Friday, June 25, 2010
"Teacher" should really be in quotes, since it sounds as though what Brian Kwoba really was was a radical leftist indoctrination machine at Cambridge Rindge and Latin. He's been on the radar briefly here before (see here and here, for instance):
Brian Kwoba, in terror scarf, pursuing his true passion.
Here is Kwoba's whiny lament from the Cambridge Chronicle: Guest commentary: A Cambridge Public School dictatorship?
Cambridge -- The Cambridge Rindge and Latin School administration is a dictatorship which has terminated one of its most passionate and outspoken teachers. To understand why, I want to share my experience as a teacher in the school for the past three years.
Admittedly, I am not a typical teacher. I am the faculty adviser to the Peace and Justice Club, and have organized in-school assemblies about US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have co-organized trips for students to volunteer in Tanzania and to march for LGBT equality in Washington, DC. I am the only African-American male in the history department.
In mid-March, I was shockingly informed by the dean of the department, Damon "Uncle" Smith, that he was not recommending me for continued employment. What were his reasons?
One was that I gave the wrong exam to my honors class last semester, the other was that I "took too long" to mature as a teacher. Even if both these charges were true (and they are patent lies), neither would be legitimate reasons to dismiss me--unless all along the principal, Chris Saheed, had an agenda to do so before I got the tenure that I was to receive at the end of this year. Was there such an agenda?
Ever since I started working with students to make social change, I have felt nothing but hostility from the administration. In January 2009, I sent an email to all staff announcing a meeting to address Israel's war on the Gaza strip. I was lambasted by the administration for having the audacity to "take a side" (as an advisor to a club advocating peace, mind you). After this incident, the administration put up resistance to the posting of club flyers in the school and censored any mention of US foreign policy from our mission statement...
Oh, do read the rest. You know you want to. May I also just mention how insane it is to think that High School teachers actually get tenure? That just sounds crazy and pointless to me. What a great way to make instructors even less accountable, and thus even worse.
Oh, and DO read the comments as well. You wouldn't think that a Cambridge paper would be getting so many unsympathetic comments, but this fellow has clearly earned few admirers amongst the student body. Example:
Give me a break....clearly, you were using your job to perpetuate your own social and political agendas. I know for a fact that you were not a very organized or particularly good teacher. At first you seemed like the 'cool' teacher, the approachable and interesting guy that was on your side. That quickly turned out to be not true. The last week of your job, you taught your students biased beliefs about US involvement in other countries. All of the material for your homework assignments was drawn from websites like 'socialistworker.org.' Your grading systems and lesson plans were messy, seemingly thrown together haphazardly and not thought out very well. You told us that we needed the entire story to asses a situation, but quickly proved that you were a hypocrite in that area. The fact that you have the audacity to believe that the school is against you because your ideas are too radical, or because you're the 'only black male history teacher' is ridiculous and only proves that you are an overly self-righteous moron. Have you ever considered that you weren't asked to return because you're not a very good teacher, and Cambridge Public Schools doesn't feel the need to keep you around? Gee, how's that for a thought?
A Communist denied continuing employment in the People's Republic of Cambridge? Now that is an accomplishment.
The progressives in that town have no idea how grating they are. The comments are the best part of that article.
those kids really dislike that teacher. they know they were being stiffed and having their time wasted in class.
those kids are going to be pissed when they realize that people like that nutjob are running the country.
"May I also just mention how insane it is to think that High School teachers actually get tenure."
I very much doubt that in the public school system "tenure" implies the same thing, that is "job for life, nearly impossible to fire," that it does in universities. I expect that it simply means that the teacher has performed satisfactorily during a standard initial "probationary" period and now has more job security, but not "near imposssible to fire" status. New employees of the federal government are "probationary" ones until after a couple of years they become "permanent" ones, which doesn't mean they can't later be fired for cause.
All public school teachers are nearly impossible to fire. All that is required to achieve that status is being hired.
You are seriously misinformed.
Not even pedo teachers are fire-able. They are removed from classrooms and go sit in a room every workday, with full pay, forever and ever.
Little known fact. The public school system in the US has a higher percentage of child molesting staff than the Catholic Church.
Indeed. It is VERY difficult to fire public school teachers, particularly at the High School level. It's a big problem out there.