School District Boss Tells Principals, "I Own You"

Only in Philadelphia. Now I know why my wife became a stay-at-home mom instead of working in this cesspool one day longer. Cassandra Jones, the city school district's chief academic officer who also is vying to become chief executive officer, yesterday denied telling a room full of principals, "I own you." Jones also said the principals' union took out of context a remark she made about possibly having to take off her earrings to deal with a speaker during the meeting last Friday. Of course they took the remark "out of context," because to say otherwise would expose you for a common thug, right Cassandra? Things got raucous at one point after Rachel Holzman, the district's assistant general counsel, made a point about the need to report all incidents, including less serious ones, Jones said. "They were yelling over her, and I stood back up and said, 'You all need to stop, you are being disrespectful. What she is saying is the law,' " Jones said. Oh, now I get it. Jones - who is receiving a pension as well as her ridiculous salary: don't ask - is the voice of reason amongst some out of control school principals. Boy, I can't tell you how often I was called to break up a rowdy melee involving principals. They're worse than crack dealers! She said that after the room had quieted, Vernard Trent, another district official, stood to address the 270 or so principals in attendance. In an attempt to lighten the mood, Jones said she told him: "If you don't say something uplifting to my principals, I'm going to take off my earrings. I want something uplifting or nothing at all." (H/T - The Philadelphia Daily News) Lovely. She was going to fight a fellow school district official if she didn't like what he said. This, my dear readers, is the essence of Philadelphia. If you have a disagreement with someone, don't talk it out, punch them in the face. And they wonder why our schools are in such despicable shape; the leaders are bigger thugs than the kids! Oh, and one more thing. After reading this article, I searched for a photo of Ms. Jones. The papers conveniently forgot to place one in the story, and I couldn't find anything on the web. This struck me as odd, because if a police officer, firefighter, or common schoolteacher made such remarks, their visage would be plastered all over the news. Could it be that Ms. Jones' race - she is African-American - played a part in the photo omission? Hmm . . .