SCHOOL TEACHERS SHOULD HAVE TO CHECK 1ST AMENDMENT RIGHTS AT THE DOOR To the Editor: I was saddened, but not overly surprised, to read of Dr. Gerardi's decision not to remain on as Superintendent of Coven-try Schools. Who can blame anyone for not wanting to stick around while the recklessness of the previous administration's spending that led to the state we're in now is exposed when he had absolutely nothing to do with getting us into this mess? This should be a call to action for those who care about honest and fair government to get more involved in the process. You see, I was one of those people. My first call to duty came when I was asked if I would consider becoming a sub-stitute teacher in this town. They were in dire need of quali-fied people to fill these positions and I thought, "What a great way to do my part for my town while still being able to stay in-volved in my kids' education." Well, little did I know that working for the Coventry School Department meant checking your 1st Amendment rights at the door. No longer would I be afforded the right of every American citizen to express myself and to ask ques-tions as a taxpayer in this town. It was time to take the unspo-ken oath of secrecy, I guess, and be subject to the thought police closely guarding what I could say and write about. John Deasy set a very dangerous precedent of being very concerned about appearances and how Coventry Schools looked from the outside. And God forbid anyone cast any shadow on their glowing reputation by asking questions or expressing their opinions - their credibility would be attacked and they would be virtually shut out. And look how far those tactics have gotten us! Taxpayers who have gotten used to not having a say and a league of teachers whose voices were taken away and therefore they continue doing the fine jobs they do while suffering from the lowest morale they have had in years. And Deasy's administration didn't see how detrimental that would be in the long run? In building up his own resume, Deasy must have lost sight of the kids somewhere along the line and was only concerned about how Coventry Public Schools looked from an outside perspective. He polished that all-important image, while the real substance of what a good education should be based on eroded under his watch. What a great time to bail! By forcing the implementation of all sorts of resume-building changes that were not proven to be effective anywhere else, he alienated not only the teachers and the parents, but also the students, and then conveniently left before he could witness or be held accountable for how questionable their success was and the price tag they incurred. Last May, I brought my concern about his departure occurring before any of his fabulous-sounding initiatives were to go into practice to Mr. Deasy's attention. He pretended to be very interested in what I had to say and then blew me off when it came time to talk about them. Then he questioned my credibility in front of a School Committee meeting when I came up with an alternative plan for the more gradual im-plementation of a change in our grading system. I wasn't at that meeting to complain, mind you. I spent a great deal of time coming up with what I thought might work and went to that meeting with a well-thought-out, five-page plan -- and he and Joe Butler treated me very badly. Look how well-received his report cards were! You can't leave parents out of the process when it is their tax dollars being spent to educate their children. Things weren't much better at the high school, where I started to sub in the Fall as a long-term English teacher. My immediate observation was how low morale was at the High School. The discipline problem among the students was alarmingly out of control. There were no consequences for their transgressions, but that's the system of which they were a product. No accountability! Sure, Deasy and company were the first to spout off about teacher accountability, but when it came to accountability for pol-icy changes and financial re-sponsibility, they were the first ones out the door! So, I decided, after conducting my first-ever parent-teacher con-ferences at the high school and hearing some parental concerns, to write a letter to the editor addressing these concerns. I thought I should give my de-partment head a heads-up about the letter I had written and what happened next is a testimony of how things are done within the Coventry School system. I was asked if I really wanted to work for the Coventry School Department, in a very wink, wink/chuckle, chuckle kind of way by the acting superinten-dent. The implication was that if my letter were to see print, then I would stand no chance of continuing my employment in Coventry. This same treatment was what I received by the then-acting principal who had suggested that if I insisted on having the letter printed, I sign my husband's name rather than my own. I told them that these were my thoughts and my words and I was not afraid to express them as my own. I also said that the type of treatment I was receiving was a sick statement on the po-litical climate here in Coventry and that it should not continue. Ding ding! End of Round One. When I was still employed as a long-term English sub at the High School in January, a re-porter asked me questions about the new administration at the High School. I told him how wonderfully received the news of Mr. DiPrete and Mr. Magerian's re-turn to Coventry High School was by the faculty and that I could visibly see morale im-proving among the staff at the high school. He asked about my earlier concerns regarding policy changes and made reference to my letter from months back. My statement about what I felt to be Deasy's forcing changes on teachers and students alike was taken slightly out of context in that article and now I was subject to Round Two. This time I was told that my statements in the newspaper ar-ticle had so enraged members of the faculty at the High School that I would be subject to a hostile work environment and it would be in my best interest not to return. I told them that I had mid-term reviews to conduct, mid-term exams to administer and grades to submit. The time was not right to yank away from these students the teacher they had gotten comfortable with now that mid-term exams were upon them. I told them I would endure the slings and arrows of anyone who had a problem with me as long as I could continue to do what was best for those kids - finish out the semester and give them their grades in a fair and consis-tent way. No, I was told, I had already been replaced! Without my side of the story ever having had a chance to be heard, a newspaper article written by someone other than myself had led to my being let go! This didn't sit right with me and for the sake of my students, I appealed to the principal. Turns out, he never even knew what had happened. You see, the inside network that didn't like anything to affect Coventry's all-important image was still in existence. And they played by their own rules. They'll get rid of someone even if that means not following the proper procedure. These are the people whom we have en-trusted to make the decisions on our children's education - nice role models, aren't they? But thankfully there are fair-minded and honorable people like Mr. DiPrete, who also serves as Chairman of the Board of Education for the State of Rhode Island. He saw to it that the best interest of the students remained at the forefront of decisions like these and, together with Dr. Gerardi, determined that I should return. End of Round Two. Still an active PTA member and taxpayer in this town who attends School Committee meet-ings, I continue to sub on a day-to-day basis wherever they may need me. Again, forgetting that I was supposed to have checked my First Amendment rights at the door, issues about the current budget cuts and their possible effects on the Music programs in our town came up in a High School class I was covering. Little did I know that High School students were not supposed to be aware of what takes place at open forum budget discussions held right there in their own High School. What? They're not capable of reading newspapers? I didn't know that people were not allowed to discuss the proposed budget cuts that would directly affect the programs of High School students. When students asked me about how the possibility of the Music program cuts might affect their radio station, I didn't have an answer for them. I discussed some of the issues that had come up the night be-fore during the budget meeting at the High School. Ding ding! Round Three has begun. Next thing you know, I have a formal complaint filed against me by the finance director of the school department. Apparently, since a relative happened to be in one of the classes asking about budget issues, I was supposed to censor what I said in case it might have reflected badly in any way on the administration that got us into this financial crisis. It was okay that I heaped praise on the finance director; but I was not allowed to state that a more harshly worded question, one which I ad-monished as being an unfair question, albeit a harmless one, was floating around the audience. Heaven forbid a High School student know that people are going to ask difficult questions of their public officials! I now stand falsely accused of maliciously attempting to dis-credit a man about whom I had only nice things to say. And I am left having to defend my character simply because I dis-cussed budget issues in the classroom. I have acknowledged my misjudgment as an in-experienced substitute, and won't make that mistake again. Round Three is over and I'm still standing, but not without my battle scars. However, I'm not going to wait for the Round Four attack on me to begin before I bring this type of politically-motivated practice to the public's attention. This needs to stop. Having opinions and asking questions about how our money is to be spent on our own children's education is a right every American citizen in this country has; and attacks by public officials who want to keep us quiet should not and will not be tolerated. I will no longer pretend these practices do not take place on a very regular basis here in this school district and I cannot live with myself knowing that by looking the other way, I am in a way playing along with it and therefore leaving a bad example for our children. This is complicit behavior that would keep this unethical way of doing things perpetuating throughout the tenure of my children's education. I want it to end now. It's time to rebuild and we can't do that until we open up the lines of communication and identify the problems in the sys-tem that have led to our current situation so that it is not allowed to continue. Some may say this a typical Rhode Island way of doing things and why make waves? Because I am a parent and this is not the system I want my kids growing up in if it is rife with dishonesty and no sense of fair play. I don't want this to happen to other people, as I'm sure it al-ready has. I can't be the first. They must have gotten away with it many times before for them to be so bold. I wonder how many good teachers this district has lost because they cared enough to question things somewhere along the line? "Oh no Kath, don't print that letter! You'll ruin the good name of the Coventry School System." I'm sick of worrying about the image of Coventry schools that John Deasy and his cronies worked so hard to establish and maintain through deceptive and dishonest practices. Our reputation has already been brought into question and the only way to fix it is through honest and open communica-tion. And if that means creating a stir to get others to step up to work on fixing it, then so be it. That's what this country was founded on and it's my right and my responsibility as an Ameri-can citizen to preserve those rights for others and to leave a good example for our children on how to be responsible civic-minded citizens in their own community. I'm not going to let the system force me to compromise my own integrity. Well folks, it's time to get back to the basics and get things done for our children. I'm asking you to please step forward and get involved and maybe now our public officials on the School Committee and in the School Department hierarchy will have to listen to us and answer some of our questions. They can't intimidate all of us! Let's see if I'm still employed next week - I'll be sure to let you all know. Kathleen McCoombs Coventry