Roy Exum: From A Teacher’s Desk

  • Sunday, September 29, 2019
  • Roy Exum
Roy Exum
Roy Exum

In just one week I feel like I have opened a Pandora’s box on pandemonium. Last Monday I responded to a tip that six Tyner High teachers had quit in what equates to one-a-week since school began. I am neither a policeman nor a gate-keeper but have found in times when I have been lucky, my attention to a wrong creates the means to make it right. Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology, taken from the myth of Pandora's creation in Hesiod's ‘Works and Days.’ The "box" was actually a large jar given to Pandora, which contained all the evils of the world.

Pandora opened the jar and all the evils flew out, leaving only "Hope" inside once she had closed it again.

Hope is all any of us are after. But when – in just one week -- a Hamilton County commissioner tells me the commission is shocked by the results of a half-billion-dollar annual investment in public education, and when school board members are so vague they had no idea that about half of the entire student body is absent at Brainerd High every day, it is a clear signal it is time for a total overhaul of our complete public education effort. 

The school board, some very nice people, is perhaps the biggest waste of $100,000 (salaries) on the county budget. Other than hire one superintendent ever so often, they have no other job description nor the power to call a pest exterminator. The school board cannot appropriate as much as a dime, instead sending every financial recommendation to the County Commission, and the commissioners are so fed up with Johnson’s conniving schemes two separate tries to get our teachers raises were voted down. If for nothing more, the commissioners were plainly miffed after a whirlwind tour was made by the school’s chief for a tax increase that never had a chance.

The superintendent, from hiring a questionable 181 employees in a caper that took $14 million out of the school reserves and saddled the system with the same burden in each year to come, to visibly jockeying for a mid-contract raise last week, has become a disappointment. In the past week his bullying staff, its outlandish rules, a sadistic-like load of endless outside paperwork, and a “no-suspension decree” has all but proven that sooner before later his liberal and biased agenda will cost him dearly. Some Hamilton County teachers clearly believe Bryan Johnson is racist. He tells people he and his staff are most certainly not, yet before school began he had a black expert in “whiteness” speak at a mandatory teacher’s in-service meeting who decreed, this in a power-point demonstration that was soon seen on the nation’s news, that minorities cannot be racist.

Far more pressing is the time bomb now ticking, most especially in the Department of Education’s “Priority Schools.” Most of the county taxpayers are incredulous at what is described as a day-to-day effort to simply maintain some modicum of order.

Here is an unsolicited and unexpected message I received yesterday from a well-respected and admired teacher at Tyner. It is followed by several other notes of interest from the stack that sits beside my computer ….

* * *

‘IT WAS TOTAL HELL AND CHAOS’ 

Let me start by saying that I am a current teacher at Tyner emailing you from a private address out of sheer fear that if I emailed from a school account, it would be discovered. Please keep this confidential. After reading the initial article about teachers bolting at Tyner, my first thought was, “Thank God, someone finally spoke out!” Generally speaking, this was the sentiment across the board with teachers at Tyner. Unfortunately, the problems we have with discipline and administration cannot be narrowed down to a single source.

They are from the top down. As an educator, I cannot tell you how many times I have expressed my concerns with issues such as student behavior, discipline, and incompetence by fellow faculty members. While administrators seem to always be willing to listen, they are yet to exact any change. The majority of teachers come to work each and every day with a desire to have a positive impact on the lives of students whose life circumstances are beyond difficult. 

I believe that Tyner was some of the best educators and genuinely good people in the school system. 

However, as with any working environment, there are teachers who are chronically late, absent, and/or do not pull their own weight with daily tasks. These teachers continue to get away with sheer incompetence either because they are held to a different standard as other teachers, or administrators are unwilling to reprimand beyond a verbal warning, perhaps both.

When students are allowed to act out in one class, they get the notion that the same behavior should be accepted in all classrooms. Although this is not the case, students respond very negatively when asked to take their ear buds out or get off their phone in class because they had previously been allowed to use it in a different teacher’s room. 

Furthermore, certain groups of students are held to a different standard. At Tyner, if a student plays basketball, they are virtually untouchable in terms of discipline. Insubordination, tardiness, disrespect, cussing, cell phone violations, refusal to remove earbuds, you name it. Basketball players do not receive the same severity of punishment as other students, including athletes in different sports (football included). Maybe this is because the current principal is the former basketball coach. Does he care about kids? Yes, he has a kind heart. Is he an effective administrator? No. 

Again, maybe that is because his true profession is as a businessman, not an educator. But this begs the question as to how one is promoted so quickly from alternative certification teacher, to dean of students, to assistant principal, to principal. That is an HCDE problem. Teachers have gotten numerous emails this week from administration intended to boost morale and give us a “pep talk.” We are way beyond that. 

Give me action. If you are going to talk a big game, you have to back it up, and our leaders at Tyner are not backing it up. The executive principal and both associate principals were out of the building all day Monday through Wednesday for a training. While the training may have been beneficial, I simply cannot justify having three administrators out all day for three straight days. It was total hell and chaos.

Furthermore, in regards to student behavior, teachers have absolutely no confidence in the discipline process. I dread having to call about a discipline issue in class because I get the feeling that administrators and behavioral support staff don’t want to deal with it. When I have to justify why I ask a student to be removed or why I have written a referral, there is a problem.

I have had students cuss me out in class. I call the main office, and nobody answers. 

I call the behavioral specialist, and nobody answers. 

I call the assistant principal, and nobody answers. 

I call the principal, and nobody answers. 

Then I repeat the cycle all the while the out of control student continues to raise hell in my classroom and sees that my attempt at having them removed is unsuccessful. Ten minutes later, after the out of control student has distracted the entire class, I finally get in touch with someone who arrives looking annoyed that I have interrupted their day. To make matters worse, students are so rarely suspended that I am likely to see the child who was blatantly disrespectful and defiant right back in my class the next day. This absolutely ruins my authority because they know that they can act however they want with little to no consequence. What type of life lesson are we teaching kids by allowing such behavior? 

What type of disservice are we doing to those students who do come to school willing to learn and yet are unable to do so to their potential because I literally spend 70 percent of my day doing classroom management as opposed to teaching? It is absolutely mind blowing the way that students can cuss at one another and at teachers without any formal reprimand. Learning that level of respect must start at the home, not at school. Parents and guardians must instill in their children a solid foundation of morals, character, respect, and a strong work ethic. 

If administrators treated every occurrence of disrespect towards teachers, cussing, fighting, etc., like they should in order to properly discipline kids, there would not be enough time in the day, and there would be a line of students out the door of every administrator with kids waiting to be disciplined. Again, this issue begins at home. Too many times, I call home to talk about a student’s behavior and instead of gaining support from the parent, it becomes my fault. Parents are unwilling to believe that their child acted inappropriately and often tell the teacher that they are the ones who mishandled the situation. 

Kids get in trouble during class, and their first response is, “I’m gonna call my momma,” or “I’m gonna get my momma up here to come cuss you out.” Then they proceed to pull out their phone and call.

I would not care how low our test scores were IF our students came with the mindset that they were going to work as hard as they could to reach their highest potential, but more importantly, to treat one another and their teachers with respect. It is my firm belief that a strong work ethic and a respectful attitude far outweighs pure intelligence. 

I believe that Tyner is home to some of the best teachers in Hamilton County. I look up to these mentor teachers who are able to come to school, teach their butts off, and yet see nowhere near as positive of a result on test scores as higher performing schools. Not only that, but many teachers develop lifelong relationships with students who grow to look up to teachers as much or more than parents. 

Teachers buy food for kids who are hungry, buy clothes for kids who have nothing, take kids home after school/practices, and have deeply personal conversations with students who are struggling with life circumstances much bigger than their grade in math class. These teachers as well as those students who love Tyner and want nothing more than to get a great education, get out, and go to college or specialized job training are the ones who should be recognized for their outstanding behavior and accomplishments. 

Bottom line is this:

1. There are great kids at Tyner who are overshadowed by the negative influence and behavioral issues of other students. Unfortunately, we are at the point where the percentage of disrespectful students who come to school with absolutely no intention of learning and acting appropriately greatly exceeds the percentage who show up willing to learn in a positive manner.

2. School leaders are simply ineffective at discipline, and a double standard exists with certain groups of teachers and students.

3. Teachers and other staff members who repeatedly do not fulfill their obligations as educators are allowed to continue acting ineffectively because they are part of the “inner circle.” This does nothing but breed resentment and lower morale among those teachers who are doing everything in their power to be the best teacher they can be.

4. Teachers are scared to death to speak up because they fear it will result in repercussion. 

I hesitate to send the email to you for the exact reason. I also know that something has to change. 

* * *

“ … AT EVERY SCHOOL IN HAMILTON COUNTY … “

Here is a note from a teacher at Central High School:

The issues you speak about are at every school in Hamilton County. Central is no different. This week we had a student that got on a bus at the end of the day (which he was not to be on) and he then refused to exit the bus. Our administrators had to get on the bus but the student again refused to exit the bus (we have no school resource officer). The cops were called and the student again refused to get off. The cop had to forcefully remove the student from the bus and the student was arrested.

The worst part of the story? The student got no disciplinary action from the school … the new code of conduct tied our administrators’ hands. A student was arrested for resisting arrest and Central could not suspend that student. Students know that we can do nothing to them in terms of discipline and (because of it) we are sacrificing the many for the few. 

(At Central) 99 percent of the students want to be at school and are a joy to be around but this catering to the one percent who do not is affecting teachers and other students. These last eight weeks not one day has gone by without (a person) in my group of teachers who I eat lunch with say if we could afford to quit we would! Thank you for speaking out for the teachers of Hamilton County. We have no voice because I am sure we would be retaliated against if we spoke out about what is going on.

* * *

REMEMBER THE PARKLAND MASSACRE ON FEB. 14, 2018?

From a concerned reader:

Just a thought: The Hamilton Co. school discipline problem sounds like what a Parkland HS father who lost his daughter told us on TV.   He blamed Obama's discriminatory discipline guidance on his daughter's death.  He said the student shooter had such terrible behavior that he was frisked each day before entering school and he couldn't carry a backpack.  They knew he was violent but could not report him to the police.  He said students might have four incidents in a year with no discipline.   And then they start the count over next year.

* * *

BULLYING BY CENTRAL OFFICE IS NOTHING NEW

A retired teacher writes:

I worked for Hamilton County Schools for 30 years and have been retired for nine years. If you think this is something new and the fault of the new superintendent, you are wrong. This has been going on for years. The people at the Central Office have NEVER wanted to hear about problems. In fact, they come down on people for complaining.

Ask the teachers who complained about a principal who was clearly mentally ill. They were told to shut up by the (superintendent.) This was in 2011. Bullying has been going on since I began teaching. I was a Special Ed teacher and constantly had problems with this. No administrator ever wanted to deal with it. We had students who would attack teachers in elementary schools and nothing was done. Some of this can be a lack of parental control and some can be caused by emotional problems. There are many students who think no one cares about them and see no end to their problems. I don't know a lot about the new superintendent but I do know that all of this crap you are talking about comes from the state. 

To blame him for everything is not only unfair but unjust. You say money is not the problem, but how do you know this? Have you taught school lately? Money could reduce class size, hire counselors, hire more Special Ed teachers, hire more assistants, supply the teachers with needed supplies and teaching specialists to help students who are behind but don't qualify for Special Ed. Every time you look in the paper you see unqualified people telling educators what they're doing wrong and how to fix it. 

No one ever asks the teachers who are the ones who might have some valuable input.

-----

royexum@aol.com

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