Lauderdale: Nepotism makes voiceless teachers want to scream
The voiceless in Beaufort County's current school district debacle are the teachers.
But let me tell you something loud and clear. The ones that have reached out to me are incensed that school Superintendent Jeff Moss' wife got a newly-created $90,000 job in the central office after he changed the nepotism rules.
They feel betrayed.
What is this job, anyway, they wonder. "Director of innovation"? What the heck is that? Where did the money come from?
Their leader has no credibility, they say. He's stacking the deck. The pathway to the golden parachute is never that clear for them. They say they have people who have been there forever who could fill that job.
And what happened is so blatantly unethical, they say, it makes them feel abused.
This comes from the people who are used to absorbing all the junk that flows downhill. They rarely get asked their opinion, even though they are the core of the organization.
Congress decrees that every child will learn the same stuff at the same time and every one of them will test above average come spring. Who do they think they're kidding? Students may have to study over the sounds of their mother's boyfriend beating her, but they'll test out just fine, or else.
State legislators demand that they teach character, as if policing homework, class attendance and cheating isn't enough.
Every few years, the hierarchy uproots the basics, like how to teach math or how the schedule is arranged. The classroom is always a Petri dish, but the mad scientist is usually someone who hasn't darkened a classroom door since grad school.
Parents tell teachers their child is gifted and talented, never cheats and is always respectful. If not, it's someone else's fault.
Teachers never get to go out to lunch with adults. They're on hall duty, cafeteria duty or bus duty.
For this, they pull in $40,000 a year, giving well more than 40 hours a week in the classroom and untold hours after school.
Our newspaper reported this spring that one in 10 of our county public school teachers leave the district at the end of the school year. For many, it's because they can't make ends meet with the high cost of living, even with side jobs.
Local teachers aren't the only ones who feel voiceless. Teachers everywhere are scared to speak their minds. It could cost them their jobs.
Maybe that's why nepotism in the central office lit a fuse. For some reason, it makes teachers want to scream.
I want you to hear what one longtime teacher, now retired, dared to put in writing in a note to me:
"Shame on the school board for just rolling over and letting this man have total control of our school system. Hopefully, this will be a wake-up call to everyone. Thanks for speaking up for all those employees who can't for fear of retribution."
Follow columnist and senior editor David Lauderdale at twitter.com/ThatsLauderdale and facebook.com/david.lauderdale.16.
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This story was originally published September 19, 2015 at 8:13 PM with the headline "Lauderdale: Nepotism makes voiceless teachers want to scream."