Challenges to Superintendent Carol Johnson in Boston

The recent report that Superintendent Carol Johnson did nothing after one of Boston's school principals was arrested and jailed on a domestic assault charge (five weeks after his wife gave birth to their son), a charge to which he plead guilty, and that she later wrote him a letter of recommendation has stirred things up in Boston. Per Boston.com:

Boston School Superintendent Carol R. Johnson took no disciplinary action after one of her headmasters was arrested and briefly jailed on a domestic assault charge, and even wrote a glowing letter of support to the judge who sentenced him. 

Rather than put Rodney Peterson on administrative leave — a common practice in government when an employee is arrested — records show that she did nothing, not even informing City Hall attorneys of the charges against the co-headmaster at one of Boston’s three exam schools.

City Councilor John Connelly (who chairs the Council's Education committee) called for her resignation; School Committee member Mary Tamer called for a Committee meeting to discuss it, which the chair, Rev. Gregory Groove, refused to call. Parents started a petition on change.org calling for her to resign or be fired; read more about it here. Supporters then had a rally in her support, one which administrators apparently encouraged employees to attend. 
Oh, and Johnson's former district of Minneapolis has now noticed.


As Connelly points out in the above linked article, this isn't just about Peterson:

Connolly pointed to “chaos” during the debate over moving schools and closing schools and a state inspector general’s report in April on the school district overspending on textbooks, among other incidents. The school year had rocky start as the system struggled to get buses to schools on time, which led to Mayor Thomas Menino to step in.The troubles come as the teacher union contract remains unresolved.

Also, in May, the Massachusetts School Building Authority stopped payments to the Boston Public Schools due to vacant space and the use of three school buildings that have closed on which the district is still receiving state funds.

In all of this furor, however, I should point out that there's actually only one opinion that really counts.

Tom Menino's.

Boston has a school committee which is appointed by the mayor. They serve entirely at his pleasure. Thus the news that Menino supports Johnson effectively ends the conversation.