Saturday, February 19, 2011

Pandora's Box

I've got four of these boxes marked "Evidence", stacked one on top of another in the corner of my bedroom.  They hold all the papers having to do with Principal Perry's campaign to demolish my career:  U-rated lesson reports and my replies;  Lesson plans together with my students' work;  Letters to my file with my replies;  Students' statements that break my heart every time I read them. 

It was all to be used when I finally appeared before an arbitrator at a 3020a hearing and got to face my accuser before an impartial judge with a UFT attorney by my side ready to use all that evidence to demolish the rotten infrastructure of Principal Perry's lies and reveal her for the corrupt Bloomburger Borg that she is.

Then I realized from watching others go through the process that the 3020a hearing would not be a chance to find justice, but would be a kangaroo court heavily weighted on the side of Principal Perry.  That is one of the reasons I decided to retire after the November 1st deadline came and went without my having received any charges.

Since then, the boxes have stood as grim reminders of some of the most horrible moments of my life.  I have enjoyed my last few months of freedom, but I knew that sooner or later I would have to open those boxes and deal with what was inside.  That is what I finally started doing today.  It was time.

After having read through some of those papers, I've decided that it is time to start writing about it.  I don't know exactly what's going to come out, but it's necessary to deal with it.  Without the 3020a hearing, this is the only way I can get closure. 

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think writing does help. Writing helped me get through my darkest times when I was a victim of arbitrary and capricious conduct.

Just be careful with what you write though on your blog. Make sure that whatever you write is just to advocate for the rights of teachers. Spin it in a way to promote yourself but not actually demote how the principal looked.

This is something I have learned to do in the last few months.

Moriah Untamed said...

Thank you for your advice. It might work in your case. You are still trying to survive within the system. I've retired, remember?

It is impossible for me to analyze a U-rating report that Principal Perry wrote, and not "demote how the principal looked. The whole process demotes how the principal and her assistant principals look. The process is called "Mobbing" and I will be referring to it from now on in almost every post.

Through this blog and using her own words and those of her accomplices, the assistant principals, I very much plan to demote how she looked.

Pissedoffteacher said...

I am just getting to know, in person, a blogger who just went through this ordeal. Fortunately, he came through with a fine and got his job back. All the charges against him were unfounded and that is what the arbitor found.

Expose your principal. Although I am not in your shoes, I intend to expose many of the things my AP has done over the years (more than I have already done) when I retire. Nothing can hurt you now.

The only way for you to survive is to expose this monster for what s/he is. You won't be demonizing, you will be showing true colors.

Anonymous said...

I did not have a 3020a hearing (thankfully) but had similar write ups to discredit me and make look ineffective.
It actually seemed quite impossible for me to do in the beginning but with great lawyer skills and uft advocates, there are other meanings in between the fabricated documents.

I do not want to discuss this publicly but if you email me, I can give you specific details on how I was to discredit this administrator. When I say 'discredit', I mean only on the inside. I did not actually win the real battle but I won the inside battle. This is what counts the most.

Chaz said...

Go for it. We bloggers still have first amendment rights and unless you shout fire in a crowded movie theater the Principal cannot do a thing about it.

Moriah Untamed said...

Thank you all for your support. As I mention in another post, Mobbing is a lonely process when you are the one being mobbed. Writing this blog and reading the comments and feedback I received helped me get through this horrible experience. My family and a small nucleus of friends were also invaluable. Human beings are social creatures. We cannot survive alone.

Exposing the name of the principal, assistant principals, and the name of the school and community is inevitable. It is the end game of this blog. Principal P./Perry will see her name in writing together with everything she and her henchmen wrote about me. And it will be done on my terms - not in a 3020a hearing under the political dominance of Michael Bloomberg.

There is a missing voice in this story that I am waiting to include: The students and their parents. I need to talk to them face to face. That is another reason why I didn't choose to go the legal route. I have no intention of suing anyone. I have every intention of publishing real names.

Anonymous said...

Moriah -

I want you to know that the 3020-a process not only does NOT help provide closure, it worsens life during and afterward.

You did the self-loving thing in retiring.

I was 2 floors down from you in the rubber room. I went through the whole process and was fired through a vicious, surreal, insane process that included witnesses, and every attorney in the room with me. I paid a great deal of money to a private attorney who only hurt me more, my fellow ex-NYC DoE teacher.

EVERY one of us who was fired or forced out has suffered grievously. Every former teacher who lived through this hell is, years later, either physically ill and/or mentally debilitated.

I am using a variety of methods to heal from this years-long and thorougly destructive ordeal. If you'd like to talk or even just privately e-mail about this, please indicate this on your blog here.

My heart is with you. Please take very good care of yourself by turning your face often to what is bright and joyful, humorous, touching, wondrous. Do what feels good and happy and life-affirming often during the day.

You are an exceptional human being who has spent years doing what is noble.

Cayce

Anonymous said...

How do you "demote" how someone looks?

"Denigrate" works well and makes sense.

Moriah Untamed said...

There you go, Tracie. Don't post comments on a teacher blog without expecting to be corrected by the passing LA teacher. I'd probably do the same thing if someone mispoke (is that a word, LA people?) about science--but no one is ever talking about science.

Cayce, thanks. It's important to keep in contact with people who have suffered the same trauma, but it's also very painful. I'll talk to the liason.