news from nowhere part 19

I may be avoiding email today.

email from the school board:

On June 6, the district granted tenure to 22 teachers, in a ceremony marked by both laughter and tears. Our newly tenured teachers' families joined in a celebration of their achievement, as well as their commitment to our district. Remarkably, some of our new teachers had been students of Mr. Lamassa and Ms. Urban, who served as their inspiration for careers in education. It is abundantly clear that our district has not only a commitment to excellence, but also a tradition of excellence. We look forward to what our new teachers, schooled in this tradition, will accomplish.

That doesn't sound good.

I've been assuming Ms. K will be teaching elsewhere next year.

Which, in retrospect, is looking like pure defense mechanism. I mean, what evidence do I have?

There was the day the principal told Ed Ms. K is a "fine young teacher."

Then there was the time the chair of the math department told me, "Ms. K is an excellent teacher."

And that's pretty much it, the sum total of signs & indicators from the district.



So how did I get from "fine young teacher" to "not getting tenure" you ask?

I have the answer to that.

• number one, the superintendent is ruthless when it comes to cutting loose personnel.

• number two, the superintendent does not appear to want more trouble from parents than she already has. Ms. K is a trouble magnet.

• number three, thus far my impression of the superintendent's hiring has been good. That impression will change if Ms. K has been awarded lifetime employment, health insurance, and a pension from IUSFD, of course.

• number four, Ms. K has, at the end of this school year, regressed to her worst behaviors of school year 2004-2005, the behaviors that led to last year's Parent Uprising.

• number five, Ms. K has been frequently absent this spring. Ed and I have assumed - ok, hoped - she's been taking personal days to interview for jobs.

• number six, Mr. Fried, Ms. K's champion ("She's a fine young teacher") is leaving.

• number seven, the silence of the lambs. In the past, the district has staunchly dismissed all parent complaints, but then dealt with the situation behind closed doors. I've been thinking that if Ms. K were getting tenure, her supervisors would have helped her improve her teaching, which is what happened during the first semester.

• number eight, last but not least, my defense mechanisms are in fine working order. I think.
  

Throughout the fall and much of the winter, Ms. K's teaching, while not good, was quite different from her performance last year. It was clear that her supervisors had stepped in.

Then, in the spring, she reverted to form, and the word from her supervisors was uniformly glowing. Christopher was "the only child" who was having problems following directions, etc. As a preditable result, parents are furious; if we had another month of school ahead of us, we'd have another parent uprising identical to the one last year.


The real horror is that it's entirely possible this isn't Ms. K's response to being denied tenure.

This could be Ms. K's response to being granted tenure.



I'm going to corral the dogs and go meet Christopher on the aqueduct. He'll be on his way home by now.

When I get back I'll decide whether to open my email and find out if Ms. K was amongst the 22.

That's something that has to be done today.



doomed
double doomed



-- CatherineJohnson - 23 Jun 2006

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