I almost forgot that it’s Friday and time for a new poll! Thank you to everybody that responded last week. Your responses were truly eye opening. I’ll write a post about the results sometime in the near future. Meanwhile, here are a couple more questions for you and as always, comments are welcome.
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Dad Gone Wild 
Again the situation at Antioch High School seems to be out of control. There are concerns about racist actions by the principal against white admin & staff
She is supposedly his mistress and was given the job as a result (they reportedly have a child together). Shady shady stuff.
Again where is our board in all of this? You would think that at least one of them read the comments from last week. Their silence tells me they have no desire to help us teachers. Maybe the TFA teachers they will be forced to bring in, due to an even larger teacher shortage, will be more submissive. Mrs. Shepherd, I will do everything I can to make sure you are not re-elected in 2018.
I will be the first this time around to start off the comments. Dr Joseph and his team need to go. They have become the cancer to our system that many of us feel was on the long road to recovery. We know it would have taken time, but there are many of us that were in for the long haul to make sure we left our district better than when we found it. We had the fight. We had the desire. We had the strength. In less than a year this Prince George crew, as demonstrated by fellow teachers leaving our district at a somewhat rapid pace, has now gotten rid of some of our best future leaders. I fear that before they are back home in Montgomery County they will have decimated our health and will leave us clinging onto life support.
It will be just a matter of time before our incompetent board will pull the plug.
I wonder what’s gonna happen with principal changes this year. Antioch HS is probably safe since she’s from Maryland.
Our only hope is to find educators that are tired of this fiasco and run them against these politicians we currently have on our school board. I for one need to make up for last summer and actually canvass for those that will stand up for teachers and their districts. #ResistMNPSBoard
Just got word that we are losing another phenomenal, blue ribbon teacher next week. She has simply had enough with Dr. Joseph and his principal appointees. One has to ask what would push a ten year tenured teacher out the door. One also has to ask if Jill Speering and Anna Shepherd even care. Our loss is Williamson County’s gain. The rich get richer.
The reason I voted for “a lack of clear instruction on district initiatives,” is because there is no constant directive. Things have changed continually since this new administration has taken over. The only constant theme is that suspensions need to be cut in half. How do you think that makes teachers feel? We can be verbally and physically threatened only to have that same student back in the class the next day.
Take teachers and their safety out of the equation for just a moment. What about the educational rights of the other students that are being trampled on? While we have Dr. Joseph, Sito & Monique preach about how we need to raise our rigor across the district from the safety of their Tahoes, these same students they are forcing us to not suspend are taking away rigorous instruction each and every day with their outbursts. We are in a lose-lose environment. They (Prince George people) know it and are laughing all the way to their bank as they plunder our district by using our federal money for their lavish “educational conferences” and leave behind bread crumbs for us to try and piece together a slice.
The third question was a little unclear. By the “district” are you referencing the district as a whole? My child’s teacher is very open to having a parent/teacher involvement for all her students. If you are referencing the district to mean how this new administration and the school board continually make decisions without receiving parental or teacher input….. Well… That is a joke because the only voice they care to hear from are those that agree without asking questions.
Sorry about not being clearer. I’m learning that writing poll questions is like doing interviews, lot harder then it looks
Sad fact:
I honestly believe you would have hundreds of comments if teachers knew 100% they could remain anonymous. Teachers are simply scared. Teachers are worried that changes are coming that will not be beneficial to our students. Teachers are fearful that time spent bulding trust and relationships with parents are in vain. Lastly, teachers are pissed as hell that our board is doing jack shit to stop this.
I agree and that’s why I’m so honored and appreciate every single comment. Humbling.
Dad Gone Wild,
Forgive me if I seem too formal. A teacher sent me the link to your blog this morning and I found it fascinatingly informative. It seems as though there is a racial tension that some of the comments are skirting around. Are you feeling that there is some sort of reverse racism issue happening? As a man of color, I can assure you there are things happening at my son’s South Nashville school that is making me feel a bit uneasy about how our new principal is acting towards certain teachers and staff. I feel they are furthering the racial divide that is already too rampant in our culture, instead of bridging the divide. What happened to civil discourse, asking hard questions and not being afraid of the answers? According to an article I read last year, only 2% of teachers are black males. I am all for having more diversity in the teacher pool but not at the expense of teachers who are already there and very qualified.
Thanks for listening and keep asking those questions.
I’ve been predicting this since September
I hope our district appreciates having Teach for America teachers as the majority of our educators. I hope we can ‘Drain Our Central Office” before they “Drain Our Exceptional Educators.”
This past week was Read Across America week. I became nauseous at all the photo ops I saw across social media from our district leaders. So you show up and read a book to a class for a few minutes and for that you want me to be impressed? Give me a break. If you want accolades from this teacher how about you show up when cameras aren’t around and read to a class or teach a math lesson. How about you show up before school begins and sit with students that are having one of their only 2 meals of the day, look them in the eye and have a conversation with them. Why don’t you show up and sit with a student after school when he gets off his bus stop and discovers that his parents are nowhere to be found and he has nowhere to go? So spare me the social media love fest that occurs when you show up to read one day a year. You have an open invitation for the remainder of the year to come at your convenience to spend time with my class. Or better yet, just show up at any after school mandatory meeting, bring some coffee and just listen. That will impress me.
So in a few weeks we will be losing an amazing leader in our district. I will never speak on my principal’s behalf, but I am 100% sure the real story on why he left will never be told to the public. He is a great man and I am positive there will be teachers like myself who will follow him and leave our district after the school year is over. Especially if Dr Joseph or one of his minions places another incompetent administrator in his place. Great job Dr. Joseph! Way to earn that A+ from our equally incompetent board. 🙄
What is going on with the board? Why would they all give him straight 3s when I know they see the same things the community sees. The only direction from the district is no suspensions or expulsions so the out of control kids get worse. The stories I hear about what my child sees happen in class are astounding. I spoke to a Relator today. I think the plan is to destroy MNPS so the charters can take it all and I guess the board has received some mighty incentive for turning a blind eye. Sorry, but I tried MNPS. Those who can leave are.
Like in your last blog, I too have wondered what it would be like if we had Christy, Druffle, Meneely & Miller on the board instead of the rubber-stampers we currently have. They might have been worse, but I’d like to think that at least one of them would have stepped up publicly and stopped this madness before more great leaders and future leaders simply leave our district. Too bad their terms are for 4 years. I was hoping things would have turned around before my son graduated in 2020. I can still hold out hope that the incoming board members of 2018 will have the courage to stand up to this tyrant. I hope they will have the back of their constituents instead of this current board who has turned their backs to all of us.
Looking at your comments for this last week and listening to fellow teachers throughout our district I have found a pattern. The biggest issues that are happening at various schools have the same commonality. They are all being led by someone who was appointed to the position by either Dr. Shawn Joseph or Dr. Monique Felder.
Carolyn Cobbs (Cumberland), Robin Elder (Sylvan Park), Kevia Wiley (Antioch), Kathleen Dawson (Executive Lead Principal) and Karen Gallman (Executive Lead Principal) all are connected to Joseph or Felder.
If you follow the chain of command these people have nothing to worry about. Every direct supervisor leading all the way to Dr Joseph is filled with someone that they are connected to. WTF!!!! Is our board seriously gonna turn a blind eye to this setup? Is our local media not aware of this? Is the fix in? How in the holy hell is someone like Gallman going to properly investigate Elder? If she doesn’t do her job do we really believe that Felder or Joseph will step in and reprimand Gallman?
Yeah me neither!
My kids went all the way through Sylvan Park. During those nine years we were involved with the school (all prior to this current regime), it is hard to imagine a better environment. From everyone I’ve talked to still currently there, coupled with the comments I’ve seen on this blog, it sounds like this new principle has torched a truly special culture in a matter of months. Tragic.