That I write these words may surprise those who are aware
that my employer of the last 10 years, the Joplin R-8 Board of Education, voted
7-0 to terminate my contract Thursday.
The decision did not surprise me. I was fully aware that
teachers rarely survive termination hearings. This hearing, not permanent
employment, is the only thing that tenure offers, despite the protestations of
the so-called “reformers,” who insist it is keeping thousands of bad teachers
in the classrooms.
Not a single parent or student complained about me. The
primary witnesses were six administrators. Though the charges against me had
nothing to do with any kind of pedophilia, the district’s human resources
manager insisted that when she interviewed girls about me, they were so
supportive of me that she saw signs of “grooming.” My lawyer vigorously
objected to the woman’s loaded language, but it was allowed to remain on the
record.
Other such innuendo was sprinkled throughout the
administrators’ testimony with the board president noting each of my attorney’s
objections and then allowing the remarks to continue unimpeded.
This even included our superintendent C. J. Huff, who while
acknowledging there were no such allegations against me, said, tears flowing,
that the board couldn’t take a chance of allowing me back into the classroom
and then having something happen to a child a few years from now.
During the second half of the hearing, my witnesses, a combination
of parents, students, and my fellow teachers testified on my behalf, In one
instance, three witnesses, myself, the president of our parents’ association
and the treasurer of the association, contradicted what an administration
witness had testified.
So even though I expected a negative verdict, I was dismayed
when I read the opinion, which said that the administration’s witnesses were
“more credible” than mine, that my attorney was the one who brought up the
pedophile accusation, and that I had been discourteous to the human resources
manager by recording the four and a half minutes I was interviewed before I was taken
out of the school by a police officer in front of my students April 8.
Since the decision was announced, I have received hundreds
of messages from supporters who feel bad about what happened to me and who are
frustrated that they cannot do anything.
My message to all of my supporters- this is not the lesson I
would like to be teaching at this point, but it is one that is well worth learning-
the system is not perfect, but it works.
During the days and weeks before my hearing, my eighth grade
students peacefully protested through use of posters and t-shirts, never
causing any disruption, but getting their message across.
A couple of my former students, now attending Joplin High
School, Huffington Post teen blogger Laela Zaidi and Rylee Hartwell, worked
with the local police department to arrange a peaceful protest to be held
outside the administration building an hour before my hearing.
Laela did this in spite of calls made by an administrator to
both her and her mother telling her that she was not acting wisely. The
administrator probably felt the same way when both Laela and her father
testified on my behalf.
My case became a rallying cry for our faculty and for our
local NEA chapter, which is now seeing its ranks increase.
And my hearing, though the results were not what I or my
supporters wanted, served a valuable purpose. For the first time, the tactics
that have been used by our administration for the past few years were exposed
during a public hearing, which was well covered by the local media.
Parent groups are forming in Joplin in an effort to elect
board of education members who will be more responsive to the needs of the people.
This is in response to many things that have happened in the school district;
my case is just a small part of it.
For the past 14 years, as I have worked to help middle
school students to become better writers, I have also taught the importance of
the First Amendment and the necessity of becoming involved in the community.
What I have seen the past few weeks is better evidence to me
than any standardized tests that my lessons have hit home.
If I have truly taught my last lesson, I can’t think of a better
way to go out.
(Links to previous posts I have written about this case can be found here.)
(Links to previous posts I have written about this case can be found here.)
33 comments:
Truly sorry to hear it ended this way.
Though…were it me? Upon the hearing’s conclusion I would have immediately filed some sort of ‘wrongful dismissal’ suit. Not so much to reclaim my position – that bridge was torched form the Administration’s side early on – but to force another, more honest hearing in a wider venue; this is one of the things the ACLU does very well.
Very well said. Thank you for everything you do Mr.Turner. Many students won't know what they are missing, not having you as a teacher, but I do. I am forever grateful for everything you taught me. I'm sure many will agree.
Nicely written, sir, and an excellent message. --dh
Let's see.
Turner was told to do and not to do a number of things by school administration. Eventually they got wind of Turner's misconduct and did things by the book. After Turner got his hearing, the school board backed up the charges brought by their school administration and unanimously voted to dismiss Turner according to law.
Turner can of course appeal this decision and file a lawsuit in the local county circuit court. Of course the rules of evidence are somewhat different in a court of law as opposed to this blog in that Turner won't get to control what is testified to or what is brought up. From what I gathered, Turner's witnesses pretty much agreed that because Turner was suck a wonderful teacher that he didn't have to obey school board policies. Obviously, the school officials disagreed.
So yes, I agree, the System works. It removed a teacher who wanted to pretend that the rules don't apply to him. If the teacher's unions want to make something of this, then our Republican super-majority in the General Assembly can break them like Reagan busted the air traffic controllers union.
Any of you teachers want to break the rules, then there are plenty of undergraduate teachers in training who will simply do as contracted without drama. Better learn your place in you know what is good for you.
1:49: You have twisted the situation to suit your judgmental attitude, but nothing anyone can say will sway you. Once a person has decided he can play both judge and jury, evidence is really a moot point.
As to your threat, it is proving difficult to replace the teachers who have already left. Unless you are ready to teach, perhaps you should not feel so free in your zealousness to run off those who remain.
Yea Verily - You don't state the misconduct actions so I can't make much sense of your message.
I dont know sh*t from shinola about Turner's case. It could be that he's a lousy teacher for all I know, and it could be that he put students in harm's way. However, Anon 1:49's description of the situation - and then the not too veiled threat to other teachers who dare to think out of the box - strikes me as everything that is wrong with education today.
According to 1:49, it's not that Turner did anything that actually harmed anyone, and it's not that Turner wasn't a great teacher (anon 149 doesn't focus on either). It all comes down to the fact that Turner was a pain in the ass to administration, leading administration apparently to start looking for rule infractions to list and put together into a legal case against him.
Now, I suspect that if administration wants to go after a person, they could always find some rules being broken, there being so many of them. I doubt any teacher is following all the rules. However, it appears that Turner wasn't sufficiently deferential to the whims of administration, so out came the rule book.
According to 1:49, what we really want in the end are good little boys and girls who behave, kiss administration ass and who will do "what is contracted".
Future teachers here's 1:49s message: don't make waves. and don't think for yourselves. Just memorize the handbook and your contract and do what you are told.
My apologies, Kathy. I have written about the allegations frequently, so I did not restate them, but I will add a link at the end of the article for those who want to look over what has previously been written about my case.
Sorry it turned out this way Randy. I hope you are back in the classroom somewhere soon. In the meantime, I do hope that you and your attorney will file an appeal of this decision so that it can be heard in an actual court of law rather than the before a board that had already been told what the outcome needed to be. I would also encourage a defamation lawsuit against the hr manager and the superintendent based on their testimony during the hearing. This was utter nonsense that should never have been allowed into the record. Good luck.
Randy.....You certainly are taking the high road in this case. I am a retired teacher and in light of what I have read about your dismissal, I would be contacting the Southern Poverty Law Center and the ACLU in addition to setting up a legal fund to get a good Springfield lawyer. Two come to mind, Dee Wampler and Tom Carver. Along with the post by Yeah Verily( Sounds like Brian Nieves or Tim Jones who are both Rex Sinquefield paid liars)I doubt I would take the dismissal or sit by while some radical right wingnut made accusations such as those against teachers. What are they gonna do? Fire you? Screw you on retirement? Seems they did that to you without just cause, just the possibility of a possible propensity(unproven) that you might do something. Anyway, for now I would like you to listen to a public radio program with an interview of Sylvia Boorstein. She teaches in her Jewish Buddist way that life is not fair and how we teach others to live. Good Times as the spoof on public radio on SNL goes. THEN....I would fine myself a competant lawyer and sue this district for wrongful dismissal as Nick said.
After reading the Board's agenda for Thursday, for the closed door session they had one legal action, three personnel actions, and thirteen actions for personnel with identifiable records. So, since they publicly announced the fate of Randy Turner, that clears up who one of the three personell actions was. What about the other two? Absolved? Terminated? It's a mystery for now. Connected to this ridiculous situation? Repercussions? So far I've seen no changes or boxes being moved from MODOT, but who knows. How about the legal action--is that something happening now, or are they bracing themselves for what they know they deserve?
Randy.....I did two things which I don't think you would do. I did them because I think that you were harmed in this dismissal and it is a wrongful termination. I sent a copy of this article to every Democratic member of the Missouri House. I did that because the right wingnuts funded by Rex Sinquefield and Students first want all Missouri teachers to be "at will" employees with no possibility of tenure and a 401K plan instead of a defined benefit plan run by teachers for teachers in the PSRS. If the Joplin district can do this to you on these trumped up charges why would there need to be a law eliminating tenure? Your case proves that any teacher asking children to learn to read and write with proficiency is at risk of non employment. Keep the base stupid and illeriterate and worried about guns and religion and you have a guaranteed Republican victory in the legislative races in Missouri.Second, I went to the Southern Poverty Law center's website and asked them to look at your blog. It is my opinion that you have been deprived of the chance to earn a living and get your earned retirement benefits in a timely manner as a result of this firing. Administration set out to do this to you and they did. Many other teachers have had this done to them as well and it is time lawyers got involved. I respect your ability to take punishment without being angry but at this point might you stand up for teachers? You have little to lose by my measure. They screwed you. Hey.....where do I send a check for your legal fund? There are some web sites where you can start an online countrywide petition to look at your firing. Thing about that. I think it is Change.Org.
"Tenure" doesn't exist in public education; it only applies in colleges and universities both public and private as a result of the need to protect professors' rights to academic freedom. That does not exist in public education. All teachers have are the same rights to a hearing all other public employees have, including police and fire. Will legislators be willing to take away those "rights" from police and fire, both of which are male-dominated fields? I doubt it.
A continuing contract is merely that; it is not a lifetime job. It isn't all that much different than in any other sector of employment, public or private. A school district can easily remove an unwanted teacher; it's just that few opt to take the sham hearings and negotiate a severance package instead if they have continuing contracts. For those who don't, they are merely "non-renewed," which is the same thing as being fired but with no right to a hearing.
Anon 9:08am - for you to attempt to make this a right wing vs left wing issue is a sham. I think we can all easily agree that Mr Turner has left leaning political views. though I may not agree with the majority of his views, I can clearly read between the lines of all that has been said in regard to his termination. the conclusion that I, a staunch conservative, have reached is the same of most of you. the administration wanted him gone and they figured out a way to do it.
from where I sit, the problems mr Turner has chronicled with regard to the current state of public education; have their genesis in left wing ideology (standardized testing, common core, etc). when he spoke out about these issues in his writings is when the witch hunt began.
I believe this entire issue is far too complex to pin it down to a left vs right debacle. In my opion the most significant aspect of it all, is the local administration and their insatiable appetite for power and total control.
Randy, I am sure it gives some comfort to read all of the positive comments but the only thing that might actually help you is to pursue a legal remedy. If you don't choose that, you might as well move on.
Dear Mr. Martin,
NCLB is a Bush administration "blessing," bringing us standardized testing, loss of local control, and a race to meet quotas no matter what it takes. You can thank a right-leaning administration for that.
I don't agree with all of you about Randy suing the taxpayers. Hasn't this gone on long enough? In what other job could a person disregard (blatantly) even one fifth of the policies Randy was accused of breaking, and be able to go on PAID leave for more than six weeks while he awaits a hearing? You can argue that the policies aren't fair, but the time to do that is before you sign a contract agreeing to them. Suing the taxpayers of this area because you think the termination isn't fair is a bad idea, in my opinion. The logical next step is the circuit court appeal, right? Does pay/benefits continue during the duration of the appeal process too?
I'm fairly certain that standardized testing was being used far before the Bush administration. the whole point of NCLB is to score well and receive federal funding. just because it came into being during Bush's administration doesn't mean its conservative. Thats like arguing that Obama must not be as left as he seems since recently under his administration the assault weapons ban failed. both arguments would be oversimplification of a complex issue. basically reiterating my point that making mr Turner's issue into a right vs left battle would be nonsense. I wont speak for anyone else, but as a conservative I want the federal government involved in education as much as I want a bumble bee down my britches.
I don't believe Mr Turner has any legal ground to stand on beyond his hearing. unknowingly he made a small mistake. a mistake the R-8 administration pounced on and you know the rest. I think he is probably intelligent enough to understand that. is it a shame? absolutely. I think that is something we can agree upon.
This is indeed a "right" vs "left" issue. In the past legislative session, legislation was introduced to abolish teacher tenure and it was introduced by Republicans. Only when some very smart ex teacher Republican House members voted against it was it defeated. How is that not left vs right? Rex Sinquefield and his organization along with Students First is pushing this agenda and pumping money into the election coffers of those that will do the introduction of the bills they want. Check out his 100 thousand dollar contribution to Speaker Tim Jones and the Speaker's stance on these issues. Not the only legislator he has 'bought" over the years or the last. We only kid ourselves when we say it is not conservative vs liberal. IMHO if you are a working person and you have liberal ideas you better keep them to yourself or you will get fired in this state as did Mr. Turner. Conservatives will allow one old cranky bazillionaire from St. Louis to buy their legislators and they will vote those same people into office because of party affiliation and possible hatred of President Obama. Sit back and watch the tax base for your schools and police disappear as in Kansas....conservative idea pushed by Rex Sinquefield. I can go on for days but you better read what Republicans are doing to the working class in Missouri if you are not rich and you call yourself a conservative or a Republican. That's just my opinion. You can screw yourself with your vote if you want. It's a free country...for now.
As soon as Rex Sinquefield buys Missouri they will have to change the state motto from "The show Me State" to "The Show Me the Money State".Republicans are always saying they are worried about the next generation. How do you think your children and grandchildren will get along in a state with no minimum wage, no trade unions, refusal to pay comparable pay for construction outside cities in rural areas, teachers that rotate out of teaching like Wal Mart workers because of no pension system and no tenure? These are all conservative legislative agenda issues pused by ALEC and Rex Sinquefield and your friendly Republican legislators. If you think this whole country and control of it by the people is not a 'left" vs "right" issue, you have been living in another country for some time and are new here.
Okay Mr. Martin. I'm sure you know better than any of us little people in education what it's really about and the history of high stakes testing. I bow to your brilliance. Nothing anyone says will convince you otherwise anyway.
I wonder if you would agree if your bosses set you up to look like a pedophile in order to save their own reputations? If your future career choice and and reputation were hanging in the balance?
It's so easy to be judge and jury. If only being the victim were as easy, also.
To anonymous 5:25:
I hope my children can grow up in a state where there is no minimum wage, no unions, and no prevailing wage laws. That will mean the government is less involved, and people will be able to achieve their dreams if they work hard and make the right choices. There's nothing wrong with working at WalMart. A lot of the jobs here are fantastic for entry level workers looking for experience and semi-retired folks looking to stay busy or to supplement their income. Most jobs don't have tenure or defined benefit pensions, so please don't say that taxpayer-funded employees losing tenure and generous retirement packages is going to put them in the same employment category as those working at WalMart. Why are public employees better than everyone else?
I hope your children do not grow up in such a state. You will be sorry for that. Have you ever worked for Wal Mart? I suggest you get a job there or better yet, let your children work there so they can live at your house because they cannot afford an apartment on minimum wage and it would take SOME years for them to get enough pay raises to get to the point where they can afford housing. You can also pay their health insurance and food because at the wages Wal Mart has most workers they cannot afford health insurance and qualify for food stamps....which you subsidize now. You see the world where working hard and getting ahead by doing so simply does not exist in an economy where workers are simply bodies to extract work from at the least pay. Corporations then take the profits gleaned from workers and offshore it in accounts untouchable by taxation. Economist David Cay Johnston said that there is enough money offshore that if present tax laws were applied the United States would have no deficit.Some people think that the working world is what it once was in America. The corporations have changed that and you either have to be for the people or for the corporations. You think you live in an economy that simply does not exist. If you think I am wrong, send your kids to work there. You join them there at minimum wage and you all work your way up the corporation. I will bet you that in the process if you have a mortgage right now you will lose your house. Try it man. I dare you. You say you don't want the government to regulate wages or have a union negotiate a contract or benefits and wages. OK. Try a minimum wage job in the service industry with all your kids and come back in a year from now and tell me I'm wrong.I double dog dare you to put your conservative talk into action. I have been there, done it, seen it and took home the T shirt.Conservatives long for a country that no longer exists.
I see that Mr Turner has the opportunity to appeal the school board's decision within the next couple weeks per KZRG's FB page.
The conversation within these comments turned from the specific issue of his termination to major ideology differences. For what its worth I was simply stating that the very specific case of the school board vs Mr. Turner is not a right vs left issue. It was a personal vendetta. Sure the board was able to mask that very well, but its really easy to read between the lines. Especially if you read "No Child Left Alive.
As far as the wide reaching right vs left discussion...
I can't help but grin at the anonymous liberal comments. Especially 5:04 and 5:25. More or less warning hard working folks against conservative ideas. If you're a middle class worker you should fear the ideology of the left. The ideology of throwing more of your hard earned tax dollars at something hoping it will fix the problem. Especially in the context of education. The US Department of Education should be abolished based on the 10th amendment alone. Children were educated and our country was doing just fine before the US Dept of Education was establish during the Carter administration. Here's a great Reagan quote from 1980. Which illustrates this isn't a new problem. It's a growing one.
"
Next to religious training and the home, education is the most important means by which families hand down to each new generation their ideals and beliefs. It is a pillar of a free society. But today, parents are losing control of their children’s schooling. The Democratic Congress and its counterparts in many states have launched one fad after another, building huge new bureaucracies to misspend our taxes. The result has been a shocking drop in student performance, lack of basics in the classroom, forced busing, teacher strikes, manipulative and sometimes amoral indoctrination.
The Republican Party is determined to restore common sense and quality to education for the sake of all students, especially those for whom learning is the highway to equal opportunity.…We understand and sympathize with the plight of America’s public school teachers, who so frequently find their time and attention diverted from their teaching responsibilities to the task of complying with federal reporting requirements. America has a great stake in maintaining standards of high quality in public education. The Republican Party recognizes that the achievement of those standards is possible only to the extent that teachers are allowed the time and freedom to teach. To that end, the Republican Party supports deregulation by the federal government of public education, and encourages the elimination of the federal Department of Education."
How can anyone disagree with the context of this quote?
For anonymous 8:49 --- conservatives long the the country that barely exists in exchange for the ones you have current one liberals have put in place. And don't confuse conservatives and liberals to equate to republicans and democrats.
As an aside: I can't help but feel disdain for most anonymous comments. Anonymity displays a lack of conviction in what one is writing about, or in the case of this blog: shear laziness. After all, Gmail/Google accounts are the most widely used on the planet.
One more thing. I do not know all the circumstances of rebulding Joplin after the tornado but I am going to go out on a limb and bet that in the aftermath of that tornado, no Tea Party, Freedom Groups,Patriot Groups or religious groups jumped in with enogh money to rebuild your town. I bet it was money from the federal government that built it back up. Out in New Jersey I don't think there are residents lined up to return FEMA checks and get the government out of rebulding their homes. I hear conservative talk about wanting the government out of their lives and I think how child like that thought is. In a perfect world where humans were treated with respect and their work was prized it might be different. This is not that world. I bet you that you have worked and when you retire you will draw from socialist by definition, government programs like Social Security and Medicare and will need those to survive. You would wish less for your children? Is ideology and hate for a black president more important than making this a better place for everyone? Yes, I played the race card. every man, woman or child that lives in this country is affected by his or her race whether you want to admit it or not.
Dave...Reagan was a bad man. As I recall he was going to pay social security benefits based on what an individual was worth in contributing to society. So....a person withdisabilities would get less than a non disabled person....etc. He was going to turn over social services to the church community which might be great for you if you belong to that particular sect or belief but bad if you don't. He started breaking unions which provided middle class workers with job security and a living wage through the great times after WWII until Regan. After that, workers income has declined and CEO income increased and has continued that way.I wish I could have one conversation without hearing from some right wing guy about Regan. He sucked. Nixon was crazy. Johnson enabled a whole group of yung people from low income families to go to college on his Great Society programs. He was a Democrat. There is a new book out "Twighlight of the Elites" which I think defines how opportunity for low income and middle class kids is declining. I will read it and get back to you on it but I think rational people know it is getting too hard for poor and middle class kids and their families to afford college and get a start in the world rich kids are born into. I just think you are off base when you are telling people what the conservatives and Republicans are doing for average people. Young people were recently polled and they described the Republican party as brutal and racist. You can google search that. As far as my being anonomous and commenting. It is not your place to tell me what or how to place a comment. You are the personal freedoms guys...right? What do you want to do to me? Chase me down? Hurt me for my beliefs that are different than yours? Back to the subject of Randy Turner. I think what was done to him was wrong. I will hold that conviction as long as I breathe air. I believe that other teachers have been hurt like that as well and it is wrong.
Dave....That regan quote is just so bogus as related to today's Missouri Republican party agenda. Instead of allowing teachers the freedom to teach as the quote says...they seek to impose a set of standards that you can find on the ALEC website, or Students First where teachers would be subject to losing their jobs if a certain percentage of students do not achieve at a certain standard. I think as a conservative you would say that in a free society, a cetain amount of citizens will choose to succeed and a certain amount will choose to fail. That free will makes winners and losers and not the system. Why then would conservatives not apply that simple logic to a population of students? Holding teachers accountable for choice by students,households where education is not prized or the many, many effects of poverty on student success rate seems a band aid on a bleeding artery. If the Republican party is in favor of college education for American children then why won't they vote to lower rates on student loans and a loan forgiveness plan after 10 years based on a graduate's income? I would suspect that the Missouri legislature could move some bills forward like that to help Missouri low income kids but what did we get last session? Not following federallaws on guns which has cost Montana a boatload of money in legal costs after they enacted it to try and defend an unconstitutional law. Anti Sharia law? Tax cuts that ruined the Kansas tax base? People that moved to Kansas from Missouri are moving back because the schools are no good anymore. All said my brother, the boatload of junk the Republican party spouts is not consistent with what it tries to enact. It is consistent with ALEC (look up ALEC and its agenda...everyone), Students Firstwhich is just a business founded by Michelle Rhee for the good of Michelle Rhee and she lives in California...and the agenda of a really cranky old rich guy from St. Louis, Rex Sinquefield. I know I won't change your mind because racial hate is stronger than logic but maybe someone will read this and look up some of this stuff the Republicans are peddling and think about it.
So if you are a male teacher (and I presume unmarried) and your female students speak highly of you to your administrators, you must be a pedophile. I think that's your lawsuit right there--sexual discrimination.
I also think it is clear that the administration waited to file charges until after the school board election--if this were going on earlier in the spring, I'm sure some school board members would have been defeated.
Stick to the core problem here. It is that the Joplin School system has for a long time been quietly removing teachers, tenured and non-tenured, who may think outside the box, or not follow the status quo. These people often do not teach again because they are so broken by the treatment they receive from administrators in their schools. Seeking help from MNEA is useless in these situations, even with documentation of harassment or negative treatment by administration. These are in some cases valuable, creative teachers who will never enter a classroom again. People need to know this is going on.
My name is Brian Webster.
I do not know enough about this particular issue to comment either way, but I know enough to say this:
Randy Turner is a good man whose passion for teaching and for writing is real. I worked in his newsroom at The Carthage Press from 1995 to 1998 as a young sports editor with a lot of ideas and a lot of rough edges. Randy turned me into an award-winning writer/photographer/editor in less than two years. I worked hard, it's true, but I couldn't have accomplished what I did if not for Randy's guidance, advice and scolding when I needed it.
This smacks to me of politics at their dirtiest, of an attempt to smear a "liberal" whose ideas, writings and methods of teaching became bothersome to some closed-minded folks in a deep-red section of a red state.
I haven't seen Randy in 15 years, but if he's still the man I know, then all of this is only going to make his voice louder. If so, then AMEN.
One aspect of your comments that stands out to me is the administrator who called the mother of one of your witnesses. I think this deserves more exploration. Was this because he feared for her? Knowing those people, I somehow doubt it. Was is a cowardly attempt to intimidate a witness? Isn't that illegal?
There is no conscience in that building. Power is absolute and it is abused. And the board, again, just handed them everything they need, unanimously, to continue business as usualy. So the teachers will continue to leave until the parents demand otherwise.
Randy I am sorry this all blew up this way. Not knowing what all the facts are, it is apparent on the surface you didn't kiss their ass, and they couldn't take it. Most School administrations are worthless. If they can get teacher tenure out and serve at will in Missouri, teachers will be coming and going like minimum wage people in the Branson theaters.
Sue them.
David Rust
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