A Public School Principal (the PSP)

On a beautiful midsummer’s day, several teachers and a principal stood around a South Bronx black-top school yard, monitoring the dismissal of the students. The public school principal (PSP) stood near the gated entrance of the school yard, remarking upon the failed efforts of a teacher who had aspired to work in a chapter school during the upcoming school year. Four teachers took turns making listening noises and asking questions about the teacher in question. 

This teacher had been pursuing an employment opportunity over the summer at a charter school. The hiring principal asked the PSP about this teacher’s rapport with parents. According to the PSP, the hiree indicated that parents at the charter school took very active roles in the classroom, providing suggestions and giving feedback during instructional time.

The PSP shook her head and said that she could just imagine what would happen if a parent gave a suggestion to this teacherduring one of her lessons. Then, she reported that although the teacher had stated that she might not be returning for the new school year, at the end the spring semester, she had asked to be reinstated. So, the PSP complained about the hassle this would be, citing the extra wor, and the days it would take for the revised budget to be approved.

 Why was this matter being discussed by the public school principal (PSP)? Why did she shared this story with teachers who work under her supervision? Why didn’t the PSP simply gave the teacher a good review for her rapport with parents, thus preventing the current situation?  A number of reasons come to mind:

- The PSP thought she was helping the teacher out by preventing her from working in a situation where she might have to deal with more intrusive parents.

This rational was discarded, as the PSP make no other remarks to suggest that she was thinking of the greater good of the teacher at the charter school. In fact, she said that the teacher would not do well in this situation, according to her “imagination.” This imagination has no basis in reality, since the practice of parental involvement at the charter school has no real counterpart at the teacher’s current school.

- The PSP didn’t like that the teacher was leaving, and wanted to sabatoge her efforts. It was thus easier to go through the hassle of adding her salary to the budget, as much as it was complained about, then to devote energy towards finding a new replacement. It also gave her a sense of power over a potentially former employee’s future job prospects.

- The PSP didn’t want the teacher to be in the charter school environment because the PSP has problems herself with taking suggestions from outside parties, and projected that situation onto the teacher. Nor does the PSP feel comfortable with that type of parental involvement at her school site.

The PSP, throughout the conversation, appeared to attempt to generate sympathy for her position, due to the extra workload brought about by this change of events. So the two latter reasons seem to support her thinking, or rather reactions to the teacher’s potential circumstances at the new site.

However, how sympathetic a character can she really be, when she could have prevented the current situation by choosing to make a supportive recommendation for that teacher?

Ah, the beauty of self importance!

Mychal Bell’s $45,000 Bail

 

Mychal Bell’s $45,000 Bail

 

 

It’s Monday. Memorial Day to be exact. I’m home. I’m enjoying the peace and quiet. Except of course, for the noises I make, as I occupy my small nook of the North Bronx. Thank goodness I live by quiet neighbors, who by and large, try to make as little noise as possible as they go about living their lives as I go about living my own.

I’m catching up on my email. I’m in the midst of reading an article sent to me by my DOD the informer, who keeps me up to date on the goings on of the world. It features Mychal Bell and the Jena 6. The article, posted on www.cnn.com, reports that a judge set his bail at $45,000.

Out of habit, I continued reading the article, to find out what else had happened to this young man, actually, a juvenile, according to Louisiana law at the time. A few thoughts crossed my mind. I knew a former colleague who might have followed this case, as part of an interest in seeking alternatives to the current criminal justice system. But then, my eyes went back to the figure, $45,000. It was then that it hit me: the article said that Bell was released from custody after the judge set bail. That figure: 45K. Suddenly, it, by itself, loomed very large. Why?

I am aiming for $20,000 less for my own personal reasons, and even that seems like a very large sum of money, despite the fact that I make more than this per year. My salary, though, is spread out over time, and this decree, did not take a year for the judge to arrive at, if my knowledge of criminal proceedings serves me. But how much do I know anyway.

So, I am taking a close look at my assumptions. For one, I really have no idea of the purpose of bail. What is bail? I’ve found out that it is a security paid in exchange for release from imprisonment and as assurance for an appearance in court.

According to the article written about Mychal Bell’s association with the infamous Jena 6, he has had a sketchy history as a law-abiding citizen, and had broken his probation terms, which I would like to safely assume had some impact on the terms of bail set forth on his behalf. I wish I could know what legal factors come into play when setting bail. As I skim the article, looking for more information on this aspect of his situation, I read that Bell’s previous bail had been set for $90,000, twice as much as the more recent bond. At the time of publication, Bell’s was 17 years old. There are not many 17 year old young men, who have $90,000 lying around or even $45,000 lying around to pay in exchange for release from custody. So, I ask, what is the purpose of setting this figure so very high? And what is the precedent?

Several questions come to mind, as I consider this figure:

How does the system arrange for this to be paid?

What factors determine bail?

How is bail broken down in terms of expense?

How effective is bail , in terms of deterring crime in New Orleans, the Bronx, or the United States in general?

All feedback, and references information is welcome!