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Teacher Fired For Refusing Training
If your boss came to you and told you that you had to take a class to learn how to do your job better and that the company would pay for it, would you say no? What if your manager said that if you didn’t complete the training, you would be fired? I’m pretty sure that I’d go ahead and take the class. Not everyone, however, feels the same way.
A school district in San Joaquin County, California told all its teachers that they needed to be trained in techniques to better teach students who were not fluent in English — about 20% of California students. This instruction is part of the standard education for new teachers, but those who received their credential prior to 2003 may not have covered this information. Theresa Messick of Ripon High School is one such veteran teacher.
Messick, who received her credential in 1985, declined the training and the school district began proceedings to terminate her employment. She sued, naturally, and has been handed a defeat by the Third District Court of Appeal in Sacrmento. The ruling was unanimous (3-0); Justice George Nicholson noted that “the Legislature has recognized that the number of [English Learner] students in the state is increasing, and it has clearly instructed the state to prepare for this need.”
A teacher I spoke with described the training as useful. She explained that “it makes you rethink about how they’re thinking and what it must be like for them. You think about what it must be like to be in a classroom where the people around are using vocabulary that you don’t understand. The training gives you techniques on how to help EL students understand the vocabulary as well as how they can communicate using the vocabulary in the classroom.”
So why did she refuse the paid-for training? I suspect only she knows, but her lawyer did say that the certification was not relevant in her case since “no English learner had ever attempted to sign up for her classes.” One has to wonder how much that has to do with the fact that, according to the lawyer, less than 3% of the students at the high school are EL students and how much has to do with discouragement from Ms. Messick.
As far as I’m concerned, a teacher who is not interested in continuing their own education has no place being in a classroom responsible for the education of others.
Photo: Uncle Roger
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7 Comments
jenny tries too hard commented on Oct 13 09 at 10:42 amRidiculous. Of course she should go to training. Just another entitled soul who thinks rules are for everyone but themselves.
James commented on Nov 02 09 at 4:12 pmI’ve found just about every training exercise to poorly executed by “professionals” in the private sector who only ever taught upper-middle income students. Training would be great if it were ever done to meet the needs of teachers in the classroom. I have rarely seen this to be the case.
JEff commented on Nov 21 09 at 8:27 pmthis teacher is awesome she clearly standing up for what she wants to do
Alex commented on Nov 22 09 at 9:03 pmI suspect she objected to having to learn to teach immigrants who don’t speak the local language. Y’know, people that ought not to be in the country in the first place, or who at least ought to take responsibility for learning English themselves? I think it’s a little shocking that 20% of California students are not fluent in English, and a bit nuts that the state’s answer to this is to provide state funded teacher training on how to deal with these kids, rather than stopping them being there in the first place. What’s next, textbooks in both English and Spanish?
Bobby commented on Mar 11 10 at 10:18 pmTHIS IS SHIT. Messick is the only music teacher and is not an English teacher. If you have trouble with English they have special ESL classes, especially at Ripon High. She doesn’t deserve to be punished for what she’s been doing since the beginning of her teaching career. And Roger, you need to reassess your definition of “continuing their own education” because she has more of a place in that classroom than you do writing this column.
sharon commented on Mar 17 10 at 7:32 pmComments:
I cannot really speak to this specific situation ( and neither can anyone else ) because I am only getting a small part of the story and I am sure Ms. Messick has some reasons which have not been totally shared here. HOWEVER, I can speak to the fact that over the years that I have been a teacher the districts and administrators that I have worked for regularly parade out ” new and fabulous” training/curriculum work etc. that usually costs a district thousands and thousands of dollars. We are told that it is all amazing and will totally transform our teaching. MOST of the countless training, material, conferences, superintendent days I have spent listening to people who run districts is TOTAL CRAP. It mostly looks like people justifying the larger salaries they receive as administrators. Good and solid teachers get totally burned out because something new comes along all the time and we all have to stop and bow down to the newest trends. But really, it is the same old stuff. It doesn’t help. We just need more time to work collegially with our peers to develop good materials. And while I am ranting, I am tired of the politicians claiming that all teachers suck. Children come to school these days with absolutely no respect. The parents get pissed off if you discipline their children, the parents get pissed off if you give truly reflective grades and parents are constantly harassing teachers about the most ridiculous things. Then our administrators don’t truly discipline the kids, right now we have a program where we hand out praise stickers for the dumbest things – like cooperating!!!
Jess commented on Jan 13 12 at 2:51 pmThe US is the only country that has these rules (everything must be bilingual to be pc nowadays). And when I apply for a job and mention that I am bilingual, but don’t speak Spanish, can you guess what I get told? Maybe there should be a separate class to teach English (our official national language) that needs to be passed before students can enter English-speaking public schools.
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