The Los Angeles school board voted to terminate famed teacher Rafe Esquith.
The Los Angeles Board of Education voted this week to fire nationally recognized teacher Rafe Esquith, following a misconduct investigation that included allegations he made an improper joke to students and inappropriately touched minors, according to sources with knowledge of the decision.
The longtime educator at Hobart Avenue Elementary School, who has received national acclaim for his teaching and his bestselling books, has denied wrongdoing.
Acting on the recommendation of senior administrators, the school board voted unanimously behind closed doors Tuesday to begin termination proceedings against Esquith, according to sources who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the matter.
Esquith, 61, was removed from the classroom in April after another educator complained about a joke he made to students relating to nudity. The complaint prompted an investigation, which quickly grew to include other allegations of misconduct.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“…the school board voted unanimously behind closed doors ….”
This is one thing that has to stop. Isn’t it illegal for a public board to meet behind closed doors? Isn’t that part of the definition of “public’?
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Dienne…most of the egregious edicts from the LAUSD BoE are made behind closed doors. The decision to renew John Deasy’s contract was in secret. And now, Rafe Esquith to be fired is done in secret. So far there is no proof or solid reason stated for this action by the Board.
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Couldn’t this be challenged in court? Has anyone tried? This is terrible. (Note, I’m sure it happens here in Chicago too – I don’t know if anyone here has challenged that.)
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There has been a class action lawsuit filed. You can read the pleadings online. Marc Garagos is the lead attorney.
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Diane…I just tried to post a comment on your article on Steve Zimmer in support of Bennett Kayser in the LAUSD BoE election last May. Cannot understand why you would post this old news just at the moment Zimmer has led the Board to fire Rafe Esquith? Please explain.
Maybe it is a tech problem, but the comment section leads no where and when I hit ‘comment’ I was taken to a ‘lost page that does not exist’. How come?
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In Ohio the sunshine laws don’t cover personnel decisions and it’s always been understood as designed (partly) to protect the privacy of the employee. Obviously this can be exploited, but I do think you would want to be careful about it, because even bare allegations would become public, which isn’t fair. The fact is a lot of people believe that “where’s there’s smoke there’s fire” and so it often doesn’t matter if accusations involving children turn out to be false or unsupported.
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I made an error in stating that the class action suit has already been filed. Someone further down in this blog corrected this. Geragos is about to file this class action with Esquith as the lead plaintiff.
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Isn’t it illegal for a public board to meet behind closed doors? Isn’t that part of the definition of “public’?
In California, as I understand it, school boards can meet in closed session to discuss issues of individual employment and legal matters that involve the school district. It seems that this issue covers both of those. Also school boards can meet in closed session to discuss specific cases of student discipline.
But I have seen where school boards might have discussions on these items behind closed doors, but the vote taken in public. I’m unclear on when the vote can be secret or public.
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Personnel hearings are always private. Let’s stay focused on the real fight here, folks.
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The hearing should be private but I believe that in most states the vote must taken in public
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Sounds like you know what you are talking about, unlike most people on this thread. School districts ALWAYS conduct these terminations in secret. I am not referring to the hearings but to the votes of the school board.
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Esquith could have asked that the session and vote be public. Presumably he chose not to.
“As a condition to holding a closed session on specific complaints or charges brought against an employee by another person or employee, the employee shall be given written notice of his or her right to have the complaints or charges heard in an open session rather than a closed session, which notice shall be delivered to the employee personally or by mail at least 24 hours before the time for holding the session. If notice is not given, any disciplinary or other action taken by the legislative body against the employee based on the specific complaints or charges in the closed session shall be null and void.” Cal. Gov. Code § 54957.
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They violate this everyday. No one of all the thousands of accused teachers have addresses the board in a closed session. If they do it, address the board in an open session, they give you 3 minutes to present their case. Totally inappropriate.
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WRONG, as usual. This was not the hearing, but the vote of the board to terminate the contract. You should stick with what little you know. You know nothing about disciplinary actions against teachers, terminations, tenure, or much else.
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You charm, as usual, Susan. I thought I called it “session,” not a “hearing.” That what it was: a (closed) session of the Board.
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There are limits to the Brown Act in regards to issues that broach personal privacy (e.g. employee issues). It’s likely that the details of the investigation are not something the LAUSD BOE could have held a public meeting on. I’m not defending what the board has actually done here, but I understand why public policy is to not sacrifice people’s personal privacy in the guise of transparency, not to mention the liability that would pose in terms of defamation, etc.
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However, Robert, the BoE leaked enough by innuendo to legally defame Esquith .
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Agreed Ellen Lubic, and there might be enough evidence for Esquith to file a successful libel cause of action showing the colloquium element was satisfied by what you discussed.
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http://firstamendmentcoalition.org/open-meetings-3/facs-brown-act-primer/brown-act-primer-closed-sessions/
Brown Act Primer: Closed sessions
V. When may the public be excluded?
The public may not be excluded from a meeting, except as expressly authorized by the Brown Act.
– See more at: http://firstamendmentcoalition.org/open-meetings-3/facs-brown-act-primer/brown-act-primer-closed-sessions/#sthash.vc0riab6.dpuf
The public may not be excluded from a meeting, except as expressly authorized by the Brown Act.
A public body may exclude the public from meetings, holding what are called “closed sessions” or “executive sessions,” in the following circumstances:
(1) to determine whether an applicant for a license or license renewal, who has a criminal record, is sufficiently rehabilitated to obtain the license; 43
(2) to with its negotiator to grant authority regarding the price and terms of payment for the purchase, sale, exchange, or lease of real property; 44
(3) to confer with, or receive advice from, its legal counsel regarding pending litigation when discussion in open session concerning those matters would prejudice the position of the local agency in the litigation; 45
(4) to meet with the Attorney General, district attorney, agency counsel, sheriff, or chief of police, or their respective deputies, or a security consultant or a security operations manager, on matters posing a threat to the security of public buildings, a threat to the security of essential public services, or a threat to the public’s right of access to public services or public facilities;46
(5) to consider the appointment, employment, evaluation of performance, discipline, or dismissal of a public employee or to hear complaints or charges brought against the employee by another person or employee; 47
(6) to meet with the local agency’s designated representatives regarding the salaries, salary schedules, or fringe benefits of its represented and unrepresented employees, and, for represented employees, any other matter within the statutorily provided scope of representation.48
– See more at: http://firstamendmentcoalition.org/open-meetings-3/facs-brown-act-primer/brown-act-primer-closed-sessions/#sthash.vc0riab6.dpuf
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It is SOP for school boards to meet in secret when it comes to terminations. I suspect it has to do with privacy concerns.
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Remember, this is not the arbitration or termination hearing but the formal vote of the board.
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When notable teachers like Rafe Esquith and Iris Stevenson receive international and national acclaim, it goes against the grain of downtown where the spotlight is supposed to be directed on those at Beaudry. So they attempt to shine a negative flame upon those teachers.
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Stuart…I feel as though I am in mourning. How can you have healthy schools when teachers are maligned and driven by fear? How can an elected school board ignore the voters, their constituents, and just fire someone who has so many parents and community members behind him, and without even a detailed explanation with facts to prove this decision?
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Ditto. My stomach has a pit.
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Are due process rights a thing of the past?
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This involves an interesting dilemma. I don’t think LAUSD is allowed to publicly release personnel information that would be the basis of for such firings. Mr. Esquith is allowed access to any of his personnel records and could voluntarily choose to release them if he so chose. But he is not required to do so.
Mr. Esquith has VAM scores that are off the chart’s according to LA Times’ Value-Added website. So he clearly was an effective teacher.
Unless and until all the info is released, there will be great controversy surrounding this case. But we may never know what really happened since that information is likely to remain private. I make no judgments without seeing all the info. Others, I’m sure, will.
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“Mr. Esquith has VAM scores that are off the chart’s according to LA Times’ Value-Added website. So he clearly was an effective teacher.”
Your second sentence does not follow from your first.
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So are you arguing higher VAM scores should be a consideration if a teacher is accused of misconduct?
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MathVale, I am just saying that Esquith was clearly an effective teacher in both ELA and math. I have zero information on the charges so I have no opinion. I will say that my coworkers and I discuss potential abuse of our kids occasionally. That topic keeps us worried more than anything else. I think it’s uncommon but at one coworker’s daycare provider, an affiliated man was arrested for indecent liberties with a young child. My coworker’s child was not involved but it’s a real wake-up call. It’s tough because we have no information that he’s done anything wrong. But at the same time, the highest duty of a school is to keep our kids safe.
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VAM scores are not an accurate indicator of good teaching.
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Don’t you mean, LAUSD & the union that owns & operates it continues war against teachers who are ‘too successful’
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UTLA “owns & operates” LAUSD? That’s a fallacious statement if there ever was one.
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For real, you mean LAUSD owns, controls UTLA management. We have no worker run Union, we have been seriously compromised
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The UTLA runs LAUSD?
Since for quite a while LAUSD has been, partly or wholly, a member of the rheephorm education establishment with its top-down worst management style of leadership and love of charters and privatization and teacher bashing I can only say—
Thank you for not wasting our day.
¿😳?
“A day without laughter is a day wasted.” [Charlie Chaplin]
😎
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It isn’t that they are “too successful” but that they are too “expensive.” Esquith is 61, considered way over the hill for the youth-obsessed school districts like LAUSD.
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Thankfully, a teacher can appeal his termination to the OAH (Office of Administrative Hearings), an appeal board. I’ve heard that about 50% of the time, the OAH reverses LAUSD’s votes to terminate.
The OAH can then order LAUSD to reinstate the employee.
I encourage someone with more knowledge of this process can chime in.
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After months of settlement talks where the district tries to circumvent the teacher from proceeding to OAH, after the teacher’s unemployment has run out, after the teacher has drained any savings or extra funds, the teacher gets to OAH and in the majority of cases, wins. But what does he win? His job back? No, if the district even allows him back in the classroom, they send him to another school where his every move is watched and he is evaluated repeatedly. My point here is that serious damage that can’t be corrected by sending him back to the classroom has been done. The district has to be seriously fined and the criminal conspiracy to deprive teachers of their jobs and pensions need prison terms for all ‘senior administrators’ and board members who participated.
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Nationally, only 25 percent of teachers who fight terminations are successful. They have to have access to the civil court system. Esquith will in all likelihood never teach again.
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Susan…if he wants to teach, although he may not do so at elementary level, but with his widely admired reputation, I would surmise that many universities will be vying for him to become a professor in a Graduate School of Education.
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A sad day for education, most of the best, most creative teachers being forced out or leaving the profession. #frustrating
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Personnel actions are confidential. I’ve seen a few of these cases and administrators cannot reveal any confidential information. It would be considered unethical and the privacy of the person being investigates has to be protected. Hate to say it but, just because you get good test scores, or make lots of baskets, have a winning football team or make great movies, does not not preclude unethical or illegal behavior. I don’t have any first hand knowledge of any misconduct, but test scores do not equate to ethical behavior.
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But the district has had no compunctions about releasing information about the alleged “inappropriate touching” by Esquith. They can’t have it both ways.
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Well, apparently, they can. They release to the LA Times the name of someone who made accusations against a teenage Mr. Esquith 40 years ago.
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It is true that the leadership at LAUSD smells in the way this affair has been handled. On the other hand, I find it hard to believe that this school board does not have some information that leads them to have serious concerns. I vividly remember how convinced I was that Bill Clinton was completely innocent in the Lewinski affair. No choice here but to wait and see what Garagos does. It is not prudent make any conclusions at this point.
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We are led to the conclusion that he is guilty by the Board’s decision. Because personnel matters are deliberated in private, the Board is never required to reveal the reason for its decision. Nothing Esquith does or says will convince some people of his innocence although you would think that alleged child abuse would lead to legal charges. How can the Board pretend to make an unbiased decision when the District administration that in charge of the investigation obviously had a vested interest in getting rid of him? If his “sins” were so egregious, why hasn’t he been criminally charged? Disgusting.
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The rule that permits the Board to make this decision in a closed session exists for the benefit of the employee. As I noted above, Esquith had the right to have the charges heard and decided in an open meeting, but it looks like he chose to waive that right. That suggests that to me that the Superintendent’s case contains at least some prejudicial allegations and information that go beyond what has already been disclosed. That would put Esquith is in a difficult position, because he’s sued the district on the ground that his removal from the classroom was pretextual. If the case reached the merits, the door would be open for the district to argue that the reasons for Esquith’s removal and termination were not pretextual, i.e., the district would present the evidence that it claims its decision was really based on. And Esquith’s lawsuit is in state court, where there is much stronger presumption of public access than there is in an administrative proceeding or arbitration. So it’s a pickle.
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You are correct Flerp…this is now twice in a week that I have agreed with you…just sayin’.
Esquiith’s lawyer refused to let him do that some months back, according to the LA Times report. And yes…it is a major pickle.
As much I hope Rafe wins, and the class action repays all the wounded and jailed teachers who are innocent, I worry that this can help bankrupt the district. In the long run, I fear that is the result that is best for Broad and his tribe of billionaire vulture reformers, since they can then pick up all the LAUSD assets, including the vastly worthwhile real estate, for next to nothing…and then they can set up endless charter schools all over the city/county. A huge coup for them. We are indeed between a rock and a hard place..and/or a in pickle.
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If he appeared at the Skelly meeting and said anything in his defense, probably all he would have accomplished would be to create a record of statements to be used to impeach him, including in other proceedings (like his lawsuit). An invitation to attend a Skelly meeting (I say meeting because they don’t sound much like hearings) seems akin to an invitation to come downtown and talk to the police. Not s lot of upside, especially when you intend to pursue your own lawsuit
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Exactly…this is surely why his very experienced legal team kept him away from a Skelly hearing.
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Agreed.
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Threatened Out West:
Yes. There has been a slow and steady drip of factoids about the alleged awful behavior of Rafe Esquith.
Just one example.
First three paragraphs from a ferociously rheephorm organ, the LATIMES:
[start]
Los Angeles school district investigation into allegations of misconduct against celebrated teacher Rafe Esquith has broadened to include an accusation that he abused a child 40 years ago, district officials said.
Esquith’s attorney, Mark Geragos, said the allegations were an attempt to smear the teacher.
“It’s a total set-up,” Geragos said. “We’ve reached the heights of unbelievable smear tactics…. It’s despicable conduct and we will hold them accountable.”
[end]
Link: http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-lausd-esquith-20150626-story.html
Read the article in its entirety. Note that LAUSD had no compunctions about making sure that many details of a very old and very hard to prove allegation are thrown out to the public, while quoting the current superintendent:
[start]
Supt. Ramon Cortines declined to provide details about the probe but said that it included “serious issues that go beyond the initial investigation.”
[end]
The treatment accorded to Rafe Esquith: Even-handed? Fair? Ethical? Supt. Cortines has his own very serious “allegation issues” that his supporters—including the LATIMES—have very rarely aired (and present in such a way that they seem unfounded) in the same MSM organ. And Mr Cortines isn’t just a teacher—he is the Supt. of the 2nd largest school district in the country.
Again, I withhold judgment on Mr. Cortines until all the facts are made available, but he is being given a pass that Mr. Esquith is not.
Double think. Double talk. Double standards.
Rheephorm.
😎
P.S. Thanks also to Karen Wolfe for her reminder; click on the link I provide.
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Correct on personnel actions. However, administrators make up allegations all the time against teachers. They are not subject to any kind of sanctions that stick.
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I think the following is still relevant months later…
From the LATIMES, 6-23-2015, “Teacher files claim against LA Unified, blames controversy on joke”—
[start excerpt]
Education historian Diane Ravitch who has followed the debate over Esquith’s removal, said that when such a nationally known instructor is removed from the classroom, the community expects answers.
“If the facts of the case are what’s in public, it sounds absurd,” said Ravitch, a research education professor at New York University. “If there are other things that haven’t been revealed, then the district should reveal them so that people don’t think they’re making a very harsh and hasty decision.”
[end excerpt]
Link: http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-lausd-teacher-20150623-story.html
From the end of the same article:
[start]
After more than three decades teaching, Esquith said, he simply wants to get back to the classroom to be with his students.
“I have had many friends say, ‘You know what Rafe: Enough is enough. Get off the cross, go into the private sector and make a lot of money,'” Esquith said. “It’s tempting, but you haven’t seen the damage done to my classroom. You haven’t seen the mail that I’ve gotten from these kids. I have to go back to heal them.”
[end]
I urge viewers of this blog to read the article in its entirety, especially since it appears in such a zealous rheephorm organ as the LATIMES.
Any wonder why there is a growing teacher shortage?
😏
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why would Monica Ratliff vote to fire this teacher?
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She doesn’t support teachers; never has, never will. She says one thing, then slams the teacher. She is above us all, as she consistently rubber stamps the will of Broad.
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I don’t think it’s that simple. Rafe’s attorneys have been ramping up the rhetoric to such an extent that it can strain a board member’s ability to sympathize. They’ve called LAUSD a criminal conspiracy and what-not. Ms. Ratliff works incredibly long hours for a measly $40,000/year, and is about as sincere and genuine in her concern for both children and teachers as anyone I’ve ever known. Thus, when she’s simplistically lumped in with an alleged criminal conspiracy, it doesn’t put her in a sympathetic frame of mind.
Mind you, I’m supportive of Rafe, but I understand the position the board members are in.
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Ratliff should not be in a decision making position if she can’t separate fact from emotion.
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Crazy,
I did just that. I went from public education to teaching rich kids in Independent schools. But, the money was worse, not better. What was better, however, was the respect from the parents, teachers and administration (if you pick a good one). AND, the autonomy to devise your own curriculum and evaluation system. At least at my schools, you were considered competent, and parents (sometimes very, very rich) would seek your advice. And the kids, by the way, were just kids. I hope I had some influence in their lives,
I think this is a witch (or, warlock) hunt. I doubt there’s any substance, here. When someone dredges up a possible incident (never pursued) from 40 years ago, I feel that straws are being grasped.
You could be offering good advice to Esquith. I have no regrets about the path I chose. And, yet, Esquith clearly loves the kids he is teaching now, and the kids reciprocate.
It’s amazing how perceptive kids are. They know who’s on their side (even if we give mostly B’s and C’s, and are considered ‘hard’). Word gets around, and I trust the evaluation of the kids (particularly after they’ve left the teacher’s classroom for a few years) far more than any other measure.
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And so it goes. Those who believed things had changed at LAUSD since Dz were in denial. The biggest fakers are UTLA. All that crap about teacher jail and teacher targeting ending was bull rap. I’m sorry that this highly effective educator has been treated in this manner and believe me, the biggest losers are our kids. To Esquith I say, thousands of educators who were treated unfairly and criminally support you and your efforts to obtain justice from the courts. As for this sorry BOE, I said it when Dz left and I say it again, they need to go also. As for ‘senior administrators’ deciding anything, think of the stupid leading the really stupid(BOE).
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I suggest all who are interested in this case, and the class action filing today, and the pandering and harassment lawsuit against Supt. Cortines, read this LASR which just came to us all by email.
—————————————————————————–
LA School Report
“What’s Really Going on Inside LAUSD”
LAUSD slapped with $1 billion lawsuit to end teacher jails
Posted on October 15, 2015 3:18 pm by Mike Szymanski
MarkGeragosAttorneyEsquith
Following up on a months-long threat, high-profile attorney Mark Geragos today slapped LA Unified with a class action lawsuit, calling for an end to the practice of “teacher jails” and asking for more than $1 billion in damages.
The suit was filed in state superior court on behalf of Rafe Esquith, a well-known teacher who was dismissed in April, as well as thousands of other unnamed teachers who have been placed in “jail” by the district in recent years. Calling LAUSD “a criminal cartel,” the suit charges the district with violations of due process, age discrimination, whistleblower retaliation and wrongful discharge — all in a scheme to remove older teachers whose salaries and benefits make them more expensive to retain.
Among the defendants named are Superintendent Ramon Cortines and his yet-to-be-chosen successor. Cortines intends to step down in December.
At his downtown office only a few blocks from LAUSD headquarters, Geragos accused the district of engaging in “a pattern and practice of the LA Unified school district basically divesting teachers of their benefits once they reach a certain age. The method by which they do this is they gin up false charges, they make false accusations.”
“I’m calling for the complete shutdown of LAUSD,” Geragos added. “I think LAUSD is a completely corrupt organization. They have consigliere lawyers.”
A spokeswoman said the district “has not reviewed the lawsuit and therefore has no comment at this time.” Continue reading →
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Wow, that’s a shock. I really thought that this was going to turn out to be something minor that got overblown. I have to assume that RE has *lots* of powerful friends to bring to bear if it’s unfounded, but it seems that there must be more to it than has been made public. As someone else pointed out, it’s appropriate that RE decide whether to make any details public, but he has to act in his own best interests.
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There may be nothing more to it. That is how insinuation works to destroy. It is also why every worker in America public or private should have due process. Protecting the good people keeps the sociopaths in check.
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There may very well be nothing more to it – in the meantime, however, the message is sent to all – tread carefully, do as we say, or you are next! Saw a similar thing happen in my district – lots of time, money, & bad pr over an unfounded accusation – anyone who knew the teacher knew the accusation was not true, but until a powerful attorney was contacted as well as the national press, that teacher was out of luck… with the union, the highly regarded attorney, & the threat of the national media, the board finally let it go! Ironically, the board members wouldn’t listen to the one board member (who is an attorney) who said “This’ll never hold up in a court of law.”
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Who couldn’t look over your life and work and find some questionable things but to blow these incidents out of proportion and destroy a person’s reputation is defamation. Let he who without guilt throw the first stone. As far as LAUSD is concerned, they seem to be throwing a lot of stones at older, veteran teachers but what about the district? We know how they operate, illegally unethically and fraudulently. Can they ever be believable?
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No one ever points out that a seemingly true perp who has been sued for both sexual harassment and retaliatory firing by his ostensible lover/subordinate for whom he created a high pay LAUSD job at Beaudry, is Supt. Cortines who is the lead official condemning Esquith.
How is this equal justice?
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If his teachers’ union supports him, he can still take this to court and sue LAUSD.
If the union won’t step up, he can still take LAUSD to court on his own but in that case the lawyer would have to either go pro-bono or on a contingent basis. There is also the ACLU.
Rafe has been teaching for 33 years and he is 61. He is eligible to retire so he has an income while he takes LAUSD to court.
CalSTRS retirement formula:
http://www.calstrs.com/retirement-benefits
LAUSD might discover that Rafe isn’t that easy to make go away. Retired, he’ll have more time to become a major thorn in their backside. If he lives inside the district, he can also run for the school board in the next election, and if he doesn’t live inside the district boundaries, he could sell his house and move there.
That would be poetic justice.
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Ah, Lloyd, that would be the best!
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He, along with about 1000 railroaded teachers, are filing a class action lawsuit this week. Mark Garegos is the lead attorney who has mentioned he will eviscerate LAUSD with evidence of their agism, fraud, and abusive policies.
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Good. Let’s hope this court case will result in what Garegos claims.
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Lloyd…the worry is that since LAUSD ‘fired’ Rafe for cause, and he did not ‘resign’ at or after age 60, although he legally could have, he could lose his pension. This is what this district had done to many teachers nearing age 60 (as stipulated by CalSTRS as legal retirement age) who are just at the point where they could retire with lifetime benefits…but they get fired on some trumped up charge that disallows them their pension and health care. Many feel that the district is doing this (reprehensible action) as a cost saving device. And many feel that UTLA should be protecting LAUSD teachers from this kind of budget enhancement.
Lenny Isenberg has written about this on Perdaily, often, and has his own lawsuit in place, often suggesting others join him in a class action. Lenny reports that each teacher who loses all benefits this unethical way, saves the district $60K a year. See his articles at Perdaily.com.
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They lose their pensions if they are fired “for cause?” Even if their pensions are vested, and the charges are not proven?
It figures then that LAUSD is doing this.
Have someone work their whole adult life for you and then cheat them out of their pension when they are near retirement and too old to start over.
You can judge a society by how they treat their elderly. What does this say about our society?
I’m glad Mark Geragos is taking this case!
Շատ ապրի՛ս Մարք ջան։
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I hope it goes that way for him because he deserve that poetic justice.
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It would be great!
But, it appears that Rafe just wants to keep teaching his kids (from what I’ve read). He chose teaching, not administration, years ago. He deserves that.
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Man, this is grim. Is anyone safe from the caprice of vindictive administrators? I have always assumed that as long as I continue to work at improving my practice, treat students with respect by providing them with meaningful experiences, and produce results, I would be safe, tenure or no.
Here is a teacher who did all of those things, and now faces this shameful inquisition. So I have to ask again, is anyone safe?
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No teacher is safe. The sooner you see that, the better. Watch your back. Always. A lot of teachers in my school think that since they’re good teachers, they’re safe, but I’ve learned the hard way that it is not true.
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Threatened,
The REAL basis of a teacher’s power is the parents (who get their information from students on a daily basis). Once the administration knows you have the backing of the parents (at least most of the influential ones), you have ‘de-facto’ tenure, and an administrator knows to tread softly. They might try to undermine your reputation, or badger you at school, but you are in control.
One caveat, however, is that many teachers (good ones) shy away from contact with parents. This is a mistake. Teachers, in many ways, are surrogate parents. Both teachers and parents are working for the same goal, the education of the child.
I will say that I worked in department of a school for a year (public school) where a climate of competition had been fostered by the Department Chair. It was not a good experience. I left, quickly.
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John: I agree about getting the parents on board, but it also takes just one influential parent who blames a teacher for something for that teacher to be destroyed. It goes both ways. We are all teaching on the edge of a knife these days. And people wonder why there’s a teacher shortage?
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I love that idea, he has my vote and thousands of other victims of district criminality
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More Kafkaesque absurdity–an article in the Friday Boston Globe reported that a middle school teacher at a Brookline, MA school was fired for using the word b.s. to 2 HIGH school students AFTER school hours (allegedly, these were students he coached for a debate team or some such). Who “told” on this teacher? Why, a fellow middle school teacher, who “overheard” the statement (& her account was said to be disputed by some). Brookline middle school students who LOVE this teacher crowded the Board of Ed. meeting, armed with protest signs and stepping up to the mic with statements of support. Stay tuned, folks (MA readers, keep us updated–I picked up the Globe at the airport, on my way home.)
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Even if the teacher did use an “inappropriate” expression, is that really a reason to fire this teacher? Did this other teacher see harm being done to the students? Apparently the students didn’t think so. I may be breaking with the party line, but fellow teachers can destroy a colleague for no apparent reason other than that they can. Being a teacher doesn’t turn mean gossips into exemplary human beings.
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Yeah, teachers aren’t saints. I’ve been ratted on by several different teachers to administrators over the years. Most of what has been said about me has not been true, but that hasn’t stopped administrations from threatening me. This environment of giving all the power over the school and its teachers to the principal has encouraged a lot of petty tyrants, who encourage this kind of tale-telling that should go out of fashion by second grade. It happens constantly. People’s careers are ruined that way. And all because of jealousy, vindictiveness, or a desire to make points with said tyrants. Bullying is often far worse among the adults than among the students. As a victim of both types of bullying, the adult bullying has been far harder to deal with for me.
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Quoting Mark Twain’s use of the word ‘nude’ does not equate with ‘inappropriate’ language for fourth grade students.
What is inappropriate is the overreaction of the prudish teacher/observer who reported this…and then the quick to react with teacher jail, then firing, Esquith by this auto d’ fe minded BoE which chooses to burn teachers at the stake…figuratively, and ruin their lives, literally.
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What a bunch of bullshit!
And some people still wonder why they booted the Pilgrims out of England.
Any who do have obviously never lived in Massachusetts.
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Knew he was going to get fired. When Geragos threatens you and you dont back down, instead you proceed to fire the guy…….yup, they got lots of stuff on him. Esquith can always tell LAUSD to release the details of the allegations to the public. I notice he did no such thing. Everything that has happend is on him. I hope the lawsuit goes through and everthing is released to the public. I want to see everything.
$1 billion dollar lawsuit. Hahahahahaha.
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I have no idea what happened here. Time will tell some things.
But I deeply pity you. It must be a living hell being you and thinking the way you do, saying the things you say, being as you are.
May God bless you, my brother/sister. I am praying for you.
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Chris…we know from the conglomerate of KnowsNothing, certainly not any facts, that his comments here are probably planted as a troll to make trouble…best bet is to ignore him.
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Yeah, I agree with Chris in Florida.
Know-the-facts-first… you’re a malignant ass-clown.
You really love it when people suffer? Don’t you?
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It’s funny to see a poster under flashy pen-name showing his/her deranged character. Pity Ignoretheliesfirst.
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KTFF, your post is idiotic.
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A commenter who takes delight in the genuine and unnecessary suffering of others only degrades and demeans him/herself.
It’s just a desperate attempt to get attention.
Rheephorm: pathetic writ large.
😎
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To Ktff:
For your information, fabricated facts from vicious evils and its followers are very obvious. You need to unlock your thick skull so that you can distinguish the true facts from fabricated facts.
1) Here is a comment that was posted by “melinson” which reads as follows:
“Rafe Esquith worked for me when he was a counselor at Camp Rancho at the Westside Jewish Community Center. I was the camp director. I NEVER heard any accusations against him. As I followed his remarkable career, I reflect on the enthusiastic 18 year old who was admired by the staff and loved by the campers.”
2) Like most of Esquith’s students at Hobart, De La Cruz grew up poor and directionless. He was a young child when his mother suddenly disappeared one day; De La Cruz later learned that, an addict and a dealer, his mom was doing time on a drugs charge. His parents were divorced and De La Cruz wound up living for a time with his father, who worked odd hours as a dishwasher. As young De La Cruz started fifth grade, gang life on the street was beginning to look pretty appealing.
In the early years, Esquith paid for the outings out of his meager paycheck. At one point, De La Cruz recalls, Esquith even sold his car, walking miles to and from school, so he could pay for extras for his students.
For De La Cruz that class trip was as much a journey of self-discovery as an opportunity to see beyond the broken fences and violence of his East LA neighborhood. For three weeks, De La Cruz and his classmates criss-crossed the West, from Wisconsin to Montana, with Esquith and his wife Barbara who always accompanies her husband on student trips.
The trip with Esquith “gave me a sense of country. History came alive for me,” he adds.
3) My name is Joann Cho, and I am a former student of Rafe Esquith turned colleague. I had him as a 5th and 6th grade teacher from 1995-1997, then starting in 2004, I began working for him and the Hobart Shakespeareans as the music director to their annual Shakespeare productions. I have known Rafe as a teacher and more importantly as a person for many years now, and I find the recent abrupt interruption to his year in the classroom to be entirely unnecessary at best.
Rafe is a wonderfully caring, passionate, and dedicated teacher and any student or parent who has worked with him or been part of his class would certainly be in support of his return to Room 56 at Hobart.
He immerses himself fully in his teaching philosophy and cultivates each student in his classroom as if he were their only guiding presence in life– and often times, he is. Over his tenure as an elementary school teacher, particularly at Hobart Elementary (where I was a student), Rafe has gained utmost respect from administrators, colleagues, students, and parents.
KTFF, please cultivate your polluted mind. You must get pay to write your expression ignorantly. Back2basic
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It is astonishing to me that the majority of smart adults within the teaching industry and news industry can still succumb to such a herding and mob mentality. Can any teacher or rational adult actually address the real issue at hand and think for themselves?
It is obvious that the LAUSD suspension method is not perfect but children and adults who were Rafe’s victims as children are reported to have been sexually abused. Of course the on-going investigation by both the LAUSD and LAPD is private and won’t be publishing names until these people decide it’s time to go public on their own. People can attest to someone’s public character as a “good teacher” all they want but it can not and will never disprove that he isn’t a pedophile. In fact, it is well known that pedophiles as much as possible, like to hang out with children. Pedophiles can be charmers, good-looking and charismatic.
I know for a fact that some of the reporters at LA Times and Washington Post have been enlightened with new knowledge of his past abuse, yet they still rise to his defense based on what the public wants the most right now… a witch hunt against LAUSD for teacher jail. Teacher jail might not be a pretty idea, but Rafe Esquith is not and will never be their example of a man of innocence to further the class-action cause.
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In the U.S. the accused are supposed to be, but often aren’t treated as if they are, innocent until they are proven guilty in a court of law.
You sound like a member of a mob that has already found Rafe guilty before his day in court.
I will wait for the court trial, if there is one, and then I’ll even wait for the verdict, but what happens if there is no trial. What will you allege then?
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He’s already guilty from a personal experience when I was a child. Yes Lloyd. I hope he has his day in court. If he does not, myself and others will always know the truth.
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Truth Prevails claims to have been a victim but hides behind an anonymous name. If what you say is true, then come clean, identify yourself and publicly share what happened to you. If what you say is true, you shouldn’t have to fear being taken to court for libel, and revealing who you really are, where you grew up and where you live allows people to find out if what you allege is real or not.
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LAPD has an ongoing investigation. That is all you need to know for now. My story is in the hands of the authorities…. not the platform of the deep dark internet where people like you have a mobster/stalker mentality and the affinity to abscond him of guilt. This is about protecting children!
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“My story is in the hands of the authorities…” And that is where it should have stayed rather than staging what can only be viewed as an attempt to bias opinion with innuendo. What other reason could you possibly have for playing a childish game of “I know something you don”t know. Nanny, nanny, boo, boo.”
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For the very reason people like you doubt and then mock instead of taking the possible angle of compassion and give the benefit of the doubt. Many of us have stayed away from the public eye due to his notoriety and potential fierce bullying of his followers. I’m just putting it out there so that people know there’s definitely facts and a real investigation going on with real witnesses. The LAUSD School Board members voted unaminously with all seven votes to dismiss him permanently. This case is not about teacher jail although I know you wish it would be since I see you are a teacher and probably a bitter one at that (for your own reasons, I’m sure)… but it’s about Rafe being a pedophile.
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This attack on older teachers maybe comes from the billionairs who are privatizing public education. They want to get rid of older teachers to make space for private schools. The LAUSD doesn’t care about Civil Rights or the Disability Act or Age Discrimination. Some of their administrators are the worst bullies and liars in the USA; they would fabricate false allegations in order to achieve their mission. I hope that this case goes all the way to the Supreme Court. Rafe has opposed Common Core since the beginning, and he is a man who would stand for what is right as hundreds of other teachers. This reminds me of Hitler getting rid of the Jewish people because they were the escape goats. In our public schools some of the teachers that are been persecuted are Jewish as well as others. And I want to end with the words of a friend, “She is an evil administrator.”
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