The Guilderland Grey-Zone: No Easy Answers
Ok, here's the Guilderland mess.Someone in the Guilderland High social studies department felt the environment was unwelcoming. Off-color jokes. Terms like "faggot" and "queer". But the teacher did not file a harassment complaint. So they hired someone to investigate. That "Culture Climate Survey" was an investigation. The person doing the inquiry warned that the way she was being asked to look into the claims was going to anger the teachers, and she was correct.
The investigation did seem to echo that with reports from other teachers who eat by themselves because they are uncomfortable with the others, and comments about breasts of speakers.
So assuming this is true, do you remove two random teachers? Does that solve the problem? The redacted report says many teachers were angry with the questions. One of the things I wanted to look into was how large the social studies department is. The redacted report is heavily edited, so it's unclear how many complained of the environment. Based on what appears to be separate individual complaints, I'm guessing 4 or 5 total. That leaves 15 teachers in collusion to tell sexual jokes and harass other teachers. Will moving 2 teachers have any effect? I know my numbers are speculation, but even if I'm off by 5 and it's an even split, moving 2 and leaving 8 would not have that big of an effect.
And it side steps the issue. Do a work-place harassment class, not just for the social studies department, but for the entire school. I would have recommended the "Culture Climate Survey" be done over the entire school, but seeing as how these weren't papers surveys but in person interviews, that seems unlikely. Then you take the teachers named aside and tell them to knock it off. Tell them that if they are making the workplace unbearable and they continue to do so, they will be dismissed, but then we're talking about some with tenure, which is bogus. No one should have that sort of guarantee. But fine, you say that you'll move them elsewhere. You give people a chance to correct themselves.
The person who held the "Culture Climate Interviews" didn't even include reassignment as a recommendation. So the school board and the superintendent came up with that solution on their own. The person who made the recommendations is author or editor of 27 college textbooks, and more than 140 scholarly articles and conference presentations on sexual harassment, psychology of women, gender and sexual harassment, and victimization. You would think that if she thought moving a couple of bad eggs would solve the problem, she would have included it in the report.
The solution to move 2 teachers to break up a "locker room" mentality and prevent sexual and prejudicial jokes just doesn't add up.
So I find myself returning to Nelligan's claim that he's being targeted because he is an outspoken critic of the district leadership and the teachers union.
A source closer to the events told me, "I did have the misfortune of working for the High School Principal when he was Ass. Principal at another school district and he was the biggest sexist and would make comments about high school girls!! When I called him on it - needless to say my part-time contract was not renewed. Both the Superintendent and the Principal have histories of not liking anyone questioning their authority."
That would explain why they aren't letting the public speak out. It's bad form. You let the people stand up and say what they want to say. Then go do whatever you want to do. You might even find some supporters in the bunch to back you up.
I still have questions. What do the 2 middle school teachers being moved up think? Does Nelligan have a history of having other teachers accuse him of being offensive? How is McManus involved?
People have commented in other places, like here, that the board has the authority to make the transfer, so Nelligan and McManus should just comply without complaint. But if you don't question the reason, then that power can be abused, which some suggest both superintendent and principal of Guilderland High are guilty of doing. It's not a matter of demotion or feeling that the middle school is a punishment. It's a matter of reason. Leaders should have to justify their decision and it doesn't seem that their decision makes sense. Swapping 2 teachers with 2 other teachers will not reconfigure a 20 person staff and allow for a fresh start. And worse still, and I will be happy to beat this drum every time, to not allow the public to voice their opinions is unconscionable.
More links -
Daily Gazette
FoxNews (new article)
Not Backing Down
Student Blog - Check out "Response to G’land Schools Redacted Reports" dated July 14
WGY - They linked to my blog! Though I am not actively trying to be anonymous, but whatever.
posted by Bodog @ 10:27 AM
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