About Turner Report comments I do not print and Anson Burlingame

Judging from the comments I receive every so often, I must be eliminating hundreds of comments from people who do not agree with what I write.

In fact, over the past 11 years that this blog has been in existence, I have run hundreds, perhaps thousands, of comments from people who not only do not agree with me, but often are not polite about the way they express their feelings.

I really do not mind those comments. In fact, the discussions that often come as a result of those comments can be enlightening.


But there are some out there, many of whom have a deep dislike of me (but keep on reading everything I write), who want to give people the idea that I am censoring comments so that it will look like everyone agrees with me.

Clearly that is not the case.

These kinds of comments do not make the grade:

-Spam- When I see comments that do not have anything to do with the subject or have links that lead to some type of online business, they are rejected.

-Comments with Profane Language- A mild profanity is one thing, but some of the things that people have put in their comments are not going to be on the Turner Report.

-Racial epithets- If that is what you want to read, find yourself another blog.

-Lies about me- Considering the things I do allow people to say about me, you might be surprised to know there are things I do not allow. These include the comments that purport to know the real reason I got fired at the Carthage Press, the real reason why I left Diamond Middle School, the real reason I got fired at the Lamar Democrat (and that really irritates me since I left the Democrat to work for the Carthage Press). If you want to tell lies about me, there is not much I can do about it, but I am not going to provide you with the space to do so. If you want to say I deserved to be fired by the Joplin R-8 School District or that my blog is terrible, go for it. I will print your comments. It should be mentioned that if there was anything to any of the comments that I rejected, is there anyone out there who doesn't think C. J. Huff would have used it by now?

And finally, there is Anson Burlingame.

I have printed many of Burlingame's comments and welcome them in the future, but there were a few that he sent last year that did not make the cut. So he has written a couple of times about how I censor comments. There was a reason I did not run his comments.

It stems back to an e-mail Burlingame sent on May 6, 2013. It came a little over a week after it became public knowledge that I had been placed on paid administrative leave by the R-8 School District.

This is what Anson Burlingame wrote:

Randy,

As you know, I am deeply interested in your case as a matter of great public interest, far beyond just YOU and R-8 and who was right or wrong.

I have tried to express the REAL issue(s) as far as I am concerned and have even linked the two blogs in an email to the ombudsman of the Washington Post, my "main stream media" of choice which I scan every day.

I await the outcome in YOUR case and will be open minded as I observe legal and policy arguments in an open hearing before the BOE. It is my understanding that you requested more time to prepare for such a hearing and asked for an extension beyond the estimated date of May 9, 2013. I am also told that a tentative date for that hearing is May 23, 2013.

So my FIRST question, is the above paragraph TRUE, that YOU WANT a public hearing, needed more time to prepare and a new date MAY be May 23, 2013? I would appreciate a reply to that question, by return email, if you will accomodate me.

But there is MORE, issues of a private nature, that I will keep private UNLESS you agree that I can blog on the matter as far as detailed answers are involved.

You are being supported, publicly by some students and parents, claiming that you are a great teacher, etc. Obviously there is NO WAY I can evaluate such claims and just asking you if you are such, a great teacher, does little to resolve my ability to reach my own conclusions on that point. Thus a few detailed questions:

1. How long have you taught in Joplin MIddle Schools and approximately how many students, during those years have you actually taught? Of course by that I mean kids that started and ended a semester class.

2. Of that total number of students, how many were found to be less than proficient in English or whatever it is called on State tests? Were YOUR students about "average" meaning 50% or so less than proficient, or did your students routinely excel as at least proficient in their ability to read and write English?

3. As well, of the total number that passed through your classrooms over those years how many became dropouts before graduating from high school?

4. Of that total number that "passed through your classroom" over the years did you assign a FAILING grade to them for a given class? By failing grade, I of course mean those that received no credit for the class in which you ultimately failed them, grade wise, an "F" I would assume being such a grade?

5. Of that total number of failing grades assigned by YOU as the teacher, how many were "overturned" by your superiors, principles, asst. principles, etc.. By overturned I mean they DIRECTED you to change the grade assigned, or gave some "outside help" to such students and then assigned a different and passing grade for each student so assisted?

Now the above are pretty straight forward questions and I would assume "approximate" answers COULD be provided by you, directly. NO NAMES for sure of students, etc. are so requested, just the roll up of numbers if you will.

You KNOW as well as I do that some kids simply cannot "pass muster" in MIddle School, for whatever reason(s). I simply want to know if you saw such students failing to achieved the needed level of knowledge, basic knowledge in how to read and write, and then YOU said NO to them and that they would have to repeat the class to "pass" at a future time. Or instead, did you go with the flow and pass all or almost all of them and let others worry about future performance, later on in High School? I am NOT trying to be sneaky in my questions and will keep the numbers confidential unless you agree that I can use them, publicly.

On the other hand, I retain the right to publicly state the questions ASKED, whether you provide answers or not, being your call.

Finally, here is a more subjective approach to such issues.

1. Of the total number of students taught by you in Joplin Middle School, how many actually went DIRECTLY to college after graduation from High School?

2. Of the total entering college, immediately after graduating from High School, how many actually GRADUATED from college, in four years or less?

I am NOT particularly interested in those students that you taught that became "craftsmen" (or even "burger flippers") and may or may not have attempted higher education later on, with success or failure in such higher education. I recognize that some students "mature" AFTER leaving High School to go on to college. But such is not a direct result of good teachers in Middle and High School, at least directly and thus I give such teachers no "credit" for such, but neither do I disparage such teachers, either. They just did the best they could (as long as kids graduate from High School) with what they had to work with in terms of "younger" kids".

My own bottom line for teachers is NOT their popularity with students, or even other teachers or administrators. Popularity means little to me in terms of professional achievement. YOUR job as a professional teacher is to TEACH the basics at least in reading and writing, grade level basics.

The BEST way to evaluate your efforts as a professional teacher is by objective assessment of how those students APPLIED the knowledge learned, later on. Good, and objective tests, like SATs and ACTs are ONE metric. Going on to higher education and doing well in such efforts is an even better way to measure YOUR results based on student performance later on.

As well, I could I suppose, ask you how many former students became convicted felons, later on. My guess is when such happened (and I am sure such happens a lot with even "great teachers") you would have seen it "coming" even in Middle School. Some kids are hoods in Middle School and NEVER change yet our system "passes them along" "felonious actions" in school or not!!!

Respectfully,

Anson Burlingame

While I did not question Burlingame's sincerity (I did not know at the time of his role as a confidant and propaganda ally of C. J. Huff. I had never given Burlingame much thought.), the last thing I was going to do was waste valuable time answering questions which had little or nothing to do about my teaching and absolutely nothing to do with my case.

His e-mail came at a time when I was not talking with anyone from the media. And I especially did not trust anyone who was connected with the Joplin Globe since Burlingame's entreaty came only a few days after the Globe had run the story about my status and had somehow managed to find out (almost certainly from the kind of anonymous source that Carol Stark says the Globe does not use) that it had to do with a book I had written called No Child Left Alive, which according to the Globe, had "graphic sexual content."

So I did not respond to Burlingame's e-mail. I did not want to give him the opportunity to write about how I was afraid to answer his questions, when that was not the case. His questions were useless and a waste of time, especially considering everything that I was going through at that point. After that, Burlingame began bombarding me with comments, with each one mentioning his questionnaire. Since I was not planning to answer the questionnaire, I did not see the sense in having references to it in the comments. So I rejected all of them.

Since that time, every comment Anson Burlingame has sent to the Turner Report has been printed.

Comments are important and I want to keep them coming. They are a big part of what has made the Turner Report successful over these past 11 years and hopefully, will keep its success going far into the future.