Sean Keaton, the controversial principal of PS 20 in the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill neighborhood in Brooklyn, was arrested Thursday after allegedly knocking a kindergarten teacher off a chair, kicking him in the head, and stomping on him. The teacher, Robert Segerra, is the teachers’ union representative at PS 20, and, at the time of the assault, had been in Keaton’s office, discussing the case of a special education teacher who had been accused of using corporal punishment against a student.

“Every time I said I’m not hitting you, I got another hit in the head or another punch in the neck or another scrap or another drag me across the floor,” Segerra told WABC. (For Segerra’s full account of the incident, click here.)

Keaton was charged with misdemeanor assault and reassigned to administrative duties while the investigation is pending, according to the Department of Education.

Keaton has taught at the school since the 1990s and served as principal since 2005, but parents have been sharply divided over his leadership. While test scores have risen, enrollment has declined, and now only 27 percent of eligible kindergarten students in the zone are attending PS 20.

One of the three new citywide gifted and talented programs is scheduled to open as part of PS 20 next fall, which will be under the purview of the PS 20 principal. Parents whose students scored at the 97th percentile or higher on the gifted and talented exam were able to rank the PS 20 program on their forms, which were due on Tuesday. We are following up with the DOE to see if there will be an opportunity for parents to reconsider their choices after new leadership is announced.

The debate over Keaton’s administration turned particularly vehement on the New York Times Local Fort Greene/Clinton Hill blog this spring. Yesterday, the Local described the debate’s racial and class undertones: “The community conversation about him [Keaton] often seemed to break down along class lines, with new-to-the-neighborhood, more affluent parents finding him difficult to work with and working-class parents defending him. There was often a racial component to the debate as well (Mr. Keaton is black).” (more…)

Career educator Mitchell Weiner, who devoted his entire professional life to IS 238 in Hollis, Queens, passed away on Sunday — the city’s first loss to H1N1 virus, commonly called swine flu. Whether the school might have closed sooner, or the experimental treatments offered to Weiner, or underlying medical conditions contributed to his death, will be debated elsewhere. (Click here for a list of schools that are currently closed.) What seems most important, in human terms, is Weiner’s heartfelt dedication to the kids in his school. It’s hard to imagine a more fitting epitaph for this “unsung, yet absolutely dedicated ” leader (as he was described by principal’s union leader Ernest A. Logan) than the words of Byron Lopez. his former student, quoted in today’s Times. Lopez, who kept in touch with Mr. Weiner two decades after they shared a classroom, said: “He knew every kid’s name.”

This is the kind of personal connection and dedication students respond to, as seedlings thrive with a steady flow of water. This is the kind of devotion that makes a school into a true community. And this is the kind of loss that, despite the political pot well on the boil, makes clear the essence of public education in New York City: Outstanding professionals pouring their energy, creativity and hard work into children, their families, and their school, in the service of a pure humanitarian ideal. Education for all, with love, support, and direction on the side.

With sincere condolences to Mr. Weiner’s family, friends and the entire IS 238 community, we invite readers who knew him to contribute comments below — to help those of us who didn’t have the pleasure of his instruction, his legendary humor, or his inspiration, get a feel for a life’s outstanding, and unfinished, work.

Update:   Three more Queens schools will close beginning tomorrow, according to the City’s Department of Health:  the Q209 building in Whitestone (PS 209 and P9, a District 75 school), PS 19 in Corona, and PS 32 in Flushing.  The three schools together serve more than 3000 students.