Jacqueline’s Blog

     This was a hard article to read, because I feel that I have been in this woman’s position before.  And the struggle comes when you are trying to balance the need to speak out for the children and the possibility that you might push too far and lose a job that you really feel is most beneficial to those children.  As I said in class the other night, I have had an experience with an administration like this, and because it is beginning to happen more and more frequently, it is very scary.  I will take a minute to give the background on this situation and when I felt the need to speak up.  I feel this will happen to more and more people and if people think about what they will do ahead of time, they will be better prepared to speak out when it does.

       I teach at a large school.  A few years ago, after Columbine, the school district thought some of the elementary schools were too large.  So, to make the schools more personal, they came up with a school within a school model.  Two schools under one roof.  Two sets of administration and office staff, however, the student ratios in classes would remain the same.  There would be a primary K-2 school and an intermediate 3-5 school.  When the administration was hired, they immediately needed to hire additional personnel.  They asked me and another teacher to sit in on interviews and provide feedback.  We both provided feedback on the candidates which included the wife of our area assistant superintendent.  We both felt like other candidates were stronger, not to mention, we thought it was a violation of ethics laws to have a spouse hired in the direct line of your supervision.   However, the wife of the area assistant superintendent was hired.  Why did they even have us sitting in on the interviews?  Later, I found out that I was to act as a pawn to carry our the administrations’ agenda. 

They also hired a PhD. with a specialization in reading.  The school year started and they wanted me to list 11 students that would be pulled out for reading.  This teacher kept them the whole time and I never received feedback about the progress of the students.  I expressed concern that this teachers was suppose to act in a suuplemental instructional manner, not to be the sole instructor of their reading.  The administration believe that she was the only one that needed to teach them reading.  I didn’t need to “worry about it.” I was very upset. My first administrator had taught me that I was ultimately responsible for my kids. Now, someone else teaches my kids and they will still be on my class role? I needed to be able to talk with the kids and parents about what improvements needed to be made in their performance. If I didn’t instruct them in reading, how could I do that?  Then, when I completed their report cards for the first nine weeks, the party began.  I was approached by the “Reading Specialist” and administration to change how I had marked my students on their report card.  I had marked most of the students that she was serving as on grade level based on county guidelines. I didn’t change the grading on the report cards.  That was an ethics violation!  However, the response given to me was that we couldn’t justify the Ph.D. teaching those kids if they were on grade level.  I expressed concern about this situation anytime someone asked.  One time, the district superintendent came to a faculty meeting to talk to us about our concerns.  As the teachers spoke out, the “Reading Specialist” was on the floor of the meeting taking notes on who said what. I spoke out and felt like I was punished because of it. Needless to say, the principal was removed in January.

Just last week, a paraprofessional approached me at school.  She was in need of one staff development credit.  The  county told her that a staff development class was taught while the previous administration was there.  She was signed up for the class, but didn’t receive final credit.  I told her to talk to the instructor and see why…she then told me that I was listed on the paperwork as the instructor.  What????  I didn’t teach any staff development that year.  Why would someone have put my name on that class?  Who else was listed?  The wife of the area assistant superintendent, the “Reading Specialist”, and me.  That’s when I learned that I was just a pawn in carrying out the agenda.

I think about what would have happened had they not taken out that principal.  As much as I had already spoken out, I knew that I would have to leave the school.  I couldn’t continue to argue with  someone who didn’t share the same values as mine.  I was violating my own integrity to continue to participate in activities that I didn’t agree with and was illegal to even ask me to do.  Not everone had a bad experience with that administration.  They don’t understand how I got on her “bad list”.  However, if that situation had happened to any one of those other teachers, I don’t think they would have gone along with it either. 

I value that fact that this woman spoke out.  She did the right thing.  But, when teachers leave in great numbers, sometimes that gets the county’s attention as well.  Maybe there will be more impact after she is gone.  Now, she has the ability to speak out.  I’m sure the county won’t like the publicity that will come along with her story.  She can go back to that type of school after the county level administration changes.  It will… 

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