It was described as a moment for us all to talk together about how we support and conduct civil discourse on our campus.. , and we spent a year delving into third world economic dependency theory. The administration quickly took them down, despite the fact that they were signed, per Nicholson-Flynns emailed directive. More allegations were lobbed, many of which concerned Redden. The school also has a $63.3 million endowment, per Riverdale. During Riverdales 2018 graduation ceremony, Shelby Stokes, the teacher whose classroom had been vandalized, spoke movingly about the incident a violation, she said, of what I consider to be a sacred space., Students rallied around her in a way that mended the hole in my spirit, she said in her speech, a video of which was viewed by HuffPost. Doerfler has had four articles published there beginning in 2012. To suggest Dominic [Randolph] or any school administrator would characterize the schools environment in any other way, and especially in the incomprehensible way [Keinans email] does in your note, is simply wrong.. Plunderbund Media filed the suit on May 10, demanding that Ohio's Department of Education produce all personal communications . For all of the coverage devoted to the supposed assaults on free speech perpetrated by the left on college campuses and the honking claims of persecution by the right, the real threats to liberal ideals within the academy come from the influential and powerful, people who can demand that a school stand in lockstep with their political agendas or risk losing out on their largesse. 1,260 student enrollment. In a statement on behalf of the school, he wrote: At Riverdale Country School, we believe that there should always be robust dialogue and debate of different points of view. It was the playbook of Israels, The saga was a parable of political correctness as it more commonly exists in America, beyond the apoplexies of, . Over the next two days, the furor continued unabated. One student, a rising senior at Riverdale, told me about a run-in with a group of other students. In her note, she announced a new policy with regards to the wall or any material posted on campus: They would have to be signed by a student, student group or faculty member. The group dispersed, and the student was left in tears. International Leadership Charter High School is a tuition free institution that aims to prepare the young men and women of the Bronx not only for the demands of higher education but also for leading lives of meaning. 03/14/2016 05:20 AM EDT. Fieldston, Elite Private School, Faces Backlash From Jewish Parents It is a blog founded by a Jewish reporter that is often very critical of Israel. The school also has a. Neither Levines nor Keinans emailed summaries of the meetings mentioned the alleged Islamophobia of the previous week. He also kvetched about one-sided indoctrination and identity politics., The metaphors started to float free from their moorings. In attendance from Riverdale were Randolph; Dan Rosen, vice chair of the board of trustees, who serves as a member of the board of the American Jewish Congress and was appointed by former President Barack Obama to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council; and Westin, the chair of the board of trustees, who, after leaving ABC News, landed a gig as an anchor for Bloomberg TV. by Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) one of my closest friends, Levine wrote and perhaps even inviting Deutch to speak at Riverdale. On May 21, Tal Keinan, the Israeli-born founder of Clarity Capital, emailed four other Riverdale parents with a draft of a letter that he planned to send to Randolph. The remaining two are current members of the Riverdale faculty. Visit Valencian Community: 2023 Travel Guide for Valencian - Expedia in the hallway outside his classroom. Charter school scandal haunts John Kasich - POLITICO She recalled the multicolored post-it notes of affirmation and love that filled her office. May 23, he was informed by Dominic Randolph, Riverdales head of school, that he would be placed on paid leave, pending an investigation. Valencia | History, Geography, & Points of Interest | Britannica Thomas Stern, also an invitee to the AJC meeting and the, chairman of the board of the Birthright Israel Foundation, , likened certain teachers to a tumor that needs to be excised from Riverdale. Because the school lists only funding ranges for donations in its annual report, it is possible the total is far greater. The next day, Levine sent a lengthy email from his wifes address recapping the meeting. On the morning of May 15, a day after Israeli soldiers shot and killed more than 60 largely unarmed Palestinian protesters on the GazaIsrael border and injured thousands more, Joel Doerfler, a history teacher at New York Citys elite Riverdale Country School, decided to post The New York Times front page headline and accompanying photos in the hallway outside his classroom. I would never have said that, because it is not what I believe, Redden, whose wife is Jewish, told The Forward. alone. A student who co-signed the support email found Randolphs response to be enervating and disheartening. The scam had several angles, the most lucrative of which involved enrolling thousands of students who never took any classes, as Voice previously reported . was the equivalent of supporting Hamas, ISIS, even terrorism in general. For about 30 years, the church and school have exposed boys and girls as young as 8 to sexual abuse, according to the . The report, "Charter School Vulnerabilities to Waste, Fraud And Abuse," combed through news stories, criminal records and other documents to find hundreds of cases of charter school. I had him as a teacher years ago, at Columbia Prep. However, Levine did note that he looked forward to seeing many of the emails recipients at yet another, much larger follow-up meeting on May 31, which would be held at the, (AJC), a pro-Israel and pro-Jewish nonprofit advocacy organization and the former publisher of the neoconservative magazine Commentary. Not only because of [Doerflers] own, demonstrated integrity as an educator, the alumnus said via email,but because Riverdale would never allow that to happen., But on June 11, no one voiced any such support for Doerfler, Redden or other members of the faculty. Near the meetings onset, someone read aloud a letter Bernstein had written to the board of trustees: What I see is a systematic effort through curriculum, choice of faculty, and teaching style to indoctrinate our children in a political and social agenda. He also took issue with the, curriculum, specifically the environmental damage that Walmart has caused in world history class, the study of mass incarceration in [inaudible], and extensive focus on slavery, racism, almost to the exclusion of everything else, in . 5 lawsuits allege child sex abuse at Riverdale Assembly of God church, school. Jason Blossom's was the biggest character death on Riverdale it kickstarted the mysterious stream of crime in the town and got everybody in a flurry over who killed the star athlete who had been a perfect son and student. Schreiber did not explain why, despite all the echoing, he has continued to enroll his kids at Riverdale for the past 15 years. It is the capital of the province of the same name.The wider urban area comprising the neighbouring municipalities has a population of around 1.6 million, constituting one of the major urban areas on the . But Randolph sees things as we do, according to Keinan, and is committed to addressing the issue at its source. A formal communication from Randolph would be forthcoming. This is not, I hasten to say, because the subject is any more complicated, or difficult to research, or more ethically elusive than other subjects. Parents aired a number of long-simmering grievances, claiming some of their children were being unfairly persecuted and laying out a vast, unfounded conspiracy of leftist indoctrination and speech suppression on the part of the faculty. Blagden arrived at Horace Mann in 1980 after several short high-school teaching stints and a job in admissions at Columbia University, where, for three dollars an hour, he would interview. If the class were to remain a part of the curriculum, Levine went on, Doerfler should not be permitted to continue teaching it. Riverdale Elementary School | Courtland VA - Facebook (She identified herself in the meeting, but for the sake of her daughters privacy I wont name her.) In a statement, Harris confirmed that the AJC was asked by members of the Riverdale community to host the May 31 meeting. A small but vocal minority of pro-Israel students responded by putting up a slew of articles and handwritten post-it notes all around the perimeter of Doerflers initial posting, practically enveloping it. The international charter chain, whose first . The claim that Mr. Redden stated Israelis are all terrorists is a complete fallacy, one of the students told HuffPost via email. Once again, little to no information was provided about what was transpiring on campus in terms of the postings on the wall and the allegations of Islamophobia. In response, Randolph, the head of school, sent this email on May 30: I deeply respect your writing this message to me and understand your feelings in regard to Mr. Redden, a teacher whom I also admire and respect. Like Doerfler, it wasnt hard to deduce where Redden landed on the political spectrum. Levine also promised the parents that Randolph, Rosen and Westin are going to take real action, starting with a board meeting to discuss the parents agenda. I asked for comment from the Riverdale administrators, only to be handed off to a man named Michael McKeon. On May 29, as promised, school officials met with Levine, Berger and Keinan. (A classmate who was present backed up the students account.). The graduate was thinking about Doerflers canceled course, how necessary it seemed, especially in moments like this when the world is trying to hide the way it works. On the morning of May 15, a day after Israeli soldiers shot and killed, more than 60 largely unarmed Palestinian protesters, on the GazaIsrael border and injured thousands more, Joel Doerfler, a history teacher at New York Citys elite Riverdale Country School, decided to post The New York Times, front page headline and accompanying photos. In recalling the incident, the student expressed deep regret for having explicitly criticized Jewish students, saying it was wrong to have done so, especially when there was no way to determine who was responsible for the postings in question. I can promise you that. Still, Bernstein, a Riverdale alumnus and the father of both a 2016 graduate and rising senior, donated upward of $50,000 in the 201617 and 201516 fiscal years, between $10,000 and $24,999 in the 201415 and 201314 fiscal years and between $5,000 and $9,999 in 201213, per Riverdales annual report. Also, Palma Repole, an educator at Ethical Culture Fieldston School who is also heavily involved with the "Stop the Charter School" campaign, was unaware. I welcome the time with my five-month-old son and am excited to get back in the classroom soon, said Redden, who declined to comment beyond his email. The 5 most serious charter school scandals in 2019 and why they Like Doerfler, it wasnt hard to deduce where Redden landed on the political spectrum. If Riverdale wanted to create a [inaudible] class on the Civil Rights movement, and they were looking for a teacher to teach that class and in the process of interviewing candidates to teach they found a teacher who was a white supremacist clearly that teacher would not be considered, Levine said. The lawsuit announced Monday by the Indiana attorney general's office comes nearly two years after Indiana Virtual School and . At the same time, all community members students, faculty, and staff must be treated at all times with respect as outlined specifically in our Principles of School Life. And soon what began with a headline and a few photos posted on a wall outside a Bronx classroom would come to involve a multimillion-dollar Jewish advocacy organization and a number of influential supporters of Israel. in support of their teacher on June 6 and then again on June 7. Taking specific action with regards to Redden. One parent, the mother of three Riverdale students, including the student who stood up and left Reddens class, was an invitee to the AJC meeting. What I heard flew in the face of everything were taught to believe about education, which begins with the centrality of teaching children how to think, not what the party line ought to be.. In 2011, Redden was participating in the Occupy Wall Street protests at Zuccotti Park and insisting on more concrete demands. One student said some of the articles on the wall were culled from ultra-conservative sites. Multiple sources described the later postings as Islamophobic. It was, they said, as charged a political atmosphere as theyd ever experienced on campus. As Doerfler would himself learn, though, there are limits to Riverdales soft progressivism. ISRAELIS KILL DOZENS IN GAZA, read the headline, to which Doerfler added a personal note: Doerfler, now 74 years old, had been a member of the faculty at Riverdale for more than 25 years, heading the history department since 1992. A small but vocal minority of pro-Israel students responded by putting up a slew of articles and handwritten post-it notes all around the perimeter of Doerflers initial posting, practically enveloping it. The story of the A3 online charter school empire is one of the largest charter school scandals in U.S. history. From 201416, his wife volunteered to serve on the schools annual fund drive. Should she choose to leave, Redden told her, it would impact her final grades. One student, a rising senior at Riverdale, told me about a run-in with a group of other students. The administration quickly took them down, despite the fact that they were signed, per Nicholson-Flynns emailed directive. More common was the sentiment expressed by a parent named Brad Bernstein. If so, the incidents would be fully investigated, Nicholson-Flynn promised. Action is the key word, not sympathy and maybe all these acts will snowball into freedom in South Africa and equality closer to home. Nicholson-Flynn sent an email addressed to all upper school students and Riverdale employees on the morning of May 18, decrying the use of both anti-Arab and anti-Semitic language and suggesting that students consult the, Upper School Student Handbook to see if any of the behavior during the past week constituted harassment. In the email, which was obtained by HuffPost, Levine wrote that while theyd made their feelings known in multiple previous meetings with the administration, concrete results were not achieved. But the tension had not solely been confined to the hallway. Nor did he mention that he and his wife donated between $10,000 and $24,999 in 201617 and $5,000 and $9,999 in 201516 and 201415. A series of emails followed, the recipient list growing with every one. By mid-June it was all over. I firmly believe that no teacher has attempted to allow students to consider all sides of an argument as Mr. Redden has, the student continued. Whatever their present anxieties, Riverdale students are personally invested in the schools greatness, as a recent alumnus put it. Ethical Culture Fieldston, one of New York City's most proudly progressive private schools, is facing a backlash over its handling of race, religion and ethnicity for the second . ', Berger, Keinan and Levine did not respond to a request for comment. They were unanimous in their assessment of the campus and its intellectual climate, though something of the current climate was also suggested by the fact that all but one insisted on anonymity, for fear of reprisals. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. I will be forever grateful for your intervention.. At one point in the meeting, some teachers were likened to a tumor that required immediate removal. 980 were here. Voices were raised, but no one struck any tables. A select group of parents got involved. Influential parents accused Riverdale Country School of leftist "indoctrination," and now two teachers are gone. Doerfler introduced us to Paulo Freires Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and we spent a year delving into third world economic dependency theory. They alleged that students who expressed conservative political opinions were bullied into silence or coerced into writing papers and expressing opinions contrary to their beliefs. Instead, parents were treated to an expanded version of the talking points and unsubstantiated allegations described in the emails and aired at the AJC meeting. For now, Riverdale seems to be treating the issue as closed. A 20-page single-spaced dossier with personal testimonials from a dozen students was presented to the administration. Voices were raised, but no one struck any tables. Carol Burris is executive director of the Network for Public Education. A charter school run by UCP of Central Florida appears to have altered student education plans to show children needed more intensive services than really required, wrongly boosting its funding by nearly $60,000, according to an ongoing Orange County Public Schools investigation. I resigned on principle because it would have been ignominious to return under such circumstances. Parents aired a number of long-simmering grievances, claiming some of their children were being unfairly persecuted and laying out a vast, unfounded conspiracy of leftist indoctrination and speech suppression on the part of the faculty.