Massachusetts finds probable cause to investigate firing of activist teacher

Rss@dailykos.com (laura Clawson)
Saturday, September 13, 2014, 11:27 pm
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If you've wondered why teacher tenure was being so hotly debated, here's a great example of its importance. The Massachusetts Department of Labor has found probable cause that a teacher and local union leader's job-a job that wasn't protected by tenure-was terminated after he spoke out against school district policies.
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In February, Agustin Morales was part of a group of teachers and parents that went to a school committee meeting to protest the use of data walls in Holyoke, Massachusetts, schools. The data walls included students' standardized test scores and in some cases their names, publicly shaming them as part of the drive for higher scores. When schools superintendent Sergio Paez tried to claim that teachers had not been instructed to put students' names on data walls, they produced slides from a PowerPoint presentation in which the sample data walls were shown with names-with Paez listed on the slides as present to give welcoming remarks.
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Morales went on to be elected president of his union local-but at the same time, he says he was targeted for eventual termination, despite having received good teaching evaluations up until he started speaking out. That speedy termination was possible because he hadn't been at his job for long enough to be covered by the Massachusetts equivalent of tenure protections. So far, he's produced evidence to back up his claims:
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"Based on the evidence presented during this investigation, I have found probable cause to believe that a violation occurred," Brian K. Harrington, of the Department of Labor Relations, wrote.
In fact, while the Department of Labor Relations was investigating the complaint, Paez issued a no-trespass order barring Morales from entering school property even to fulfill his role as elected union president. That order was lifted after 24 hours, but doesn't exactly make it look less like Paez has a grudge against Morales. Morales has also received significant support from students and parents:
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Parents told 22News they want Morales to get his job back. "If it wouldn't have been for Gus, my daughter would've failed 8th grade. He's a passionate teacher. He's loving. He's caring. He stayed after school tutoring her," said Marisol Marcano.
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Since the state found probable cause of a violation, there will be a hearing sometime in the coming months. But even if that hearing ends in Morales getting his job back, the clear message has been sent to Holyoke teachers: speak out against district policies, even the ones that harm your students, and you are likely to face retaliation. That's why it's so important for teachers to have due process protections, and it's exactly those due process protections that are currently under attack across the country.
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