A PLEA FOR HELP ON BEHALF OF ALL ABUSED TEACHERS

NAPTA TIRELESSLY CONTACTS PEOPLE WITH THE POWER TO FORCE CHANGE

TO Kurt Eichenwald, Investigative Reporter, The New York Times:

I saw your interview regarding your book The Informant: A True Story broadcast on C-Span this weekend and I was intrigued by your tenacious style of investigative reporting. Your reporting on the biggest episode of white-collar crime has undoubtedly impacted corporate America positively. I also noted your comment that in your position at The New York Times, you are free to expose corruption in any segment of our society. Interestingly, you did not mention education as a potential area in need of investigation. I would like to persuade you to consider investigating the world of education.

When you gave the explanation as to why price fixing is so detrimental to capitalism, I couldn't help but see a parallel situation in education. You stated that capitalism relies on consumer satisfaction so that the best product and work is accomplished, while price fixing with competitors eliminates the role that consumers are intended to play to make our system work. In education, the lack of competition is a widely discussed negative by those seeking school choice. Certainly this is not a new concept. However, there is a little known technique used by administrations to enhance this advantage of no competition - teacher abuse. The people running our schools are using teacher abuse and the silencing of teachers as their method of idea fixing so that consumer, or parental satisfaction cannot drive decision making. Teachers rarely disagree with policies openly, giving administrators a free reign to implement whatever suits their personal needs.

Teacher abuse ranges from stressing teachers with unrealistic schedules and expectations as well as ordering them to take actions detrimental to their students, to direct violations of their constitutional rights. It includes stacking the schools with young, short-term teachers who will not become invested in the profession, to harassing older experienced teachers, and driving them away. (Included in this experienced group of teachers are parents returning to the profession, who unlike the younger, freah out of college staff, understand what the consumer wants and thus are more prone to interfere with the business as usual that takes place in our schools. ) Teacher abuse also includes forcing teachers to sign gag orders by denying them a means of support if they don't. Not only does teacher abuse provide administrations with a wall of protection against consumer needs, it provides administrators with the opportunity to control some rather large budgets unencumbered by the opinions of anyone representing the taxpayers' needs.

Your comment that at chapter seventeen, that even your mother called to see if what you wrote were truthful, speaks to the biggest obstacle teachers have in exposing what is occurring in our schools. The few who make it past the gag orders and have the freedom to be unemployed are not believed because they are such a minority and what they are saying is just too bizarre. Teachers consequently suffer secondary abuse. Then there are the retirees who seemingly could speak out but don't, who make the public disbelieve the words of whistleblowers. It is difficult for the public to understand that when a teacher decides to look the other way and partakes in the idea fixing game so prevalent in our schools, she is not likely to want to tarnish her former career choice. In addition, the hopelessness of exposing their former administrators coupled with the diminishment of their own souls having participated in this ethically ravaged atmosphere, leads retirees as far from the profession as they can get to participate in this conspiracy of silence.

Unless an investigative reporter takes this on, the limited teacher voices will continue to fade into the vacuum so aptly created by our administrators, since unlike the corporate world, there is no government body in place to investigate and no rules outlawing idea fixing. In fact, my personal story includes a tenure termination hearing held by the Illinois State Board of Education for which a decision was to be rendered in December of 2000, according to Illinois State Statute, and still has not been rendered. Obviously, the hearing officer cannot figure out a way to legally terminate me, so they simply stalled the process and I am out. They are also telling me that I have to pick a new hearing officer and we might not be able to get the original record back from him. (I had excellent evaluations; my district built a false case against me after I spoke out. The hearing officer is either silently protesting or agreeing to stall the process so the record will never be public, as it is filled with outrage, including an altered document submitted by the district.) The corruption runs all the way to the top, and the world of education operates similarly to organized crime.

Granted the financial compromises are dwarfed by what occurs in business. However, we are talking about our children and the future of our country. Certainly that deserves the time and attention that any corporate scandal might deserve. Also, we are dealing with an area based on public trust, and with a belief that these people operate ethically, unlike business where it is accepted that money is the focus. The assumption that educations operates on a higher plane is simply untrue. I have worked in business and in education and the latter is far more sinister. Whether it is purchasing inappropriate texts that provide a better "business" deal for the administration, or directly and indirectly causing teachers to die of heart attacks, schools operate almost impervious to the laws of the land, with taxpayers' funds to cover up their misdeeds in court; businesses have to pay for any legal cover-ups and thus are far more prone to negotiate and limit their actions so as not to find themselves in court. It is simply not economically wise to use the courts for power trips. Schools don't care. It is not their money.

As I watch the Boston Globe penetrate the Catholic Church and force accountability for the molesting of children by priests over the past thirty years, I wonder why reporters cannot make sense of what is occurring within our schools. Can you still operate within the belief system that men of cloth and educators are a better breed than the corporate thugs who prey upon the financially weak? Isn't what you wrote about ADM simply a tale of human greed? Is there any reason that people who use power to abuse those around them would not have infested the world of education? Knowing the opportunity to take more than their share of the prize exists in the darkness provided courtesy of our media, greedy administrators are swarming our schools like cockroaches. We know what happens to cockroaches when you turn the light on. We need the light, that only the media could shine, on this most despicable abuse of power.

We have wide dissatisfaction with our schools. The dumbing down of America was frightening before 9/11; it is now overwhelming to think we aren't training the leaders of tomorrow. Scores from international math and science competitions placed our schools close to the bottom, below some third world countries. The average SAT scores of teachers was noted in B.K. Eakmon's book, The Cloning of America: Eradicating Morality through Education as one hundred points below the average college bound student, illustrating the direction our schools are taking. Teacher abuse may be a secret to the general public, but it certainly has had a chilling effect on attracting perspective teachers that can think critically.

Just last month, Ed Williams, editor of The CharlotteObserver.com's editorial pages published a column called "A Teacher's Plea." He asked for teachers to write in and give their responses to a teacher's desperate frustration with the lack of support at her school. He pointed out that he received one hundred responses, and none wanted their name mentioned in fear of retaliation. Mr. Williams speculated in a later column that this fear may or may not be imagined, but either way, it would have a limiting effect on educational reform. This fear is not imagined. An investigative reporter needs to delve into this darkness and expose the depravity lurking in our educational institutions. Until then, educational reform cannot even begin.

Not every school is corrupt. Not every corporation believes that it is fine to break laws and pay the fines. Also, there are varying degrees of exploitation. But I can assure you that the issue of teacher abuse and its domino effect on education has more impact on our public than any other topic short of terrorism.

I am currently working on a book detailing my personal experience as a teacher. I stayed in a position in which I was being harassed for four years so I could document and expose what was occurring. However, aware how difficult it is to get the truth out, I am hoping that a reporter with a voice will delve into this field and take the schools back for our children. I was impressed with your style and energy and hope that if you have read this far you will consider this area for a future project. I certainly can provide you with substantial documentation. Thank you for listening. Hope to hear from you.

Sincerely from a town not too far from Decatur, home of ADM,

Karen Horwitz, Wilmette, Illinois 60091

Needless to say, this letter was never answered. Hopefully, placing this on our WEBSITE, a reporter with the passion for his craft, and what it can do for our society, equal to the dedication of this group of teachers, will take on this challenge.

Top

UNIONS