Former Minneapolis school Superintendent Carol Johnson has landed in hot water in her current job in Boston. According to the Boston Globe, there's a petition drive by parents against Johnson after she admitted that she erred in not taking any action against a school headmaster (principal) after he was charged and then found guilty of beating his wife five weeks after she delivered their child. Johnson then wrote a glowing letter in support of him to the judge handling the case. Minneapolitans will remember Johnson as the longest-tenured leader that city schools have had in the last 15 years. She led the Minneapolis district for six years, leaving in 2003. None of her successors has lasted more than three years. Johnson left Minneapolis for Memphis, and then in 2007 got Boston's top job. The petition drive is led by parents who previously were upset by some of Johnson's other school decisions, the Globe reports. The matter came to light after the headmaster applied for a job in Memphis and someone leaked to reporters there that the man was on probation for domestic assault. Johnson apologized for her handling of the 2011 incident, which erupted in early July, and the Globe reported that she issued a draft policy Friday that requires employees facing serious criminal charges to go on administrative leave. Although at least one public official has been quoted by the Globe as calling for Johnson to quit, most key politicians seem to remain in her corner, as does a group of black ministers.
