I prefer to recollect that story as an example of:

<> How a single individual can make a difference without suing the teacher and the district
<> How the rest of the faculty learned how they might have helped their fellow teacher reach an early retirement
<> How the system can be impacted from the inside in ways parents can never impact it because they aren;t there to see what needs to be seen
<> How eager and grateful the principal was for the tactful and trusting assistance I provided by cluing him in on when to catch this poor lady's burnout behavior


Remember that the teacher I described had long been a great teacher, had had a good record of working with most of her career-long roster of students, and deserved to be treated with respect. Is it her fault that the classroom management methods she had learned many years previous had been eclipsed by our fast-changing society and escalating fears of school violence?

Tenure is a powerful thing-- I honestly don't think they knew how to get around it, until I showed them a little creative thinking. It does give me pause, though, still today-- that what I did, I had to do not as a parent, but as a colleague.... that as a parent, if my son had drawn her before I'd gotten that office-- there is not much I could have done.

Still-- I'm so glad that there were non-legalistic options open to me, and to her peers and principal. She exited into what I hope was a career option of tutoring (or something equally less-stressful), where her gifts could benefit students.

~Susan