Blackhole in the Blueprint

REMARKS BY OTHER EDUCATORS

The following are excerpts from comments written by those who have read the book, "Black Hole in the Blueprint", by Janice Howes

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I was unable to go back to work for the distress caused by my principal. I spent a year out of work. Not even the union was able to help.

I too experienced unbelievable abuses from the Bersin crew….demoted and targeted--an interesting few years!

The worst thing that happened to me is that I buried my husband on Tuesday, returned to school on Thursday and was pulled into the principal's office on Friday--never having been observed once all year, and having a great evaluation the previous year--and told that I needed--must--retire.

I am one of the few [central office administrators] to survive the rein of terror by Alan Bersin. In my opinion he is a sociopath with no conscience and….It is a fairly well known fact that Anthony Alvarado used the term "contaminants" to describe the more experienced teachers to principals, and it is no great secret that his stated directive to principals was to document a predetermined number of contaminants each year …. Furthermore, this same approach was used with the Instructional Leaders when they were admonished to rid the district of "contaminant principals" using the same logic and criteria…Thanks for sharing your story….it took a lot of courage to do so.

I am a retired teacher….having taught 32 years with SD City Schools….I have friends who are still teaching and they relate the exact images you have stated occurring in their schools. They cry, they are sad, they worry, they are demoralized, and cannot wait to retire. Many of my friends have resigned due to Bersin's demonic behavior instilling terroristic tactics in his principals to rid the schools of anyone they wish to target…I saw the beginnings of this horrendous behavior and am grateful to have retired when I did. My personal opinion is that the City Schools are broken and cannot be fixed….When I received your book, I could not wait to read it, having been part of the system for so long.

I'm still reading the book…don't want to put it down. It is the most compelling read about us in print! It's positively riveting! ….relentless pursuit of the truth in exposing the monsters who have heaped abuse and harassment and indignities upon so many of us and our fellow teachers…Do not hesitate to get a hold of this book and then pass it on to your friends. It's that worthwhile.

Got your book yesterday. Can't put it down!… I've got people lining up to read it. I can't believe what you've accomplished.

I filed a complaint with the district regarding the horrific abuse due to utter incompetence our principal has inflicted in the years she's been there and I STILL have not heard one word from the district, not even the legal department to tell me they've received my form…The district is worse than anyone believes…what you have done is astounding and I hope that finally something good will come of it. It is about time we stop suffering silently!!!

I started the book yesterday and finished it tonight. Wow!! I congratulate you on maintaining your sanity. I would like to purchase a book for myself. I would also like to donate some money so that you can send the book to more people. Your book should be required reading for all district employees.

Our AR received her copy of your book yesterday. It has caused quite a stir. I can totally relate to your experience. Our AR took the book home last night and said she read for hours….I'm so glad you had the courage to publish this.

I am sorry that it was so stressful for you, and hope you are uplifted by the good that will come of it. After the [church] service, I asked the Pastor, quickly, if I could offer your books to the congregation, since we had prayed for SDCS teachers for two years, in the past. He said yes, and asked me to make an announcement. I did, and explained to the whole congregation that you were one of the teachers we had been praying for….and unlike many who died, committed suicide or were forced to resign, you had taken the harder path of standing up to it and seeing it through, and had written this book about your experience. I encouraged them to read it…I am praying for your safety and health.

 I just received a call from a teacher at my former school--she had seen a copy of your book and couldn't wait to call me. Apparently, you and I have a lot in common. My friend read excerpts from your book and it was just like my story!

I consider it a good day if I don't have to interact with the principal and a great day if I don't even see her. I certainly don't trust her.

Some of my closest friends were the 15 administrators fired publically, put on the internet who have sued and won--but were just brutalized by Bersin and his horrific Instructional Leaders.

This seems to be a "must read" for all teachers in this district. A note of interest: principals were told to keep this book secret.

Your book is creating an interesting little buzz around the district.

Some of my administrator friends have [read your book] and you are making a major impact!

 You should get my check for a book tomorrow. You deserve thousands of dollars. What you wrote has been just talk (and not out in the open) til now. It is unbelievable what is happening everyday to many, many teachers by those that graduated from [The Institute] school.

Excellent work, Janice!! Congratulations! I don't know you, but I am very, very proud of you! I LOVE your title.

Janice, thank you so much for THE book! What a job! So much detailed information! It is hard to believe the court system let you down…but "the truth will prevail"…someday.

I am delighted to see the book now available. I can assure you that teacher abuse is quite generic; it eerily followed the same patterns I experienced….Our policy is to promote materials that directly educate the public about the phenomenon of teacher abuse, which this book so clearly does…People need to understand what is happening behind the scenes in many schools--the public must protect this institution and those who serve children….She even writes about how teacher abuse morphs into legal abuse when a teacher tries to defend her rights. She misses little in this extraordinary book.

There's precious little time in the Black Hole….I dread the job I used to love--and you know I have lots of company. I've had an article bouncing around my brain cells, titled "Why San Diego Teachers Can't Teach", which has never been penned…Thanks for turning "my article" into a book!

I'm a newly hired resource specialist and have spent a most difficult year. My principal has my 30 year career in her hands and I'm so scared!

You wrote the book I was going to write. God bless you for it. Thank God someone had the gumption to do what you did. I know of many people who have a similar story to tell.

Alan Bersin is a very dangerous person to work with….Teachers, parents, and even administrators don't trust him.

I hope this will inspire others to tell their stories about the criminal ways people have been treated in the guise of "for the children".

I understand that the corruption and deceit goes much further, much deeper, and much higher than I had guessed. And I understand that the abuse is not just a few isolated incidents, but that it was systematically taught and encouraged in school sites across the district….The things that [Janice Howes] and the Barnard staff endured were so eerily similar to what our staff has been going through…that I could come to no other conclusion but that these principals have been trained to behave this way. For every brave Janice Howes there are literally hundreds of other "broken" teachers who will never say a word…I am one of San Diego City Schools' walking wounded…The emotional weariness from the constant strain of working in a school where "targeting" was both obvious and brutal has certainly taken its toll. With every irrational demand, every insulting interaction, every condescending sneer I, too, was affected… It is unreasonable to believe that abuse happens in isolation. When one teacher is treated with malicious disrespect…it sets the tone of despair, low self-esteem, and fear for the entire staff…. You cannot lead by threatening, intimidating, and bullying and expect positive results…Recently, parents…made several attempts to organize a community meeting, hoping to discuss school concerns. Parents were threatened to stop (by a district official), promised they would be sorry if they continued. No meeting has been scheduled. How can we expect parents to react in the face of district intimidation?

We need to heal from our experiences of the past six years. It is like being in a POW camp.  

If I became superintendent, I would bring all the principals together and inform them that from this day forward, humane treatment of teachers and students alike would be a requirement of the position and those who could not do so need to resign. I would enforce this and check on it regularly to counter the trained terrorists we have faced. They were systematically trained by Bersin and Alvarado to do these things and threatened if they wouldn't. The weakest ones with the least integrity cooperated and were rewarded. But this can be overcome, with the leaving of Bersin in June, and the leaving of Alvarado last year.  

The word is getting around, and it is heart wrenching to learn how mean and evil this administration has been.

Bravo brave lady! You wrote the book I was going to write. God bless you for it. Thank God someone had the gumption to do what you did. I know so many people who have a similar story to tell.

Unfortunately, the school district is just a big business with $ as the bottom line. We all found out a long time ago their primary interest was not student welfare.

After hearing the horror stories from teachers at my school, I'm happy that I left in 1998 and retired in 2001.

It was such a nightmare. I had to work 12-16 hour days in order to get my IEP's done in time. One of my principals was scary. The other was nice, but did nothing to help my situation. That year, 90% of my hair fell out. I literally went bald from stress. My ensuing years have been only slightly better, but the worst part was discovering the real reason my daughter has not learned to read, do math, or any other subject/skill necessary to graduate -- one was incorrect placement in the physically handicapped program. The other was THE BLUEPRINT.

I documented my abuse and harassment…I'm thinking about getting out of S.D.U.S.D. or teaching or moving out of state to teach. I can't take this treatment anymore.

I nearly wept for knowing that I was not alone…I was fortunate that all the principal's attempts to "ruin" me were impotent at best, because of so many extenuating circumstances that worked in my favor…my heart aches, not for myself, but for those poor souls with so much more than I to lose, who have crumbled under the weight of this tyranny…now I know from where [the principal] learned his trade. I hope to gain even more insight into this political lion's den, from reading your book.

Thanks for what you're doing to inform the larger community of the damage done to some of our city's best and caring educators and what it has meant to the education of their children.

Thank you for putting into words what is really going on in SDCS! … I too have had enough. Oh, the nights I've cried for the students .. it's so sad!…

It's amazing how the events at your school were similar to ours.

There are many parallels between your experiences and what has happened at our school…. Similarities: New principal, very little classroom experience, targeting experienced teachers, long rambling remediation plans that are impossible to interpret, lower than low morale.

Thank you for your courage to write this book and your encouragement of others to do their best to expose this evil. This kind of behavior must stop.

I can understand how you could have had problems from Alan Bersin. He is one of the ones who caused so much trouble (when he was U.S. District Attorney) for Dr. ________________.

There's nothing I'd like better than to be back in my classroom. I'm presently on stress leave,  though, and I can't be with my kids anymore. I've been abused since 2002. The harassment has taken its toll.

I have been teaching in the SDUSD for 33 years… I love the students and the teaching profession… Last year I was targeted… I would like to add the name of [my principal] to the list of administrators who harassed, bullied and intimidated teachers.

He [the principal] lies about things all the time. He is a bully in many ways….I am a very professional and hard working teacher. This unjust treatment is uncalled for. Teachers don't deserve this.

Thank you for writing this much needed and revealing work… Your book has allowed my husband and myself to drop our support of the CA republican party when Mr. Bersin was granted access to the whole of California 's school systems. We referenced your book as a must read to the party.

It's terrible what Bersin and his hired "friends" have done to our school district at all levels.

Some of us will never get over the trauma…. Seventeen of us left that school the same year. Our principal was one of the worst….Thank you for having written a story that needed to be told. Too bad our governor isn't interested.

I am a parent of a fourth grader…I am also a substitute teacher. [The principal] has terrorized teachers, parents and students… He lies on a daily basis, has no regard for the students…threatens, intimidates, and targets. He has shown that he can retaliate against teachers, parents, and even students, to show his power…he tried to give me an unsatisfactory evaluation to remove me from teaching. I had to remind him that he had never been in my classroom or observed me teach…I, too, could write a book of all his wrongdoings. It all seems petty when looked at item by item, but when you see the damage that it has caused the school, it is frightening. My biggest concern was how he could hurt a child to get even with a parent…. We are hoping that the new school board will take action and stop this injustice from happening in our schools.

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The Governor of one of our 50 states writes: "It was very generous of you to think of me and I could not be more grateful for this book. Your continuing concern for teacher abuse across our nation is important to the future of

our educational system. This issue should be highly regarded and your attempt to create a greater awareness of this situation is exceptional."

The Governor of another one of our 50 states writes: "I'm an avid reader, but since taking office it has been hard to find time to read. I'll try to get to this one, especially since it concerns educational issues."

The Governor of yet another one of our 50 states writes: "I look forward to reading the views and findings it offers regarding methods to prevent abuse in educational institutions. Again, thank you for taking time to share this with me."

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An activist from Sacramento wrote: "I was disabled by a corrupt school superintendent… I thought he was going to kill me. He certainly ruined the life I once led. Little did I know that nobody would care about the misappropriations of federal funds. Silly me. I thought school administrators followed the law. When I left work I was soon diagnosed with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder that converted to myocionus, the involuntary contraction of voluntary muscles. I am spastic on the right side of my body whenever I experience stress. My speech becomes affected, as well as my face, neck, arm, leg….After seven years of litigation I was awarded $150 thousand with no hush clause….I lobby in Sacramento for legislation that would make non-sexual harassment in the workforce against the law.

A teacher from Oakland wrote: Thank you for writing such a necessary and brave book on the organized crime of public education….I have been targeted, bullied, and mobbed in the Oakland unified School District in Oakland, California, and because of such evil and criminal actions by many adults in the District, I am now devoting some of my life work to make these people behave, hence my organization Behave! Gateway to Dignity and Civility in the Educational Workplace.