September 21, 2011 To the Board Members of Community Harvest Charter School: As a former teacher of Community Harvest, I am writing to tell you that the school for which you are responsible has become an intolerable and toxic place to work and study. I taught English for seven years at the school, working my way from a part-time art teacher to teaching the upper-division English classes. During this time, I obtained a California Clear Credential, a Masters of Education, and enrolled in Spanish classes to better serve our students. I raised test scores and maintained excellent relationships with all of my students, their parents, and my fellow staff members. I have been let go by the current administration because I raised a number of concerns about the poor management of the school, which negatively affect the mental health and job performance of the teaching staff. The concerns that I raised are the following:
. Community Harvest was once a truly beautiful little school. The administration worked with teachers, and the teaching staff knew that we were a valued, indispensible part of the school’s mission and vision. The school year started with meaningful professional development, including trainings conducted by fabulous outside agencies such as Facing History and Ourselves, and the Partnership to Uplift Communities. The teaching staff was given the opportunity to plan together and work with one another to create a web of connections between subjects. Now, the staff is told to show up on campus for meetings that never even occur, or the current administration walks into school at 9:30 when the meeting was scheduled for 8:30. Teachers are told the day before the students arrive that all of the courses they have taught for years have been changed. Respected and loved teachers are let go (so they do not have to pay their salaries and benefits), and substitutes are hired instead. The message to teachers is clear: we do not respect you, your skills, or your time. What is the vision and mission of the school? Clearly, the current administration does not believe in the original vision of a school that serves the COMMUNITY, a school that values, above all, COMMUNITY, and a school that teaches its students to speak out against the injustices they see in their COMMUNITY. The students at the current school are suffering. They lack the vital human connections with the teachers that always set our school apart. They are doing “team building” with substitute teachers… a fact that many of my former students wrote e-mails to me about, laughing at the irony. The school does not provide access to technology, leaving many of our economically disadvantaged students completely behind, as many will graduate without even knowing how to use Microsoft Word. Classes are not always staffed, leaving students to their own devices for hours of the school day. They spend up to three hours of each day on a school bus. Students, who are falling far behind their peers in other schools, do not even have the option to stay after school for tutoring, as the busses leave at 3:35. Teachers know their students need help, are willing to help, but are powerless to do so. The school has abandoned one of its core practices: Connections. Students at Community Harvest were always fortunate to have Connections, a time when we talked and shared our lives. It prevented fights and other mean-spirited activities that are now just part of the day-to-day at the school. Connections promoted good decision making and thinking about the consequences of your actions. Last year’s senior class saw four pregnancies (that is 20% of the girls in the class!). The students do not respect the school; they leave trash everywhere, tag the walls and tables, and urinate all over the bathroom walls and floors. No kidding - this is what has become of our beautiful little community! The staff is afraid to speak out, and there is no forum for registering concerns about the state of the school. The administration’s adversarial approach to the teaching staff has resulted in teachers walking out in the middle of the school day, or teachers quitting without even notifying the administration. Six teachers left in the middle of the school year last year. Teachers and staff members have had panic attacks at school and health problems associated with stress prompting them to quit. This is not normal. I was once deeply proud to be a part of Community Harvest. I felt a strong sense of purpose, and I knew that what we grew the community was harvesting. On the old campus, funders came through campus constantly with looks of sheer joy at the happenings on campus. During the charter renewal process in 2006, LAUSD representatives were so taken with the beauty of our little school that they just kept hanging around our campus soaking it all in. I have not seen anyone interested in funding our school in years, and LAUSD visits are feared (for good reason). Watching our thriving school implode under the direction of inefficient, dishonest leaders provokes a sadness in me that words fail to express. What will the community harvest from this school? Has the community now harvested a failing school? Is this the kind of place on which you are willing to stake your own reputation? I write this because I feel otherwise powerless to change the culture and the administration of the school. I feel that these issues, and many others, need to be thoroughly examined and addressed before it is too late. I cannot imagine that LAUSD would renew this charter, and the only way to save the school is to replace the existing board and to hire qualified administrators whose sincere interest lies not in their own glory, their own pocketbook, or their own job security, but in the interest of the students they serve. I look forward to hearing your response. Best, Anna Klemmer Robinson Former Teacher Community Harvest Charter School |
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