Principal Erik Brown’s school was in a rough part of Waterbury. The Walsh Elementary neighborhood was filled with blighted homes. More than 90 percent of the students were minorities or came from families whose income were below the poverty line. A large number of students didn’t speak English as their first language or were in need of special education.
For a time, Brown was able to fight the odds. He got high marks for connecting with parents and Walsh was chosen for a state-sponsored “turnaround” program. And then problems came to a head. Brown, an African American, was accused of bullying faculty members and was demoted. Last year, he sued the school district, claiming that white principals weren’t punished in the same manner for similar alleged conduct.
