Now available: C. J. Huff and the Assassination of a Teacher's Character

AVAILABLE AT THIS LINK- THE TRANSCRIPT OF MY TERMINATION HEARING
 C. J. HUFF AND THE ASSASSINATION OF A TEACHER'S CHARACTER


I have had a hard time going out in public since April 8, the day that a police officer escorted me out of East Middle School after HR Director Tina Smith "interrogated" me for approximately four and a half minutes.

My lawyer told me that it was rare that a teacher had fellow teachers, parents, and students who were willing to testify for them during a termination hearing. It was also rare, she said, for a teacher to receive the kind of support I received.

But in the back of my mind, I kept on thinking about the people who did not know who I was or the people who may have just heard about me from their kids and never met me at a parent-teacher conference. To those people, the lies that were told about me might just be considered the truth. After all, why would a man who makes $175,000 a year (plus $8,000 a speech) and an entire crew of administrators take the witness stand, swear to tell the truth, and then tell a story that was so far from the truth that it would be laughable...if the person who was on the receiving end was someone else.

Why would they do that? I am still not certain, though I pick up bit and pieces of information and the picture is starting to clear up a little.

Before my hearing, on the advice of an NEA representative, I began applying for teaching jobs at other schools. I asked three of my former administrators if they would serve as references. All three agreed and I submitted applications for four open teaching positions, all in this area, there would not have even have been any need for me to move.

One of the districts was serious enough about me that the principal called all three of my references, who sent word back to me that they had said nothing but good things about my teaching ability and my ability to communicate with young people. They also volunteered information about some of the other things that I have done- sponsoring after-school organizations, organizing charity benefits, and working with younger teachers. All of them were under the impression that I was going to be interviewed for the position.

That fell apart when C. J. Huff released the information that there were 28 pages of charges against me and somehow the Joplin Globe, which according to Editor Carol Stark never runs an anonymous quote, brought up my book, No Child Left Alive and mentioned that it had "graphic sexual content."

How in the world did the Globe know that? I doubt seriously that any Globe reporter spent the money to buy my book. "Graphic sexual content' is not mentioned on the book's Amazon page or anywhere else. The only way the Joplin Globe could have known about the information is if it had a source in administration, whether that source be C. J. Huff or one of the people whose jobs depend on C. J. Huff.

I was never interviewed for that position or for any of the three positions. Whether that was because of the mention of sex and 28 pages of charges, or if the people called Joplin administration and were told bad things about me, I have no idea. It would not be the first time this administration has fired someone, or been in the process of firing someone, and tried to make sure that person did not land a job.

With the possibility of another job gone and a number of people standing beside me, I elected to ask for a hearing. That was the day C.J. Huff and his top-dollar witnesses finished my teaching career, ruined my reputation, and the Board of Education, even those who were supposedly in my corner, voted 7-0 (heaven forbid they ever disagree on anything), and even said the highly-rehearsed witnesses who testified against me were more believable than the parents, teachers, and students who stood up for me, at great risk to themselves.

The media concentrated on the accusations that were made against me. Though the charges were purportedly about three of my books, No Child Left Alive, Scars from the Tornado, and Devil's Messenger, suddenly Tina Smith was able to say that the female students were so supportive of me that she detected signs of "grooming."

My lawyer objected. Even thought it was obvious what Tina Smith was doing, Board President Jeff Flowers, serving as the judge, simply said the objection was noted and then told the prosecutor to continue. And the innuendo that I was some kind of pervert was allowed to go on...with the board of education's blessing.

Tina Smith even said she knew all along I had recorded the interview. That was why she did not allow me to defend myself or try to explain what were bogus charges from the beginning (and the charges were changed once they realized that I could defend myself on every one of them).

The woman who brought the charges against me, Lisa Orem, another administrator, told a convoluted story of how she came to find a link to No Child Left Alive on an obscure blog.

Another administrator, Klista Rader, explained how I "tagged" more girls than boys on Facebook. Even though she was head of technology, apparently she did not realize (or did not think the board would realize) that people can tag photos on other people's Facebook pages. I have never tagged anyone on Facebook.

Another administrator, East Middle School Principal Bud Sexson said that he had never heard of my book Scars from the Tornado until I announced at a faculty meeting in March that it was about to be published. Three witnesses, including the president and treasurer of the East Middle School PTO, testified that Sexson knew about the book almost a full year before that. The accusation against me was that I never received permission from administration, even though Sexson was fully aware of the book every step of the way.

According the board decision, Bud Sexson was more believable than the president and treasurer of the East Middle School PTO.

C. J. Huff finished me off. There was nothing in my book that had anything to say about education, C. J. Huff said. He could not sleep at night if I was allowed to remain in the classroom, he said. He would not want to have his daughter in my class. How could the board members live with themselves if they rehired me and something happened somewhere down the road.

My lawyer objected.

Jeff Flowers noted the objection, then allowed the character assassination to continue.

"This is a circus," my lawyer said.

All of those accusations against me were spread through local media. When someone Googles me, they find out about grooming, they find out that a tearful C. J. Huff could not bear the thought of me being in a classroom and something horrible happening to some student a few years down the road.

I had never been accused of any of these things; nothing of the sort had ever been hinted at. The day before the hearing, we met with our witnesses at the Hampton Inn and one father asked me a reasonable question, "Is there anything else going to come out?"

That was what C. J. Huff had promised to the East Middle School faculty when he met with them a few days before the hearing.

I told the parent that there was nothing else, but it was a fair question. It was what everyone was wondering.

Only one crime was alleged during the 10-hour hearing and as far as I can remember it never made its way into the Joplin Globe or was featured on any of the TV newscasts. That was when I told how I was attacked by a student two years earlier and it was covered up by the administrators at East Middle School. It was that experience that led me to finish writing No Child Left Alive.

After the board issued its 7-0 ruling against me, I continued to apply for teaching jobs. I applied for eight over the summer, six of which were for the course I had been teaching for the biggest part of the last 14 years. Not only did I not get a job, I never even got an interview....and one of those jobs was for an eighth grade communication arts teacher at an area school, where the principal was one of the three people who had provided a reference for me.

I can't blame the people at the other schools. Would you want to have to deal with parents who want to know why you hired someone who had been accused of "grooming" children, someone who was described by the hero of the Joplin Tornado as someone who was too dangerous to be around children?

I have never been a sociable person, but as I noted at the beginning of this long post, things have been even worse since April 8. I am totally uncomfortable around people I have known for years. I don't know what to say, and though I know I shouldn't, I worry about the idea that there are people out there who believe what C. J. Huff and the rest of his hired crew said about me.

I don't know how much good it will do, but as far as I can see, the only way to get out the story of the mugging that took place May 23 at 32nd and Duquesne is to print the entire transcript of the hearing, starting with the prosecutor reading every excerpt from my book that had sex or bad language in it and ending with the feeling that 10 hours had been wasted and the decision was already a done deal.

I have published the transcript as an e-book. I had intended to make it so cheap that anyone could pay 99 cents or $1.99 and find out for themselves what happened. Unfortunately, it is so long that I would have had  to have paid everyone to download and I cannot afford to do that. I did not change a word. I uploaded the PDF document that was sent to me by my attorney.

It costs $5 and even though it is a public document, I would suggest if you have any desire to download it that you do so quickly- I have a feeling this is not something the crew at 32nd and Duquesne wants spread throughout the Joplin R-8 School District.