WHEN YOU READ THIS STORY BELOW, KNOW THAT THIS TEACHER IS TRAPPED IN WHITE CHALK CRIME ALONG WITH HIS STUDENTS. THIS IS SO MUCH MORE THAN A TEACHER'S STORY! NAPTA

Trapped in White Chalk Crime

I, along with one other colleague, was set up, by my former principal. In my case, I was observed on an almost daily basis. Mind you, this was a horrible school, the students were very low functioning: their parents were not involved in enriching, or supporting, their kids' education, parents sent their kids to school with no school supplies, with cell phones and video games, and, of course, food: breakfast, not lunch.

In spite of how difficult it was to work with these kids and their parents, if a kid breathed the wrong way, during the many observations held in my classroom, it was used to rate my lesson as being unsatisfactory. I'd be told that I failed to show that every child in the class understood the work, to which I'd respond by saying that the collected assignments would first have to be reviewed, seeing as it's impossible to do a thorough assessment of every child, in a span of only 45 minutes. But, as so many of us who've been abused know, this inconvenient reply was, as is standard practice, amongst manipulative and incompetent principals, ignored; and the conversation simply moved to other fabricated issues pertaining to my "incompetence."

And, so, I continued to be observed, always in an immoral, unethical manner. My first observation, of the year, was before Halloween. I was teaching a lesson, emailed to me by the principal, for a civics class, on both parties' presidential primaries. The principal entered the room, during the time I had told her I would begin the series of lessons, and she and her AP both wrote up the activity as an unsatisfactory. This is two in one day: both placed in my file, by the way. According to the principal, the lesson was inappropriate. she was the one who sent me the lesson, but who was I to complain to? Her? The AP?

The next day, I had students present a project, resumes of their congressional representative, to the class. This lesson was written up as another U, because of the fact that not all of the students had presented (in a class of over 30), and, as I was told the next day, I should have had students write critiques of what they had seen, as they were watching, something I had done. I explained this, at the post observation conference, with several consultants in the room.

They would just whisper to one another, laugh and glare at me. One consultant said that, "if I wasn't teaching, I was a waste of the principal's budget." A different one said that I and my colleague, were "bad teacher, but they really care about the kids. Three U ratings, in two days. By the way, she fell asleep, and the AP's ringtone went off, during the second visit. Result: it was still written up and put into my file.

After this, I attempted to avoid these two people: the principal and the AP. Later on, however, an excess AP (we had two, who were sent to the school) visited my classroom and gave me an S. This was later removed from the file, without an explanation, by the principal. Eventually, after being told by the same excess AP to tell the principal what great work I was doing, I was set up, once again. The principal used the opportunity I had given her, by approaching her to discuss my work, to fabricate a pre-observation conference. After, visiting my classroom, again, in early November, she wrote the observation up as another U, an official one, this time around, with a pre-observation conference listed on the first page. My visit to her, made in good faith, was used to set me up and punish me.

In December, before the holiday break, I received a pre-observation conference, during which I was given a math "workshop model" lesson, from which to prepare for my last observed lesson. I told her that this was for math, when I noticed, and she said it was good enough. Two days later, I was visited. When I came back from break, there were two more U's waiting for me. For some reason, they wanted them signed, right away. I said I had to read them, which I know is one of a teacher's rights; and I was threatened with simply having them placed in my file and being written up, if I did not, by the AP. When I refused, he relented and agreed to give me another day.

On January 14th, as I was leaving, with the boys' basketball team, which I helped to coach, I was stopped by the payroll person and told to see the principal, who said "sign your rating sheet." I figured it was my previous year's sheet, and it actually was the same paper, just slightly altered, so I signed it and prepared to leave. Right then, she asked me to go to her office, where I was told that I what I had signed was a paper that meant I was receiving a U, was having my license terminated and was to be discontinued.

Subsequent to this, I checked my file and saw that, in addition to the positive lesson observation being removed from my file, my rebuttal letters had also been removed. Thankfully, the AP who had shown her support insisted that, under my signature, on the negative observation report, I write the statement "rebuttal attached." I hope this will help me at my appeal hearing. Later, after regents week was over, after I took several days off, to use my medical and dental insurance, which I knew it would soon be cut off, I was written up for being absent, without having called in. This was a lie, I had called in; the secretary was out, and the payroll person, who was running the office, in her absence, admitted, when I approached her, that she probably did not answer the phone, too early in the day, around the time I was leaving to have root canal surgery and fillings, on the two days. Of course, she never fessed up to this and let the principal bury me with some more lies.

The icing on the cake came eight days, before my separation from the school: I had to remain in the building for 30 days, after receipt of the rating sheet. I was, for whatever reason assigned to three classes a day, by the principal, unbeknownst to me: the union said I'd likely be a substitute, until February. Why assign someone to teach classes, for a mere eight days? Well, on one of those, they came back, sat in my room, pointing at the board and glared and whispered in each other's ears, laughing and doing what it is that they do. I just couldn't take it anymore and told them off, told them that they had done enough, that there was more to being a principal than to harass and insult. I told them that no teacher respected them and that I could see right through their facade.

The kids, several of whom I had fed, during times where they were moving to a new place or when their parents weren't home, spoke up for me, too. They said I was one of the few teachers that care and one very bright boy told them that they were "being immoral." Later that day, when I entered the lunchroom, to talk with a fellow teacher who was on lunchroom duty, I got a standing ovation, from my students, who chanted my name, as well. A few of them, including one boy, even cried about whatwas happening.

Every day, while at this school, was fear, depression, and anger. I had trouble sleeping, overate, had chest pains and found myself having to vomit, from the stress. I'm still full of hate, for those who did this to me. I thought that workplace injustice and depravity was something, at least in America, that no longer existed, until I became a teacher. I just don't understand how anyone can do what these people do, legally or morally.

And, by the way, the whole time that I was being tormented, very few teachers showed support. Their mentality was, 'if it's not me, I don't care.' In fact, I was told, by several people, to "play the game," so as to not lose my job. In other words, kiss up, complain about other teachers, never question or criticize (constructively) administration, etc.

As a result of this principal's actions, since February, I have been unable to find a position. The few principals who have actually replied to my submission of a resume have told me that they're being told not to hire people like me, that schools, once purged of us, should never again hire us. I have two friends, from the same school, who are in a similar situation.

I'm waiting on an appeal hearing, which has been scheduled for March: one year and a month, since I was wronged. The decision, I'm sure, will take just as long for me to receive. I'm sure it will reaffirm the principal's decision. And, when that's done with, they'll do what they did to me to someone else.

Why do they do it? They do it because, as my former principal once said, when I asked her why she would not implement some of the policies we thought would enrich the school for the children, because we "won't pay (her) mortgage." They want position, power and money, at all costs, regardless of what it does to others or how evil it proves them to be. They want numbers: accountability numbers: teachers fired; progress numbers: regents scores and high attendance.None of this proves anything, and teachers, not any other group: parents, students, guidance, school aides, ADMINISTRATORS, within education, are being held accountable for it all.

It's all politics, and I challenge those who believe that the bureaucrats who attack teachers are right to demand that the kids who attend the worst schools simply be transferred to the so-called best ones. You'll see that there is no change. Even the charter schools, which claim to be so successful, have high rates of expulsion of their students. Teachers are only one part of the system, and they should be held responsible for holding up their end, just as much, not more or less, as others.

I've also worked, as you have, though not to the same degree of effort, to get people in power to acknowledge what's going on, with little success. The people who do seem to listen are professors of education and a few of the reformers that can look beyond the "teacher quality" craze and into comprehensive quality in the field, which is what I believe is needed. Politicians, however, don't seem to care.

Anyway, thanks for what you're doing. Too many people are being destroyed, as a result of what's taking place. I have friends on the verge of total collapse, who've had nervous breakdowns, suffer from nightmares, or, because of situations similar to mine, are unable to find work and are near the end of their rope. I vividly remember the line, at the Manhattan UFT, which went around the door and to the elevator, of people appealing their U ratings, crying while on line, mostly all probationary teachers.

People spend years, trying to enter a profession where they feel they might be able to save lives. Instead, they're used as scapegoats and thrown away, by people who lack conscience, values or principles.

Another discarded NY teacher

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