Customer Reviews

When Teachers Talk: Principal Abuse of Teachers / The Untold Story

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I just couldn't put it down--reason being, I was one of 500 Chicago Public School teachers and numerous other teachers across the country interviewed in the book. But, more importantly is that YOU won't be able to put it down either. You'll be mesmerized, as was I, by the mind-boggling stories told by the other teachers who were interviewed. They describe in detail the abuse of both students and teachers--abuse going on daily-- right under the noses of the kids' parents who, by the way, are often being played like fiddles by the school principals.

This book is an anthology of one "OMG" (Oh, my God!) true story after the next. I found myself gasping in horror at what I was reading or sighing in empathy with disbelief at a teacher's plight in dealing with the stress caused directly by their administrator. The teachers' tales spotlight incident after incident of shocking, incredible, and egregious abuses of power that are perpetrated daily by school principals on their students and staffs. And, because the teachers were interviewed under the protective blanket of anonymity, they were free to pour out their hearts without fear of retribution on the job.

We all know that "Johnny can't read", but Schnall's book explains precisely why. Quite plainly, the crux of the book is that the problem lies right in the principals' offices. Thank goodness Schnall has had the courage actually write this book and to speak out on behalf of the kids --they are the ultimate victims when politics come before their welfare.

Schnall not only gives the teachers the freedom to talk of their worst experiences, but also additionally of their best experiences with principals. And, she has taken it a step further by asking teachers for their suggestions as to what can be done to improve their intolerable and deplorable work situation. Solutions are offered. Yes, the teachers offer substantive solutions. What a breath of fresh air.

I could not more highly recommend this book to anyone with a child in school. It explains what's really going on behind the scenes when you're not able to be there. Like I said, you won't be able to put it down and will want to share it with your friends. I find myself showing it to everyone I meet. And, they are mindblown and outright stunned when they realize what's really going on behind classroom doors.

WHEN TEACHERS TALK is sure to be a best seller. It is an amazing tribute to our dedicated teachers with all they are forced to endure--as well as a must read for all concerned parents. So, don't get your child's teacher an apple--get him or her this book! Or better yet-- do your kids a favor and give it to the members of your school board.

This book contains stories of teachers that have been abused mentally, verbally, emotionally, and one could even say physically due to how stress from the other abuse has affected one's health. I know from personal experience which is why I changed careers from teaching to counseling. However, these stories give me comfort and support knowing that I was not alone. Too many administrators and school boards really only care about the big salary they get and the funding they can get for their school system at the expense of the teachers and the children. Education reform is our next big task to tackle!

Ms. Schnall does public education a great service by exposing one of its greatest weaknesses-the lack of any sort of team effort made on behalf of students. Public education in the United States is a top-down management service. Students and teachers are made to serve parents, administrators and boards of education rather than having boards, administrators, parents and teachers serve students. Many administrators have run from their classrooms because of their own inadequacies, or boredom, or desire to wring the most money possible from the system before retirement. Very few enter administration with the goal of working with teachers to better educate students.

I speak from the vantage point of 36 years as a classroom teacher. Seldom during my tenure did I meet or work for administrators who knew how to lead an educational team. In fact, looking back on my career, I had the privelege of working with three true administrators. Others may have been good managers of money; some may have been great at statistics and making impressive public presentations at board meetings; others could develop a calendar; a few were really good disciplinarians, and many were so inept that they were kept silent in their offices pushing paper at high salaries. But with the exception of the aforementioned three, none knew how to better their teachers' skills or develop strong curricula. In regard to teacher preparedness and development, public education is a 'sink or swim', haphazard conglomerate of isolated classrooms, little communication and and an attitude of "make me and my child/school/district look good or I'll get you."

The teachers quoted in Ms. Schnall's work speak for all of us who have met with frustration and even discrimination in our attempts to do the best for our students.

"When Teachers Talk" exposes some of the hidden truths in the teaching profession. In order to have success with students it takes the combined effort of effective funding, parents, teachers, and principals. As the husband of a teacher I have similar stories to those found in "When Teachers Talk" - it is obvious that a bad or ineffective principal can kill the motivation of an entire school. Does this make sense? It should, since an ineffective manager or CEO will doom an entire business. Think of the old adage - people quit a boss and not a job.

"When Teacher Talks" Exposes-

- Some principals play favorites with teachers
- Uneven discipline can undermine the teachers efforts
- Principles who are overly political and pander to the school board
- Unfair treatment of teachers
- How the Teacher's Union can be undermined and rendered ineffective

You can change the word "Principle' with "Manager" and you realize that these are the same problems that are faced in industry. The primary difference is that when a principle is ineffective the students suffer.

Are the interviews/write-ups one-sided? Absolutely, and I am sure that some (maybe even many) of the teachers who provided stories have their own issues. However, there is truth in what they write. To use another familiar "Where there is smoke there is fire." Ms. Schnall should be applauded for exposing an area of the education process that is often ignored.

Final verdict - I would recommend "When Teacher talk" to parents, principles and school board members. Teachers... may want to avoid it, since it will likely just make them upset by relaying stories that they have lived first hand.

4 1/2 stars

----Please note that I reviewed a free promotional copy which was provided by the author/publisher--

Fascinating book to read. This problem is nation-wide, not just in Chicago. The first step to changing a situation is awareness. Anyone interested in the future of education in our country must read this book.
No Child Left Behind? The True Story of a Teacher's Quest

I have been reading this book a bit at a time. It rings very true. I think this books brings out into the open some of the things that goes on in our schools that keep teachers from being their best. What many principals do not seem to realize is that honey will get more from a person than vinegar (old saying). Whenever I have had a supportive principal I would go to the ends of the earth to support him/her back. Treat teachers like you want to be treated and things will turn around.

This book is about the perceived decline of the American public school system and indentifies as a significant cause inefficient and ineffective school administration. The author bases her conclusions on a combination of statistical data and 500 interviews of Chicago public teachers conducted between 2000 and 2005. Ms Schnall concludes that abuse of teachers by principals is a major contributor.

If successful graduation is a measure of educational success, is a 70% success rate acceptable? Is it acceptable that only 48% of African American males earn a diploma? What are the barriers to higher rates of success? What influences these rates? Is there a crisis in education? And if there is, what do Americans want to do about it?

While I agree with Ms Schnall that effective administration and leadership is part of the equation, and that the power of principals should not be unfettered, I suspect the underlying causes are many and complex. This book is not the answer to the problems identified, but it is a great contribution to the ongoing debate about public education. A similar look at the views and challenges of school administration from the perspective of principals would be useful.

I read this book as an interested outsider with no direct experience of the American public school system but a very keen interest in the quality and availability of public education. While the content is specifically American, the issues raised (increasing the effectiveness of education, and the efficiency with which it is delivered) are global.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

This book reveals one of the "dirty little secrets" that goes on in the field of education. A lot principals abuse their power, by: writing untrue things about the teacher / or the sub in their files, emotionally abusing staff, as well as other things that gone on behind closed doors. People who work outside of the field of education have no clue about what really goes on! These stories are real, and I know that they are truthful, because I can honestly say that similar things have happened to me after working in education for about ten years as a sub (One time I was screamed at by a principal. I resigned the next day.) How much longer are we going to take this S*** and start holding Principals accountable? This is one of the most interesting books I have ever read on the subject of education. Anyone who has ever gone to school (that's everyone of course) will find this book extremely interesting. You won't be able to stop reading this book of personal stories, and you'll be saying "OMG!" at some of the stories. It's hard to believe that SOME principals treat their staff that way. This book truly gives great principals a bad name for this field. I am glad someone finally exposed these things to "outsiders" in a book about this subject!

I have read all the books but one in this category and I am personally aware of similar horror stories in schools all over the nation as an advocate for teachers and students as well as the victim of a twisted principle, his incompetent AP toadies and a swarm of snakes infesting the LA school system. My story is much worse than what most of these teachers'mand my story is about a 7 on a 1- 10 scale of horror stories. A lot of accounts are far worse. Consider a teacher in Montana being terrorized on campus by her school leaders who later accused her of looking at porno and frequently intimidated her at her home. LA teachers are often defamed, wantonly abused, threatened, stalked, intimidated and some say in fear for their lives. I cannot say I am certain there are physical threats but I do know of at least four LA teacher's driven to early graves as a direct result of the stress administrators inflicted maliciously on their daily life. Both were were not discovered for days and in one case, worried colleagues, unable to reach the teacher begged the district for his address. The cold refusal outraged his friends who suspect they could have intervened and saved his life had they had his address. The truth is the district's agenda was better served with the veteran teacher out of the way, ROz Press will tell you this is standard procedure. In 2000 she was sprayed in the face with a fire extinguisher by a student. Her principal refused to call an ambulance or to clean up the toxic mess in the classroom. Press was forced to stay put until the last bell.Somehow she drove herself to an ER. She needs a walker now and is a shadow of the happy teacher she was. 12 years later she has yet to be awarded workman's comp and school officials have squandered a fortune on bogus doctors and lawyers to avoid admission of guilt. Recently she as awarded $35 a week for a workplace violence case that has cost her everything but her life. She says the school district will celebrate her demise, but Roz Press's is tenaciously holding on. She complains less bitterly than many teachers in this book. Andvthatscwhy it is less than 5 stars in my book.
Of course teachers careers, marrriages and health are being destroyed with bogus accusations all the time. Yet none of this is really considered very closely. It reads like a teacher lounge coffee clatch.
I read When Teachers Talk before I met Roz, and I thought some of the excerpts were revealing but as a whole the impact of this book is limited for a few reasons. Sure, there are some anecdotes here that are easy to relate to and clearly acts of administrative abuse. However,too many seem petty and not entirely credible due to the tone the speakers employ and the insignificance of their claims. It may be wrong for a principal to ignore your morning greeting or forget your name, but it's not exactly devastating or necessarily sonething a teacher should take personally. The book should have developed more of the serious acts of harassment, focusing on mobbing, and included much more information about school operations, the mistreatment of student and how these working conditions effected their personal and professional,lives.m
It is something Blasé and Blasé examine in Breaking the Silence, which could benefit from more of what When Teachers Talk has too much of. Transversely, When Teachers Talk lacked any real explication of what these stories meant and why it is necessary for this to end. The lack of insights about how students are treated, the ramifications of these hostile workplaces and a deeper look into what happens to teacher's in contentious situations at school would make the book a must have for anyone interested in education reform. It could , as is, come off as whiny , lacking credibility and a little Nuerotic for many readers simply because they have little understanding about the complexity of running a school or a classroom.
It was written with its heart in the right place and the interviews are candid and engaging more often than not. This seems to be a way to bring objectivity into the mix. I admire that, but what readers will take away from When Teachers Talk could do the fight to save teachers schools and ultimately children( our future) may cause more harm than good. If the writers did a second edition using Blases research, cutting some of the excess and less than riveting dstiries along with developing some details about the fate of teacher, the careers costs they endur, and especially how we model behavior as assaults, it could be an incredible book, perhaps the best on the list.. I can't recommend this for anyone except teachers, and I would urge them to read Wihite Chalk Crime instead and suggest they go with one of the two books examining Corruption in school systems. For a lawyers in education law, Breaking the Silence is must have, as well as the corruption books.
Unfortunately , when teachers talk is too much like teachers talking.