Lady Whistleblower Dearest Gentle Reader,
It has been said that, “When good people do bad things, it is sad, but when they reach the point where one can predict that they will do nothing but bad things, a deeper kind of sadness sets in, almost at the level of resignation.” And in this case, it seems that many people are choosing literal resignation as a result.
When checking the temperature of the state of our Kingdom, certain things stand out, but nothing more than the fact that we are still in the middle of a mass exodus of teachers and administrators. This author has not ascertained the number of non-certified staff in her counts. (For those who do not know the difference, non-certified staff include bus drivers, custodians, cooks, secretaries, and aides, while certified staff are made up of teachers and administrators.)
Let’s look at some certified staff facts, shall we?
Pursuing the records, certain truths are evident. People are leaving at an alarming rate. Just post Covid, in 21-22, we had around eight people leave the Kingdom. But by the end of the 22-23 year, we lost around twenty people. This was the fourth year of King David’s reign. While some of this leaving may be attributable to vastly changing conditions post-Covid, it seems fairly evident that the Kingdom was suffering from a lack of leadership and vision – and as a result, many sought positions elsewhere (although some left the realm of education altogether). In the following year, last year, 23-24, around fifteen people left.
Given that our certified staff is only around 85-90 people, these losses are significant!
Now, it seems obvious that teacher turnover negatively affects student outcomes in a variety of ways (from a Learning Policy Institute Study):
- High turnover undermines student achievement (yes – this means test scores)
- Turnover imposes significant financial costs (training and mentoring)
- Turnover undermines quality, especially when there aren’t enough teachers to fill positions (an unenviable reality here)
Turnover, in fact, disproportionately affects low-income students. Constant “churn” makes future staffing even more difficult – and then forces the Kingdom to hire non-qualified/non-licensed teachers, utilizing substitute teachers, canceling course offerings, and having a higher proportion of inexperienced teachers.
ALL OF THESE have been a recent hallmark of our Kingdom’s schools – particularly at the middle school and high school.
And our community suffers with the loss of experienced teachers, as we lose our connections to students and families, as well as the loss of our institutional memory. We know that students are more successful when we know our students well. And faculty and staff turnover has a significant impact on that.
It is also not helpful that our Kingdom has been losing ground in the wage arena as well. Many teachers used to stay here despite lower salaries compared to neighboring Kingdoms, because they felt that they were valued contributors to the overall community, and that their voices played a significant role in making decisions in shaping this into a learning environment structured towards helping all of our children. Who better knows our students and what they need more than the people teaching them everyday?
However, with each successive King, teacher voices have been silenced and now student voices are being silenced. So when people feel disrespected within the community they are supposed to be building, then perhaps moving somewhere with better pay is an option many will take.
So how are we doing now? We aren’t even to the end of the year yet, and we’ve already lost thirteen certified staff. Let that sink in. THIRTEEN and we aren’t done yet. Teachers have until the beginning of July to leave and only now are other Kingdoms posting their job openings.
Happy people don’t go looking for new jobs.
As of this writing, this author knows of at least five other staff members looking for jobs outside of the Kingdom. And that is only the ones I have heard about. I fear that our schools will have two very distinct populations of staff: the older staff who are close to retirement who cannot leave without taking a huge financial hit and new, inexperienced staff just getting into the workforce.
This cannot be good for our children. Other districts will get the benefit of having experienced, qualified teachers – teachers that we have invested in and who in return invested in us – but now feel abandoned, fearful, and silenced – and so they are leaving.
When will this bleeding end?
This author feels that it will not be anytime soon.
You see, the biggest problem right now is that we have a very vengeful King at the helm. Anyone who disagrees with him is automatically tagged as disrespectful and unprofessional. People are fearful for their jobs, as even long-standing employees have been attacked. It is not a secret that once Shamblin was dismissed, the King turned his attention to our beloved high school secretary – threatening her with dismissal. This serves a specific purpose – and that is to scare people to toeing his line or suffer his displeasure and consequences. It has been said that, “Leadership is not a popularity contest; it’s about leaving your ego at the door. The name of the game is to lead without a title.” Our King is certainly not popular, but he is 100% ego and 100% about the title. (And no – this author will not quote his own social media posts about this again.)
This is the problem. Someone like our King (or Queen) needs an enemy to function. They need a target. As soon as one target is removed, they will simply move on to the next one, and the next, ad infinitum, until, quite simply, there is no one left.
This author cannot imagine anyone coming here, of quality, who would be willing to put themselves under the authority of the King given everything that has occurred here. Anyone who shows even a hint of a spine would become his target. This is particularly concerning when it comes to Shamblin’s replacement.
In a comment made on a page in 2019 about the King’s resignation from Minster schools, “I’d implore people who are interested to investigate this man. He brings nothing but trouble and hostility to any school who may be foolish enough to hire him.”
A reply to this comment? “Can you give more information – that is our experience too.”
Did the “bored” not do its due diligence and investigate this man at all? Did they not even bother to search online about his history? We are now stuck with this man unless we buy out his incredibly lucrative contract. (Please, for the love of all that is good – never give a brand new King a four year contract at the top of the pay scale for a district as small as ours.) Will our Kingdom survive him in the meanwhile?
So gentle readers, this author sits here and wonders at our future. We need our “bored” to stand up to the bullies that they have placed at the helm. They need to communicate how and why they make the decisions they do – because the Kingdom is part of the community.
We want our Kingdom to be a place filled with the joy of learning and the happiness of our children. It’s really hard to do when everyone is so sad.
Of course, our sadness would turn to happiness should the King decide to resign or somehow be removed.
Sincerely,
The Lady Whistleblower
