(Note to Joplin area media and any others who are interested- You can consider this a news release and my statement.)
I will not be appealing the Joplin R-8 Board of Education's 7-0 decision to terminate my teaching contract. To do so would be a waste of time, since the appeal process does not involve weighing the evidence or the legitimacy of the board's decision. The procedure would simply involve the court deciding if proper procedure was followed during my hearing.
While anyone who was at my hearing may question why something that was so patently one-sided could be considered proper procedure, it appears the rules, as they are, were followed. The system is heavily stacked against a teacher who has a termination hearing.
In my case, the hearing featured four basic charges against me, none of which were proven, but then again, would you want to be one of the board members sitting in judgment and discover that you are responsible for hiring half a dozen administrators who have no qualms whatsoever about smearing a man's reputation and ruining his livelihood and apparently no understanding of why they were required to take an oath before their testimony.
Though I am not appealing the decision, I do have some other options that I will carefully consider.
Finally, I want this on the record- I am proud of Devil's Messenger, Scars from the Tornado, and No Child Left Alive. I hope that at some point in the not too distant future, No Child Left Alive and my hearing are remembered as the catalysts that began tearing down the reign of terror that has emanated from the Mount Olympus at 32nd and Duquesne.
No Child Left Alive chronicles a dysfunctional school system. The current administration wrote the book on creating one.
11 comments:
I can't say as I blame you. Many teachers made the choice I did and took any job they could find in other districts. The board is never going to step up and admit they made a mistake with these people. I wish you luck as you continue your mission. I hated leaving but nothing good is on the horizon. Sooner or later you have to put your own best interests ahead of everything else.
Pride goeth before a fall.
Can you imagine the power trip administration must be on now? They can get away with anything and the Board backs them.
I hope you can stop them. Certainly the local media is making no great strides.
Good luck!
Randy, I quit reading The Turner Report long, long ago. But since the issue with your employment, I have been checking it periodically. I may have missed it, but I didn't find any comment in which you expressed remorse or regret. I have not seen any humility expressed about the noise you have caused the school, the teacher, the kids and staff. I have not seen any comment about any sorrow for all the upheaval, and you have not accepted that you are even a little responsibility for what happened.
A little humility would help.
Why should Mr. Turner apologize for the "noise" that he did not create? I believe the trumped up charges and a Board with no backbone allowed all of this to happen. The teachers are leaving in record numbers and not much learning is happening. Why should that be put on Mr. Turner?
Apparently, you should read the report more often so you can make more informed comments. Many people are suffering, but that's not his fault. Look much higher up.
i find it funny that you are offended when they attack your reputation and smear your name, but you have no problem doing the exact same thing to other people. writing a blog based on rumors and not truth. all i can say is karma will always find you. im glad you were fired and i hope you never teach again.
9:26:
Could you please set the record straight for us? What was stated that wasn't true? It is important that the truth be revealed. There must be something really wrong for so many dedicated teachers to give up and leave.
If you have nothing but threats of karma and an immature outlook to offer, then you do no one any good. Please bring us some facts to counter any claims that were made that were not true.
Read what I have written previously. If that is not enough for you, my guess would be that nothing woud be.
Anonymous 9:26 doesn't not cite anyone that the Turner Report has falsely maligned or the "rumor" as opposed to fact used therein, but he instead cites that he is glad to see misfortune befall some person that was an exceptional educator. Numerous parents, students, and colleagues also agree the administration is indeed very similar to Mr. Turner's novel, which was the reason the R-8 administrators cited "board policy" was violated. Any teacher at any time can be found in violation of a board policy, particularly when the teacher is engaging the students to be creative in their academic efforts. Not one student was named or came forward to say that Me. Turner had encouraged them to read his novel. Karma cannot be cited unless Mr. Turner had bad intent, such as making accusations that we're unfounded as Anonymous does quite well.
So if you file an appeal, you are basically requesting to see if the Board was following proper procedure from their own policy instead of reopening the case on why you were wrongfully terminated? What a crock. The legal system is completely rigged.
I just hold self-sufficiency in high regard now.
No one has mention the fact that those sitting in the judgement chairs have to keep looking over their shoulders in hopes they are not next on the block!
Randy, Wishing you the Best...Good Luck
If the anonymous commentators were as morally superior as they presume to be, they wouldn't be here every post trying to argue and pick fights. Anyone who takes pleasure in the misfortune of others, whether you think it is "just" or not, is in no position to make moral pronouncements of any kind.
It is kind of amusing, though, the way that people who appear to dislike Turner also hang on his every word.
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