When you go into the eighth grade house (it's a new term, don't worry about it), you won't see Mike Wallace or Kim Frencken. They are gone..
To that list, you can add seventh grade reading teacher Jennifer Wallace sixth grade math teacher Brian Neugebauer, sixth grade communication arts teacher Amanda Mehrens, special education resource teacher Bridgette Titus, and who knows who else.
.
All except Mrs. Mehrens, who was a recipient of this year's Golden Eagle Award at East, are veteran teachers. All except Mrs. Mehrens are tenured teachers.
The reasons for their departures differ. The Wallaces, for instance, are returning to their native Utah to be near family.
Some are leaving without having any jobs lined up just to escape the train wreck that East has become during the years that Bud Sexson has been principal.
It was not that long ago that none of these people had any thoughts of leaving. Now they are doing so because they no longer believe that district officials are ever going to do anything to make their situation more bearable.
There was a glimmer of hope a few months back when the Board of Education considered sending Sexson packing. That hope was crushed when Superintendent C. J. Huff insisted that the board retain Sexson and the board acquiesced.
The teachers who are leaving, as well as those who have left the past couple of years, have talked about the lack of support Sexson provides on discipline, a growing atmosphere of fear in the building, lack of involvement in decisions that affect the building,and Sexson's shutting out of veteran teachers for important assignments. When Sexson wants to consult with faculty members, they say, he invariably chooses from a handful of younger female teachers.
Complaints against Sexson have been documented and presented to C. J. Huff by Joplin NEA leadership. Huff has completely ignored the complaints.
As I noted in a recent Turner Report post, NEA began with a list of recommendations on what should be done to improve the deteriorating situation at East Middle School.
Concerns by East teachers about the lack of discipline, the forced implementation of standards-based grading, and a growing climate of fear in the building led the Joplin NEA chapter, following a meeting with more than two-thirds of East's teachers, to submit a resolution to Joplin R-8 Administration containing a list of concerns and suggestions for improving the situation.
The resolution was presented to the Huff Administration over a month ago and has been ignored by the superintendent, who earlier in the year went ballistic when an effort was made to fire the East principal and was publicized in the Turner Report.
The resolution is printed below:
Many members ask the question "What can JNEA do to help the professional climate for our members.". At one of our schools in Joplin, members asked for JNEA's help to express a way to ask for some type of documentation to ask for admin support. The below document has been submitted over a month ago to Tina Smith, Joplin Schools COO, and we are waiting for a response from Joplin Admin. What do you think? Check out our blog at jnea-engage.org > more>update for members and you can comment anon.
Resolution on Improving Relations - Building Administration and Teachers
On March 11, East Middle School teachers met with Joplin NEA leaders to discuss ways to improve the teaching and learning environment in that building. After a brief discussion regarding the purpose of the meeting, each teacher submitted a card that listed concerns and issues based on the following questions:
-What are important factors that would contribute to a better teaching/learning environment at East Middle School? What barriers have you encountered that have hindered your effectiveness as a teacher?
-This document is prepared as a summary of concerns and observations by teachers at East Middle School in the form of a resolution toward an improved teaching/learning environment.
• Schools will achieve the best results when there is an absence of fear and a sense of trust among teachers and administrators.
• Administrators and teachers must possess effective communication skills in order for our school to function at the optimum level.
• A free flow of information is an integral part of any successful school environment.
• Effective administrators will respond to teacher inquiries in a respectful and timely manner.
• New educational initiatives and programs work best when teachers are actively involved in the decision-making process.
• Teams and committees comprised of teachers have the expectation that their recommendations to administration will merit a professional and timely response.
• If disagreements arise between staff members, it is an expectation that administration will make every effort to mediate toward a mutually agreeable resolution.
• Teachers should feel free to express constructive responses and opinions without being cast as negative by administration.
• Administration will utilize a systematic process in choosing teacher representatives for various building or district meetings or training sessions.
• If an administrator has a concern with an individual teacher, the matter will be addressed in a confidential and professional manner.
• Student behavioral guidelines will be clearly communicated and consistently enforced by administration – with an emphasis on teacher support.
• Broadcast communication from administration to teachers should have a clear, informative message that is relevant for the entire staff.
It is hoped that this resolution will provide a template for improvements at East Middle School.
Reportedly, NEA has since filed at least one grievance against Sexson and perhaps more, accusing him of different types of harassment, depending on whether a teacher was older or younger.
***
Very sad that we are losing our experienced teachers. All the technology in the world will not replace good teachers.
ReplyDeleteSo I know there is no comparison...but CJ Huff is baffled about the Jessica Low situation and how she had the nerve to work in this school district and will do all he can to get her license revoked to send a message to others but its ok for a principle to harrass our teachers. Again I understand there is no comparison to the two situations but on a CJ Huff standpoint isn't there?
ReplyDeleteRandy: While I think you were treated unfairly by JHS and that your blog fills a large information void left by local media, your complaint that they impugned you with the implication that you are a sexual predator becomes worthless when you find it amusing to use Mr. Sexon's name to impugn him in a play on words obviously intended as sexual innuendo.
ReplyDeleteI don't know you, but my guess is that you're better than that.
Besides, it'e neither funny nor clever. It's the sort of thing I'd expect from the semi-literate Burlingame.
I am beginning to wonder if the district's long-term plan to get spending under control is to eliminate as many tenured teachers as possible and replace them with new, inexperienced teachers. Not only does this save money, but the new teachers may be more likely to go along with this administrations failed vision. The new teachers will not have had experiences in the classroom in which they were free to teach and put into practice the effective instructional methods they learned during their teacher education programs. Instead, they will believe that all teachers are in a classroom to administer assessments and create data spreadsheets. They will get used to the idea of constantly being judged by statistics rather than their effectiveness in dealing with a classroom full of students.
ReplyDeleteI just left East as an 8th grader and Im so glad I didn't have you. The stuff you say about them is horrid. I love all of those teachers and Sexson. I supported you last year, but since then I've lost all respect I ever had for you.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what 11:00 wonders as well about the newly graduated teachers being cheaper and easier to mold.
ReplyDeleteOne thing about that that I want to say just for the sake of clarity is that new teachers aren't necessarily bad teachers. My child had a new teacher this year and my family was actually happier with her than some of the long-time teachers we had previously. That doesn't mean I want experienced teachers gone, just that I want to make a distinction between administration and the teachers that are just doing their job.
Regardless of how long they've been there, the teachers are the ones down in the trenches doing the work and I would love to see more teachers new and old! Plus much much less administration, including an absence of TLC Terminators.
We got folks pretending to be kids now? Who are the low ones here?
ReplyDeleteHey guess what, Im an actual 14 year old. Elizabeth Kingery, I'll be at JHS next year.
DeleteGreat article on a school succeeding after ditching common core testing and focusing on learning that is meaningful to students. What a concept. http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2014/06/01/317433695/in-kentucky-students-succeed-without-tests
ReplyDelete10:28, While Randy's headline may be an awful pun, it is also the reality those of us at East Middle School have to live with. Younger female teachers have to watch out for themselves all the time with him as principal. Thank you, Randy. I hope the board will finally listen and do something about this man.
ReplyDelete