“Don’t be so damned patronizing. Your performance so far has been a little less than dazzling.”
“I didn’t mean no harm,” I said and kissed her. “That a new dress?”
“Ah! Changing the subject, you coward.”
― Dashiell Hammett, The Thin Man

“What is past is past. never go back. Not for excuses. Not for justification, not for happiness. You are what you are, the world is what it is.”
― Mario Puzo, The Last Don

This past Friday, I had committed to participate in Book’em’s Read Across America event over at Haywood Elementary School. Per usual, I woke up overwhelmed by the multitude of thing I had to do. My thoughts quickly turned to excuses of why I couldn’t make it over to Haywood at 8:30, even though I was only going to be 2 miles away when I dropped my kids off at Tusculum ES at 7:45.

Luckily my excuse meter wasn’t functioning at full capacity and therefore 8:30 found me standing in a gym full of excited children waiting to be read to. Looking around I could see local community members that were every bit as busy as I, yet had carved some time out this morning. Teachers were herding kids and in the hall, the Chicka Boom dancers were lined up and bursting with anticipation for the forthcoming performance.

I stood at the back of the gym and took it all in. Different administrators walked up and we exchanged greetings. After a brief assembly, everyone headed to our individual classrooms to read. Mine was a group of second graders.

After reading OX XO, we played a quick game of Simon Says. As I left the classroom, another reader began another book. I made my way to the library, in order to wait for the shuttle bus. Walking through the school, I was reminded that Haywood is a bit of a patchwork school. Over the years it has been renovated several times, unfortunately, all the renovations don’t line up so it’s evident where each one began and ended.

The portables outside have almost as a much a sense of permanence as the surrounding working-class neighborhood and lead to the school suffering from a decided lack of parking. This lack of parking limits the after-school events that can be held. Haywood is one school in desperate need of a new building to serve its 600 plus students.

Standing in the hallway talking with Principal Megan Galloway, one gets no sense of any limitations. We discuss their SIFE – Students with Interrupted Formal Education – program and the high number of kids that they are graduating. It is very easy to pick up on the passion that Gallaway brigs to her work, and it’s evident in observing interactions between staff and students, Haywood is a good school doing good work, despite its challenges.

As I waited in the library and interacted with other participants, I was reflected back on why I started this blog. It wasn’t to write about administrators manipulating contracts or weekly jetting of to yet another conference. It was to celebrate the good work in our schools and to advocate for the things that could make that work better.

Similar thoughts resurfaced Saturday night as I watched Channel 5 News and the Phil Williams hour-long Teacher Townhall special. As I listened to teachers outline the many challenges they face and how leadership is failing them, it struck me; this isn’t what they signed up for either.

I’ll lay it on the table and give you 10 to 1 that none of the teachers that participated in Saturday’s town hall looked forward to it with anticipation. None of them were spending their summer hoping that Phil Williams called them and asked them to be on TV. I’ll wager all of them were too busy preparing their classrooms and getting lesson plans together, to give a second thought to what they might say if interviewed on television. After all, these are people more inclined to shine the spotlight on their students, instead of themselves. But circumstances conspired against them.

The school year began, Dr. Joseph’s third, and anticipation was high that this year would be better than last year and last year was a hard one. But then the same issues began to pop up – poorly communicated and implemented grading policy, a literacy plan that didn’t align with best practices, policy design in the boardroom that didn’t translate to the classroom, tone-deafness by the Executive Leadership Team, a discipline policy that put both teachers and students at increased risk. As a result, the increased teacher exits began.

As the teacher exits increased the pressure on those remaining grew. Slowly, tentatively, teachers began to reach out to express their concern. At first, it was just to those that were trusted. One had to be careful, a wrong word to the wrong person could jeopardize a career. Those fears may seem dramatic, but the handling of sexual harassment cases and comments made by leaders at principal meetings  – get on the bus or get run over by the bus – gave those fears substance.

During the first 18 months of Dr.Joseph’s tenure, board members were universally publicly supportive of the director. Real, or imagined, that created an aura of power for Joseph and gave rise to the impression that since the board didn’t openly question Dr. Joseph, they were clearly not receptive to criticism either, so none was offered.

As some board members began to openly question, people began to feel that there may be an avenue to voice concerns.  Unfortunately, those concerns were only voiced to those who appeared sympathetic, the other board members didn’t hear the complaints and therefore dismissed those complaints when raised. Some board members went as far as to paint sympathetic board members as conspiracy theorists with a personal ax to grind.

Phil Williams, demonstrating why investigative journalism is so important, began asking the questions the school board collectively wouldn’t. The answers he received didn’t hold up to the test of veracity and sparked more questions. Those answers continued to contribute to a picture that clearly showed a district in a leadership crisis.

The teachers that chose to speak Saturday surely realized that f nothing changes, nothing changes. So they decided to step out of their comfort zone and speak out, They spoke out of a sense of if not me, then who? It is a sentiment that I am keenly familiar with. As Nashville has grown the number of those willing to hold leaders accountable has shrunk. It’s a situation that concerns me not just for our school’s sake, but also our city’s sake.

Democracy is protected by a free and independent press. Through the years it’s been the press that held corrupt politicians accountable when they poisoned our water, failed to execute their jobs, accepted bribes, or generally acted counter to the best interests of the public. Over the last several years in Nashville though that protection has been weakened. A city that once employed world-class journalists like John Seigenthaler, Demetria Kalodimos, Jerry Thompson, Frank Gibson, Anne Holt, Dwight Lewis, and Dan Miller, now finds the talent poll nearly barren.

Escalating costs and declining revenue, has led to newspapers being overly cautious about offending big money interests and has left little money to employ investigative reporters. Politicians, tired of getting caught with their hands in the cookie jar, began working overtime to discredit the press and outlets pressured by the immediacy of the modern day news cycle now required to effectively compete, have gotten stories wrong, which lead to news outlets being further discredited.

It’s not hard to see the impact on our community, and I’m not just talking education reporting either. Think about this, if Phil Williams hadn’t started doing the stories on MNPS, then who? Lindsey Bramson at News 4 and Fox’s Harriet Wallace have done some fine work, but I’d question whether they’ve been given the freedom to do really in-depth work.

Print-wise, Jason Gonzale’s Tennessean beat is so extensive and his hands so editorially tied, that he rarely has the time or the freedom to cover stories with the required depth. The Scene, under Frank Daniels, has all but disappeared from the investigative realm and nobody has stepped up to fill the void created.

The decline in investigative reporting comes at a time when it’s needed more than ever. All one has to do is listen to recently elected Tennessee Speaker of the House Glen Casada and it becomes clear that government is becoming less transparent every day.

Casada is a man who thanks the press and extolls the virtues of citizen involvement on one day,

“We appreciate what you do and reporting on what government does and relaying that fairly and openly because what’s so important is an open and free press so that the citizens can participate in their government,”

Only to turn around and change rules to limit debate, ban live streaming from personal devices in committee meetings, and expel peaceful protesters from committee meeting chaired by admitted sexual offenders. In Casada’s view, protesting is “good,” but it must be done “in an orderly manner. “Your First Amendment rights end at your nose,” he has said.

I’m pleased that the Tennessean’s David Plaza chose to echo my feelings on protest in today’s paper.

The desire for respect is understandable, but an orderly protest is an oxymoron because protests are meant to disrupt the order. Think marches in Memphis or sit-ins in Nashville. And protesters have faced consequences like arrest and physical violence before.

We need more input from the city’s media population in order to protect citizen’s tax dollars and rights. Hopefully Steven Hale is able to re-establish the Nashville Banner. More eyes watching the government would force the government to be better listeners. We’ve spent way to much time this past year be about consultants, contracts, travel, and lack of discipline. It’s time to allow people to get back to what they planned to do. It’s time to make a leadership change and transition the conversation away from the board room and back onto the classroom.

SHORTCUTS

Looks like Wednesday in both the Tennessee House and the Senate the education committees will be talking Dyslexia. Freshman Rep Bob Freeman and Senator Jeff Yarboro are bringing a bill that reads as follows,

Local Education Agencies – As introduced, requires LEAs to provide students with characteristics of dyslexia appropriate tiered dyslexia-specific intervention through services provided by a teacher trained in dyslexia intervention; requires the department of education to employ at least one dyslexia specialist beginning with the 2019-2020 fiscal year. – Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 1, Part 2.

Last year saw the establishment of a state-sponsored Dyslexia council to whom LEA’s were required to report to. Some wonder why new legislation is required again this year. Considering that last Spring MNPS reported that they were providing no students with dyslexia any services, one doesn’t have to wonder long. Please reach out and let your state representative know that you support this legislation.

That’s a wrap. Check out the Dad Gone Wild Facebook page. It’s a good news station with lots of inspiring pictures from last week. If you need to get a hold of me, the email is norinrad10@yahoo.com. Keep sending me your stuff and I’ll share as much as possible.

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