The School Principle/Principal Problem

By Robert Ringer

In Installment XIV of this series, I suggested that there should be both cameras and parents present in every classroom. Which brought a couple of e-mails from hopping-mad teachers. But the overwhelming majority of responses were pretty much in agreement with the one below.

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I learned at a very early age that teachers can be bullies themselves. I was in first grade back in the early fifties. The teacher called me into her room at lunch while the rest of the children were out playing. As I approached her desk, she began yelling at me to close the door of the classroom behind me, which I did.

She then accused me of not paying my "Weekly Reader" subscription for the year. I told her I did pay it. Next thing I knew, she came toward me and slapped me across the face - hard. My nose began bleeding immediately. She sent me to the restroom to clean up, and thought the matter was over. After all, I was only six years old.

I told my parents about the incident when I got home. Both of them went to school and confronted my teacher about hitting me. The teacher denied it all and said I was lying. Thankfully, my parents believed me, and she never touched me again, but it began a mistrust for teachers that I carried with me all during my school years.

That was years ago, and I survived. However, if cameras were installed, they would have caught my grandson's first-grade teacher ranting and raving about what she was even doing in a classroom since she didn't even like children. He has never forgotten that day. How sad.

The rules have changed from my school days to his, but there is definitely room for improvement. The best day-care centers have one-way glass windows looking into the classroom and cameras running at all times for observation by parents and grandparents.

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So, yes, I favor having parents and cameras in the classroom. But even if that were accomplished, there's another fundamental issue that would still need to be addressed in order to keep abusive teachers in line. I like to refer to it as the "principle/principal," because it all begins and ends with the school principal. (Whenever I use the word principal, it is intended to include "headmasters" at private schools as well.)

I believe every school board (public or private) should make it clear to the principal that he works for, and is answerable to, the parents of his students. The corollary to this proposition is that it should be made ultra-clear by every school board that the principal is not there to defend the teachers.

Of and by itself, this would dramatically change the dynamics of parent-teacher confrontations. If enough parents complain to the school board that a principal failed to defend them and their children against teacher abuse, he should be given a harsh warning. If further complaints of this nature are lodged against him, he should be put on notice that his termination is close at hand. Then, if he still does not get the message, they should send him out into the real world and let him try to make a living without the support of the NEA.

I've had many meetings with principals over the years with regard to unacceptable teacher behavior, and, without exception, they have tenaciously defended the teachers in question. On some occasions, the teachers' actions were factually indefensible, yet the principals stood their ground.

I believe the reason for this is that school principals make the same mistake as many business owners and CEOs: They become addicted to the sycophantic adulation of their employees. The unspoken understanding is that, in exchange for treating the principal as if he were the most important person on earth, they can count on him to stand up for them against wave-making parents.

In some cases, of course, the principal is the fox guarding the henhouse. One of my children attended a public school that had such a fox at the helm. The principal ("Mr. Bershitske") bore a remarkable physical resemblance to Adolf Eichmann — but had a much worse demeanor.

One of Mr. Bershitske's favorite pastimes was reaching out from around a corner and grabbing a passing student by the arm, then greeting him with, "Where do you think you're going?" After the student answered the question in a quavering voice, Mr. Bershitske would gruffly tell him, "All right, get moving. And don't stop anywhere along the way." Sweet man, Mr. B.

But whether it's a Bershitske or the next incarnation of the Dalai Lama who holds the post of principal, there should be no doubt in his mind that the parents are his employers. Or, in the case of a private school, the parents are the school's customers — and it is the principal's job to please them.

Specifically, the school principal should clearly understand that his top priority is to protect students from verbal and physical abuse, whether such abuse comes from other students or from teachers. If it were up to me, I would triple the salaries of principals and make sure they understood on which side their bread was buttered. (I believe CEOs should make big money, because the biggest salaries attract the best people — and motivate them to please their boards of directors.)

So long as principals protect rogue teachers, the us-against-them (the parents) mentality will prevail in our schools. Worse, retribution and retaliation against the children of parents who complain will continue to be the weapons of choice for bullying teachers. This is the ultimate fear of every parent, and the reason most incidents go unreported.

Previous - Part XIV, The Best Parent: The Welcome Mat

Next - Part XVI, The Transition: How We Live

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