Mirror image of Joplin R-8: Workers afraid to speak out, planning their exit strategies

I was stunned when I read the following description of a New Jersey school on education activist Diane Ravitch's blog:

“The desire is to get rid of every experienced, thoughtful teacher and administrator and replace them with compliant, cheap and willing newcomers who do not know what it is like to be treated with respect. Morale is as low as I have ever seen it. Virtually every teacher I speak to, especially the strongest teachers, are planning their exit strategies. The environment is about compliance and loyalty and there is absolutely no emphasis on strong teaching. The administrative team is extremely weak. Teachers are writing lesson plans that are never read,” and “We are being treated as a failing school when there are some highly successful things about the school. Like any oppressive regime, the workers are afraid to speak out and the managers are learning that unquestioning obedience is the only way to survive.”

As I noted, the school district described in the above paragraph is in New Jersey. Every word that is written could just as easily apply to the Joplin R-8 School District where more than 200 teachers have left since May 2012 and others are, to use the phrase from above, planning their exit strategies.

Think of the number of thoughtful administrators and teachers who have left the district since C. J. Huff arrived as superintendent and Angie Besendorfer as assistant superintendent.

Repeating that final sentence from above- Like any oppressive regime, the workers are afraid to speak out and the managers are learning that unquestioning obedience is the only way to survive.