Students Watched While DC Police Removed Their Teachers

If you don't live in DC, chances are you don't know about the troubling things that have been happening in the schools.

Even if you live in DC, you might not know.

There have been local stories about the teacher firings -- more than 200 teachers were purged on Friday, October 2nd -- just a few weeks into the school year. But most of the coverage has focused on whether DC Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee was justified in firing the teachers -- many of them veteran educators -- and replacing them with new teachers making smaller salaries.

But what is astonishing is how little media coverage there has been about how those firings came down. (I saw one mention in the Post.)

It's a horrible story that bears repeating. It's a story that deserves a giant front page headline that screams out:

DC TEACHERS YANKED FROM THE CLASSROOM LIKE CRIMINALS
Or
STUDENTS WATCH WHILE DC TEACHERS REMOVED BY ARMED POLICE

My source on the story is a good friend who teaches in one of the DC schools affected and was there when colleagues were fired. This friend -- who will remain anonymous, because God knows I don't want to see one more teacher fired -- called me from a cell phone the Friday before last, frantic, and practically in tears.

"You won't believe what just happened here at school," my friend yelled into the phone. I was working in a crowded office where I couldn't talk, but I whispered back, "What?"

"It was like some kind of armed coup. Twenty minutes before the end of the school day, with all the kids sitting in the classroom, they walked in and fired a bunch of teachers."

I got up from my desk and went out into the hall where I could hear better.

My friend described the scene. It was just minutes before the bell rang. No one knew it was coming. The doors of certain classrooms opened. Armed policemen wearing bullet-proof vests appeared. Accompanying the cops were the new teachers who informed the existing teachers that they had been replaced. No warning at all.

"Teachers were given exactly five minutes to pack up their things and exit the building," my friend said.

Some of those teachers had worked in the schools for more than 20 years.

Some of those teachers left in tears.

And the students? God knows what they thought.

The teachers' union is suing, protesting the firings. At a rally in DC last Thursday -- it attracted thousands, according to the Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/08/AR2009100803502.html - the union accused School Chancellor Rhee of union busting, systematically removing more expensive, experienced teachers.

In their lawsuit, the union noted that more than 900 new teachers had been hired during the summer, about three times as many as normal. These new instructors, the union argues, will cost the system less in salary.

Rhee denies the union accusations, insisting that the teachers were relieved of their duties for legitimate reasons, including incompetence.

The controversy about why the teachers were removed will undoubtedly rage on.
But the story of how they were dismissed is crystal clear.

In my friend's words, "the teachers were treated like criminals."

Even if they deserved to be fired --and that is not at all clear-- "they deserved to be treated with dignity and respect."

Uh, yeah. If for no other reason, consider the kids.

Consider the lessons imparted that day. A person may devote him or herself to a job for two decades, but that matters not at all when it comes time for the budget ax to fall. An employer has no obligation to treat a loyal employee with respect.

So my question is this: who decided how these teacher firings were going to be executed in DC? And did those decisionmakers give even two minutes of thought to how their decisions would affect the kids who sat and watched the debacle unfold?

 

 

Follow Claudia Ricci on Twitter: www.twitter.com/RicciCJ

Comments

[dalutong]

I think one (major) detail needs to be brought to this discussion. The night before the RIF, Hawk One, DCPS's security contractor, filed for bankrupcy. Without security, the MPF (Metropolitan Policy Force) was brought in to do basic security. Their typical clothing is as the cited teacher described: vests and guns. But it wasn't done to fire the teachers. It was done because the school was without security.

My school, fortunately, did not have major problems. But that's because we had teachers who were willing to spend their free periods patrolling the halls to make sure things didn't get riotous. Administrators did the same all day long.

My school lost 5 people. I do not know how they were informed. I do know that the notification happened at the end of the day.

Some schools may have handled it poorly. It probably should have been the principal knocking on the door. Or some assistant principal. But some schools also had to lose more than we did, so they probably didn't have the luxury of having administrators orchestrate it all.

Whatever the situation, the procedure was not the product of Michelle Rhee. Those cops were brought in because of the very unfortunate timing of Hawk One's collapse.

[osazuwa]

"Consider the lessons imparted that day. A person may devote him or herself to a job for two decades, but that matters not at all when it comes time for the budget ax to fall."

That is a WONDERFUL lesson for a child to learn, and I hope one or two walked away with that. Oh how fantastic it would be if be if today's children avoided the sense of entitlement that plagues older generations. I want our children to learn that performance beats out dedication, and EVEN when we are outperforming everyone else we are still at the mercy of man or woman wielding the "budget ax".

A good mentor will let those children know that those teachers will have to work hard to find a new living. Some will stay in denial and probably retire, others will adapt and eventually find something new. The stress to their family and personal security will be significant.

This is not to say that at least some of the fired teachers were at least good, often very good. Or that the method of the firings was wise, especially in making such a spectacle. Just saying that the idea that our children learning that life punches you in the face sometimes is a bad thing is one that I disagree with. If my kid witnessed something like this, I'd jump on the opportunity to turn it into a life lesson.

[leorising]

Sure, that's a great lesson to learn, all about the bleakness and futility of working in the American capitalist system. Then after teaching it, you get to march your kids down to the doctor's office to get them on antidepressants for the rest of their lives. Good luck with that.

[been2there]

The Republicans have done such a good job of scapegoating teachers that the authors of this outrage probably figure that public opinion will back them.

[ClaudiaR - Huffpost Blogger]

In fact you are on to something. The head of the teacher's union wrote a long blog piece for The Washington Post and a lot of people reacting was very negative toward the teachers, as in, the teachers deserved the treatment they got.

[mbagen]

"Armed police in full riot gear in front of the students" is a sentence that's becoming harder and harder to avoid these days.

[zola77]

Wow! This just sounds crazy!

[Senzasord]

WTF? What ever happened to due process? Who put John Bolton in charge of the DC school system. This smacks of his management style. Armed police in full riot gear in front of the students? Michelle Rhee has totally taken leave of her senses and ought to be brought up on charges herself.

Clearly this is nothing more than union busting given that all the teachers who were railroaded out were high up on the experience scale and were disinclined to kiss adminitrative ass.