My latest fad is reading Philip Kerr Berlin Nair novels featuring
Bernie Gunther, an anti Hitler detective/policeman in Nazi Germany.
Taking place in 1936 and 1938 the first two novels provide some
interesting insights into what it might have been like to be living in
Germany in those years. i will go into other details another time,
but the point i want to make has to do with the heart of "The pale Criminal"
where young girls are being horribly murdered by a serial killer.
Rather than warn the populace, the Nazi regime keeps everything
under cover so as not to appear weak or suffer a propaganda defeat
over the inability to solve the crimes. Thus, without being warned,
parents allow their children to go about and face the danger.
The official reason they give to anguished parents is that they
want to prevent copycat crimes.
Thus it is with chapter leaders in some very dangerous situations.
I will be reporting more on the IS 216Q situation where the OFT
recruited a very competent teacher to run for chapter leader because
the principal had chopped up every previous CL and promised to have
her back. They didn't. She has been removed from the school and
faces 3020a dismissal charges.
A longtime chapter leader who gave up the position last fall sent me the
email below on May 21. The story told here goes well with some of the
stories Jeff Kaufman is telling on his new ed law blog - see side panel.
I have so many stories of how teachers are being railroaded. But
the worst are the chapter leaders who have been attacked due to
their defense of teacher rights. You will hear none of these stories
in OFT commercials defending LIFO and seniority rights. Why?
Instead of blasting these stories out, the OFT unable to protect
the basic lifeblood of the union, chooses to keep them undercover.
If you ask them you might get a similar answer the parents of the
dead girls got - in this case to prevent copycat principals from
feeling free to engage in nefarious activities. It might make
sense but we know that principals don't need this spelled out
since they have a much better network than teachers. The other
reason is to keep the membership from understanding just how
far the situation has slid. The lack of publicity - see Peter
Lamp here* case at Bronx HS of Science - leaves people "out there" with
little preparation for what might be coming when push comes to shove.
Sort of like the parents in the Philip Kerr novel who never
knew there was a serial killer due to press blackout for the express
purpose of "good news" propaganda. Go forth and read the NY
Teacher and all the wonders of the OFT.