Sorry, while there are plenty of people in this country who are willing and even eager to see all issues in black and white that doesn’t mean it’s reality. As far as I’m concerned, no one is off the hook.

Let’s start with the “smoking gun.” McKinney ISD provided McGee with a positive evaluation and a payment if she agreed to leave. What does this prove? McKinney ISD wanted her to leave for a variety of reasons but for some other unknown reason wasn’t going to be able to do it by bringing disciplinary action against her or simply by not renewing her contract. While the district may have had good reasons for wanting McGee to leave, they also did something that put them in the position of allowing McGee to negotiate the terms of her departure. My guess, and please, I know this is only a guess, is that the district somehow screwed up their own personnel policies in dealing with the issue. Just because an employee doesn’t meet standards doesn’t excuse the employers from doing so. Oh wait, oh never mind, I was going to make some broader generalization but that would only get me into trouble.

So McGee comes to Frisco. You could make the argument that is was under suspicious circumstances but then you’ve really got to blame McKinney for not doing it’s job. Furthermore, you could also make the argument that perhaps, (please note that I am once again speculating and freely admit that I could be totally wrong) by applying for an art teacher position, McGee was actually look for a situation that would be more accommodating to her temperament. Perhaps.

In any case, many of the same problems she had at McKinney plague her relationship with other teachers. In recent years, her principal has been making verbal suggestions and even sending informal emails to McGee regarding her performance. Then there is the trip to the museum, the parent complaint, and the performance evaluation.

It’s EITHER about censorship OR about workplace performance. EITHER the principal was strictly addressing workplace issues OR was trying to undermine art appreciation in the community. EITHER McGee is trying to preserve freedom of speech OR undermining the school’s reputation to save her job. How about a little of both on all sides?

It sounds like enough things went wrong with the museum trip to push the principal into taking formal action. There’s a memo and the evaluation. According to Frisco superintendent Reedy,

Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Opinion: Viewpoints:

One paragraph in the five-page memo discussed concerns regarding the field trip and mentioned the parent complaint. It was included in the memo as a recent example of concerns involving Ms. McGee’s planning, organization and follow-through.

The parent complaint wasn’t about the hour wait or the problems dealing with the DMA. It was about a piece of nude art a child saw at the DMA. Yet, the district has gone out of it’s way to say that the complaint had nothing to do with censorship or is the reason why the memo was written. Again Reedy states that:

Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Opinion: Viewpoints:

No teacher, including Ms. McGee, has ever been fired or reprimanded for taking students to the museum or for a student’s incidental viewing of nude art. No teacher, including Ms. McGee, has ever been fired due to a parent complaint.

I know I’m probably fixating but I can’t help but notice that he never states how the district actually handles such complaints. He continues with the following “but”

We do expect teachers to preview materials through the eyes of students, the parents of the student and through the expectations of our community. We expect teachers to plan, prepare and communicate accordingly. A poorly planned and organized field trip is a failed learning experience.

Uhmm, so what does this have to do with not reprimanding teachers for a student’s incidental viewing of nude art? It wasn’t incidental? It wasn’t planned? It was planned?

Given all the problems the principal apparently had with McGee, why even bring up this one parent complaint? If no teacher is fired because of a parent complaint, why include it in the memo? Why was it given any credibility at all?

The principal could have very easily accomplished her task without including the parent complaint. The fact that she included it indicates that she gave it some importance. I’m still waiting to hear from the district that the parent wasn’t just complaining about the nude art but rather that the teacher did not prepare the students for viewing the art or provide a meaningful context for it’s viewing. Pretty quiet.

“Aw come on,” you say. That’s just one thing she did wrong, McGee did plenty more. Actually, any supervisor who waits for a crisis situation to start documenting employee issues, has not been doing her job. The district has talked about some principals preferring “informal” means. And informal means can be great when they work. But then when the principal prepares a very negative evaluation in writing, shouldn’t the teacher be worried? She’s not being informal, so why wouldn’t an employee perceive this as a version of a “work improvement plan” and a sign that her job is in jeopardy?

Maybe because of her basic personality, McGee doesn’t belong in the public school system. However, that does not mean she was treated fairly by the district. Nor does it mean that the district wouldn’t use parent complaints in evaluating teachers. (Think about it, no one is going to care if a bunch parents started complaining that a teacher allows her students to spend all their time in “free reading” while she’s talking on her cell phone?) According the Reedy, the facts are that the complaint was part of the memo. Someone complained about “naked” art and it was given legitimacy.

Now the district is taking the side of the principal and acknowledges no lapses on its part. At this point, the district is sort of stuck in an either or situation much in the same way that McGee is. McGee wants to make sure she can get another job and getting everyone to believe that she was fired for nude art is a great way to compensate any negative evaluations she may have. And the district really wants to get rid of a teacher for some legitimate reasons and doesn’t want the bad press it’s getting.

In a way, it really does come down to how the principal handled the parent complaint. If it had never been mentioned, what would McGee have gone to the press with? However, since it had been mentioned, the district is being forced to defend its actions in public. At some point, the fact that a 5th grader saw nude art in the DMA made a difference.

Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Collin County Education:

McKinney ISD in 1998 to end her employment as a second grade teacher at Glen Oaks Elementary School. Under the arrangement, Ms. McGee received a positive recommendation from the district. McKinney officials declined to comment on the report Wednesday.

Of course, it’s not the McGee story anymore but rather the local paper pointing out the limitations of that shrine of liberal media, the New Times. The Dallas Morning News wins either way.

Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Collin County Education:

Jennifer King said Wednesday she and other fifth-grade teachers who went on the field trip later told their principal it was chaotic and disorganized.

Now why couldn’t they find out this information two weeks ago? Was it that hard to find someone who was on the field trip who had negative things to say about it?

Congratulations to McKinney ISD which apparently managed to buy its way out of a problem and dump it on another district rather than going through the trouble of actually addressing it.

Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Collin County Education:

The records show that Ms. McGee signed a settlement agreement for nearly $8,300 with McKinney ISD in 1998 to end her employment as a second grade teacher at Glen Oaks Elementary School.Under the arrangement, Ms. McGee received a positive recommendation from the district. McKinney officials declined to comment on the report Wednesday.

The records do not indicate the reason behind the settlement agreement, but her file contains letters from parents who asked that their children be removed from her class because of personality and learning issues.

Her file also contains complaints from unidentified teachers about planning and field trip preparation issues.

Personality conflicts and disparities between a teacher’s teaching style and a student’s learning style are certainly a headache for any administration. Yet, half of all homeschoolers will tell you that it doesn’t necessarily get a teacher fired. But then there’s the planning and field trip issues again. Addressing such issues in a meaningful way is time consuming and stressful. So if someone were to do a cost benefit analysis, it was probably worth it to cough up the money and have McGee go away quietly. Think about it, if you calculated the time of all the people who would have to deal with this issue at $100 an hour, that’s two weeks of work. Halve that and it’s a month of time spent on one teacher.

Congratulation to McGee for knowing her rights and continuing to teach the way she wants without regard to her fellow employees and supervisors. It would appear that she took a calculated risk that the administration wouldn’t go through the trouble of actually pursuing her shortcomings in a meaningful way so she just focused on her art. As I’ve stated before, she can be a great art teacher but still have problems dealing with the administrative responsibilities. Also, all teachers should realize that no matter what they think about her abilities, if it happened to her, it can happen to you. As for going to the New York Times, I might consider doing that as well while thinking about my next mortgage payment.

And finally congratulations to Frisco ISD for not ever having to answer exactly how did the administration handled the parent complaint. The district must also be saving the tax payers’ money by reducing the time and money it spends on creating a meaningful message.

Update to Request to Disclose Records of Ms. McGee (October, 2006):

Ms. McGee continues to be an employee of the District and receives her full salary and benefits.

See, they have not actually fired her. They’ve got another art teacher but they didn’t fire her.

Update to Request to Disclose Records of Ms. McGee (October, 2006):

but in fact, it is merely all about her overreaction to a memo that she received last spring from her principal which expressed valid and ongoing concerns about her job performance, but which sought no disciplinary action.

And the memo wasn’t disciplinary in nature. It only told her exactly what she would have to do otherwise she would be fired, oops sorry, her contract would not be renewed.

There are times that I feel sorry for the principal. I don’t think she followed procedures in dealing with the workplace issues regarding McGee. She’s probably used to people taking verbal direction and for people to back down when she confronts them with her authority. But then I think about how she obviously did not stand up for education principles with regard to the parent complaint about a nude statue and that feeling goes away.