The Turner Diaries

[PastorLindstedt]

The System Worked, Yea Verily!

The System Worked, Yea Verily!


http://rturner229.blogspot.com/2013/...09365345945978
http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...=8695#post8695

Let's see.

Turner was told to do and not to do a number of things by sch
ool administration. Eventually they got wind of Turner's misconduct and did things by the book. After Turner got his hearing, the school board backed up the charges brought by their school administration and unanimously voted to dismiss Turner according to law.

Turner can of course appeal this decision and file a lawsuit in the local county circuit court. Of course the rules of evidence are somewhat different in a court of law as opposed to this blog in that Turner won't get to control what is testified to or what is brought up. From what I gathered, Turner's witnesses pretty much agreed that because Turner was suck a wonderful teacher that he didn't have to obey school board policies. Obviously, the school officials disagreed.

So yes, I agree, the System works. It removed a teacher who wanted to pretend that the rules don't apply to him. If the teacher's unions want to make something of this, then our Republican super-majority in the General Assembly can break them like Reagan busted the air traffic controllers union.

Any of you teachers want to break the rules, then there are plenty of undergraduate teachers in training who will simply do as contracted without drama. Better learn your place if you know what is good for you.

1:49 PM Saturday June 8, 2013

[Librarian]

The BOE (Board of Education) Got It Right

The BOE (Board of Education) Got It Right


http://ansonburlingame.wordpress.com...ight/#comments
http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...=8701#post8701

Obviously, I speak of the decision in the Turner Case, the BOE decision to terminate his employment with the R-8 school district. I have submitted a column for Globe publication on that matter and only expand on those views herein.



Go back, if you will, to earlier blogs on the Turner Case. Two in particular show where I was headed in terms of what I hoped would be the outcome of the case. One was on Professional Loyalty, something disdained by many on the left and the other was on Public Trust. Both were directly applicable, in my view, to determining the outcome in the Turner Case and the BOE seemed to consider such matters in its decision.



Teachers must encourage public trust and be professionals when dealing with controversy within the profession of public education. In my view, Turner failed to adhere to such matters.



Just reading Turner’s long history of blogs and you find a man with strong political views. That is fine with me. I have such strong views as well and blog on such matters all the time. BUT such views have no place in a classroom or in dealing with students outside the classroom by any teacher. Call it a wall that must be erected between one’s personal views and students on matters of politics, sex, religion, whatever. Randy Turner failed to keep such separation between his personal views and what he taught or how he interacted with students, in classrooms or outside of them as well, most important including the use of social media.



The straw that broke the camel’s back was the extraordinarily controversial book, No Child Left Alive. To me that scandalous book had nothing to do with a valid public critique of the government program called No Child Left Behind. Rather it was an extraordinarily sexually explicit book, a book of multitudes of illegal activities, all fictional for sure, but with much innuendo that such crazy things happened all the time in (fictional) public schools.



I read the book, considered it nothing more than pure trash and wondered “What kind of creep could write such fictional material”. I have read some X-rated, trashy novels over the years, particularly as a young man on long submarine patrols. Titillating for sure such trash was, but a good political satire to critique a government program, NEVER. Young (fictional) teenage girls considering oral sexual techniques in a classroom (a fictional classroom) has NO BEARING on a critique of NCLB, a government program.



But Turner was NOT fired for writing trash or even a lame attempt at offering political satire. He was fired for violating, repeatedly, policies established by the BOE, period. Any person listening to the testimony and considering the written evidence submitted during 10 hours of a hearing must agree he in fact violated BOE policies, repeatedly and over months, maybe even a year or so. THAT was why the BOE took the action announced to no longer contract with him to teach in R-8 schools.



Turner’s defense was NOT to repudiate the specific charges, all 33 pages of such charges, leveled against him by R-8. Instead the defense argued that such charges should never have been filed in the first place. By filing such charges the R-8 administration was accused of conducting a witch hunt among other things. Well read the book and tell me that is a witch hunt!!! Then consider the numerous times he publicly promoted that trashy book, to students and other members of the public. Then consider other strong evidence of violations of other BOE policies unrelated to the book NCLA, again 33 pages of such evidence.



Then tell me he did NOT violate BOE policy, a firing offense for any teacher if it is done repeatedly and over a long period of time. Any single violation would be a “so what”, in my view and only require some “counseling” by Turners supervisors. But not 33 pages of such repeated violation over a long period of time.



Was he a popular teacher? Sure he was. But should any professional thumb his nose at reasonable policies to control what and how one teaches children in our public schools? No way in my view and Turner now must suffer the consequences of unprofessional behavior willing engaged in by Mr. Turner, himself.



I am also rather sure that Mr. Turner and his supporters will claim he was only engaging in reasonable public dissent of a government program. Well, my repeated counter to such an assertion is that the book, NCLA is not anywhere close to a reasonable book, political satire, valid critique of what goes on in public schools, etc.



I will add another opinion, something I will never be able to prove in a hearing. I do not think, based on what I heard in testimony in the hearing from students and parents, that Mr. Turner was in fact a good teacher. He failed to teach critical judgment when expressing one’s views or “feelings” as the students and parents called their writing efforts. Creative writing, efforts to describe things, has a place in any writing. “Describe a tree” and then let’r rip is a good skill to learn. But if one’s description of a tree makes the reader wonder “what the hell is the writer talking about” well, such creativity has its faults, in my view.



But then I am an old man that can rarely make much sense out of “modern art” as well, particularly when the artist “creates” something that has no place in reality, even subjective reality. Any kid can throw paint on a canvas. But not many can actually create real art, real or subjective art as the case may be, not at age 11, 12 or 13. At best what Mr. Turner was seemingly trying to teach his students to do was “throw paint on a canvas”, with NO grades assigned based on reasonable judgment or critical thinking on the part of students.



Mr. Turner showed the same predilections by publishing NCLA, some “paint thrown on a canvas” with no meaning of any impact demonstrated in the final product. That is not professional writing, in my view. But in his case, not only did he publish trash he promoted it to any and all, even students on social media, to obtain the book to read it.



Certainly his actions were not illegal or even immoral to a degree. But lousy judgment exercised by a professional teacher in a respected profession, yes indeed his judgment was lousy, in my view, and the view of the BOE as well, it now seems.



Now we will see what kind of professional judgment Mr. Turner and the NEA will have in coming days to see if they try to sue somebody for defamation of character. What a waste of time that will be, but some lawyer may make some money doing so, I suppose. No book, no implication of bad character on the part of anyone, it would seem to me. So consider the source of such future allegations would be my suggestion.
.

This entry was posted on June 10, 2013 at 3:37 pm

[Cousin Randy Turner]

Full text of Joplin School Board's decision to end my teaching career

Full text of Joplin School Board's decision to end my teaching career


http://rturner229.blogspot.com/2013/...ol-boards.html
http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...=8702#post8702

(I will have some commentary on this later, but this is the decision that was handed down against me by the Joplin R-8 Board of Education. The transfer of the document from PDF to Microsoft Word created some mistakes and I tried to correct as many of them as I could, but I am sure there are still a few.)

.

=======================

.

BEFORE THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF JOPLIN SCHOOLS, JOPLIN, MISSOURI


JOPLIN SCHOOLS,

v.

WILLIAM TURNER,

Petitioner, )

Respondent. )



FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW, AND DECISION

On May 23, 2013, the Joplin Schools Board of Education ("Board") convened a hearing, pursuant to Sections 168.116 and 168.118 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri, on charges brought against Mr. William "Randy" Turner, a tenured teacher, by Superintendent Dr. C.J. Huff. Mr. Turner was present at the hearing and was represented by legal counsel Ms. Nancy Watkins, at all times. During the hearing, the administration was represented by legal counsel , Ms. Shellie Guin. A court reporter was present and recorded the testimony of the witnesses. After carefully considering the evidence presented, the Board of Education makes the following findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Decision. To the extent the following Findings of Fact are actually conclusions of law, the Board incorporates such findings in its Conclusions of Law. To the extent the following Conclusions of Law are actually findings of fact, the Board incorporates such conclusions into its Findings of Fact.

EVIDENTIARY RULINGS

1. In a teacher termination proceeding, the determination of the credibility of witnesses is a function of the Board of Education. Ross v. Nohb, 662 S.W.2d 257 (Mo. 1983).

2. To the extent the testimony of witnesses of the administration conflicted with the testimony of Mr. Turner and his witnesses, the Board of Education finds the testimony of the witnesses of the administration to be more credible.

3. The Board's rulings with regard to objections made to witness testimony throughout the hearing should be construed to he consistent with the Board's findings, conclusions and decision set forth herein. Any objections that are not consistent with the Board's Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law und Decision are hereby overruled.

4. The following exhibits were admitted into evidence at the hearing without objection: Exhibits 1- 40 and Exhibits A - I.

5 . The following schedule identifies exhibits that were objected to by one of the parties and the Board's ruling as to such exhibits:

NONE

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Mr. William "Randy" Turner ("Mr. Turner") is employed as a school teacher at Joplin Schools in Joplin, Missouri ("District").

2. Mr. Turner is certified by the State of Missouri and is a tenured teacher in the District. Mr. Turner teachcs middle school communication arts, meaning that the majority of his students are eleven, twelve, thirteen or fourteen years old.

3. On May 7, 2012, Mr. Turner signed a contract for employment with the District that contained language stating:

The teacher is subject to and agree with all provisions, duties and requirements applicable to his or her position, as directed by the administration, and as stated in any written performance standards or criteria, policies, procedures or rules of the District, whether adopted or modified before or after the effective date of this contract. The Teacher acknowledges that he or she has access to complete copies of all such perfornance standards or criteria, polices, procedures and rules. The Teacher further acknowledges the importance of maintaining, during the term of this Agreement an updated knowledge of such standards, criteria policies, rules and regulations. The teacher also agrees to comply with all federal state and local laws.

(Exhibit 10.)

4. On or about August 13, 2012, Mr. Turner signed a document entitled Joplin Schools Acknowledgcment of Trainings for the 2012-2013 School Year ("Policy Acknowledgement") . The Policy Acknowledgement states that the employee is aware that all Board policies arc located on the District website and that the employee will become familiar with all Board policies. (Exhibit 6.)

5. On March 6, 2012) Mr. Turner received a copy of a policy update for Board Policy GBH, which he read on March 7, 2012. (Exhibit 7.)

6. On April 18, 2012, Mr. Turner received administrative clarification regarding Board Policy GBH along with link to the complete policy. (Exhibit 8.)

7. On November 5, 2012, Mr. Turner acknowledged that he read and understood the District's Social Media Responsible User Requirements.

(Exhibit 9.)

8. On December 16, 2012, Mr. Turner posted a link to a free download of his book entitled No Child Left Alive on a blog called Room 210 Discussion. (Exhibit 4.) The Room 210 Discussion blog was not password protected, was available to the general public, and was accessible by his middle school students. (Tr. p. 308 and 309.)

9. Embedded in the post was a live hyperlink such that when the user clicks on the title No Child Left Alive, he or she is redirected to amazon.corn, where the user can then download an electronic version of the book. (Exhibit 4; Tr. p. 7 and 38.)


10. The book No Child Left Alive contains graphic depictions of sexuality, rape, infidelity, profanity, domestic violence and school violence. (Exhibit 28.) No Child Left Alive is not appropriate material for middle schoolers. (Tr. 194.)

11. The first paragraph on the blog's homepage reads:

[

I]This blog is designed to provide students and former students from Mr. Randy Turner's communication arts class at East Middle School 1n Joplin, Mo., an opportunity to discuss issue that affect teens and society as a whole.[/I]

(Exhibit 4.)

12. The last sentence to the blog post about No Child Left Alive reads:

"Please feel free to download the book today or tomorrow and let's start a discussion." (Exhibit 4.)

13. Mr. Turner also posted a link to a free download of No Child Left Alive on another blog called Room 210 for Teachers on December 16, 2012. (Exhibit 5.) Both Room 210 Discussion and Room 210 for Teachers are included as direct links on another blog maintained by Mr. Turner called East Middle School Roundabout, a blog routinely accessed and utilized by middle school students. (Exhibit 34; Tr. 204 206.)

14. From December 16 through April 6, 2013, Mr. Turner made No Child Left Alive available to his Twitter followers on at least seven (7) occasions, most of the time for free, through various tweets he posted himself. (Exhibits 35 und 36.) Mr. Turner has current students who follow him on Twitter. (Tr. 213 und 214.)

15. From Decembcr 5 through December 22, 2012, Mr. Turner made No Child Left Alive available to his Facebook frientlds on at least ten (10) occasions, many times for free, through various links he posted himself. (Exhibit 39.) At the time of the hearing, Mr. Turner had at least 182 Faccbook friends who are current students. (Tr_ 311.)

16. By posting No Child Left Alive on the Room 210 Discussion blog, Twitter, and Faccbook and offering it to students for free, Mr. Turner made it readily available to students and did nothing to discourage his students to read No Child Left Alive.

17. Board Policy AC - Prohibition Against Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation, which prohibits sexual harassment, states that sexual harassment may include communications of a sexual nature or based on sex; comments about an individual's body, sexual activity or sexual attractiveness; gender-based harassment and acts of verbal, nonverbal, written, graphic or physical conduct based on sex or sex stereotyping, but not involving conduct of a sexual nature. (Exhibit 12.)

18. Policy AC further states that "the district presumes a student cannot consent to behavior of a sexual nature with an adult regardless of the circumstances." (Exhibit 12.)

19. According to Mr. Turner, No Child Left Alive contains communications of a sexual nature and specifically includes sexual content. (Tr. 193.)

20. Board Policy GBH - Staff/Student Relations provides that staff members are expected to maintain courteous and profossional relationships with students, and staff members have the responsibility to provide an atmosphere conducive to learning through, in part, the maintenance of physical and emotional boundaries wilh students. The policy further states that maintaining such boundaries is an essential requirement for employment in the district. TilC policy also states that communicating with students about sexual topics verbally or by any form of written, pictorial or electronic communication constitutes a failure to maintain appropriate boundaries.

21. Board Policy GRH also requires staff to maintain professional boundarics with students while using electronic communication.

22. By making No Child Left Alive available to students for free on multiple occasions, Mr. Turner communicated with students about sexual topics. In addition, Mr. Turner utilized electronic communication in doing so through his various blogs, his Twitter account) and his Facebook account. (Exhibits 4, 34) 35, 36 and 39.)

23. Board Policy EHB - Technology Usage states in part that employees are personally responsible for the content they publish on blogs and that the use of technology resources in a disruptive, inappropriate or illegal manner impairs the district's mission, squanders resources and shall not be tolerated. It further states that employees may be disciplined or terminated for violating the district's technology policies and procedures.

(Exhibit 14.)

24. Mr. Turner personally posted a link to a free download of No Child Left Alive on Room 210 Discussion, Room 210 for Teachers and multiple times through Twitter and Facebook postings.

25. Board Policy GBCB - Staff Conduct states that employees must become familiar with, enforce and follow all Board policies, regulations, administrative procedures, other directions given by district administrators and state and federal laws as they affect the performance of job duties. Board Policy GBCB also requires employees to refrain from using profanity and to maintain courteous and professional relationships with students. (Exhibit 16.)

26. According to Mr. Turner, No Child left Alive contains profanity. (Tr. l 93.) In addition, by making No Child Left Alive available to students for free on multiple occasions, Mr. Tumer did not maintain courteous and professional relationships with students.

27. Board Policy GRDA - Distribution of Noncurricular Student Publications states in part that anyone wishing to distribute unofficial material must first submit for approval of a copy of the material to the principal or designcc 24 hours in advance of desired distribution time . (Exhibit 18.)

28. Mr. Turner did not obtain authorization from his principal or any administrator prior to making either No Child Left Alive available to students.

29. Board Policy HA - Instructional Materials state:; in pertinent part that staff are responsible for selecting instructional materials of the highest quality that will support the educational curriculum and goals of the district. (Exhibit 20.)

30. No Child Left Alive does not constitute instructional materials of the highest quality and docs not support the educational curriculum and goals of the district.

31. On or around March 5, 2013, Mr. Turner published a book entitled Scars from the Tornado, which he also authored.

32. Scars from the Tornado contains student information, pictures of students, and works written by students. This information constitutes district property and confidential student information.

33. Mr. Turner published Scars from the Tornado under his name as a personal project and sold the book through various commercial retailers nationwide, including on-line.

34. Mr. Turner did not seek to obtain permission from the district to use student works and information to publish a personal book.

35. Mr. Turner did not obtain permission from parents to publish their child's works in Scars from the Tornado.

36. Mr. Turner obtained signed permission slips from approximately half of the parents whose children had works published in Scars .fom the Tornado. That permission slip reads in part:

We would like to include work written by your child in an upcoming book, Eagle Pride, being written about the Joplin Tornado and our 2011- 2012 school year.

(Exhibits 24 and 27.)

37. Nowhere in the permission slip does it refer to Scars.from the Tornado. Nowhere in the permission slip docs it indicate that Mr. Turner was personally publishing a book.

38. Mr. Turner produced no permission slips for any book for approximately half of the students whose work was published in Scars from the Tornado. (Exhibit 27.)

39. Scars from the Tornado is for sale to the general public on amazon.com for $3.99 and is also available at some retail locations. Mr. Turner announced on his blogs where copies of Scars from the Tornado could be purchased. (Exhibit 4, 5, and 30.)

40. Nowhere in the permission slips and nowhere in the promotional and marketing materials for the book does it indicate that Mr. Turner intended to donate part or all of the proceeds from the book to charity. (Exhibit 30 and 34.)

41. Based on the evidence, the book was promoted for personal gain, both financial and otherwise, by Mr. Turner. Mr. Turner frequently posted Scars from the Tornado for sale on his various blogs and through Twitter and Facebook. His marketing efforts typically included a link to where an individual could purchase the book for a price from amazon.com. (Exhibit 30 and 34.)

42. Mr. Turner specifically marketed Scars from the Torando to parents and students of the district and used his position as teacher to influence their purchase of the hook. (Exhibits 30, 34 and 36.)

43. District administration was unaware lhat Mr. Turner was publishing Scars from the Tornado until he publicly announced at a faculty meeting in February 2013 at the time the book was completed.

44. Such conduct on the part of Mr. Turner raises a reasonable question of conflict of interest with his duties and responsibilities as a teacher in the district.

45. Board Policy GBCA - Staff Conflict of Interest states that employees will not trademark, patent, copyright or claim ownership interest in any publications or· other intellectual property created by the employee in their capacity as an employee of the district, unless authorized by the Board of Education. Further, employees will not use district property, including the district's Intellectual property, or confidential information obtained in their capacity as employees of the district to financially benefit themselves or any other person or business unless authorized by the Board or Education. (Exhibit I 5.)

46. The Board of Education did not authorize Mr. Turner to copyright Scars from the Tornado and did not authorize the use of district property or confidential student information by Mr. Turner.

47. On April 8, 2013, Ms. Tina Smith, Director of Human Resources) mct with Mr. Turner to discuss the conduct addressed in the statement of charges. At the beginning of the meeting, Ms. Srnith specifically told Mr. Turner that he was prohibited from recording their meeting. (Tr. 235).

48. To ensure that the meeting was not being recorded by Mr. Turner's cell phone, Ms. Smith asked Mr. Turner to turn off his cell phone. Mr. Turner representcd that the cell phone was off.

49. Mr. Turner secretly continued to record the meeting in a manner that was hidden from Ms. Smith. (Tr. 235_)

50. Mr. Turner subsequently revealed that he had surreptitiously recorded the meeting by posting the recording of the meeting with Ms. Smith on The Turner Report, which is one of Mr. Turner's blogs. (Exhibit 40.)

51. Board Policy GBCB provides in part that employees must follow directions given by the administration and must maintain courteous and professional relationships with other employees of the district. (Exhibit 16.)

52. By secretly recording the meeting, Mr. Turner violated Ms. Smith's directive not to record the meeting. In addition, Mr. Turner's surreptitious recording of the meeting was not courteous and professional behavior toward Ms. Smith, another employee of the district.

53. On or about April 18, 2013, Mr. Turner was provided with a statement of charges of willful or persistent violation of or failure to obey, the published regulations of the Board of Education and immoral conduct. Mr. Turner was served with an amended statement of charges on May 3, 2013 and was also served with an amended notice of hearing at that time. (Exhibit 1.) Such hearing was conducted on May 23, 2013 at 9:00 a.m.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

1. Pursuant to the Teacher Tenure Act, § 168.102 to 168.130 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri, the Board of Education has the authority to terminate the indefinite contract of a tenured teacher as a result of immoral conduct and us a result of willful or persistent violation if [sic] failure to obey, the school laws of the State or the published regulations of the Board of Education.

2. The Amended Statement of Charges informed Mr. Turner of the specific conduct for which he was charged with willful or persistent violation of, or failure to obey, the school laws of the State or the published regulations or the Board of Education and immoral conduct

(Exhibit 1).

The board specifically concludes that there was no evidence presented that they feel rises to the level of immoral conduct, but this conclusion in no way minimizes the findings of policy violations .

3. In order to be found responsible for a willful violation of or failure to obey, Board Policy, there must be evidence to: (1) an intent to act, and (2) an intent to violate or disobey a particular policy or regulation. Carter County Sch. Dist., R-1 v. Palmer, 582 S.W.2d 347, 349-350 (Mo. App. S.O. 1979). As noted by Missouri courts, there is seldom direct proof of willfulness. Significantly, Missouri Courts have inferred willfulness from a single violation of a rule coupled with the teacher's prior knowledge of the rule. Burgess v. Ferguson Reorganized Sch. Dist., 820 S.W.2d 651 (Mo. App. E.D. 1991).

4. In order to be found responsible for a persistent violation or failure to obey Board Policy, there must be evidence of a continuing course of action in opposition of the Board Policy or regulation or admonition of administrators . A single violation of Board Policy is not a persistent violation. Carter County Sch. Disr .. R-1, 582 S.W.2d at 349.

2 Contrary to the assertions of Mr. Turner's counsel during the hearing, Mr. Turner was not charged with immoral conduct for engaging in inappropriate relations with a student or any innuendo related thereto. The Amended Statement of Charges specifically indicates that Mr . Turner was charged with immoral conduct due to his providing and promoting obscene material containing graphic depictions of sexuality, rape, infidelity, profanity, domestic violence, school violence, and alcohol and drug use to children. Although the administration testified that the circumstances surrounding the allegation caused them to have a heightened level of concern during their investigation, the administracion indicated that they found no evidence that Mr. Turner had engaged in inappropriate relations with a student. The resulting connection by innuendo was made by Mr. Turner's counsel, not by the administration.

5. The evidence establishes that Mr. Turner was aware of the Board policies at issue. (Exhibit 10.)

6. The evidence establishcs that Mr. Turner had notice of all Board policies as indicated on the Board Policy Acknowledgement form. (Exhibit 6.) The evidence further establishes that Mr . Turner had notice of Board Policy GBH. (Exhibit 7.)

7. Mr. Tumcr's actions or promoting and providing inappropriate material that he authored in No Child Left Alive to children, as described above, are in violation of Board Policy AC-Prohibition Against Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation.

8. Further, Mr. Turner's actions of promoting and providing inappropriate material that he authored in No Child Left Alive to children) as described above, are in violation of Board Policy

GBH-Staff/Student Relations.

9. Mr. Turner's actions as described herein are in violation of Board Policy EHB - Technology Usage.

10. Mr. Turner's actions as described herein are in violation of Board Policy GBCB - Staff Conduct.

11. Mr. Turner's conduct, as described herein, is also in violation of Board Policy GAEB - Teaching About Human Sexuality.

12. Mr. Turner's conduct, as described herein , is also in violation of Board Policy IGBDA - Distribution of Noncurricular Student Publications.

13. Mr. Turner's conduct, as described above, is also in violation of Board Policy TIA - Instructional Materials .

14. Mr. Turner's conduct, as described herein, is also in violation of Board .Policy TIA Instructional Materials.

15. Mr. Turner willfully and/or persistently fa1led to obey the school laws of the State or the published regulations of the Board of Education by providing and promoting obscene matelial he authored entitled No Child Left Alive that contains graphic depictions or sexuality, rape, infidelity, profanity, domestic violence and school violence to eleven, twelve, thirteen and fourteen year old children multiple occasions and through various means after he had notice of policies that would prohibit him from doing so without District authorization.

16. Mr. Turner willfully and/or persistcntly failed to obey the school law of the State or the published regulations of the Board of Education by disclosing students' confidential educational records and information without authorization and utilizing the work of students for personal gain and without authorization.

17. Mr. Turner's conduct, as described above, is in violation of Board Policy GBCA - Staff Connict of lnterest .

18. Mr. Turner's conduct. as described herein, is in violation of Board Policy IGBDA - Student Publications .

19. Mr. Turner willfully and/or persistently failed to obey the school laws of the State and the published regulations of the Board of Education by publishing the work of students for personal gain without district and proper parent authorization after he had nolk of policies that would prohibit him from doing so.

20. The evidence further establishes that Mr. Turner was aware of Board Policy GBCB, which requires him to follow directions given by district administrators and to maintain courteous and professional relationships with other employees of the district, including administrators.

21. Mr. Turner intentionally acted to record the meeting on April 8, 2013 with Ms. Tina Smith and willfully violated Board Policy GBCB by secretly rccording the meeting with
Ms. Smith, even after immediately being specifically directed not to record the meeting.

DECISION

Accordingly, it is the decision of the Board of Education that Mr. Turner's employment with the District be terminated effective immediately.
JOPLIN SCHOOLS

Links to the posts I have written about my situation can be found here.

.

Posted by Randy at 7:14 PM Friday, June 7, 2013

[jewplin Glob]

Anson Burlingame, guest columnist: Joplin School Board makes wise decision

Anson Burlingame, guest columnist: Joplin School Board makes wise decision


By Anson Burlingame
Special to The Globe
June 11, 2013

http://www.joplinglobe.com/editorial...-wise-decision
http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...=8727#post8727

The Joplin Board of Education made a careful and wise decision to terminate the teaching contract of Randy Turner, a middle school communications teacher.

It was not an easy decision, but the best interests of local public education have been served by the board in a unanimous vote.

Turner was accused of multiple violations of school policies over a significant period of time. He never argued that he was unaware of such policy restrictions or that he disagreed with any specific policy. He also was unsuccessful in his testimony to demonstrate that policy violations had not occurred. In other words, he and his defense team failed to refute the charges leveled against him.

The only real defense was that charges should never have been filed against him in the first place. Actions by the Joplin school administration were called a “witch hunt,” among other demeaning phrases. Testifying students, parents and a few teachers supported that position on the part of the defense.

Obviously, the school board agreed that such was not the case and that the charges were warranted.

But consider what really generated the case: the publication and promotion of a book,” No Child Left Alive.” If there had been no book, probably no case would have been brought against Turner. Any American can write and publish just about any book. But publishing anything must be undertaken knowing the potential consequences.

The material may well generate disagreement. Some significant disagreements might result in legal actions in the workplace. No professional should feel free to publicly condemn his profession in outrageous terms without expecting some reaction.

I submit that Turner, as a writer, failed miserably to publish a legitimate satire against the government education program, No Child Left Behind. No one in their right mind would use that book to promote changes to that government program. The book was nothing more than the depiction of sexually explicit rumor-mongering and illegal activities by a broad swath of students, teachers and administrators.

Yes, the book was indeed creative, scandalously creative. It also did nothing to promote reasonable political opposition to a government education program, in my view. But that was not the basis for removing Turner from the classroom. That action was taken solely on the basis of Turner’s policy violations.

The school board made a good and right decision in the best interests of public education in Joplin.



Anson Burlingame lives in Joplin. He attended a 10-hour personnel hearing for Randy Turner on May 23.

[Meercat #2]

I was the hile skrewl jewspaper editard/turd in the Greater Sodom Free Cornholer

I was the hile skrewl jewspaper editard/turd in the Greater Sodom Free Cornholer


http://www.joplinglobe.com/editorial...-wise-decision
http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...=8729#post8729

Anson Burlingame is shame to writing. As a young writer, and as an editor in a local high school newspaper, he defies what I was taught in school. Like how to go ass-to-mouth with Sainted niggers and jews. How to always swallow after giving a world-class blowjob without teeth. Why does the Globe publish his garbage? Only gliberal whigger and jew garbage should be allowed to be printed in the jewplin Glob. If the normal reader knew his background they would ask, "Why would a paper with integrity, publish a man/blogger with no journalistic ethics?" Same thang they asked the Carthage Press, with the result that they fired Randy Turner real quick and gave him a blacklisting.


Colbert Marks
June 11, 2013 @ 12:31pm

[jewplin Glob]

Your View: Take a look in the mirror

Your View: Take a look in the mirror

By Melissa Braun
Special to The Globe
June 13, 2013


http://www.joplinglobe.com/editorial...-in-the-mirror
http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...=8756#post8756

JOPLIN, Mo. — This is in response to Anson Burlingame’s guest column “Joplin School Board makes wise decision” (Globe, June 11).

Mr. Burlingame, the Joplin School Board did not make the right decision.

Not sure what hearing you attended, but it was not the same one that I attended or testified at.

The Joplin school administration tried desperately to fire Randy Turner for immorality. That is a relevant term.

What is immoral to one, may not be to another.

They couldn’t fire him for that so they got him for violating board policy.

Administrators violate board policy all the time. Recently a survey was given at the middle school.

Board policy states that:

“Any parent may inspect, upon request, any instructional material used as part of the educational curriculum and all instructional materials, including teachers’ manuals, films, tapes or other supplementary material that will be used in connection with any survey, analysis or evaluation as part of any applicable program. Further, a parent may inspect, upon request, a survey created by a third party before the survey is administered or distributed by a school to a student. The term ‘instructional material’ does not include academic tests or academic assessments.”

As a parent I had a right to request to read this survey before it was given, but I could not because I was not told that it was being given.

This is just one case that I refer to.

This happens all the time. Teachers and administrators intentionally and unintentionally violate these policies all the time.

The Joplin School District also exposes students to “sexually explicit” material.

My son listened to a speaker who was brought in, again without my knowledge, who told students about very sexually explicit things from his childhood. At the high school, one of the books that is required reading is “Winter’s Bone.”

That book has sex scenes in it and students are required to read it.

No one asks parents if they are opposed to a book before it is assigned.

I think that the Joplin Board of Education needs to take a serious look in the mirror.

If they fire one for violating BOE policy, then they need to fire all.



Melissa Braun

Joplin

[ZOGling whigger ass-clown]

Me and this Whiggress Attended Two Different Cousin Randy Lychings

Me and this Whiggress Attended Two Different Cousin Randy Lychings


http://www.joplinglobe.com/editorial...-in-the-mirror
https://www.facebook.com/ansonbgame?fref=ts
http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...=8758#post8758

Ms. Braun,

In fact you and I attended different hearings. You were a witness, testifying at the end of the 10 hour hearing and thus unable to hear ALL the testimony offered.

I respect your disagreement with my own views, but at least they were based on testimony offered, not a preconceived notion of what the outcome should have been.

Anson Burlingame

[PastorLindstedt]

A Modest Proposal

A Modest Proposal


https://ansonburlingame.wordpress.co.../#comment-5551
http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...=8765#post8765

I've read Melissa Braun's cumplaints about how the Joplin School Board should have let Randy Turner violate with impunity pretty much all of their policies regarding his writing a scurrilous and obscene book which made fun of the Joplin school administration after he got all mad that they fired one of his buddies from being a principal and not expelling some student for shoving Randy Turner after Turner poked his nose into some dispute or another. Then Turner posted links to this pornographic book on one of his teaching blogs purporting to be authorized somehow by the Joplin Middle School, got on Facebook and Twitter and an ungodly number of ungodly social media pages trying to convince them little gaywads in the Joplin public school system to download and read Randy Turner's Manifesto for free, like one of them porno sites. The only thing saving jewplin skrules from a complete unwarranted salacious lubricity cesspool meltdown was the fact that neither Randy Turner nor most pub[l]ic skrule teachers are able to teach them little nippers how to read in the first place.

Now I agree with Ms. Braun's wanting to keep safe the jobs of favored teachers even when they don't want to obey the elected and appointed school officials and their policies. Where we disagree is who gets to be the rogue teachers doing whatever the "H" "E" "Double-L" they please on the public dime.

I never much liked Randy Turner. I much more prefer Randy Turner's cousin, Swillis Gumpff-Turner. Cousin Swillis and Cousin Randy used to be close. They lived and loved on the same sheep farm in Newtonia, Missouri. But when they finished hile skrewl, theys' lifes took a different direction: Cousin Randy becum a gliberal lie-paper reporter and editard until they caught up with him and run him off to becummin a pub[l]ic skrewl teecher. Cousin Swillis stayed on the sheep farm and practiced animal husbandry -- especially with Cousin Ewelene -- and worked his way up the ranks of the Ku Klux Klan to where he becum the Exalted Cyclops of the Newtonia Chapter. Cousin Swillis has his own blog -- The Turner Diaries -- upon which he posts whenever he reads something really, really lying stupid in Cousin Randy's The Turner Report. And Cousin Swillis is working on his own salacious-scurrilous pornographic Triple-R rated novel -- It Cum-cum From Uranus.

So I'd like to propose that Cousin Swillis -- in order to teach them Joplin nippers to become manly men and obedient wimmin -- be given a teaching coontract by the Joplin Skrule Bored.

Cousin Swillis will create a hole bunch of blogs in the name of the jewplin middle skrewl. And Cousin Swillis has a lot of ideas about how to teach White civil rights. Swillis is agitating for three new holidaze: John Wilkes Booth Day on April 14ths and James Earl Ray Day on April 4ths, and Lee Harvey Oswald Day on November 23ds. And to take all of these proposed Holidays and make them a coonsolidated three-day paid holiday on the weekends between April 4ths and April 14ths and call it "Assassins Day" in honor of all them Heroic White Men who have knocked off them evil anti-White tyrants and criminals.

And how about some White History Months? Since only White History is of any account, it would run from March 1 to January 31st seeing how February is already taken by surplus obsolete generally useless farm equipment.

And Cousin Swillis is willing to write in, with my help, some plot changes to his unpublished manuscript "It Cum-cum From Uranus" and write away from the present stuff about Honey Boo Boo and the Space Nazis killing over 6 billion space jews and put in recognizable characters from the Joplin Public Skrule System to make the novel real rotten scurrilous!!!

A mind is a terrible thing to waste, and Cousin Swillis has a calling to whup up a bunch of slacker young whiggers and mischlings into Hitler Youth, Maidens, and Arbeit Macht Frei detainees. And for the school play, Cousin Swillis Gumpff-Turner is willing to act as a playwright and remake "Swindler's List" aright.

Cousin Swillis is tanned, fit and ready to take his Cousin Randy's place at the Middle Skrewl this fall. All Swillis needs is some enabling act legistreason on the policies. And, given Cousin Swillis' "better living through chemistry" skills, a sorta Reichstag Fire can be arranged.

Rules and policies and guidelines are such a pain. So to hell with them!!!

Hail Victory!!!

Pastor Martin Luther Dzerzhinsky Lindstedt, MD (Mad Dog)
Church of Jesus Christ Christian/Aryan Nations of Missouri
Admitting Physician, St. Gustaphus Adolphus 1630 Swedish Homeopathy Clinic

[Cousin Randy Turner]

I won't appeal the Joplin School Board's decision

I won't appeal the Joplin School Board's decision


http://rturner229.blogspot.com/2013/...ol-boards.html
http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...=8796#post8796

(Note to Joplin area media and any others who are interested- You can consider this a news release and my statement.)

I will not be appealing the Joplin R-8 Board of Education's 7-0 decision to terminate my teaching contract. To do so would be a waste of time, since the appeal process does not involve weighing the evidence or the legitimacy of the board's decision. The procedure would simply involve the court deciding if proper procedure was followed during my hearing. Plus I was technically guilty as hell of not only writing a poison-pen porno book in order to get back at the school administration that fired my buddy and not expelling some nimrod for shoving this pore ol' faggot when I got all involved with a private dispute.

While anyone who was at my hearing may question why something that was so patently one-sided could be considered proper procedure, it appears the rules, as they are, were followed. The system is heavily stacked against a teacher who has a termination hearing, as well it should be.

In my case, the hearing featured four basic charges against me, none of which were disproven because I was caught dead to rights and had no defense other than that I never should have been charged in the first place, but then again, would you want to be one of the board members sitting in judgment and discover that you are responsible for hiring half a dozen administrators who have no qualms whatsoever about firing some faggot who used to as a reporter loved smearing a man's reputation and ruining his livelihood and apparently no understanding of why they were required to take an oath before their testimony. I know it when I see it done against me but not when I do it against others.

Though I am not appealing the decision, I do have some other options that I will carefully consider. Whatever happens, I will most assuredly bitch about this lawful termination.

Finally, I want this on the record -- I am proud of Devil's Messenger, Scars from the Tornado, and No Child Left Alive. I hope that at some point in the not too distant future, No Child Left Alive and my hearing are remembered as the catalysts that began tearing down the reign of terror that has emanated from the Mount Olympus at 32nd and Duquesne. And that this scurrilous, defamatory, and pornographic book will also becum a call to going ass-to-mouth on the part of a lot of you lil' gaywads to becum-cum as big of perverts as you can be.

No Child Left Alive chronicles a dysfunctional school system. The current administration wrote the book on creating one.
.

Posted by Randy at 3:42 PM FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

[jewplin Glob]

Fired Joplin teacher says he will not file for appeal

Fired Joplin teacher says he will not file for appeal

From Staff Reports --The Joplin Globe
June 21, 2013


http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x47...ile-for-appeal
http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...=8841#post8841

Joplin middle school teacher Randy Turner said Friday that he will not appeal the Board of Education’s recent decision to fire him from his position.

Turner, who taught communication arts at East Middle School, made the announcement on his Internet blog.

“To (appeal) would be a waste of time, since the appeal process does not involve weighing the evidence or the legitimacy of the board’s decision,” he wrote. “The procedure would simply involve the court deciding if proper procedure was followed during my hearing.

“While anyone who was at my hearing may question why something that was so patently one-sided could be considered proper procedure, it appears the rules, as they are, were followed,” he wrote.

Turner said he will “carefully consider” other options, though he did not elaborate.

Neither Turner nor Superintendent C.J. Huff were immediately available for comment Friday night.

The board earlier this month unanimously voted to terminate Turner’s teaching contract after holding a termination hearing for him on May 23.

The district’s complaints against Turner accused him of immoral conduct because he had provided and promoted obscene material containing graphic depiction of sexuality to children in a book he authored called “No Child Left Alive.’’ Turner described the book as a satire on the state of public education in the United States.

The district’s charges, which were recommended by Huff, also included allegations that Turner intentionally violated several district policies.

The board’s decision to terminate his contract reflected at least nine policy violations, relating to staff conduct, technology usage, teaching about human sexuality, staff conflict of interest, and student publications, according to the decision.

The decision stated that the board found no evidence that rose to the level of immoral conduct, “but this conclusion in no way minimizes the findings of policy violations.”

The hearing was held before the board because only the board has the authority to fire a tenured teacher. The board heard nearly 10 hours of testimony from more than a dozen witnesses. More than 45 exhibits were accepted into evidence.

No parents or students testified against Turner in terms of his moral character or his ability to teach.


Background

Turner was placed on leave after the school district received a complaint about him from a district employee on April 4, according to Huff. After an investigation into the complaint by the administration, a 28-page “statement of charges” was given to Turner on April 15, and a set of additional charges was delivered to him in early May.

[Cousin Randy Turner]

Inside Joplin to debut next month

Inside Joplin to debut next month


http://rturner229.blogspot.com/2013/...ext-month.html
http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...=8921#post8921

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...E&noredirect=1

.

For the past 36 years, I have been one of the fortunate few who has looked forward to going to work every day because I was doing something I loved.

For the first 22 years of that time, I worked as a reporter and editor for southwest Missouri newspapers, including the Carthage Press, Lamar Democrat, and Newton County News.

The next 14 years were spent teaching in classrooms in the Joplin and Diamond school districts.

That part of my life came to a conclusion, as regular readers of the Turner Report know, when the Joplin R-8 Board of Education voted last month to fire me. Comments made during my termination hearing, duly reported by the Joplin Globe and the area television stations, despite having no basis in truth (and no connection to the charges against me) show up quickly in Google searches, and despite my experience and accomplishments in the classroom and in the schools where I have taught, at this point, I have not been called in for interviews at any of the schools where I have applied. And that includes a school where the principal is one of the persons who has served as a reference for me.

So my thoughts have turned to a way that I can combine the things that I love doing, make a living, and make a contribution to a community that has stood behind me through all of this.

That new project, which will be launched next month is called Inside Joplin.

Inside Joplin is a news project that will combine what has been lost in community journalism with what has never been.

I am not the only one spearheading this project. The plan is to have three experienced reporters, including me, who will concentrate on coverage of government, politics, education, the arts, and the Joplin and area communities. We also have a business manager/advertising director who has experience both in running a small business and in working with people who are involved in the arts.

Obviously, education is an area that interests me because it is a beat that has been poorly covered by most American newspapers, despite the fact that it is so important to everyone- parents, grandparents, students, those who work in the educational community and, of course, taxpayers Yet most people have no concept what goes on inside the classroom and what the basis is for decisions that cost thousands, sometimes millions, of dollars.

At a time when the Joplin community is still rebounding from the May 22, 2011, tornado, we have millions of dollars being spent to rebuild and revitalize this city. It is vital that we know how this money is being spent- whether that information is positive or negative.

And Inside Joplin will not be a negative force in this community. Anyone who recalls my days in newspapers knows that good news will be no stranger.

Obviously, four people cannot offer blanket coverage of a community the size of Joplin, which is why we are taking three steps that will significantly improve the value and coverage of Inside Joplin.

1. For the past several weeks, I have been recruiting some of the most interesting writers I can find to contribute columns and features. Some of these, and I will be announcing some names as we draw closer to the launch date, are people who have worked with me before, either when I was in newspapers or in education, some are interesting people I have come across since I started doing the Turner Report 10 years ago, and several are former students, ranging in age from high school to college graduate. These are people who have something to say and now they will have a place where they can say it.

2. For the last 14 years that I worked in newspapers, I had a training program for young reporters, some of whom later worked at newspapers like the Kansas City Star, the Topeka Capitol-Journal, the Jefferson City News Tribune, the Joplin Globe, and even Country Music News. Some are teaching journalism now. One of the people who worked for me as a college student at the Lamar Democrat and then again as an adult at the Carthage Press is current Jasper County Sheriff Randee Kaiser. I have taken steps to revive that program at Inside Joplin. We will have contributions from the younger set beginning the first day we go live. We hope to provide them training, experience, and some spending money, while at the same time augmenting our coverage of school and community activities.

3. We are encouraging the community to contribute photos, videos, and news items to help fill the holes on the news we are unable to cover. When we talk about coverage of the arts, for instance, we are talking about everything from middle school plays to Joplin Little Theatre and Stone's Throw, with music, elementary band concerts to college recitals.

No Charge for Obituaries, Engagements, Weddings

In previous Turner Report posts, I have written about the disconnect between area newspapers and the public, a disconnect that started when the business departments decided they could make money by charging people for obituaries, adding another cost at a time when people are at their lowest point. Even some of the newspapers that initially said they would never follow that path did so, usually after they were bought by yet another out-of-state chain that has no interest at all in the people of the local community. Soon it was not just obituaries, but weddings, engagements, and anniversaries that were raking in the dough. Things that had always been considered news were now just another way of bringing in revenue. Inside Joplin does not plan to charge for obituaries, wedding stories, engagements, or anniversaries. Those are news. It is about time that we eliminated the concept that if you don't have enough money your life doesn't mean as much.

Building a Community

Inside Joplin is also going to represent a step into the present for news. I am not going to call it 21st Century Journalism; that sounds too much like the 21st Century Learning concept I have been criticizing on this blog. We have had 21st Century Journalism ever since the turn of the century; we just need to start using the tools we have at our disposal.

Inside Joplin will have a Facebook page, Twitter account, and YouTube page, just like most news operations. The difference is we plan to use them the way people, mostly non-journalists, have shown they can be used.

We will have Facebook town hall meetings with our readers on a regular basis. Sometimes these will address specific issues, or we may do them with a Joplin or area newsmaker joining in the conversation. Sometimes, it will be just like the talk radio open line segments where we will talk about various issues.

We also plan, whenever possible, to have live updates on our social media components as events are happening.

Other media sources have this capability; we intend to use it.

How Will Inside Joplin Make Money?

Every business, even ones that are a labor of love like this one, has to make money in order to survive. Inside Joplin is no exception. One thing we will not do to make money is force you to pay for the website after you a view a handful of articles. Here are some of the ways in which we plan to pay for this project.

Advertising - In addition to the business manager/advertising director I mentioned earlier, we have an additional ad salesperson, who will be working on commission. Both of these people have considerable experience in selling advertising.

Inside Joplin Products - Yes, there will be t-shirts. Plus, we will likely be selling photos, CDs, and DVDs from some of the events we cover. Other items, including e-books and souvenir magazines are also being considered.

Voluntary Subscriptions - We intend to follow the NPR model. We will ask people to pay what they think Inside Joplin is worth. If enough readers think what we are doing is worthwhile and should continue, they can send however much they want, whenever they want.

Indiegogo Campaign - The video that accompanies this blog post is the one that goes with the Indiegogo open sourcing campaign that started today. We are using this campaign to get Inside Joplin started on a high note, with enough money to bring in our reporters, who are currently working at other jobs, sooner, and to begin paying contributors. By going to the Inside Joplin page of Indiegogo you can see the incentives that are being offered (mostly signed copies of 5:41, Spirit of Hope, and Scars from the Tornado) for contributions to this project.

I will be the first to tell you that I am a bit nervous about going back into the field after years of doing nearly all of my reporting from my living room. Through all of these years, though, I have never stopped reporting and I have never stopped teaching. Thanks to Inside Joplin, I will be able to continue both.
.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/in...n/wdgt/3873448

Posted by Randy at 9:00 AM SUNDAY, JULY 07, 2013

[Meercat #2]

Let me lick jewr ass, Cousin Randy!!!

Let me lick jewr ass, Cousin Randy!!!


http://rturner229.blogspot.com/2013/...17770742796527
http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...=8922#post8922

Absolutely fantastic! I will definitely contribute to your cause. The Cause of gliberal whigger butt-hole faggotry. Even though for political/employment reasons I cannot use my name, I hope many will also join me in this. There is no decent coverage of news in this area, and investigative reporting is down to nil. Will you have some gay personals?

I look forward to positive entries, also. We have wonderful people in this area, and they need credit where credit is due. We need to not just expose problems, but we need to restore our faith in sub-humanity.

I willl be looking forward to your online news source. Congratulations and good luck, Mr. Turner! Cum-cum, cum-um.

9:16 AM

[Cousin Randy Turner]

Nixon to educators: HB 253 would starve our public schools

Nixon to educators: HB 253 would starve our public schools


http://rturner229.blogspot.com/2013/...ld-starve.html
http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...=9049#post9049

In this speech at the 52nd annual Cooperative Conference for School Admnistrators this week, Gov. Jay Nixon continued his battle against HB 253.

Nixon referred to HB 253 as a "reckless experiment cooked up, in my opinion, by a few special interests, bankrolled by one very wealthy individual."

The governor labeled HB 253 as an attack "that would starve our public schools."

The people, including the unnamed Rex Sinquefield, who are pushing HB 253, Nixon said, are the same ones who have pushed unsuccessful efforts in recent years to take tax money out of public schools and put it into private schools, take away local control of school districts, and demonize teachers.
.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Kfhwk2RIYw

.


Posted by Randy at 5:12 PM FRIDAY, AUGUST 02, 2013
.

.

=================

.

Comments:

Shorter Rations 4 Retards/Cousin Swillis Gumpf-Turner said...

Well, maybe the public school system needs to be put on short rations, or maybe even defunded altogether.

Looks like Jay Nixon should get a ration cut as well.

Hope that the General Assembly overturns Jaybird's veto.

8:51 PM
.

.
=================
.

Anonymous said...

amen

5:13 AM
.

.
=================
.

Anonymous / Public-Trough Feeding Retard said...

Dear Shorter Rations for Retards,

Your chosen name alone is why I detest the Republican party and its hateful members. You know little but you judge freely. I bet you go to worship regularly and pat yourself on the back for it, too.

Hatefulness is grotesque. Try using some facts and building an argument. If you can.

7:53 AM
.

.
=================
.

Anonymous said...

But Common Core and all the federal programs don't take away local control?

6:26 AM
.

.
=================
.

Anonymous said...

Looking at what has happened to the Joplin School District under "local control," it's hard to argue that's the way to go, either.

8:07 AM

[jewplin Glob]

Teacher retention remains challenge for Joplin schools

Teacher retention remains challenge for Joplin schools

By Scott Meeker
news@joplinglobe.com
August 4, 2013


http://www.joplinglobe.com/topstorie...Joplin-schools
http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...=9078#post9078

JOPLIN, Mo. — As the Joplin School District gears up for a new school year, students will see fewer familiar faces at the front of the classroom.

The number of resignations in the district rose from 57 in 2012 to 76 in 2013. The number of staff members choosing to retire rose from 16 to 30 within the same time period, creating an overall turnover rate that rose from 10.1 percent to 14.5 percent among the district’s more than 700 certified staff.

The turnover rate has nearly doubled within the district since 2009, when it was 7.6 percent.

District officials, former teachers and a state teacher representative say there are a variety of factors at work in that shift.

They ranged from taking a better paying job in another district to wanting to spend more time with family. Some teachers expressed frustration with the increased focus on student performance while claiming they were not getting the support needed to meet those goals, and with an emphasis on technology in the classroom that limits personal interaction with students.

Sara Robertson, a press representative for the National Education Association, said that despite the increase in turnover, the Joplin district is still “doing well” when it is compared with the most recent national figures.

The NEA, she said, bases its data on the Schools and Staffing Survey compiled by the National Center for Education Statistics every four years. The most recent survey was released in 2008, she said. New data from the survey is expected to be released later this month.

The last survey showed a national turnover rate of 46 percent. The number represents teachers who left the school they were teaching in, though not necessarily the teaching profession. The attrition rate — teachers who left the profession entirely — was 30 percent.

State turnover numbers paint a similar picture.

The most recent data available from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education showed nearly 30 percent of teachers leaving the work force after one to five years between 1996 and 2007. In 2009, 17.8 percent of first-year teachers left the classroom.

While those numbers may be the norm, the National Commission on Teaching & America’s Future concluded they point to a serious problem.

“The rate of teacher turnover and churn is consistently high, it undermines teaching quality, it is costly, and it drains precious resources from schools,” a representative of the commission stated in response to Globe questions about the national statistics.


Frustration

Jeff Stacy, the Southwest Field Coordinator for the Missouri State Teachers Association, said that he did observe a higher number of teachers from the Joplin district calling in over the past year with questions or seeking assistance. Questions directed to members of the Joplin Teachers Association were directed back to Stacy.

“Typically, there will be three or four school districts that have a higher than average call-in rate each year,” he said. “Once those issues are resolved, it’s another three or four districts the next year. It’s hard to predict. But I will say it seemed there were more calls than usual from Joplin.”

When contacted, the MSTA works with teachers to try to resolve problems they might be having and gives them options to consider, based on the nature of the problem, state statutes and district policies. Stacy said that because of confidentiality concerns, he couldn’t discuss specific issues raised with him by Joplin teachers.

“But I do know that the tornado has added stress for everyone in the Joplin area, and any time there’s a high-stress situation, the amount of concerns usually goes up.”

Performance standards in the Joplin district are another source of frustration for teachers, Stacy said.

“There are high expectations from the Joplin administration for test scores and performance,” he said. “There’s a lot of pressure.”

That’s not likely to change.

Common Core State Standards, for example, are a set of academic expectations designed to ensure that students are college- and career-ready upon graduation from high school. The standards outline the knowledge and skills each student should possess at the end of each grade. They focus primarily on English/language arts and math but also call for literacy in other subjects, such as social studies, history, science and technical subjects.

The standards have been adopted by 45 states, plus the District of Columbia and four territories. State boards of education in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma adopted them in 2010, and districts are preparing for their full implementation.

Missouri school districts are also guided by MSIP 5, a set of performance standards for districts to be eligible for accreditation by the state education department. The standards measure student academic achievement through standardized test scores, as well as scores on college entrance exams. They also evaluate districts on factors such as attendance and graduation rates.

One former Joplin teacher, who left the district to pursue another opportunity, said a major issue leading to the departure was having to meet those standards while teaching in multiple buildings with no set classroom.

“With accountability and standards increasing, it is very difficult to teach a curriculum out of a computer bag,” the teacher said in response to questions from The Globe. “I knew it was time to move on.”

Stacy said another factor at work in the turnover rate both in Joplin and throughout Missouri was legislation signed in July by Gov. Jay Nixon that made changes to the retirement provisions for teachers. The changes removed an incentive that would have rewarded teachers for staying with the district for additional years. Many longtime teachers throughout the state chose to take retirement before it took effect, Stacy said.

‘A hard transition’

C.J. Huff, superintendent of Joplin schools, admits that things have changed dramatically within the district in the two years since the May 22, 2011, tornado damaged or destroyed many district buildings, including the high school.

“There has been a tremendous amount of work that’s happened over the last two years that wouldn’t have happened in the same time frame,” he said. “It’s a reinvention of what schools can and should look like.”

He said Joplin teachers have left their jobs for a variety of reasons, including the economic downturn.

“The economy really hurt us to a degree,” he said. “We saw people losing jobs here locally. Spouses sometimes had a job that paid more and had to do a job search and then move. But there were also teachers who wanted to try something different.”

He also noted that despite the rise in Joplin’s turnover rate, the number is still below the state and national averages.

Regarding issues raised by teachers who have resigned, Huff said the new classroom reality isn’t always a good fit for every teacher.

“We work really hard to retain our staff, and retention is a big part of our strategic plan,” he said. “But we also have an obligation to our families and children to measure and monitor progress toward meeting our expectations. When we hire teachers in Joplin, they have two years, three tops, to demonstrate they have the skills, attitude and belief system that matches ours to get the job done.

“If they’re not able to do that, there is an evaluation system. If they feel the need to leave or find another district that is a better fit for them, that’s OK. I have no problem with that.”

He said recruitment efforts within the district are focused on tapping teachers who have the skills to adapt to a new teaching environment and providing professional development for current teachers. And while that may mean having teachers out of the classroom more than in the past, he believes it is a necessity.

“One of the things that has changed over the years is students being taught in isolation,” Huff said. “Now we have teachers observing other teachers to look at strategies, principals doing walk-throughs and more community members and volunteers in our schools than ever before.

“All of these things culminate to a model of education where (teaching) is out in the open. That’s a hard transition, and it’s not a good fit for some people. These changes have happened because our world is demanding it. We have to find good teachers who are comfortable working in that kind of culture.”

‘Good and bad’

Mary Gaarder, who retired as a teacher for Joplin’s gifted program in 2011, witnessed firsthand many of the changes and challenges now facing those working in the district.

“I think the biggest change, of course, has been the introduction of lots of technology,” she said. “I think it’s wonderful, but it does demand a lot of a teacher. It does push you. You can’t just keep doing what you’ve done.”

The pressure put on teachers for student performance on standardized tests, she said, is “sort of a wash.”

Gaarder said that on the upside, a poor teacher has to do the same things over and over, year after year. But good teachers, in her opinion, are open to changing their approach to teaching their students.

The focus on testing can be “much more of a straitjacket” for good teachers, she said.

“There’s good and bad to the accountability movement,” said Gaarder.

As part of that movement, she said, there would be days when members of an observation committee would enter the classroom several times, watch the teaching process and then issue a score.

“It can be intimidating, especially for people who have taught a long time,” she said.

Other districts

Webb City Superintendent Anthony Rossetti said his school district also has seen “a slight increase” in teacher turnover in the past few years.

“The (teacher) retention rate in the state of Missouri hasn’t been good for the past five years, but ours is higher than that,” he said.

He also said the district has begun collecting data to help bring the retention rate up even higher.

“We make a big investment in our staff in the first five years and even after that,” Rossetti said. “We’ve initiated exit interviews to see if we can determine categories of why people are choosing to leave education, so maybe we can address issues and concerns before (teachers) decide to go somewhere else.

“If someone is not happy with the environment, the workload or they don’t feel prepared, we hope that will come out and we can put plans in place to address some of those things.”

Blaine Henningsen, superintendent of the Carthage School District, said turnover levels have had “a steady run” in the past several years.

“We’ve had the normal turnover, such as moving out of the community or family choices,” he said. “But we have retained first-year teachers at a higher rate than in the last six or eight years. We’ve also added 12 or 13 positions due to growth.

“We did have about 25 teachers retire last year because of the incentive that was there, but we had anticipated that happening.”

[Cousin Randy Turner]

Globe whitewashes Joplin teacher turnover problem

Globe whitewashes Joplin teacher turnover problem


http://rturner229.blogspot.com/2013/...n-teacher.html
http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...=9081#post9081

The Joplin Globe has posted its promised examination [of] the teacher turnover problem in the Joplin R-8 School District, and as you might have expected, it was a whitewash.

First, the numbers given to the Globe by school administrators seem to be at odds with what a simple head count of teachers who have left this year and comparisons on the DESE website from last year. Hopefully, the Globe reporter had the intelligence to simply ask for a list of teachers from the upcoming year and each of the past two and then made a simple comparison. I seriously doubt, however, that anything like that happened.

Then reporter Scott Meeker called all of the usual suspects- somebody from NEA, somebody from MSTA, C. J. Huff, and a retired teacher who apparently was not pushed out by C. J. Huff or Angie Besendorfer and was happy to say good things about the district.

What is missing, likely because the Globe is not a highly trusted media source by school employees, are quotes from any people below administration level who are still working at the school or anyone besides the one teacher who retired.

How in the world do you expect to find out why the turnover is high if you are not talking to the people who left?

As usual, in the days since Michael Beatty became publisher of the Joplin Globe, the story is designed to make it seem that everything is OK in the Joplin R-8 School District, just as it was at Missouri Southern State University during the Bruce Speck era.

As you might expect, C. J. Huff is not at a loss to explain why so many people are getting out of Dodge and leaving him and Besendorfer to their 21st Century education:
.

(Huff) said Joplin teachers have left their jobs for a variety of reasons, including the economic downturn.

“The economy really hurt us to a degree,” he said. “We saw people losing jobs here locally. Spouses sometimes had a job that paid more and had to do a job search and then move. But there were also teachers who wanted to try something different.”

He also noted that despite the rise in Joplin’s turnover rate, the number is still below the state and national averages.

Regarding issues raised by teachers who have resigned, Huff said the new classroom reality isn’t always a good fit for every teacher.

“We work really hard to retain our staff, and retention is a big part of our strategic plan,” he said. “But we also have an obligation to our families and children to measure and monitor progress toward meeting our expectations. When we hire teachers in Joplin, they have two years, three tops, to demonstrate they have the skills, attitude and belief system that matches ours to get the job done.

“If they’re not able to do that, there is an evaluation system. If they feel the need to leave or find another district that is a better fit for them, that’s OK. I have no problem with that.”

It is a shame the same evaluation system is not applied to R-8 administrators.