Abuse from All Sides

I am a single parent of a wonderful teen-age boy. I have 3 degrees; Liberal Arts, B.S. in Business and Masters in Teaching. I successfully completed all of these as a single parent. I am also involved in the American Cancer Society and was a youth leader in my church. I tell you all of these things as to demonstrate my credibility. I am caring, fair, logical and organized.

I have been a teacher for 8 years now. Came into teaching after serving my country through the good ole US NAVY and then spent a few years in the logistics field. I felt I was called to teach. This is where my family heritage made a great impact and it is also where I feel my heart is at.

I learned about your organization [NAPTA] last year by searching out other teachers who just might have had some of the same experiences as I have. Wow, did I find them! We get it from all sides-the kids, the parents, and administration.

Two years ago, I served the [district removed] in Florida. This was a horrible experience. The events were so complex, yet common, that to express the complete situation in an email would do it disservice. The long and short of it is this. Conditions were deplorable, I sought help from my on-site union rep-she did nothing-I mean NOTHING. A couple of weeks went by and I contacted the next level union representative. Instead of starting an investigation, she contacted my administrator. I found this out and questioned her. She said she had to, to solve the problem. Then the games began....EVERY DAY, an administrator was in my room marking something on a clip board-I was not privy to any of these pieces of documentation. However, just about anything I did was suspect -in the eyes of my boss. I was harassed daily!

Last year, during pre-planning, I cleaned, painted and repaired the walls. Otherwise, the portable would not have been livable. Floorboards were falling in and the walls held mold. The classrooms were overcrowded from the beginning of the year. Students from many different learning grades were placed in my class and with others on my team. Guidance moved kids around throughout much of the first quarter. Then, one of my teammates was moved, causing a major change in the environment, again. The guidance department continued using my classroom as a "holding cell" for bad kids whom other teachers refused to house. I was also a holding cell for those new kids coming in that did not have a schedule. These conditions made it extremely difficult to keep a routine. After a student was removed from my class earlier in the year for the reason that she continually threw things at me and swore at me over and over and threatened to beat me up-she was put back into my classroom. When I complained, I was told to shut up-that refusing to serve a student was defiance and that I was being difficult to get along with.

This child kicked and put dents into the run down piece of junk, portable I was teaching in. She had already been through three other teachers. Every time I wrote a referral, I was questioned and was made to think that it was not a legitimate complaint. I stopped writing them because I would have to use my planning time to go answer their question "why can't you control your classroom?” My classroom was in control, as much as possible. Our team served Vocational Education. Many of which were untreated ADHD students and some SLD-not properly placed. Many of my teammates wrote one referral after the other. Upwards of 10-15/day. I held detentions on my own time. We also implemented a positive reward system. Our rules/privileges were in place and effective for those who were willing to learn-our FCAT scores and other assessments confirmed those learning gains.

Another student, known to violence, who pushed me to get his way through my classroom door putting several bruises across my thighs, was allowed back into my class IMMEDIATELY. I was not permitting him in because he was causing a disruption. In trying to enforce the schools rules, I sent him to the office. He shoved his way in, sat down and propped his feet up on a table. I was told that I should not have stopped him from gaining access to my classroom and because I stood in his way of an education, I was in the wrong, therefore, I now had no recourse. By the way, the student suffered NO consequences. It was considered “a manifestation of his disability.”

I was tortured and threatened by a set of twin girls on a daily basis. They made it clear that they did not have to listen to me because I was a white woman. They remained in my room for several weeks to continue their rampage. No form of discipline in my control would stop this behavior. –the mother would say “prove it”. My administrator said I should do a better job building a relationship with these girls.

My health suffered greatly. Then, my boss began to hound me for missing work. I was the team leader and our team was the ONLY group to make learning gains that year. Yet, my boss found fault with each of us. My whole team suffered because I went to the union for help.

The [name removed] Teachers Union is a worthless organization and not only was the group no help-they told me to just go get another job because the district was desperate for teachers anyway-that there was nothing they could do.

This was an absolute nightmare and I cannot get it out of my mind. The year before, I got a good evaluation, the first of that year, my evaluations were also good-I had not started to complain yet. It was two days after I went to my union rep to complain about physical and emotional conditions on behalf of my whole team that the principal literally retarded my career. She was determined to get even-and EVERYONE at that school was aware of this. At the end of the school year, the principal, abusing her power again, wrote a very poor reference to another county, slandering my reputation. She knew I was seeking a position in that district.

My immediate supervisor was let go. I believe it was due to her age. Heck, she was ignored, and ridiculed on a regular basis as well. There was no respect for her at all. The principal of this school is a bulldozer and a bully. One third of her staff leaves every year. Yet, the district LOVES her.

I am now in a good district and this administrator has formally observed me twice, resulting in exceptional evaluations. I have had no incidences of ridicule by my peers and had full support from administration if a behavior problem occurs. The school I am at is a unique school and it was only through prayer that I stumbled onto these wonderful people.

ALL this old stuff came flooding back when I read in the "Florida Times Union," on May 14th, that the FCAT scores went down and administration is pointing the finger back at the [name removed] teachers. Stating that teachers better get it together-this has made me M.A.D.

I would like to blow the lid wide open to this horrible secret. The media wants a good story, a big story, look at how teachers are being abused on a massive scale instead of choosing isolated incidences where a teacher has reached a limit and shoves a kid or where a freak teacher violates a child. -those incidences ARE rare. What seems to be commonplace is how teachers are horribly disrespected. Why doesn’t this outrage people? Why has this not reached the news?????? Looks like to me the top [name removed] man; Superintendent [name removed], has jumped on the bandwagon. After all, blaming a teacher is the most popular path of least resistance. We are the first to take on extra responsibility if it will help a child succeed. The “system” uses this human trait most teachers have to use us up. So far, you [NAPTA]are the only one demonstrating a willingness to advocate for us.

Dismayed Florida Teacher

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