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Date Posted: 18:50:38 01/08/05 Sat
Author: siempre
Subject: Daphne resignation letter

Dear Wayne,

First of all, thank you for your receptiveness and understanding in your conversation with Ryan and me yesterday evening. It was difficult to have to tell you how I feel and what has happened, but I believe it was necessary. Ultimately, I believe I am making the best decision for everyone involved, and I hope that my decision will help the school to decide on the most important and desirable steps required for progress and positive change in the future.

I feel the need to resign from my position as English/Spanish/Humanities Teacher at Salmon River High School for several personal and professional reasons: first, I feel that the on-site school administrator has exhibited a general lack of support and respect for - as well as overall confidence in - my abilities and judgment as a classroom manager and overseer; secondly, I was concerned for my safety and peace of mind as a teacher of more than a few students who, I believe - even if not unabashedly racist - harbor disturbing ethnic prejudices and disrespectful attitudes that have not been adequately addressed by the school in the past. Those students’ attitudes affect the attitude of other students. Moreover, the school seems to have encouraged the “white washing,” so to speak, of the school image by asking to students to put down “Caucasian” as their ethnicity on a recently administered school-wide test. The overall picture amounts to a school environment that could do more to address issues of overall respect, safety, and inclusion. In general, student-teacher relations are not as they should be, and I believe the problem is a systemic one that is directly tied to the high new-teacher turnover rate at Salmon River H.S.

An overall disciplinary plan of action is needed for repeat offenders of classroom rules and regulations. Detention, written referrals and whole-staff parent-teacher conferences can only go so far. If students - and/or parents - do not care to alter negative behavior as a result of the consequences extended, there will be no positive change in overall behavior over time. For example, the system of detention that is currently in place is not taken seriously by the students who are repeatedly assigned detention; therefore, repeated detention without further consequences reinforces behavior and causes students to view teacher-assigned consequences as neutral, meaningless actions that do not encourage change in their behavior patterns.

In addition to the systemic problems that exist at a school-wide level, there are also two specific and related incidents that occurred recently that cause me to feel mistreated and uncomfortable. First, I had an interaction with the principal, Marilyn Giddings, that was bizarre and highly uncalled for. I sent David Galli - an eighth grade male student who is a “repeat offender” - down to the office for disrupting the class yet again by purposely falling out of his chair and laughing and acting like I didn’t know what I was talking about when I reprimanded him. I didn’t feel that it was enough to write him up, but I did feel that he should explain himself to the principal and/or stay in the fishbowl to do his work in an isolated environment that could not interfere with the learning of others. When Marilyn returned with David in tow, she knocked on the door to inform me she was waiting in the hall. I looked in her direction and nodded to acknowledge that I knew she was there and that I would come speak to her.

After I’d turned back to the class to give them directions and to explain that I would need to step out for a moment, I heard the sound of ripping paper. I turned toward the noise and saw that Marilyn had ripped my poster off the door of my classroom - a poster I had painted for the “Spirit Week” hall decorating contest that was still hanging on the door, and which I assumed was acceptable since other teachers’ posters still hung on their doors. This action startled not only me but also the students, who became distracted and curious about the cause of the disturbance. (One student commented, with an awed expression and in a surprised tone, “Woah, Mrs. Giddings just took down the poster on your door.”) I went to speak with her and the student in the hallway; the tone of the conversation was odd, as I felt that I was being reprimanded as much as the student. The student seemed - or had made himself seem - upset, and Marilyn seemed just as upset as the student. I felt as if she were defending and enabling him; I was also at a lack for words after being subjected to her inappropriate behavior.

Being questioned in the presence of my class and the disruptive student in a way that revealed an overall lack of confidence in my authority, management and judgment was, I feel, entirely inappropriate and unjustified. If I wasn’t handling discipline in a satisfactory manner, I would have been willing to sit down with her and discuss the issues at hand. If a door poster was not acceptable, Marilyn could have informed me of this in private. However, her behavior was shocking, insulting, and disrespectful; moreover, it undermined my authority in the presence of my students, which could only aggravate any classroom management problems. Lastly, it made me feel as if she gave the student the benefit of the doubt.

I was almost ready to resign after this incident occurred. I was so shocked and insulted and in awe of this incident that I felt the need to leave this environment of disrespect and lack of proper managerial example. In my opinion, Marilyn has been largely absent - both physically and in spirit - this year. For a first year teacher in a small school that, by necessity, demands a great deal from its teachers, it is unnerving and disheartening to feel so abandoned by the principal - who, at Salmon River H.S., is the sole source of disciplinary support and general instructional advice. Many schools now have mentoring programs in place to assist new teachers in the transition to professional education in their first year. There is no such program, or even extension or invitation to support, at Salmon River H.S. There seems to be, in my mind, an unspoken assumption and dictate that teachers support themselves when it comes to disciplinary or teaching concerns; a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, so to speak. Moreover, when there are disciplinary problems in a teacher’s classroom, it is sometimes viewed as the teacher’s fault. There may be a qualifier at work here: depending on the teacher - that is, depending upon whether a teacher is a veteran of the school, brash and outspoken, or soft spoken and quiet, and depending upon a teacher’s perceived status in the community or within the school, that teacher’s concerns may or may not be taken seriously.

The second incident that took place occurred between the same student and me early this week. I was working one-on-one with the student - incidentally, or not, the same student who Marilyn spoke to with me in the hallway in the above-mentioned incident. Actually, I believe it may have been a direct result of the way Mrs. Giddings spoke to me in the hallway that day and acted when she tore down my poster that led this student to view me in the way he now does, which is clearly without any respect for my authority. I was tutoring David individually because he tends to work more efficiently when he is not tempted to talk to other students or cause a distraction. He can succeed when isolated and working directly with a teacher.

Then something strange happened. Suddenly, David turned to me and made the following sneering comment (which was unprompted and clearly meant to insult and prod): “So how come you speak Spanish so well? Does that mean you’re part Mexican?” I felt decidedly alarmed and distressed that this student would go to such great lengths to disrupt the teacher-student role, since in the past he was merely disruptive in order to entertain his peers; I was also shocked that the comment was made “out of the blue,” so to speak, and seemingly unprompted. The tone in which he made this comment was sarcastic, disrespectful, and clearly intended to cut, insult, and even threaten me. I believe that it was intended as an indirect threat. Certainly, my status as an authority figure is nonexistent in his mind, and I would not be surprised if his transparent attitude about race and ethnicity cause problems in the future unless substantively dealt with.

Furthermore, I do not think it unreasonable to connect the two above major incidents causally. For all the reasons mentioned above, in addition to those factors we discussed in our meeting yesterday evening, I feel that it would be in my best interest, personally and professionally, to resign immediately.

This weekend, I will leave lesson plans for the next two weeks, and will also leave a final exam for each class. I will return my keys to a faculty member after the weekend. Ryan and I plan to relocate early next week. I sincerely apologize for any hardship my decision might cause for the students and the faculty; however, under the circumstances, I feel entirely justified in my decision.

I also want to thank you, Wayne, for being such a compassionate, receptive administrator who sincerely cares about his district staff and faculty. I feel privileged to have worked with you, and I hope you can understand my decision considering the factors I reiterate in this letter. If you need to contact me for any reason, please email me at dstanfor@earthlink.net, or call me at (208) 628-2774.

Sincerely,



Daphne E. S. Blacketter

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