Teachers and parents said that type of behavior on Murphy’s part isn’t new.
“The reign of terror—the intimidation and fear—has been going on for three to four years,” Freiser said.
Teachers said Murphy screams at them in front of students on a regular basis and runs the school in a manner that instills fear in everyone and makes for an unacceptable learning environment.
Murphy declined to comment.
The Department of Education said it takes all allegations of abuse seriously and is investigating the matter, but according to David Cantor, the DOE spokesman, “There is no evidence that he acted inappropriately and nothing to justify his removal.”
Many in the community, including teachers, parents, City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) and state Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans), say Murphy’s removal would be well justified.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on Monday heard testimony from about 20 teachers and parents who feel they are victims of Murphy’s verbal abuse.
Leroy Gadsden, president of the Jamaica branch of the NAACP, said the civil rights investigation comes as a result of “numerous complaints of racial, labor, age and gender discrimination, along with student abuse and neglect.”
The complaints include “locking sudents in classrooms all day; publicly harassing, degrading and humiliating teachers on a daily basis; publicly insulting students; replacing African-American employees with white employees; forcing employees to resign or transfer, and calling ACS on parents who question decisions as to how the school is being run,” Gadsden said, adding that those actions violate the 1964 Civil Rights Act. ACS is the city Administration for Children’s Services.
Those at the hearing described Murphy as a tyrant, prone to frequent outbursts.
“He bursts into these irate fits of rage,” Tabio DaCruz, a social studies teacher and chapter leader of the UFT, told the Queens Chronicle. “He bangs on desks. He berates teachers over the loudspeaker.”
“You’ll hear your name, ‘Get in my office now!’ over the loudspeaker,” said Melissa Webber, another social studies teacher at J.H.S. 8. “One thousand people hear that. And then you expect your students to respect you.”
Freiser said Murphy is setting a poor example. “This isn’t the behavior that we want to see our chidlren model,” she said.
When called into the office, teachers said they are yelled at and degraded to the extent that many leave in tears. If they try to explain themselves or discuss the issue at hand, they are accused of insubordination.
Webber said Murphy asked her to resign after she failed a student who had not performed satisfactorily. Murphy didn’t want the student to receive a failing grade for fear the school’s ratings would go down, she alleged.
When Webber refused to resign, Murphy said she should carry her purple resignation folder with her at all times to remind her she is “dispensable.” Other teachers said they have had similar experiences.
Teachers also said Murphy has chastized them for letting students go to the bathroom and for releasing their students at the appointed time in the afternoon.
After Murphy became principal of J.H.S. 8 four years ago, teachers began leaving in droves. Fifteen have left since September.
That isn’t because they can’t teach, according to David Butler, the music teacher at J.H.S. 8; it’s because they can’t stand the school’s environment and the treatment they’re receiving from the principal.
Murphy “has destroyed the careers and devastated the records of some 50 educators,” said David Sparagan, a special education teacher at J.H.S. 8.
The complaints aren’t limited to faculty, though. One parent said her daughter and several other students are sometimes marked late even when they arrive at school more than 20 minutes early.
There also are allegations of racism.
Murphy has said black children aren’t as smart as white children and has referred to black students as “cracked,” according to the Rev. Charles Norris, a board member of the NAACP’s Jamaica chapter.
Paul Krom, a social studies teacher at J.H.S. 8, added that the principal has called black students “animals” and “beasts.”
Mabel White, a black teacher at J.H.S. 8, said she has been called “an abomination,” and Norris said Murphy has refused to let a black teacher drink at a water fountain in the school on at least one occasion.
William McDonald, the father of a J.H.S. 8 student, said Murphy has “gotten rid of all the black people in the office.”
Teachers also said Murphy has violated their privacy. They said he regularly distributes a list of the days each teacher is absent or late, and one teacher, Pauline Elliott, said he e-mailed the entire school staff announcing that she was going on medical leave. The teachers said information about attendance and medical leave is supposed to be confidential.
The DOE declined to comment specifically on those allegations, saying only that Murphy’s approach has been effective at improving the school.
“Under Principal Murphy J.H.S. 8 has improved from a D to a B, and the school just came off the state’s list of failing schools,” Cantor said. “He has particularly targeted ineffective teaching.”
Teachers and the UFT say Murphy can’t claim credit for the school’s improvement.
“That B is not Dr. Murphy’s B,” said Webber. “Dr. Murphy received a D on his parent survey.”
The UFT runs two teacher centers at J.H.S. 8, which provide opportunities for professional development and are helping the school’s scores go up, according to DaCruz.
Shirley Middleton, who has been teaching at J.H.S. 8 for 27 years, said the school has also improved because teachers now have the resources to test children effectively.
DaCruz also claimed that Murphy has tampered with surveys that were completed by teachers, parents and students.
Surveys are supposed to be returned by mail so as to be kept anonymous, but DaCruz said Murphy offered perks — such as permission to attend school dances for free — to students who submitted the questionnaires to the assistant principal in person. He offered similar perks for teachers, DaCruz said.
“I know for a fact that they changed those scores,” DaCruz said. “I’m willing to testify in any court that I’m a witness to that happening at the school.”
Murphy was previously the principal of Danbury High School in Connecticut, where he worked for six months starting in 2004. According to newstimes.com, he left the school after more than 150 teachers signed a letter of concern about his leadership.
The assistant principal at Danbury High School declined to comment on Murphy’s performance or his reasons for leaving.
Prior to his stint in Danbury, Murphy worked in a variety of other schools in New York, including Tuckahoe Middle School, Woodlands High School in Westchester and Pleasantville High School, also in Westchester. Staff at those schools did not confirm his reasons for leaving.
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