Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) documents indicate at least 125 people who were listed with the school district's certificated personnel for the 2011-2012 school year, were not with the district for the 2012-2013 school year.
A few of those were in administrative positions while a few others were undoubtedly listed under different last names following marriage. That would still leave at least 100 who were no longer teaching in the Joplin School District.
The R-8 District has never said just how many teachers who were in the classrooms last year are not coming back. A district newsletter said 38 teachers retired (several of whom told me they would have loved to have remained in the classroom a few more years, but not under the current regime). Some, none of whom received quite the publicity I did, were ushered out of their classrooms, while most opted to resign to move on to other jobs in other districts.
I know of a few who left without any job lined up because of the problems they have had receiving backup on disciplinary issues and these were not rookie teachers.
In an MSSU Newsmakers interview that was posted this week, Superintendent C. J. Huff indicated that most of those leaving either resigned or their spouses landed jobs in other towns and they had to move.
Were those out-of-town employers just as active after the 2011-2012 school year or is this just something else C. J. Huff and the Joplin R-8 Administration can blame on the tornado?
The one thing you can bet money on is that the administration and the Board will neither a knowledge nor take responsibility for the situation.
ReplyDeleteWake up school board! There's only a third of your "original teachers" left and if things don't improve, that group will be headed out in May-- either by choice (not due to spouse's supposed job change) or because we have spoken out against the tyranny of huff/ Bessie.
ReplyDeleteDo you have anything positive to say about our school district? EVER? If the admin skews everything to come out smelling like roses you, on the other hand, skew every blog dedicated to report on the admin to smell like cow dung. I wish you would try to show some of that journalistic integrity by posting a blog that is actually fair and balanced.
ReplyDeleteI have written more positive things about this school district than you will find anywhere except on the district's own websites and I have been doing it for years. I have written positive things about the district in the Turner Report, on Huffington Post, my Daily Kos posts, and also the nine years that my students published East Middle School Roundabout and Room 210 News. My books 5:41, Spirit of Hope, and Scars frm the Tornado featured multiple positive stories about the Joplin School District and I will continue to write positive stories about the Joplin School District.One of the chapters in Spirit of Hope even praised the contributions made by C. J. Huff after the tornado. I will continue to write about the positive things that are done by teachers and students in the Joplin R-8 School District. But if you mean by fair and balanced that I have to match every "negative" story with a "positive" story about administration that is not going to happen, unless they change their method of operation dramatically. If you are wanting to read all good things about the Joplin R-8 School District, please feel free to try to the Joplin Globe or better yet, the district's own website.
ReplyDeleteYes, you wrote positive stories before this year because you didn't want your butt fired. But since that has happened, the negative comes out. Vintage Randy Turner!
ReplyDelete4:03: There is no mistaking the smell coming from R8. I doubt there are many hidden roses to discover. There are probably plenty of messes that will be discovered soon to go with what has already been exposed here.
ReplyDeleteThis blog has no more blame for exposing what goes on than the peasants who saw The Emperor's New Clothes.
"Yes, you wrote positive stories before this year because you didn't want your butt fired."
ReplyDeleteSo according to you @$$ kissing pays well at R8?
Seriously. The implication of your comment is clear. It is so poorly thought out in the context of the discussion that I think this is actually the work of an inverse faux concern troll out for cheap thrills. Or someone at the main office who gets paid to post this nonsense.
Brrr. Cold days in July? Hell is truly freezing over now. Change is coming. Wait and see.
ReplyDeletePlease give me ONE positive blog you have written about Joplin R-8 in the last couple of months.
ReplyDeleteTurner is whining because he got caught violating school board policies and kicked out. Nothing more.
ReplyDeleteYes, the public education system is broken and needs to be replaced by something which is cheaper and more effective. Not by babysitting and free food for indolent masses. And it will be replaced when there is nothing to support the current broken system.
These teachers who left were likely the very sort of drones which can easily be replaced by newbies and nothing much will be lost. What the real story is lies between the lies published by the Joplin Globe and the lies published on this whiner's blog by Turner. In either case, incompetence will be feathered over by the taxing power of the state for a while as there is no solution to what endemically ails public schooling of both idiot students and idiot teachers.
But I do like to hear you whine about the injustice of it all, Turner.
Is there any figures as to the ratio of normal turnover and the ratio of turnover since Huff's administration commenced? A compartive value could make more clear the current state of affairs. Also a compartive graduation rate also? Is there someplace to find these numbers?
ReplyDelete"Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteIs there any figures as to the ratio of normal turnover and the ratio of turnover since Huff's administration commenced? A compartive value could make more clear the current state of affairs. Also a compartive graduation rate also? Is there someplace to find these numbers? 11:24 AM"
Correct me if I am wrong.
All hirings and terminations appear in the board minutes. This historical information may be complied by anyone with access to board minutes. To receive full credit remember to show your work. Going back six to eight years would help establish a baseline turnover rate prior to all the "improvements".
In the new world where everyone has smartphones and laptops, an exceptional effort would include copying the relevant portion of the board minutes and posting on this blog so that the work may be checked.
Lists of teacher/staff names and job positions and graphs depicting teacher retention rates, years of experience, average pay and age, etc., are available from the DESE site. You will have options about the types of reports you want to generate. You can also look up the certification and degree levels of individual teachers. Very handy report, that! It goes back several years.
ReplyDeleteI don't think this is an isolated incident but rather an indictment of public education and incompetent school boards. The current method of running a school is an outdated joke. Randy, your old district (Diamond) is just a total mess. The current school derelict school board is drunk with power and has no clue what they are doing. They are a bunch of spineless locals who have never accomplished anything in life and I suppose that in some way this makes them feel better about their lives. Teachers are bullied and not supported by this board and most fear for their jobs. Teachers are leaving in droves because of these people and it is truly sad. We were proud of our district at one time but now we are totally embarrassed and a laughingstock. We cannot get good teachers to apply, especially coaches after they fired the latest round of people then violated sunshine laws by kicking the media out of closed session while allowing 40+ people in. They clearly out of control and clueless. Because of the school's reputation now we are just stuck until the next election. We need change! Randy you should consider covering Diamond board meetings now. You would have a lot to report and it would increase your circulation for sure!
ReplyDeleteI believe it would be prudent to do what both I (at 5:35PM) and someone else at 5:59 PM proposed. Th results should be similar. Any significant discrepancies should be examined. Not an accusation, but if no one checks then it is all a matter of faith in accurate reporting by the administration.
ReplyDeleteAny honest administration should be happy to have the accuracy of its reports validated. Any honest administration should also be grateful to have any discrepancies discovered and disclosed to the board and the taxpayers. This would allow any potential discrepancies to be corrected, and the causes to be addressed.
In a 2007 news report the turnover rate in Joplin Schools was 8%. The following is a link to the news article.
ReplyDeletehttp://204.184.201.201/headlines/0708/090407low_turnover.htm
If you take the numbers from this report and compare the values with the 2007 numbers you have a 315.5% percent change in the turnover rates of teachers in Joplin. Hmmm, maybe Randy has something there.