When All Else Fails

The AP did her best to get the teacher to retire.  But he was stubborn.  He liked teaching and knew he was good at it.  He knew he was better than the AP whose teaching strategy followed whatever the special of the day was.  He knew he could reach kids others couldn't.  Besides, he was not ready to put away the chalk.

Finally the AP hit on an idea.  She decided to use humiliation.  She began observing and criticizing.  If 30 students answered questioned, she wondered why there were 2 student never called on.  If the kids worked in groups she complained they were too noisy.  If they listened quietly, she complained they were not involved.  It got to the point the teacher believed the observations were written up the night before the AP actually saw what was going on in the class.  The humiliation didn't stop there.  The AP made a point of talking about the teacher in front of others every chance she got.  She filled up department conferences with references to the teacher.  She got up and spoke about him during faculty conferences and she loudly berated him in an office full of people.

The teacher has decided to retire.  The AP has won.  After a 40 year career, the once beloved, highly regarded teacher was leaving.  What a crime, not for the teacher for he will make out very well with a pension and a job in a local junior college but for the high school kids who will no longer learn from this wonderful teacher who knew how to make the subject come alive and be crystal clear to all.