EducationNews.org

Michael F. Shaughnessy
Senior Columnist EducationNews.org
Eastern New Mexico University

1) Karen, you have just written a book entitled "White Chalk Crime" The Real Reason Schools Fail. What prompted you to write this book?

The knowledge that those running our schools have absolute power to control what people can know about our schools prompted me to put together a book that would speak truth to this unbalanced power and thus empower the public to force change.

2) Your book, which is published by BookSurge Publishing out of South Carolina seems to document the issue of " teacher abuse". Could you define " teacher abuse " for us?

Teacher abuse is the use of this out of controlled power against educators – usually teachers but includes all educators – so that educators are powerless to change or even speak about what is really going on in our schools. It is the tool that allows White Chalk Crime – aversion of white collar crime specific to schools - to prevail in our schools and is one aspect of White Chalk Crime. It includes a myriad of ways of silencing educators from tormenting them with false evaluations, setting them up as pariahs amongst their colleagues, to pushing them out of their positions and it serves as an example so other educators will know to just go along with whatever the powers that be want even when it is harmful to children and/or illegal. It could have been called educator abuse, or abuse against anyone who cares about children and gets in the way of EducRAT$, but we named it teacher abuse. Some people wonder if this includes teachers that abuse students or even those that abuse their colleagues. In a way it does.

This culture of abuse invites the worst in people and does lead to teachers abusing others. But the term teacher abuse refers to what is done to dedicated teachers who put protecting children in front of saving their jobs and thus become targets.

3) Now, what do you mean by "teacher cleansing"?

Teacher cleansing is pushing teachers/educators out of their position and out of the profession by using trumped up charges or setting teachers up to fail with stacked classes, impossible, abusive parents, or inappropriate assignments and using these devious set-up's against them. By blacklisting any teacher who speaks truth to power, any teacher who is a nuisance to EducRAT$ will be cleansed from the profession.

4) What are EDucRat$, and how are they influencing education?

EducRAT$ are unethical, self-serving "leaders," administrators, and board members that use this out-of control power to have their way. They are "rats" whose concern for money ($) and power drives them to take advantage of whatever they can from kickbacks when ordering supplies, to squandering tax funds on legal fees to cleanse excellent teachers out of the system – all forms of White Chalk Crime.

The ways they influence education are obvious. They prioritize their needs and corrupt education to the point that it is dysfunctional. Most significantly, part of this corruption is their ability to make sure the public doesn't know they have corrupted it. Their power to keep the truth from the public is the single most devastating aspect of all. It has enabled them to escalate their bad acts, while the public remains clueless. Essentially, we don't have education where EducRAT$ are in power. We have organized crime.

5) We have all heard nightmare stories about some teacher who has a child who is violent, aggressive, assaultive and has mental health problems or issues in a regular education class. What is a regular education teacher to do in such a situation?

I think this question in the context of teacher abuse needs a different answer than in an authentic educational setting where they actually care about educating children. A regular education teacher should have the power to be heard so she can get the resources she needs to help this child or to make sure this child is in a placement appropriate for the child as well as appropriate for the classmates.

Unfortunately, since education too often is about keeping the power at the top, concerns such as this are pushed under the rug since they mean spending money to help children rather than keeping money at the top. Thus, where EducRAT$ rule, teachers who complain about difficult students are likely to be silenced until it gets so explosive EducRAT$ are forced to take action. I believe that the reason you hear these nightmare stories is because they become nightmares when the powers that be try to suppress reality.

When a difficult child is placed in a dedicated teacher's classroom, that teacher will do everything in her/his power before requesting help or removal of the student. And if the leadership is equally as dedicated, they respect that the teacher has nothing but the child's best interest in mind and would work with her/him for a good resolution.

But this hardly happens when education is a game and the goal is keep the power at the top. Until we level the power so that schools become about children, not about money and power, we can hardly discuss such a question since a regular education teacher in a corrupt school knows better than to raise issues. Hence, issues become explosive nightmares.

6) You are not the first to document what could be called " The mistreatment of teachers" Joseph and Jo Blase seem to have already written about some concerns regarding teachers in the classroom. What can you add to their ground breaking work? 

When it comes to the acts of teacher abuse or the how's of it, I have little to add to their masterful work. In fact, when I read their list of abuses done to teachers, I found one on the list that hadn't been used on me. No administrator ever stole my lunch! (It may have been that my lunches weren't worth stealing!)

However, all of the others were quite familiar to me personally. Actually, in my book I strongly recommend that readers read the Blases' book for more details on methods of teacher abuse since I needed more space to include other information, or the why's of teacher abuse. They pointed out that they do not know why it is going on.

My book fully explains this. I believe the why is extremely important to help the public absorb how pervasive this is and so that it all makes sense. Too many people listen to teacher abuse and shake their heads figuring "no one would do this to a good teacher." But once they understand the motive – total control to protect their investment in organized crime as well as stay out of jail – the public can process what the Blases have proven and heed the Blases' warnings about how detrimental this is to education.

The public needs to know that EducRAT$ are not just abusing deficient teachers, an assumption that often causes them not to care, figuring what else could they do when up against tenure. Thus, teaching the why is essential for believability!

7) How safe is the average school in America? How safe is the average teacher in America?

Both are terribly unsafe. When decisions are based on protecting power rather than the children or keeping good teachers anything goes. In my book I explain the "Columbine effect," which is an outgrowth of a school focused on power.

I even include documentation that Columbine itself was engaged in a power struggle that contributed to a staff of teachers not willing to speak about dangerous students.

Furthermore, the culture of bullying that keeps teachers suppressed also affects the students. Anyone unlucky enough to be placed in the classroom of a targeted teacher can anticipate issues from being in an unbalanced environment with as many difficult students as possible to set up the teacher to having to watch an award winning teacher destroyed right before their eyes.

This is as unsafe as being in a warring household strapped with an ugly divorce. Keep in mind that a teacher is the protector of her/his students, or a substitute parent. When that teacher has no voice, there is no parent. EducRAT$ set explosive situations the way arsonists set fires.

My book explains the lack of safety in detail as well as documents that our US Supreme Court is unconcerned about the safety of children or teachers and thus the public must get involved.

8) Are the unions simply failing teachers right and left or do they provide any recourse for teachers at all ?

The only recourse unions provide for teachers are those that EducRAT$ are willing to provide. Helping teachers receive real respect is not a possibility and unions are not about to buck the system or they will be put out of business. However, unions will fight for wages or occasional working conditions and help teachers a bit since EducRAT$ need to provide a semblance of teacher power to keep the public from realizing that teachers have no power.

One could say that they provide teachers just enough power to make it look like teachers are the problem and create a divide with parents and citizens. In fact, this symbiotic relationship between unions and EducRAT$ helps throw the public off, making unions part of the organized crime. Because of unions, EducRAT$ are able to convince the public that the problem is unions and teachers, when the problem is EducRAT$!

9) What question have I neglected to ask?

What motivated me to do all this work? Since the book and the websitesEndTeacherAbuse.org, which deals with teacher abuse, and WhiteChalkCrime.com, which deals with the other corruption and accompanies the book, were a lot of work, one might wonder.

First and foremost, I was born to teach.EducRAT$ may have thwarted my ability to teach children, something for which even they agreed I excelled, but the teacher in me was left standing and I decided why not teach the public about what is going on.

Secondly, I realized that few teachers could afford to do this. I taught because I loved teaching. I was lucky enough to not need a job for survival. Thus, I realized this work that so desperately needed to be done, was not likely to be done by a teacher since it took time, money and the ability to not work. And a non-teacher could not know the depths of the depravity. It took an insider.

Lastly, I also had business experience and knew a thing or two about marketing and figured I had the skills to market the truth and that there could be no better use of my time as a person who has always wanted to make a difference.

What percentage of administrators and board members are EducRAT$? This is impossible to answer, particularly with so few teachers talking. From my research, I feel confident it is well over 50%, although all are not partaking in the more advanced levels of White Chalk Crime such as embezzlement and kickbacks. Mistreating teachers and depriving children of quality teachers seems to be going on in a much higher percentage.

Some believe it is over 90%. I think with teachers unable to speak the truth, we cannot know. I speculate that even teachers that know full well I am reporting the truth will come out against my book because teachers know what they need to do to keep their jobs or the little power they might have. Believe me they do not need to be told to smear any political opponents. I watched teachers at my school go after me for their security without ever learning what was done to me. They know how to stay employed and will automatically support EducRAT$ figuring it is what it is. And frankly, they are right. If some power doesn't intervene, even all 900 teachers who have joined the organization I co founded, NAPTA, will be muzzled back into silence with the help of employed teachers desperate to keep their jobs.

Unless a more powerful force, such as our courts, decides to investigate for real change, it is impossible to know.

However, one needs only to read former Superintendent Armand Fusco's book, School Corruption: Betrayal of Children and the Public Trust and my book to see the magnitude of corruption. It just could not be that bad if real, empowered teachers were guarding our children. They wouldn't let it happen. So one must question why they are letting it happen and deduce that people who care about kids and work for limited salaries are not likely to be okay with this, but must not have much choice. So although I couldn't give you an exact percentage, I can guarantee you it will be well over 90% before long since corruption is not self-correcting and it encourages more of the same!

What is your vision or dream that drives you? I believe that there are some (but not many) people in our society who have power along with spiritual integrity, but they do not know about White Chalk Crime and teacher abuse or if told believe it is an exaggeration at best and thus are doing nothing. I believe it is like priest abuse was over a decade ago – something that just couldn't be happening. I heard a guest on Oprah discuss why she does not eat meat.

She claimed: one cannot disregard the suffering of animals and maintain spiritual integrity. That may or may not be a spiritual issue depending on one's view of animals, but it is undeniably a spiritual issue when it comes to children and teachers. One cannot disregard the suffering of children and teachers and still have spiritual integrity.

So, I created a book that documents the truth beyond question and that will circulate so people with spiritual integrity will have to do something. I trust they will. Oprah is at the top of my list of people with power and spiritual integrity. I do not believe she will let this go on once she knows.

Published May 29, 2008