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All names in this post have been changed to protect the innocent blogger.
My friend Kitty Cat, who teaches at my school, has been targeted this year by the administration, one Assistant Principal named Mr. Anderson especially. This is crap because she’s one of the best teachers I know. They are doing this because her husband was one of the ones Mr. Anderson railroaded out of the school last year in a whole series of lies & fabricated “data.”
Her husband is no longer a teacher.
I am firmly convinced that Mr. Anderson feels he must get rid of Kitty Cat because she knows how he bullied the committee that evaluated her husband into finding reasons to get rid of him. Even if it meant making shit up. Can I prove this? No. Asking about stuff like this is, of course, the best way to become their next target. Which I might not mind if I thought I could get any real information. But all paperwork is doctored, and the organizational structure puts all power in the hands of the principal.
We do not have teacher’s unions.
I think the administration didn’t expect Kitty Cat to have the balls to come back this year. ~ha ha~ But since she had not put in her resignation yet for next year by the first part of March, they figured it was time to turn up the bullshit.
So they started to observe her EVERY DAY. She went home sick on the fourth consecutive day of “observations” ~for which, to this day, scant feedback has been provided, and even that was only after she insisted on receiving feedback several times. this was NOT an attempt to supervise teaching or aid instructional practices. this was a witch hunt~ with stress-related stomach pains. Upon finding that she wasn’t in the room for the “observation” the admin that visited that day asked the students to write, anonymously, about her and her class. Do they enjoy her class? Is she preparing them for AP?
This is far from standard practice in observing teachers. I, myself, have been observed four times this school year ~more than any other year since my 2nd, the year they evaluate all teachers thoroughly for continuing contracts~ But for me, this year, that level of observation is required by one or other of the bureaucracies above us, since I’m a “year 3,” which means it’s my turn in the rotation for scrutiny.
Each time was spread out, and each time I received feedback. Never have I had admin ask my students to write about me.
After the first of the four-day observation marathon, Kitty Cat was called down to the principal’s office for a meeting. During this meeting Mr. Anderson lied.
She wrote this letter to the principal the next day:
Dear Ms. Parker,
I have significant concerns regarding Mr. Anderson’s presence in my classroom. I perceive his behavior toward me and my students to be at times rude and hostile. Furthermore, I have questions about his ability or willingness to accurately observe and relate information. Please find enclosed a list* of specific incidents that supports my concerns. These incidents make me uncomfortable to have him in my classroom, and I am respectfully requesting that other administrators perform any future observations.
Sincerely,
Kitty Cat
At first I thought the observations that followed were because of this letter. But upon hearing more about them, I don’t believe that. One of the administrators asked her to print her entire grade book, ~in five years of teaching at this school, i have never been asked to even open my grade book for anyone, much less print the entire thing~ show her lesson plans, ~something else i have never been asked for except in my initial evaluation year~ and show her teaching portfolio. None of these requests are out of line, of course, but they are highly unusual at this school, especially all at once.
Yet, with all that data, here are the only things that administrator had to say on the short evaluation form ~which kitty cat had to insist on getting~:
1. Students are reading The Crucible. ~untrue, they were doing interactive group activities related to characters in the crucible~
2. There is no weekly agenda on the board ~something i’ve never heard was required before~
3. Standards are not posted ~in their entirety~ on the board. ~something we had only just found out about at an after-school faculty meeting on wednesday. the observation was first period thursday. this school had ALWAYS, until this, emphasized essential questions, not standards being posted for students to see~
The day after this was when students were asked to write about their teacher.
Sounds like a fishing expedition to me.
* In case anyone is interested, the list attached to Kitty Cat’s letter is appended below:
1. At the beginning of the school year, Mr. Anderson called my name loudly as I was leaving our faculty meeting. He said, “I don’t have your money for the PTSA membership. You need to turn that in to me right away so that we can have 100% participation from the English department.” Both his tone and his phrasing came across as rude, and I felt bullied. I have joined the PTSA every year that I have been at this school, but it has been by choice. Mr. Anderson’s blatant command was both unnecessary and disrespectful. < ?xml:namespace prefix ="" o />
2. In the week of student council elections, my fourth period class (freshmen academy class) was rescheduled to B lunch from their prior A lunch schedule. The student council advisor asked me to allow two students to miss the first part of fourth period on the day of the campaign so that they could participate with their freshmen class. I agreed, and wrote both students official passes to attend A lunch. Mr. Anderson stopped both girls, brought them back to my class, and questioned me rudely in front of them. His behavior and threats to both me and my students appeared so hostile that one of the girls broke down in tears. This incident has also been documented by the parents of the girls, who informed Ms. Parker of Mr. Anderson’s demeanor and actions.
3. On Tuesday, February 12, 2008, Mr. Anderson appeared in my room, presumably to perform an observation. He stayed for approximately 15-20 minutes and then left. He did not provide any kind of feedback. Later in our March 5, 2008 meeting, he said that he didn’t stay because “students were taking a test, and then it was a DEAR [Drop Everything and Read] day.” While it is true that students were taking a test, DEAR was not scheduled as part of the lesson. When I questioned him on this, he said, “Yes, it was. You had it on the board.” Mr. Anderson was referencing my homework announcement reminding students to bring DEAR materials for Wednesday. The homework section is on the opposite end of the board from our daily lesson information and underneath a large green sign that says “Tonight’s Homework.” I am concerned about the fact that he was unable to distinguish between the content in our daily lesson and information clearly presented in a different location for a different purpose. I am further concerned by the fact that he argued with me when I specifically stated that DEAR was not scheduled and had never been scheduled for a Tuesday. I had to reference my syllabus to support my statement, as it seemed to me that Mr. Anderson was insinuating that I was lying.
4. On Friday, February 15, 2008 Ms. Parker requested that teachers stay after school for a brief meeting. Because it was a Friday and the meeting was called on short notice, I had to take my personal items out to my vehicle to avoid bringing a heavy armload of items into the meeting. As I was walking to the parking lot, Mr. Anderson loudly called out to me, “Ms. Kitty Cat! You know we have a meeting!” I turned around and responded that I simply had to take my belongings to my car. I felt at the time that his tone of address, not to mention his need to call me out, was again rude and disrespectful, but I placed my items in my vehicle and was in place for the meeting well before it began. In our March 5 meeting, Mr. Anderson insisted that I had not come back to the meeting. I responded, “Oh, I absolutely did. I was there.” And he replied, “No, you were not.” I again said that I was there and he continued to shake his head. Thankfully another administrator had seen me in the meeting and was able to vouch for my attendance. I am extremely concerned by the fact that Mr. Anderson could be so completely mistaken about my attendance at the meeting and then insist that I was lying. Even my statement to the contrary only invited him to argue with me. I feel very uncomfortable having to interact with an authority figure that, while wrong, treats me so hostilely and refuses to give credibility to my word.
5. On March 5, 2008, Mr. Anderson came in to my 3rd period class (English I repeaters) to perform his first evaluation of my classroom this school year. Later in our meeting, he made several statements about the class period that were misleading and inaccurate. He asked why I had not provided a handout to the students, when I had indeed made a point of asking students to take out their handout from the previous week and in addition, supplied a new handout. I had to walk around the room to distribute the handout, so I’m surprised that Mr. Anderson missed both my instructions about it as well as the actual distribution. He also stated that I was working on my computer the entire time, which is completely untrue. I was up and around the room no fewer than four separate times – twice to pass out paperwork and twice for monitoring purposes. With only 11 students in the classroom and a film in progress, I remained at my desk for most of the period, but aside from entering the homework grades turned in by the students, taking attendance, and checking my email, I was doing my job and monitoring students. Mr. Anderson apparently failed to notice both my trips around the room and my comments to students about sitting up or putting away other materials. He mentioned that “students seemed confused” by the film and wondered why I had not stopped it to answer their questions. I assume he is referring to two questions asked by a student who had missed our notes presentation the week before, both of which were answered simply and directly without the need to interrupt the entire class with information they had already heard. He did not offer any additional evidence why students (plural) were “confused” by the events of the film. Furthermore, his other questions and statements about the class seemed to me to indicate that he is unfamiliar with curriculum and practices for English I. He asked about the Star Wars connection to the curriculum, even though it’s a well-documented unit plan constructed and utilized at the district level and supported by our state literacy facilitator. He asked why I didn’t have a closing activity (the students were watching a film) and why the students were not “interested.” The students were awake and quietly watching the film, one student asked a question, which for a class of English I repeaters is a pretty successful indication of interest. I also have to wonder why he would choose to observe a class while a film was in progress, when he chose not to observe a test taking place. I felt that his questions and statements about my class were misrepresentative and hostile, and that he seemed to be making a deliberate attempt to intimidate me.
18 responses so far ↓
1 Clay Burell // Mar 27, 2008 at 10:54 am
If this is what it’s like to teach in American public schools, I shudder.
Surely a worst-case scenario?
If this is quoted in your colleague’s language, she’s clearly articulate and intelligent; and if the administrator really behaved as claimed, he’s clearly an idiot.
The thing that disturbs me is this: if you had a teacher’s union, wouldn’t it be impossible to fire half the idiots that deserve to lose their jobs?
I’d think of suing the school for discrimination and wrongful termination. Use that cellphone to take some good corroborating video as evidence.
You’re writing such interesting things these days. I hope students read them. Maybe they’ll see teachers differently when they see the garbage they have to put up with.
Clay Burell’s last blog post..Open Thread: Your Favorite Teacher Blogs, by Subject Matter?
2 Taylor // Mar 27, 2008 at 11:11 am
Many teachers have thought about suing this district. What I hear is that no lawyer will take this district on b/c it’s too powerful, has too much money, etc. (It is tremendously huge, much larger than a typical American school district.)
Incidentally, it was your comment to the Three Young Teachers post that prompted me to put this one up today.
That is her writing, and she IS brilliant. A major loss (all theirs.) As for the admin, I wouldn’t post it if I didn’t believe it to be true, of course. And her husband’s story is MUCH worse.
As for whether or not it’s a worst-case scenario, I think our school is worse than most. Other teachers in the district, (and even one outside the district) have commented to me that there’s a “weird vibe” coming out of our school. But since I’ve only taught at this school, I can’t really say.
What concerns me, regarding my decision of whether or not to stay in teaching, is that even if this is a worst-case scenario, I have serious reservations about whether or not another school/district/state would be different ENOUGH.
You teach at a great school, but still you’re leaving.
Also, thanks for the encouraging words about the writing!
3 Corrie Bergeron // Mar 27, 2008 at 11:13 am
A local print reporter needs to get a link to this information and get out the whole story. It sounds like an administrator’s petty vendettas are costing the district’s kids.
Corrie Bergeron’s last blog post..Digital identies redux
4 Taylor // Mar 27, 2008 at 11:17 am
Believe me, I’ve thought of that. There was a point when the parents were so mad they were putting up signs & holding meetings, calling for this principal’s resignation.
The minute I have my hot little hands on a smoking gun, the newspaper will get a call.
5 Taylor // Mar 27, 2008 at 11:20 am
@clay Re: teacher’s unions:
That disturbs me, too. Not only do unions sometimes protect the undeserving, but they often become just one more layer of authority in the pile, screwing things up and making it harder to do our jobs.
I think it might be like a marriage: a good one is the best thing there is, a bad one is hell on Earth.
6 Ben W. // Mar 27, 2008 at 11:27 am
Wow. Where are the observations for the administrators? The first emotion that pops up during reading this post is “righteous anger.” When I think what I would do if I was required to turn over all the information she was requested to…yikes. I generally don’t have formally written lessons plans.
I’m impressed Ms. Kitty Kat has the patience and control to keep from lashing out.
Good luck. Hopefully someone with authority will realize this guy’s an idiot and get rid of him.
Ben W.’s last blog post..Tropical Storm and Hurricane Frequency
7 Taylor // Mar 27, 2008 at 12:15 pm
I myself have often wondered why administrators aren’t observed. I’m also glad you mentioned that you don’t have formal lesson plans. I have more of a “script” or “to do list” myself.
Kitty Cat is, generally, impressive.
Thanks for commenting, Ben!
8 Kaelie Curbxstomp // Mar 27, 2008 at 5:40 pm
OH MY GOD.
That just really pissed me off when I read that. You’re kidding! Ugh! That is so gay. I don’t think I could put up with that. I’d tell them where to stick it and then leave. Although, I don’t think I could leave the students… I don’t know how y’all put up with that.
Kind of like the art department resigning thing, is what I would do.
Kaelie Curbxstomp’s last blog post..I?m Everything You Hate
9 Kaelie Curbxstomp // Mar 27, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Kudos to you though, because you’re obviously strong to put up with it.
@Clay: I definitely do see teachers in a new light.
Kaelie Curbxstomp’s last blog post..I?m Everything You Hate
10 Vicki Davis // Mar 27, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Just to share a couple of thoughts.
1) I think that the administrator is way off base and obviously being nitpicky — as well as missing the point about the crucible character thing — we often say “reading such and such” and do activities related to the book.
2) I would be very wary here. Although you have freedom of speech, it is very important to be professional.
Sometimes I have disagreements with people at my school, however, I never blog about them behind their back. If I have an issue with them I take it up with them. How will they feel if and when they read this blog post? This is obviously one side of the story. I’m not saying they are right — but every job I’ve ever been in had its injustices! That is life and that is work!
As for teaching, teaching is the most noble calling on the planet. Sadly, it is situations such as yours that are driving many people to leave the profession… they want to teach NOT deal with petty bureaucracy.
The main thing needs to be the main thing both at school and as we blog.
Also remember this, you say this is a personal blog, however, you’re blogging details about what his happening at your school. You’re blogging about people. It would be wayyy too easy for people to figure out who you are and you have several who do know who you are.
I just think I would proceed with caution. You have a nice writing style and are easy to read. You can do powerful things to either help or harm teachers.
You’re blogging anonymously so hopefully nothing can be done to harm you personally…. you are blogging as a teacher — so you could help or harm your profession.
Just remember that and best wishes.
11 lizze // Mar 27, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Kitty Cat should not fight this by herself and IMO needs to instruct a legal representative asap. And start a grievance process with the school.
When Mr Andersson (he really sounds like that dude from Matrix!!) is doing his evaluation, her legal representative should be present in the room too. That should stop his gross misconduct.
Also if possible, it would be good idea if someone else, that dare to stand up to Mr Anderson, could be present as well.
I honestly don’t think she will win on her own. The legal choise will cost money but in the long run she will probably keep her job.
Mr Anderson is sociopath who gets a kick of building empires and bully. This fuckers love this shit, he probably lives for it.
12 ken // Mar 28, 2008 at 12:33 pm
@vicki: well, I hear ya’. I’ve blogged about events at my school and those events revolved around other faculty members. I keep those people anonymous, but unlike Taylor, I go by my real name…and my blog is linked off our district’s website.
The thing is, sometimes things happen in the course of the work day/week/year that just demand sifted analysis through blogging.
Should the person in my post read that post, well, in truth, I’ve taken every measure to protect his or her identity.
I’m not in a position to take responsibility for every reader and his or her possible emotional reaction. If I heeded every possible subject’s emotions, in truth, I’d have nothing to blog about. I could share links and I could use phrases like ‘powerful collaboration’ and ‘networking’, but that sort of stuff is just so gosh-darn tiring.
I’ve lost “readers” here b/c they’ve read my blog and connected the dots back to them. See ya’.
I think that ‘Taylor’ has found a platform to express her frustration and while it is a murky pond, writing about our daily interactions resonates with a level of truth and interest that can’t be gathered from ‘power of networking’ posts.
Or…at least that’s how I feel.
@Taylor: please come to PA. you can bring Kitty Cat.
ken’s last blog post..cart in front of horse, now what?
13 Kittycat // Mar 28, 2008 at 2:23 pm
@vicki: i think it’s safe to assume here that taylor is the most unprofessional teacher blogger ever. if people judge the teaching profession by her example, then they have vastly overestimated american educators. she’s one in a million. ordinary educators might give the System the benefit of the doubt while insinuating that taylor has jumped to conclusions or is speaking all manner of evil behind someone’s back. thank god that taylor is smart enough to know that the entire “you should handle this with us privately” spiel is simply code for THOU SHALT NOT STAND UP TO INJUSTICE.
teaching is no more noble a profession than any other; the nobility of one’s calling resides in one’s personal integrity and social conscience. taylor has both, and she has found a forum to expose the bullshit that masquerades as learning or concern for children. anyone who knows taylor or reads her regularly understands the cause she fights for . . . this isn’t some public bitchfest. it’s an attempt to effect change. change requires open minds and honest words, and Truth is never afraid of being discovered.
14 diane // Mar 28, 2008 at 2:46 pm
It is not minor nitpicking we’re dealing with here but serious harassment of a teacher that is being documented by a concerned colleague.
Blast away Taylor!
diane’s last blog post..A Confederacy of Dunces
15 Linda // Mar 28, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Taylor
This is an excellent example of the abuse of power. While there are no assessments in place for administrators to perform their jobs in a ‘professional manner’-we can continue to beat up teachers and now we have SPOKESPEOPLE among us ready to slap us down. I agree with Diane. This case is an indication of how wrong some schools can be. Did Kitty Cat go into education to be humiliated by a superior? I think not.
Let me define what ‘tenure’ means in legal terms. It is the guarantee of due process prior to termination. It is NOT a job for life. A district can determine someone’s teaching is lacking. The untenured are shown to the door -no reason need be given. NONE. Once you are tenured, you can still be determined to be deficient but they have to PROVE their case and it is a process. It requires administrators to do their jobs.
This administrator is clearly out of line. Let’s point our indignation at the correct recipient.
16 Kate Olson // Mar 28, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Taylor -
As we’ve discussed, I’m often jealous of your ability to blog anonymously - you’re using this power in an excellent way to bring true injustices to light. Keep it up.
Kate Olson’s last blog post..Purposeful Networking
17 Taylor // Mar 28, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Here is my response to Vicki, specifically, and to everyone else, generally:
I, Seven
18 Taylor // Mar 28, 2008 at 9:29 pm
I really appreciate the support, y’all.
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