF].

After the “no-confidence” vote, Brown was later transferred to lead an alternative high school. She was then sent to an elementary school in the district.

An article in the Press of Atlantic City on Nov. 4, 2006 said that the “no confidence” vote came after allegations that she "mistreated students and staff."

The Philadelphia Public School Notebook blog continues with an explanation of why Brown was considered unfit to lead a high school:

In 2000, shortly after she became the first female principal of Atlantic City High, a warrant was issued when she failed to appear in court for a harassment suit from a former cafeteria worker. In 2002 [ ... ] the city fire department found 63 fire violations in the building, with two counts of falsifying fire reports "that lead directly back to Brown," according to the Press. And a teacher who accused her of harassment after she denied him a day off to observe Passover resigned after he realized she would not be reprimanded.

Brown was suspended with pay in 2007 from her position at the New York Avenue school for unspecified charges of "insubordination."

The article paints a portrait of an autocrat with demonstrated insensitivity to cultural diversity and little respect for the courts. And yet the Philly public schools actively sought her out to lead South Philadelphia High School. Since giving lip service to Asian immigrant students before the school year began, she has "failed to meet with the Asian community groups" that she promised she would work with and has not had the courtesy or basic professionalism to return their phone calls.

Why the Philadelphia schools thought that someone who was barely fit to run an elementary school in Jersey should lead a troubled urban high school of over 1400 teenagers is beyond me.