Sunday, December 18, 2016

How Joplin overcame adversity to have educational success- and how one woman destroyed it

When comparisons are made between the educational systems in the Joplin, Webb City, and Carl Junction school districts, demographics explain a lot and that explanation was provided succinctly to Joplin R-8 Board of Education members by HR Director Ron Lankford at Thursday night's meeting.

As the Seneca native noted, he spent his entire educational career, up until his three years with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, in this area and has seen these trends develop first hand.

The difference breaks down to one simple fact- Carl Junction and Webb City have grown; Joplin hasn't.

Except that it is not that simple.

At the beginning of the century, Carl Junction and Webb City were ahead of Joplin, but that gap was narrowed considerably over an eight-year period. While the tax base was growing in the neighboring communities, including Carthage, and decreasing in Joplin, the test score gap was almost non-existent and during a four-year period coinciding with the final four years of Jim Simpson's tenure as R-8 superintendent, the district was accredited with distinction.

Since then, the difference between Joplin, Webb City, and Carl Junction has widened every year.

What happened?

It would be easy to blame the tornado. That has been used as a scapegoat for every area in which the school district has fallen short,

The easy answer would be that a misguided board of education hired a superintendent, C. J. Huff, who was not up to the challenges of guiding a larger school district, but leaving it at that would be taking the easy way out.

The rapid decline of Joplin Schools began, not with C. J. Huff, but with Jim Simpson.

When Simpson signed off on the hiring of former Reeds Spring Superintendent Angie Besendorfer as assistant superintendent, he planted the seed for everything that has happened in the district,since that time.

For one year, Simpson was in charge of Besendorfer. After he left for Lindbergh, she was in charge.

Her decisions damaged the school district and led to the departure of more than 50 percent of the district's faculty and nearly all of the principals who were in charge when she was hired.

When C. J. Huff was brought in as Simpson's replacement, he was content to allow Besendorfer to run the school district, while he took the bows and spent most of his time working on what the board had told him was its top priority- increasing the graduation rate. 

Besendorfer took all decisions out of the hands of building principals and teachers and put them squarely in her office.

No longer did building principals and teachers make decisions on professional development. That was centralized with a one size fits all approach that was based on the false assumption that teachers in one building would have the same needs as the teachers in another. Professional development needs to be based on the strengths and weaknesses in one school, the mixture of experienced and inexperienced teachers, and the needs of the students.

By placing all decisions in her office, Besendorfer also took the one essential thing that is necessary for professional development to succeed- teacher buy-in.

Many times teachers were forced to endure professional training that was nowhere close to what their students needed.

Another key to successful professional development of teachers is the concept that teachers teach teachers. A handful of teachers attend seminars and conferences, come back and pass along what they have learned, or (and this works even better), you take the strengths of the teachers who work in your building and you have them conduct the training.

For instance, f you have a teacher who is an expert on using a certain kind of technology in assignments and you have teachers who want to learn that technology, then take advantage of your built-in expert.

Under Besendorfer, that kind of training, the kind that earns teacher buy-in, was almost non-existent.

Instead, the district invested in one initiative after another, some of them conflicting with each other.

And, as anyone who taught in Joplin during Besendorfer's reign of terror can attest, teachers were out of class constantly. Teachers, including those teaching in areas that were tested on MAP, were often gone for weeks during a school year for various training sessions, conferences, and seminars. The quality of education falls sharply when a substitute teacher is in the classroom.

The teachers' chances at success were also damaged by Besendorfer's lack of faith in them. Not only did she take every decision on professional development out of their hands, but she also spent approximately $50,000 in taxpayer money each year for practice standardized tests, eight of them per year, so she could keep a closer eye on what students were learning in each building.

The Acuity tests took another two weeks out of the school year and once schools learned they were being compared to each other, many started adding practice tests to practice for the practice tests.

We teachers had to sit through curriculum planning sessions, (again with substitutes teaching the students) in which curriculum was built around Acuity.

It was a nightmare and became one of the factors that started driving teachers away from Joplin.

The creation of teaching/learning coach positions also hastened the departure of veteran teachers. Many of those who were placed in those positions served as spies for Besendorfer, though they were ostensibly situated to help teachers, especially more inexperienced ones, who were having problems. Teachers who expressed concerns about the amount of time they were spending out of the classroom or who questioned the one size fits all professional development and the ever-changing initiatives soon found themselves on the wrong end of increased scrutiny from their building principals. Many received job targets, a first step toward removing them from the district. For most of these veteran teachers, it was the first time they had ever had any problems. Some of these teachers were removed; many more left on their own.

With the hiring of Huff and Besendorfer, all decisions for the district were placed in the hands of two people who between them had only about five years of classroom teaching experience, all of it in elementary classes.

High school and middle school teachers became frustrated with professional training that was geared toward elementary teachers.

Meanwhile, Besendorfer treated all of the teachers as if they were elementary students. When it became clear that she was going to be around for a while, even more teachers began looking at neighboring school districts.

It was not long before Webb City, Carl Junction, Neosho, and Carthage, began to benefit from the experience and skills of some of Joplin's top teachers.

Soon, building principals were replaced by people close to Besendorfer and many new assistant principals and eventually principals came from the ranks of the teaching/learning coaches.

And then the tornado hit.

A weakened school district was weakened further.

At a time when teachers and students would have benefited from a re-examination of her priorities, Besendofer doubled down on them. Instead of keeping teachers in the classroom to provide a sense of stability to students who desperately needed it, Besendorfer kept sending them for more one size fits all professional training and even more new initiatives were added.

It was great for Besendorfer's resume, but it did nothing for the Joplin R-8 School District.

Meanwhile, a clueless Board of Education continued to rubber stamp all of this, probably because it had no idea what was going on.

During Simpson's time, Joplin teachers' pay had improved to where it was not far behind the area leader Webb City.

Under Huff and Besendorfer, the gulf widened and other school districts passed Joplin.

Contrary to what some believe, money is almost never the number one thing for teachers. That would be respect and the ability to have a say in what happens in their classroom and in their schools. After Besendorfer and Huff took that away from them, it made it much easier to look at other school districts that were offering not only a measure of dignity and respect, but also more money.

By the time Besendorfer left to take the job as chancellor at Western Governors University, Joplin had already lost more than 300 teachers in a three-year period- more than half of the entire faculty.

Nothing changed as long as Huff was still here. He never replaced Besendorfer and her network continued to run the district as if nothing had changed.

The changes did not begin in earnest until Jeff Koch and Jennifer Martucci joined Debbie Fort on the board in April 2015.

As the halfway point of the 2016-2017 school year approaches, more than half of the teachers in the district have five years or less of experience.

It is still uncertain if the migration of teachers from the R-8 District has ended. In each of the past two years, more than 70 teachers have left.

By removing experienced, capable administrators and teachers Besendorfer, in a few short years, tore down all of the work many of those same administrators and teachers had put in to enable the district to overcome the cruelty of poor demographics to be one of the top school districts in southwest Missouri.

Now, as Lankford explained Thursday night, demographics have caught up to Joplin and the framework that helped overcome them is no longer in place.

It is the biggest challenge facing Melinda Moss as she takes over the superintendent position.

61 comments:

Anonymous said...

Powerful.

Mark Wiles said...

Powerful? Simply another viscious attack by Turner against those he feels wronged him. This is out-dated and vindictive and especially petty.

Mark Wiles said...

Powerful? Just a biased old-man for the umpteenth time lambasting his tormentors under the guise of journalism. This stuff is ancient drivel

Anonymous said...

I was an elementary teacher in the district during those years, and I feel it's an accurate account of how it was. And it's relevant to try to understand why Joplin doesn't excel and what got the district off track. There were new curriculum additions or changes or some new program to implement every year. We have to know what the challenges are here in order to get back on track in student achievement and teacher morale.

Anonymous said...

Mark hasn't got a clue what he is talking about. Randy, you were spot on with this post!!! As someone on the professional development committee when Besendorfer came on the scene in Joplin, I saw first hand how she destroyed our district, piece by piece. Sadly, Huff allowed it to happen! Back then, the professional development committee was an across the district, elected group of a dozen teachers. We met regularly and took our job seriously, spending our 1% professional development monies from the state as judiciously as possible, in an attempt to allow each building to chart their own course for professional development, in keeping with what the specific needs of each building were. In 2006, we won a Missouri Commissioner of Education award for excellence in professional development for a medium sized district. We were accredited with distinction. As Randy related, Besendorfer took PD out of our hands, and disbanded the Professional Development Committee. She wanted total control of the 1% money from the state, and got it. No longer did the teachers have any control, having difficulty swallowing whatever canned packages of drivel was crammed down our throats, the majority of which did not help us in the classroom at all. In 10 years, our district's scores have sunk lower than ever, and every bit of that started with Besendorfer's total control. Under new leadership, I certainly hope that our district gets back to its former standing. We're on the right track, but have far to go to get there.

Anonymous said...

This is out-dated and This stuff is ancient drivel....

Well, again we learn the lesson of history is that far too people aren't capable of learning from history....

To supplement 7:42 AM's first hand testimony, I'd note much of this is a matter of public record, like the record breaking turnover in teachers. I'd also add that when an institution loses fractions of staff somewhat smaller than the Joplin did, it's very hard for it to remain effective.

Anonymous said...

One thing I dislike about modern America is how few people were able and willing to grapple with the concrete concept of evil, in general and in particular. Some people are just evil, and while they might have a road to Damascus or the like conversion, there's little to nothing you can do about them other than things like getting them out of your life. Which is exactly what those 300+ teachers who left the district did....

Oh, and sorry to overlook your testimony to Randy's accuracy, 6:52 AM, your two contributions came in as I was editing my previous comment.

Anonymous said...

The messenger didn't cause all those teachers to quit.

The messenger just reported that it was happening, and reported this while it was happening.

The messenger didn't have a golden parachute, and neither did most of those who voted with their feet.

Concerned citizen said...

Mark Wiles ...what a vicious post...

Mark Wiles said...

But it's in the rear view mirror. Move on. Turner refuses. Turner has pontificated about a guy named Mitchell and what a wonderful administrator he was. Mitchell was fired by Joplin schools (whether wrongfully or not) but he immediately takes a job as a Lamar High School Principal only to sign a contract for s second year and then refuse to honor that signed contract just days before the start of Mitchell's second year at Lamar. The school had to make due without a Vice- Principal that year ( the Vice-Principal took the vacated Principal's position) because of Turner's "hero's" lack of honor. So we are to believe Turner about Joplin Schools? So many teachers left ...Joplin's student body is more challenging to teach than the other local schools...weak teachers flee... but why is Turner even posting about this now? Randy, go back to your obits and your gossipy journalistic practice of informing us all of who is getting a divorce... real meaty SW MO News

There Trough it All said...

It happened. That makes it history, not "out-dated...ancient drivel". A wise person said: If we don't learn from history, we will repeat it. Joplin Schools and students deserve nothing less than the best available.

Mark Wiles said...

What happened is Joplin Schools have the more challenging students to educate in comparison to the other schools in proximity to Joplin. Weak teachers run..weak teachers still wail years after the fact...weak teachers post anonymously

Mark Wiles said...

Vicious? What Turner has posted about Huff these many years is not vicious?

Anonymous said...

Vicious? What Turner has posted about Huff these many years is not vicious?

Yes some of it is rather vicious.

There were a number of posts here about the colors of the auditorium seats.

C. J. Huff: Change in JHS gym seat colors won't cost anywhere near $96,000
\
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There were more vicious posts that covered other topics.

Artificial turf, extra tennis courts, old mining operations put R-8 millions in the hole on building project

Two administrators out in Joplin R-8 shakeup

After Turner Report investigation, Joplin Globe follow-up, questions remain for Dankelson

Better suck it up buttercup!

Steve Holmes said...

"Weak teachers post anonymously."

So tell us something about yourself, "Mark Wiles." Your profile tells us absolutely nothing about you. Linkedin shows no profile for "Mark Wiles" in the region. No Mark Wiles in the Joplin phone book. Looks like anonymous posting to me.

Oh, sorry. I get it now.

Hello, Mr. Besendorfer!

Anonymous said...

Running a school district for her personal aggrandizement vs. the children she was ostensibly doing her best for is about as vicious as you can get short of physical harm (although it sounds like that also happened due to the obsession with graduation rates which was interpreted to include not disciplining violent students). Real, measurable, long lasting if not life long harm has been done to thousands of children. But Randy's a bad person for reminding us how this came about, so that we can, for example, guard against this in the future and maybe, just maybe, correct course sooner.

Are people who want us to ignore the crimes of the past and "Move Forward" the sort who also ignore the crimes of the present, since that instantly moves to the rear mirror as it were?

And "Forward" to what? Mr. Wiles is only whining about what our host has done ... which includes a significant role in fixing the problems in the past, and ignoring how our host is also providing us with actionable information. Here, a set of things to do and not with professional development, including taking teachers out of classes for too long, and even further reducing instruction time with three layers of tests (real, practice for them, and practice for the practice tests)!!! Yes, both are entirely insane, but they happened and equally insane things can happen without the eternal vigilance we were warned we needed to practice.

Steve Holmes said...

One thing I worry about with both the School District and the City Council is whether they've learned anything from the brawls of the past few years. I heard a lot of "Move forward" and "Put the past behind us." Fine -- if they've genuinely learned from their mistakes and take that knowledge to heart. It may take another decision over a master developer, baseball team or soundproofed practice-field press box to show us how much they took away from the previous situations.

Really? said...

He never claimed to be a blogger passing this site off as journalism. He is, as a matter of record, a journalist blogging. As such he is not limited to printing just the facts: which he routinely offers up for scrutiny. He has full license to print his opinion: as long and frequently as he wishes. If it truly bothers you, you know exactly what to do about it.

Anonymous said...

It is time to do away with Public Education and giving the Federal and State money to the Catholic Schools.

Mark Wiles said...

Educators?? Many of you teach ??? Complainers ... cry babies ... pessimists.....cowards.... fault- finders... SW MO isn't exactly a haven for successful educated professionals ...so Joplin teachers may feel they're possibly more "significant " than they actually are.....Turner certainly does...Mr. Holmes, I have an MBA from a Big Ten school and I began teaching in a big city urban district after a decade of working in business... truly ... you anonymous Turner-ites are a collection of self-pitying "classroom ineffectives" whose failures have to be consigned to anyone other than yourselves even if it means receding into the past to seek out your blamees...

Anonymous said...

It is time to do away with Public Education and giving the Federal and State money to the Catholic Schools.


Grammer often?

Anonymous said...

Ask Dr. Lankford he knows the reasons for Joplin's decline. He was close by when Joplin soared. It is a tale of two superintendents and what they focused upon. Dr. Simpson was so different from Dr. Huff. I worked under both.

Anonymous said...



>>>I have an MBA from a Big Ten school and I began teaching in a big city urban district after a decade of working in business<<<


Did someone forget to mention TFA?

Or maybe Broad Academy?

Randy said...

Mr. Wiles, if that is your name. I will take you at your word that you well educated and that you were a businessman and a teacher. You are also a troll, whose sole purpose seems to be to insult my readers, insult Joplin teachers, and insult me, without adding anything other than vitriol to the conversation. It has not escaped the readers' attention that you have yet to provide a thoughtful comment or offered anything to dispute the substance of this post. Something about this post seems to have upset you personally since you have also popped up commenting on it on my Facebook page. It has been quite some time since Mark Wiles commented on my Facebook and I don't recall what caught your attention back then, but it is hard to argue that the steps that were taken by Angie Besendorfer during her time in Joplin not only contributed heavily to the problems the district has today, but they have created a considerable challenger for incoming Superintendent Melinda Moss.

Anonymous said...

Don't every school have challenging students no matter the district there in

Anonymous said...

So the teachers are too dumb to teach and professional development was the issue? Didn't the teachers go through both 4 year degrees and a large portion of them with Masters Degrees? But somehow they can't figure out how to teach and reach kids. Interesting theory.

Steve Holmes said...

Curious, Mr. Wiles -- if that is your name. Where did Randy lie about the Joplin schools? Three examples please. Or are you just upset that he told the truth years ago and that it has no relevance now? Like he's doing a victory lap or something.

It does seem that something in the post has enraged you more than the average anti-Turner poster. Are you defending the performance of Dr. Huff and Ms. Besendorfer? If so, I'd like to hear your defense.

Mark Wiles said...

Mr. Turner, you invite people to read your blog but then call them trolls? On numerous occasions you have used your minor pulpit to lament that many great and good Joplin teachers have been " victimized" by Huff and Besendorfer so terribly they felt compelled to abandon the Joplin School District . Mr. Turner, quality teachers don't give up. This post on Besendorfer, given she has moved on years ago, is very much unnecessary. I suggest you and your sycophants do also.

Mark Wiles is Right said...


Turner thinks that everyone that got his number is a "troll". The fact of the matter is that Turner has been a failure throughout his pathetic life and eventually gets caught out and fired. Turner then whines about how "unfair" those who were in charge were in detecting not only himself but others like Turner.

This woman is currently Chancellor of some higher-learning institution. While she was here she removed other teachers like Turner because they were incompetent or had a bad attitude. In fact the notion of Turner and those like Turner is that "someone owes them a living." That is definitely not the case.

Turner's fellow bed-wetters claim that they have to be anonymous lest the authorities detect them as snakes and creeps and send them packing. They are absolutely correct in this assessment. That is why Angie B. and CJ Huff did us all a big favor in detecting this refuse and running it off to where they can't get close to our children no more.

Thank you Mark Wiles.

Anonymous said...

Fired at Lamar newspaper, fired at Diamond, fired at joplin....see a trend here? Look in the mirror Turner, the problem is staring back at you. It can't always be someone else's fault.

Anonymous said...

Years ago when I began teaching, a very wise principal told me his philosophy for creating a good school where kids learn: Hire good teachers, give them what they need, and get out of the way. He was right, and every effective superintendent and principal I've ever worked with followed the same philosophy. Note that I worked "with" them, not "for" them, because they respected their teachers as peers. Refusing to acknowledge that teachers are professionals who know their students and their students' needs better than anyone else and micromanaging classrooms from on high are recipes for failure in education. We're seeing it every day. If the education bureaucracy at the local, state, and national level eventually has a light bulb moment and wises up, things will improve rapidly--assuming the ongoing coordinated attack on public schools hasn't succeeded by then.

Randy said...

To Anonymous 10:18- Get your facts right. I was fired at the Carthage newspaper; I left the Lamar newspaper voluntarily because I was hired in Carthage. Yes, I was fired at Diamond, but I was fired at Diamond one year after I started working in Joplin. Two other teachers and I were placed on an unpaid leave of absence due to budget cuts the previous year, so I was technically on the faculty of two school districts for the 2003-2004 school year. I was also let go twice at the Newton County News because I was terrible at selling advertising. Both times I had it coming. I have no problems looking at myself in the mirror, but I would prefer not to do it often. I am not a masochist. And as usual, when people can't refute my writing with facts, they always resort to insults.

Anonymous said...

815pm...you must be.either a Huff or Besendorfer family member.SAD but truth really hurts you folks...

Steve Holmes said...

If you don't like Randy's reports, I know a local newspaper you'll just love, though it's now $1.50 on weekdays.

The MBA is the epitome of credentialism said...

"I have an MBA from a Big Ten school"! Ohh Ahh!

OMG AND

"teaching in a big city urban district"! Didn't someone make one of those Hollywood movies?!

Anytime some guy waves his MBA and says he has all the answers, my BS meter is pegged.

Like the office joke goes: MBA = Management By @$$holes!

Anonymous said...

7:02 AM: Indeed, unless Mr. Wiles got his MBA after getting some serious experience in the real world of business, he's automatically suspect as potentially one of those bad types of MBAs. Which, I suppose, his poor behavior on this forum has shown him to be anyway....

Mark Wiles said...

Holmes inquired about me. An MBA isn't impressive. Teaching at Joplin's East Middle School isn't as demanding as teaching at Argentine Middle School in KCK. If you disagree, try it ...KCK schools are always looking for bodies... point being.......Turner and his minions have used his blog shamefully....they cry ..they commiserate ..then cry some more . Once the tears are flushed they attack with their swords of imagined grievances and their shields of anonymity........the reason I responded this time to Turner is that their enemies have, for some time now, left Joplin and still these Turner "hangers-on" have to carp. Pessimistic little people teaching hopeful little people...Joplin Schools



Anonymous said...

Don't get all worked up snowflake 7:57!

The Waaaaahmbulance is on the way!

Butthurt is a treatable illness, no matter what the cause.

P.S. With your overwrought verbosity I bet your case studies had people rolling in the aisles at whichever Big Ten MBA program you attended (assuming you didn't get one of those 'distance learning' Executive MBAs out of your breakfast cereal box).



Mark Wiles said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mark Wiles said...

Go after Wiles....again... the point of my addressing Turner and his followers...it is years since Besendorfer and (Huff) have had any significance to Joplin Schools ... so at Christmas time Turner again publicly lashes out at Besendorfer? Turner, how are we not to conclude you're simply a bitter man and a spiteful one to boot? We don't need a history lesson from an English teacher....


Anonymous said...

Not insults, just facts. Again you are trying to marginalize comments by calling them attacks. No attacks are things like making fun of Huff's weight...you know, the things you do on a regular basis then say you don't do. Again, the problem is in the mirror.

Anonymous said...

it is years since Besendorfer and (Huff) have had any significance to Joplin Schools

That's like saying in, oh, 1930 (before Hitler gained power), that it had been years since Germany had any significance to France.

Try again, after "achieving" greater than 50% turnover in the district's teachers, resulting in "more than half of the teachers in the district hav[ing] five years or less of experience", the scars those two megalomaniacs left on Joplin Schools are of great "significance" and will continue to be for some time.

Perhaps we should remind you of the external evidence our host started his essay with? As measured by the tests, Joplin Schools, having attained near parity with a couple of local districts, just happened to go to pot after Besendorfer gained operational control of the district, and this keeps getting worse.

Mark Wiles said...

Great... she's a bad person....she's gone... shouldn't educators move forward?

Mark Wiles said...

Truly, this is old news ... Turner, you are absolutely pitiful for posting this now... you are attacking two people to satisfy your need to be vindicative... Turner, let it go. This is not healthy... your career is over ... accept it and move on...

A. While said...

I have a BS in BS. As such, I revel in projecting inadequacies onto the multitude of detractors who challenge my sovereign state of denial. Do not dare question my undeniable logic and unverified credentials. If you do, you invite my mighty wrath. I will unleash a volley of scathing criticisms designed to shame and cower you. You will validate me. Please...I have nowhere else to go.

Concerned citizen said...

Mark Wilderness....you are too spiteful...Turner has done our community a great service.What have you done?

Anonymous said...

We bow down to your holiness. Could you provide some data to show us how good you really are in the classroom? How about sharing your best practices? Inquiring minds want to know.

Anonymous said...

I looked for the sanctimonious Wiles on FB. There was one pompous one who attended Hogwarts School of Wizardry. He must be that one. If suits him.

Steve Holmes said...

Mr. Wiles, I know Argentine. If you are successfully teaching there, you have my respect. What I infer, though, is a lack of respect for the challenges Joplin teachers face (your statement, "SW MO isn't exactly a haven for successful educated professionals"). The problems that used to be confined to big-city schools have migrated down. When I was in Joplin Memorial HS in the 1970's, the bad-news kid was someone who stabbed another with a pen knife. Earlier this year, I visited another high school, in a small city, and noted the map that showed people where to go in case of an active shooter. Rural schools aren't "The Waltons," if indeed they ever were.

I am not sure of your connection to Joplin, or what you know of it. The tornado did a number on a lot of young people and their teachers. Extra challenges even Argentine doesn't face. Teachers, if they're good, empathize with their students. That's a hell of a lot to empathize with. Overload. Compassion fatigue. Burnout. Weak teachers run, Mr. Wiles. So do strong teachers pushed beyond their limits.

Mark Wiles said...

I guess to you,Turner-ites, you have no problem with Mr. Turner using his forum to compose a Christmas time lambasting of long-departed and never to return administrators? Nothing in this article accomplishes anything more than possibly sharing with Besendorfer and Huff families during this Yuletide season a hateful rant about their loved ones from a no-longer relevant educator . Bye and Merry Christmas to each of you and a very Happy New Year to all, also. Mr. Turner, thank you for allowing me to post. MW

Anonymous said...

So Turner you won't post my latest response to your incoherent nonsense? Fact is I never took a position against what you were writing. Frankly I don't care. I was pointing out that you lost all credibility with anyone who knows about your past a long time ago. So readers really need to consider the source when you make personal attacks on others. And yes, as I continue to point out, you personally attacked Huff over his weight. That in itself makes you a hypocrite when you criticize others when they call you out on your nonsense. Again, the problem is in the mirror. Until you fix that, you will continue to be nothing but a fired many times over bitter old hack.

Randy said...

I don't recall seeing your latest response to my incoherent nonsense or I would have published it. I also don't recall ever making any references to C. J. Huff's weight. Perhaps I did, but that is not something I would normally do and if I did, I shouldn't have done it. On the other hand, I have said many things that are critical of Huff's narcissism and his poor job performance and I don't regret any of those. I also backed those comments with facts and often with documents and many times through his own words.There have been comments that have talked about his weight. It amazes me that I am enjoying what I am doing and people who clearly are not in control of their anger comment about how angry and bitter I am. Yes, I have certainly been fired a few times and I have owned up to every one of them, though not always in the way some people would like.

Thank You Mark Wiles said...

I'd like to thank Mark Wiles for calling Turner to task and then enjoying Turner and Turner-ites show exactly why public school teachers should be despised and never ever allowed to run wild "letting [these sub-moronic mentally and morally} teachers teach [whatever it is that they want to]."

Turner and others of like ilk actually believe that they know more than those officials elected (like on the school board) and those appointed (like superintendants). As a result everything that these officials over them who bear responsibility over teachers like Turner and "Turner-ites" have an absolute duty to detect rogue teachers like Turner and remove them as quickly and painlessly as possible. The problem was that Turner wouldn't simply crawl off when detected and so methods that Turner used against others on Turner's blog were used by CJ Huff and Angie Bessendorfer and printed by the Joplin Globe. The end result was predictable: Turner was fired for violating school board policies set by the school board. Now Turner has nothing else to do but to show both his few friends, and school teachers like Mark Wiles who are justly appalled at Turner and Turner-ites making public school teachers look bad, and those of us, Turner's enemies and detractors now saying "I told you so. Predators follow the prey and school children are prey." Wonderful.

Angie B. is now a Chancellor of some public-funded Internet diploma mill. CJ Huff might have done better if he hadn't run through the taxpayer's money like a fool. The school board shouldn't have let either of them waste money. But insofar as detecting sub-par and incompetent teachers who needed to be run off -- they were perfection in detecting, removing and blacklisting such as Turner.

Turner can't and won't ever let this matter end. So be it. Turner gives teachers a bad name. Fine by me.

Anonymous said...

1043 Trust you sell your house soon and get a FEMA job.

Anonymous said...

they were perfection in detecting, removing and blacklisting such as Turner.

Ah, no they weren't. Their exaggerations and lies set them up for another six figure lawsuit loss (is it 2 or 3 or ever 4 now? And P1 was 7 figures...), the ultimate reason our host didn't pursue that route is that it wouldn't have resulted in recovering his reputation and being able to get another job teaching.

Not good for our host, but better for Joplin in that it left him free to pursue these monsters, for their action against him alone was monstrous, although less so than what they've done to the education of the children in the district, that harm will last for a long time if not for most or the rest of their lives. And play a critical role in running them out of town, or I guess with Huff just out of the district, and, heh, now off the district's payroll.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to point out that if the Joplin area wasn't infested with critical thinkers and realists like Turner and his cabal Joplin would probably have at least one NFL or NBA team.

You have to build a place for the team to play before they will come to a place like Joplin and that takes hundreds of millions in taxpayer gimmes to git-r-dun.

Between Turner Report and these others THAT will never happen!

So pro athletes won't have jobs, and Joplin can't be great.

SAD.

Believes in Open Forum: said...

... why public school teachers should be despised and never ever allowed to run wild "letting [these sub-moronic mentally and morally} teachers teach [whatever it is that they want to]."

WOW - Painting with a pretty broad brush here! Many highly educated, dedicated professionals were just insulted.

Steve Holmes said...

9:31:

"You lost all credibility with anyone who knows about your past a long time ago."

Not so. He beat the Globe on Wallace Bajjali and the school district happenings.

"Until you fix that, you will continue to be nothing but a fired many times over bitter old hack.

I think Randy is in his 50s, which makes him a bitter middle-aged hack.

10:43:

"public school teachers should be despised"

Whoa! All of them? You've met every single one of them? By your logic, you should also despise Mr. Wiles since he teaches in a Kansas City, Kansas public school.

Interesting that this post has about 60 responses and the one on Huff has only four.

Randy said...

As much as I dislike correcting someone who has spoken up for me, Steve, I would love to let your statement stand, but I celebrated my 15th birthday on February 29 of this year, which means I am 60 and not still in my 50s, so I suppose I must be a bitter old hack.

Steve Holmes said...

As I understand it, Randy, 60 is still considered 50's. That's what I will tell myself in May.

Randy said...

Hang in there, Steve.