D.C. Fires Principal After Surge Of Violence

Webster also said academic programs and social services promised by Rhee as part of the restructuring never got off the ground. Many of the people involved are still in training, she said. Only one instructor is available for an accelerated reading program.

Webster said she tried to avoid suspensions when discipline deteriorated because they are counterproductive. "They come back worse than when they left," she said. "They come back with this swagger. It's 'I was suspended, now what?' "

Eventually, however, the suspensions mounted, and there were nearly 80 in one week in October, she said.

There is plenty of blame to go around for Hart's predicament, Webster said. She acknowledged that she probably alienated staff members by coming in with an attitude that was too hard-edged -- an attitude she said was influenced by her superior's judgment that the school was in terrible shape.

"I will tell you, when you come into a building where you are told everyone is crap, you come in hard," she said. In retrospect, she said, she should have taken time to form her own opinions.

But others also shoulder responsibility, including an administration that didn't understand, or care to acknowledge, the depth of Hart's needs.

"I would say that everyone is responsible," she said. "The community, the administrators, the teachers, the central office."