Let 'teachable
moment' on anti-gay slurs
serve as lesson for
all schools
Posted Daily Record
Newsroom, May 27, 2007, From the Web, May 28, 2007
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PHOTO COURTESY OF JOANN BAKER
Cheryl
Bachmann, a Vernon resident and third year teacher at West Milford
High School who had received excellent work reviews, received tenure
in a 5-4 vote at last week's hearing. |
Hundreds of people were on their feet
and cheering, almost like they were at a basketball game, after witnessing
something rare in school board politics. West Milford Board of Education
members defied school administrators by giving tenure to a high school teacher.
The teacher hugged her fiancée and wiped back tears.
The story goes beyond West Milford and beyond this particular teacher.
A teacher union representative referred to it as a "teachable moment."
It unfolded this past week as schools around the state are beginning to talk
about ways to deal with anti-gay slurs following a state Supreme Court ruling
requiring them to do a better job in that area.
Cheryl Bachmann, a Vernon resident and third-year teacher at West Milford High
School, had been given glowing evaluations up until late March. She had
been offered tenure. Then, after she kicked two students out of her
classroom for calling other students anti-gay slurs, something changed.
Her supervisors took back the tenure offer and gave their reasons in a memo,
made public by the teachers' union:
"Due to recent incidents, we have serious concerns about her classroom
management and ability to effectively control and tolerate unacceptable student
behavior."
Teachers are supposed to tolerate unacceptable behavior?
Teachers said they weren't sure what to make of that memo at last Tuesday
night's hearing where 300 people, many of them students, showed up and board
members voted 5-4 to give Bachmann tenure. The teachers weren't simply
pleading a case for Bachmann. They asked school officials what they are
expected to do when students make anti-gay slurs.
Glenn Kamp, West Milford's superintendent, had a chance to make a clear
statement about not tolerating those kinds of slurs. He said the decision
to deny tenure had nothing to do with how Bachmann handled them. Bachmann
said she didn't want one student returned to her classroom after the student
allegedly threatened to stab her. Kamp said something about the difficulty
of expelling students. But when a teacher asked what an appropriate
response would be to anti-gay slurs, Kamp remained silent.
He referred to the question, even before hearing it, as "rhetorical."
He previously said in a published report that because the students weren't
directing slurs against gay students, it wasn't a "hate crime."
That's true. It's not a hate crime. But that kind of statement seems
to minimize the impact of such slurs. At a recent summit meeting held at
the County College of Morris, students from various area schools talked about
feeling isolated when they're identified as gay, being mocked in school
hallways, and feeling uncomfortable hearing students casually use anti-gay slurs
even when they're not directed at them.
At the same summit, a mother said her son recently left Mount Olive High School
after being taunted with anti-gay slurs and having rocks thrown at him.
She said school officials didn't know how to handle the situation. Gay
rights groups cite surveys showing gay students having lower graduation rates
and higher suicide rates than other students. Mount Olive administrators
recently talked about starting education programs next year to help change the
school culture.
The hearing in West Milford this past week provided a glimpse into what schools
are doing to make things better, to make gay students feel safer.
Teachers who attended said they haven't received much instruction from
administrators even after the recent Supreme Court ruling. They said they
have been punishing anti-gay slurs on their own for years, not because school
officials made it a priority.
"It's been teacher-driven," said Sean Cosgrove, a West Milford High School
history teacher and a union representative.
"We've never had a training seminar or anything about how to deal with
situations like this," Bachmann said.
At the hearing, students characterized Bachmann as an inspiring teacher, one
young woman saying she's now considering a career as a history teacher.
They talked about feeling safe in Bachmann's class, how her classroom has become
something of a haven for students who are not part of the in-crowd.
Students and teachers said Bachmann is exactly the kind of teacher school
officials should want to keep, that her lack of tolerance for unacceptable
behavior is an attitude they should be promoting.
"All she was doing was promoting respect," said William Vidulich, one of the
students.
After the hearing, Kamp said staff members are told they can't ignore cursing.
When asked if the same goes for anti-gay slurs, he said it does. He
congratulated Bachmann, shaking her hand. But he said he didn't want to
say too much now that the matter of tenure was resolved. He missed an
opportunity to make a public statement about how to deal with anti-gay slurs at
the meeting and left teachers wondering how to interpret administrators'
actions.
"This is a retaliation against somebody doing what the school's policies and
state law require," Cosgrove said.
Mary Ryan-Zanotti, president of the West Milford Education Association, said
administrators seemed upset that Bachmann made such a big deal about the
students' behavior. She told board members they now had a "teachable
moment." The board certainly had the attention of teachers and students as
they voted.
Board members looked at Bachmann's previous evaluations. Her supervisors
had said she had "a strong command of the classroom ... a good rapport with
students ... maintains open communication with parents ... welcomes feedback ...
maintains a positive attitude when given constructive criticism."
Bachmann, the evaluation concluded, would be part of the "West Milford family"
for a long time.
That was March 22. One month later, in an April 23 memo, she was being
denied tenure for not being tolerant enough of unacceptable behavior.
Board members also heard from Hayley Gorenberg, an official from the gay rights
group Lamda Legal, who talked about the difficulties gay students face in
schools. She told them she wanted to be a resource for them, not an
adversary.
"Lamda Legal doesn't need another case," she said.
One board member told Kamp that her vote for tenure was not meant as an act of
disloyalty to him. Kamp said he understood. He didn't say much
during the meeting. In light of the recent court ruling, at a time when
anti-gay bashing is becoming a larger issue, it's time for school
superintendents to say a little more about what they are doing to protect all
their students. A majority of board members in one town apparently decided
that withholding tenure from a teacher who makes students feel safe isn't the
way to do that.
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