AP OF SOCIAL STUDIES, in the Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics...
AP
ALBETTA IN HIS OWN WORDS
AP
ALBETTA IN HIS OWN WORDS
PART I: The ramblings of an idiot
This article contains a transcribed
dialogue between a passionate social studies student and Assistant Principal of
Social Studies, AP Dan Albetta. This interview took place in 2010 one month after Mr.
Albetta took over as AP of the department.
The red writing shows Albetta’s
responses to the student’s questions which are posted in blue.
Note: Some of the students dialogue was edited out because it contained long opinions that were too long to transcribe. However, if you follow the link, you can hear it all.
I will post my commentary which was NOT part of this original interview in regular black and white text in between the questions but I am adding it in retrospect after hearing this sad interview.
Student in Blue:
- Can you tell us a little about your role as AP of the History Department Here?
Mr. Albetta:
“Well my job is to help facilitate
the uh teachers in the SS dept and what I do here is I make sure they have what
they need. That’s one part of the job such as chalk, or a smartboard and the
other part is giving them to the opportunity to keep developing as educators
like sending them off to workshops and then the last part about like what I
would do is um I make sure that they’re uh teaching, make sure there is some
type of format, lesson plans and yaknow do um some observations to um make sure
everyone is following the curriculum they’re supposed to.”
Commentary: In my opinion Mr. Albetta doesn't have a clue about what his role is or should be. Apparently, he thinks providing chalk is the first priority he mentions after facilitating the teachers. Then he never mentions how HE HIMSELF can help improve a teacher's improvement. Instead he opted to say that he sends them off to workshops! Then, he states what is plainly obvious: HE MAKES SURE TEACHERS ARE TEACHING. WOW. Finally, he says doing some observations to make sure everyone is following the curriculum like they're supposed to. Hilariously, later on in the interview he actually states that he DOESN'T KNOW THE CURRICULUM HIMSELF! I'm sorry. After one month an AP should know the curriculum in the department they head. Actually, it should be a prerequisite for them even to be HIRED IN THE FIRST PLACE. Also, notice how he never once mentions students in his role as AP. In my opinion his answer should have been as follows...
-As Assistant Principal of the Social Studies Department it is my responsibility to ensure that students taking Social Studies courses receive the best possible education MCSM has to offer. As the educational leader of the department my primary duty is to assist the teachers in our department in achieving these same goals. In doing so, my job is to support them and help them grow professionally by leading by example and doing everything within my power to make sure they are constantly growing as educators and providing the best pedagogical services to the students within our school community.-
- Can you tell us how the curriculum is set up in this particular school?
“Well, theres two um regent courses
given, the first is US umm History and um thats a regent bearing course and the
second is the global, global ummm history goes to um usually fre-freshman
sophomores they take the regent and the upper classmen will take the US History
in their senior year. And then there are other electives which uh honestly I’m
still learning about but I know economics is a big elective in this school and
there other contemporary views in history and there there are some other
electives being offered as well.”
Commentary: As you can tell by his manner of speech the constant stammering and stuttering is an indicator that he does not have strong knowledge of the curriculum. He doesn't even know one single elective that HIS DEPARTMENT OFFERS. He begins to ramble about contemporary views for no apparent reason. He doesn't even name teachers who teach electives and regents courses in his department. He finishes by simply stating there are other electives as well.
- Has it always been this way?
“That um I would probably say no
because like the education business like any other type of um business it
constantly has to be redefined, reorganized, our times are always changing. So
for example the um the meltdown of all the banks within the last year economics
has become a hot point because you talk about Lehman Brothers and the collapse
of such yaknow um giants. You can’t look at a curriculum for lets say economics
that followed a model of lets say ten years ago when before this existed. So you
have to always keep looking at what the current needs are for our society and
that’s what history is.”
Commentary: The student asks him an extraordinarily easy YES or NO question but in a classic political deflection statement he responds by saying he would probably say NO. Probably? really? Just say you don't know. Then continuing this bureaucratic filler response he says that education is a BUSINESS that has to constantly be changed! Then later on in the same interview he literally says that "Maybe going back is always the best idea!" Back to this response...He goes on to mention the economic crisis and LEHMAN BROTHERS is probably why economics courses are so abundant. Then in the biggest faux-pas he says that a decade old curriculum model in economics doesn't address the current needs for society! Then he says that's what history is. Actually, teaching the old model and using it as an example of the aspects of it that failed would be history teaching. History lesson number 1: Those who don't know the past are destined to repeat it. However, in Mr. Albetta's infinite wisdom, removing it from the curriculum is better. Jesus. By the way, at this point in transcribing I was beginning to vomit in my own mouth because of how disgusted I was at Mr. Albetta's total lack of comprehension of his role and his department.
- Do you have a US Government Course in this school?
“Um yes there’s a US Government …course,
yes there is and …what it entails, I could send you to those teachers and they
could um really tell you what the curriculum I don’t have the curriculum in
front of me I’d be happy to share it with you but um they could tell you
exactly what goes on in the US Government.”
Commentary: Okay, finally he says yes. Then he completely drops the ball and defers the knowledge within these courses to the teachers that teach U.S. Government. Ironically, he U-rated one of the best U.S. history teachers in the school and took part in a conspiracy with the principal to remove this teacher. In the hearing Mr. Albetta lied about several items under OATH. However, at this point he would send a curious student to learn about the course to that very same teacher he vindictively called incompetent despite the teacher having an outstanding student achievement rate for several years prior to current. Yet notice how charming he is in the interview. He would be HAPPY to send the student to learn about the curriculum. Now, go back to question 1 and you see how he states his job is to make sure teachers follow the curriculum but here he openly admits he DOESN'T KNOW THE CURRICULUM! Wow. Just Wow.
- I know in previous years seniors were required to take government would you happen to know why this changed?
“I don’t know what facilitated those
changes, um, I’m new, to the um dept. but um it is a good question and um ugh
um and you’ve (stammering) the question um well the question I would ask you do
you think this change was good or bad?”
Commentary: This one is a true classic. On full display he shows no prior knowledge of what the previous AP of SS did and then in a defensive manner states he is new which in his mind lets him off the hook for not having departmental, or curriculum knowledge at this point. For the record, he was in this position for 30 days. I think that's MORE than enough time to understand the history of the departmental important decisions and doesn't mean he just started the job that day as he makes it seem. Then, realizing he is in a corner, simply uses the good old tactic of answering a question with a question to save himself further embarrassment.
Student Responds…Edited Out
“Ok these are things that are good
to know because now I can go back to the dept. and um yaknow ask them what what
happened.”
Commentary: Hilarious. He compliments the interviewer and then continues to show his lack of knowledge of what is going on in his department. These are classic examples of sociopath behavior. Now he pretends to be the hero by going in and correcting this problem he didn't even know existed until just now!
- Do you know if the changes will be corrected? (summarized)
“I don’t know why they made the
change in the first place so until I investigate and ask questions why they did
this I can’t answer that question but at the same point it’s valid and yaknow
it’s something that should be looked at, for sure.”
Commentary: Pay close attention to his choice of words. He wants to investigate. Why did he say investigate? Why not just say until I find out why this happened I cannot answer definitively? He wants to INVESTIGATE. He wants to use his power. Then he sides with the interviewer again, continuing to use his charm. He feels like the interview is going his way now. He's regained control.
Student gives opinion… Edited Out
- What do you think is more important a third semester of history or government?
“Well yaknow there’s a lot of
pressure on the city schools to increase the testing, increase the scores the
testing if indeed let’s say the 3rd semester of US had a direct
correlation to with improving grades we’d have to look at the history to see
what were the grades yaknow before they did this and how have they improved and
um because the realties between improving testing and let’s say improving
general knowledge those are the big questions in education today. What is more
important? Testing improving grades or or that and and the general knowledge
which I believe there is probably a balance somewhere. Now, how do we achieve
that balance? That is something that is worked on between the department and I
guess you have to analyze the data because it’s only recent as the 3rd
semester of US History has taken effect. I know Ms. Peralta who was the SS AP
last year she this was something she initiated. Now the effects of it will only
be felt within the next year or so after we’ve had at least one year to try it.
And then then at the end of the day, at the end of this year, yaknow we’ll take a good look at it and see
did it really improve things? And if not, maybe it’s always a good idea to go back.”
Commentary: He answers an in-school inquiry by pontificating on local educational politics and how they apply to the courses being offered. Then suddenly out of nowhere he remembers who the departmental AP was before him who was OBVIOUSLY the one who made the changes that the student was so concerned with. Why didn't he just mention her before? Did he just suddenly have an employee wide epiphany? If so, that's pretty scary. Then he drops the ball again and says that's something handled in the department when in reality it's directly handled by him. Then he summarily contradicts what he said earlier about education constantly evolving by saying, MAYBE IT'S ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA TO GO BACK? Is anyone else out there smashing there head against the wall trying to understand this guy? He isn't speaking properly. He's responding with run-on sentences and putting his incompetence on full display throughout the interview and contradicting himself to boot. YIKES.
- Ok so How about between economics and govt because there's an economic course but not government? Do you have any idea why they replaced government instead?
“Again, I don’t know why the dept
made these decisions, I’ve only been in this seat for about a month. But um, the
most probably cause I I would probably look at is economics has played such a
key role within the last few years and um yaknow literally the world not just the
United States Government but the world has been in economic collapse and I think that
probably has fueled yaknow the change in economics taking more of a um I would
say a dominating position as far as the electives.”
Commentary: Um, didn't he JUST say former AP Peralta was in charge of Social Studies? WOW. Then he goes on to try and show that he has a global perspective by making an educated guess to why Economics is offered so much. Then he makes a correlation between the global economic crisis and the United States Government. I don't even see how that's relevant to her question! Again, he's responded ambiguously with run-on sentences.
- Students should be involved but they can’t be involved if they’re not informed and they’re informed at school. If they’re not required to take government cause do you think they would take it?
“It It It’s certainly a valid
question. Um but I also believe that yaknow students have to be prepared when
they leave HS to go on to college of course but also have some sort of working
knowledge of the systems and and while it seems like economics has been yaknow
in the media throughout the world yaknow U.S. um the govt is absolutely
important as well. Especially govts throughout the world are constantly
changing our government is constantly in change mode ya have ta always keep up
with times and reinvent the wheel so to speak. So it’s certainly well something
that should be looked at for sure in the upcoming yaknow meetings with the SS dept
meetings.”
Commentary: OK. Now the babbling and rambling is in full effect. He doesn't even answer the question and again begins to reflect on the global economy when the student asked if students would CHOOSE to take government if it wasn't required and she never got an answer. He says students HAVE to be prepared and have some sort of working knowledge of the systems. WHAT SYSTEMS IS HE REFERRING TO? Your guess is as good as mine. She never once mentioned world governments but Mr. Albetta took it upon himself to speak on the topic. Then the most idiotic thing I've ever heard is his idea that people have to keep up with the times and reinvent the wheel. Really? Really? Seriously Mr. Albetta? You think Social Studies students need to learn to reinvent the wheel? That sounds more like a physics issue and a horrible one at that. Then he says it's something that should be looked at but no one knows what that IT is at this point because of his tangential ranting.
- Do you feel the students are well prepared going into college with their background in U.S government in general and who they wanna vote for and why they should vote?
“Well, uh, (gasp) that question
would be impossible for me to answer at this particular point because I
honestly don’t um know what is um what the curriculum is for government and who is
actually teaching it but between the internet I honestly do believe the
students at MCSM are sophisticated, they’re intelligent and if if our students
had a desire to learn about the candidates in the upcoming elections I’m sure
our students being as sophisticated that they are could in fact learn things
through the internet, through the blogs,
now that doesn’t take away from a formalized education in school but at the
same time there has to be decisions made and very often those decisions don’t
make everybody happy.”
Commentary: This response takes the cake. You can tell by the gasp his brain is already scrambled after just ten easy pitch and catch questions. Then after stammering he says it. "I HONESTLY DON'T KNOW WHAT THE CURRICULUM IS FOR GOVERNMENT AND WHO IS TEACHING IT." He should have been fired the minute he spoke those words. One month on the job and he doesn't know the curriculum for arguably one of the most important subjects in the school NOR does he KNOW who is teaching it!!!! But he said earlier in the interview he would refer the student to THE US GOVT teachers so they could explain the curriculum better!!! WOW. As if it could not get any worse he spoke over 100 words and did not form one complete sentence. Notice the entire response is a run-on blurb full of grammar errors and unprofessional lingo. Let's not forget he totally dodges the question and defers to the INTERNET as what students should use to gain political insight! OK, WELL I HOPE THEY ARE ALL READING THIS SINCE IT IS ON THE INTERNET! Then of course in his typical sociopath behavior he exclaims just how sophisticated and smart MCSM students are. Then out of nowhere he states that very often decisions will be made that not everyone is happy with! Then in an instant contradiction he's trying to say the internet isn't a viable replacement for formalized education but instead says that DOESN'T TAKE AWAY from FORMALIZED EDUCATION. Never once did he address the most important element of her question: Why should students want to vote? Way to totally ignore that in a country that has less than 50% voter turnout for National Presidential Elections. Jesus.
Student reads opinion about citizen aggravation, low voter
turnout, and poor political knowledge in the local populations.
- How can people vote if they are not well educated on the topic or well informed on the reasons to why they should vote? What do you think?
“I agree. I’m in total agreement and
I think like many opportunities in life I think we need to strike a probably a
balance between the electives we’re offering so were not just one sided lets
say in economics which it appears like we have a lot of economic classes
offered as electives so we ugh it’s a valid point. It should, it should be more
of a balanced curriculum.”
Commentary: Not much here. He agrees with the interviewer to curry favor; a tactic he's used all his life to gain power and allies that the naive fall for. Then he goes on to state there should be a more balanced curriculum (Based on the issues this student raised which he probably had no previous knowledge of!) Notice how he NEVER addresses her question about reasons for voting but instead just re-hashes his last answer. It's like he's not even paying attention to the student. His mind is definitely somewhere else. Somewhere I never want to be.
- How much do you know about NY local politics do you vote for a local govt position? Why if you do or if not?
“Um, (laughter) it’s interesting,
yaknow when I have more time on my hands I get more involved in the political
process. I look at my elected officials and sometimes I’ll even reach out to my
local elected officials through emails, through letters but other times if I’m
extremely busy at work which I have been for this job over the last month yaknow
I don’t find myself as um involved in the political systems. Yaknow Sometimes
things can go by a week or so and my wife might say something to me and I’ll
say regarding politics so and I’ll say [Wow that took place;(laughter)]. Yaknow
It’s not because I think I’m interested it’s because I’m always yaknow between
family and and work I’m involved in in in business and and and I think where
you make a valid point is that yaknow we’re all busy sometimes more than others
different times in our lives but its its its easier to have a basic working
understanding knowledge of government this way when you do hear a blog or read
a blog at least you’ll be able to use that information and have it practically
used as far as where your legislatures are who they are how they um government
operates where you don’t have that let’s
rudimentary knowledge then
reading a blog or hearing some type of bleep from an internet thing it
won’t have a practical application.”
Commentary: This response is an Albetta classic. So dodgy. Instead of answering yes or no, he answers YES and NO. Apparently Mr. Albetta is ONLY POLITICALLY INFORMED when he's not busy (Which he states he currently is at the moment) Nice one! Then he blatantly lies to the student and says when he's not busy he writes to his local elected leaders and he knows how to contact them which is the most important part of being informed according to Mr. Albetta. How about the issues? How about legislation? No, KNOWING how to contact your elected officials is the most important. Mr. Albetta has the mayor and the governor's cell phone numbers in his Iphone but he only calls them on Sundays! Then he goes on to state that his wife is actually the person who is politically informed! Then amazingly he says that he's not politically informed because he is more focused on BUSINESS! Oh really. Business. Mr. Albetta the businessman. What businesses do you own? NONE. Then he rambles nonsensically about how people are busy at different times and then he says something about having a basic working understanding knowledge of government so you can understand HEARING blogs. What the hell does that even mean? Then he says reading blogs, which still makes no sense in the context in which he is speaking. He says then you can have information that can be practically used where your legislatures are and how um government operates? WTF is he even talking about? Then he says if you don't have this rudimentary knowledge then reading a blog or hearing some type of bleep from an internet thing won't have a practical application. HOLY SHIT. No words can describe that response...I'm done.
13. Do you
personally feel you are well educated on local politics?
“I think it’s a relative term. And
what I mean by that is I always have things to learn I don’t know everything
and I’m always seeking to learn as a lifelong learner. But relatively speaking
I believe I have a sort of a basic understanding of my local politicians, I
know how to contact them which is most important if it need be but I don’t
consider myself by any means an expert on local government.”
Commentary: Again, it's a yes or no question and what do you get? FLUFF, FILLER, and distraction from Mr. Albetta. What do you feel exactly is a relative TERM, politics? educated? personally? Then he goes on to justify that he is IGNORANT. I don't mean it like stupid. I mean it like he DOESN'T KNOW IF HE'S WELL EDUCATED ON LOCAL POLITICS. Then he humbly goes on to state that he doesn't know everything but he's a lifelong learner and relatively speaking he SORT of has a basic understanding of his local politicians. Then he reiterates he knows how to contact them which is MOST IMPORTANT. REALLY? AGAIN? Then he finally says he doesn't consider himself by ANY MEANS an EXPERT on LOCAL GOVERNMENT. Well guess what?
No true educator or intelligent person I know considers Mr. Albetta by ANY MEANS an EXPERT or even NOVICE on Social Studies and more importantly EDUCATION. To this day Mr. Albetta has NEVER EVER ONCE in his life even TAUGHT a Social Studies lesson.
See what he means by saying "relatively speaking" he means relative to HIM. How about what's relevant to EVERYONE ELSE. That's where Mr. Albetta fails again and again and again. The whole interview he talks about himself and how he feels relative to himself. What a wonderful world it would be if everyone else believed what we all relatively believed about ourselves.
No true educator or intelligent person I know considers Mr. Albetta by ANY MEANS an EXPERT or even NOVICE on Social Studies and more importantly EDUCATION. To this day Mr. Albetta has NEVER EVER ONCE in his life even TAUGHT a Social Studies lesson.
See what he means by saying "relatively speaking" he means relative to HIM. How about what's relevant to EVERYONE ELSE. That's where Mr. Albetta fails again and again and again. The whole interview he talks about himself and how he feels relative to himself. What a wonderful world it would be if everyone else believed what we all relatively believed about ourselves.
Finally, what can be extrapolated from this short interview is Mr. Albetta does not know what his true role is as AP of social studies. He knows nothing about the curriculum he is responsible for implementing. He has very limited knowledge of his own staff or the courses they teach. He ducks and dodges the easiest of questions. He is incoherent in important conversations and he has poor speech patterns. For these reasons he should have NEVER been hired for the title of AP of Social Studies and the bigger question is: Why was he selected for this position? You mean to tell me that THIS was the best the Principal could do? No other candidates in the entire city were better than this guy? I want to know just how extensive the human resource effort was to make sure the school had the very best AP of Social Studies. How many candidates were interviewed, screened, and did demonstration lessons, how many candidates were rejected who have a masters degree in Social Studies because it's pretty apparent that Mr. Albetta is a sociopath, a moron, and totally incompetent. The fact this interview took place in 2010 and we are approaching 2014 and he STILL has this title is beyond any and all reason. On a side note the student who conducted the interview was much more coherent, logical, and intelligent sounding than Mr. Albetta. Most importantly, Mr. Albetta showed absolutely NO PASSION for the field of social studies or education. Instead of answer questions directly and comprehensively he danced around and skirted the important aspects of the primary questions. Of course this is all just my opinion, but if you want to hear this for yourself here is the link to the interview. I myself felt infinitely more stupid after listening to this man speak. He should not be the AP of Social Studies. It seems as if his cognitive abilities are less than that of a High School student. That, is totally pathetic considering his age and experience. Only one conclusion can be drawn from this debacle.
He was hired for reasons other than his expertise in Social Studies.
Stay tuned...more to come. This was JUST the first part of the interview. If you missed the link above, here it is again for posterity.
Godspeed!
