Rather than go through everything from the beginning, I decided to post some of the letters that I have sent regarding the issues that I was experiencing. Once I reach the present, I will keep a daily log.
I have deleted the names of the persons involved, for the moment, since I am still trying to make things work. By the way, none of these letters have in any way helped. In fact, none have received a response, but I keep trying.
The UFT has been of no help; everything that I have managed to get resolved has been because I refuse to let this principal continue to create her own laws and continue her power trip. She is drunk with it and anyone who dares to question her practices just gets in her way. And, they pay.
I am still paying.
2012
(Superintendent's name)
Superintendent District 12
Dear Superintendent,
I am writing to you because I don’t know where else to turn.
I am presently at (xxxx) High School under the supervision of (Principal's name). I have reached
out to her and she has told me that she cannot help me.
In July of 2011, I performed a demo lesson for Mr. (xxx), AP
and Mr. (xxx), English Teacher. That afternoon, I was offered the job of 9th
grade English teacher at the school. I was very excited because I had tried
teaching at the middle school level the year before, and realized that I
preferred teaching the older students.
I began in September teaching two English 1 classes, two
English skills classes and one Honor’s English class. I was very happy to be in
this school. The principal and AP seemed to be supportive and when it came to
discipline problems, they seemed to be on top of things. I was able to walk
into the Principal’s office and share my experiences and student work.
Everything was going well, until…
In October, the Principal and AP did a walk-through. That
afternoon, the Principal and AP sat with me for a post observation and
completely tore down my lesson. Not once did they say anything positive about
my lesson! As I tried to explain myself and how English lessons are taught,
they would hear nothing of it. I followed a lesson plan format that I have always used and the same one they hired me with. When I brought this to her attention she said, "No, here at (School name) we do things differently. You must follow the format we use and create a learning target and a criteria for success for every lesson."
I continued to express my thoughts and she said at one point, “You frustrate me!” All through the post ob, I was intimidated and
made to feel as if I didn't know what I was doing. (Principal) spoke to me
loudly and coarsely and then threatened me with a U as a final rating for the
year. She said that she would not recommend me for Tenure.
At this, I quizzically looked at her and said, “I have
tenure. What do you mean?” She became more upset and began saying how she was
not going to go through this again. “I just went through this with a teacher
who said she had tenure and she really didn't.”
After this meeting, I was told
to come back during my administrative period. I was so intimidated with our
first meeting that Mr. (English teacher) offered to go in with me for support.
When we
got to the door, she saw him and told him he couldn't stay. I expressed
that I just wanted him there for support. She said, “Absolutely not!!”
For the
next 40 minutes, I was intimidated, belittled, and treated as if I had no
knowledge of English and teaching. She said she was holding me responsible for
the kids who do not come to class and fail. I asked her for ideas on how I
could possibly do this and she told me to be creative and figure it out. But,
that she wanted to see those kids pass.
She sent me an email the next day. It was the Preliminary Recommendation page in the Tenure Notification
System. She didn't appoint me under my High School license. This is where I am
tenured. I explained this to her and she refused to acknowledge that a mistake
was made.
Since she was not willing to help me in this matter, I went
to the union. This is when things really went bad between (Principal) and me.
The union looked through the information and saw that a mistake was done. They
said that not only was I teaching out of license, but that the school is out of
compliance. They said (Principal) had two options: she could fix the mistake
or she could excess me. This is when everything really deteriorated. I passed
this information along to (Principal), who did not believe what I was saying
and continued to tell me that there was nothing she could do. These
conversations happened before the Christmas break.
I tried to go on with my week and tried to speak with the (Principal) regarding the license issue. I tried several times until I caught her
leaving her office and she told me that she had spoken to HR and they had said
that there was nothing they could do about it. So, I asked her to excess me.
She wrote me an email where she said that she understood if I wanted to go to
another place.
I have not found any openings.
Sincerely,
(Me)
Second letter:
New superintendent. (I have no idea what happened to the first!)
(Superintendent's name) 2013
Superintendent D. 12
Dear Mr. (Superintendent),
I am (Me). You
extended my probation recently. I am writing to you to make some matters clear
about me.
I am a High School
Tenured English teacher. I have been working for the DOE for 25 years. The bulk
of my HS experience was in (xx) HS under (Principal) and then, (Principal).
In the summer of 2009, I
went to Arizona for a year. When I came back, I was hired at (MS-HS in Bronx). I was offered the 9th grade ELA position but
in September I was told that I would be teaching 6th grade. When I expressed that this would affect my licensing (Principal) said she would have me on paper as the HS teacher since the 9th grade teacher was a MS license. I figured it would be okay.
In October, I found out
that she had not done this and suddenly I found myself on probation for MS
English. I reached out to several people including the union but to no avail.
However, I was told that once I got a job at the HS level things would be fine.
So, although I enjoyed
working with the kids and parents (one actually wrote a letter of commendation
to the Superintendent (xxx) and the Chancellor about me, I went on to the
Open Market and was hired by (present school). I explicitly told the AP,
(xxx) my situation and he said that there would be no issue and that I
would be appointed under the HS license. Of course, this makes sense because I
was hired by a HS.
On my first informal walk-through in September, it explicitly said on my report “Tenured”. So, I didn't give it another thought. However, during a walk-through that they deemed
“Unsatisfactory” I was threatened with a “U” rating because I was on probation.
I explained how that could not be possible and that it must be a mistake. (Principal) said it wasn't. I asked her several times to please change my
appointment to the proper license and she, on repeated occasions, told me she couldn't.
This began a series of
unannounced visits and several reprimands for a variety of things. I wrote to
the Superintendent at the time and she never responded. I involved the union
but to no avail.
I was running a Drama
Club after school and everything was fine. When I asserted myself regarding my
situation, I was told on several occasions to cut the session short and leave
the building. It happened so often that I finally cancelled the club. I was taken
out of a Computer lab where the kids worked on Achieve 3000 because
there were "claims" that my students were ruining the computers. And
so on.
Anyway, when I saw that
all my lessons were being ripped apart and that I was being singled out, I told
the Principal if she would release me or excess me. She said that she would not
stand in my way but that she would not excess me. I used all of the information
from NCLB and it didn't matter.
I continued to be made
to feel unwelcome at the school. When I was told that I would be getting
another “U”, I grieved it. During this grievance meeting, I broke down and told
(Principal and AP) how I felt. During this conversation, she made it
clear that she could have changed my appointment but that she didn't want to.
She wasn't sure if she wanted me in the school. However, I was reassured that I
would not be discontinued, but that a “U” was in my future. So I asked again
that I receive Pre and Post Observations, and I finally did. I received an S.
Then came a walk-through and again I received an S. (Principal) softened somewhat and actually started speaking to me and saying good morning. I thought
it was over.
Then came time for the
Tenure process and she said you advised her that my probation should be extended.
So, she told me she needed to observe me again. She walked in on April 26. She
saw the same elements for which I had been previously rated “S”. She rated the Walk-through “U”.
I am being scrutinized
and singled out. I come to work wondering what they will point out next.
Although they claim to merely suggest elements they want in a lesson, they
really expect them. I have incorporated everything they have asked of me and it doesn't matter. I learned an entirely new way of presenting the lesson using the
Learning Target and Criteria for Learning. Instead of seeing the progress, they focus on something else. They expect to see a group activity for every
single lesson. So, even though every lesson does not lend itself to this
practice, I reworked my lessons and do group and pair work. So now they find
faults in that. I introduced Accountable Talk; she criticized my last lesson
for too much accountable talk. They question the students and if one says they are
working independently, they use it against me. Some kids prefer to work
independently even when asked to pair up. That’s differentiation! Why am I
being rated unsatisfactorily?
I am so frustrated. I
get nervous every time they walk into my room. I feel harassed. I feel they are
setting me up to receive a “U” rating at the end of this year. I really feel
this is personal and I wish I didn't. I will go to another school, but who will
hire me with a “U”? And, I do not want to ruin my 25 years of satisfactory
service unfairly. What does this say of my former administrators who have, year
in and year out, rated me “S” and placed me in positions of leadership? I have
created curricula for electives, been a mentor, created programs and ran them
successfully. I have been a Peer Mediator for an entire school campus. It doesn't seem possible that I am in this situation!
I would like to meet
with you regarding my situation.
Sincerely,
(Me)
It is the year 2014 and I am still awaiting a response to both these letters.
In my next post, I will share the letters I sent to the Chancellor. I actually just sent one to the new chancellor, two weeks ago. I haven't received ay correspondence.
