Santa Cruz Teachers Say They Are Being Bullied in the Workplace---By the Administration

Santa Cruz teachers said they felt bullied in the workplace over the past four years--the same amount of time that Gary Bloom has been superintendent.

The report by the teachers union released to the Santa Cruz City Board Wednesday had some good points: teachers didn't feel bullied by other teachers, nor were there overwhelming numbers of racial, sexual or age discrimination.

However, 89 percent of those polled in an online survey, said that they had witnessed bullying in the past four years. Only 8 percent reported witnessing it from five to 20 years ago.

"You become a target at Santa Cruz City Schools if you speak up on behalf of yourself, your colleagues or your students," said Barry Kirschen, president of The Greater Santa Cruz Federation of Teachers. "You become a target of bullying by the administration."

His report said that bullying is tolerated, or even supported, under the current administration.

Gary Bloom responded to the poll Wednesday night at the Board meeting.

"I was pleased to read in the last part of the report that the GSCFT welcomes the opportunity to partner with the district in designing and implementing an appropriate district response to workplace bullying. We too welcome the opportunity to work with the GSCFT on this initiative and I have a meeting scheduled with Barry on Friday where we'll begin the conversation."

School Board President Deborah Tracy-Proulx said she was concerned about the report:  "I have to say that bullying is unacceptable at any level, be it among students or employees. Obviously this report indicates we have work to do on the employee level. I'm fully committed to ensuring we move quickly to address this issue."

Barry Kirschen took a hard line earlier in the day:

"I think that it's possible for this kind of behavior to be condoned from the top down," he said, laying the blame squarely on the current administration. "The data support the contention we've heard over and over that there's been a change in the culture of the city schools."

How can it change?

"I really don't expect to see much improvement unless measures are taken by the district to provide meaningful development to faculty and administrators and unless they make policies that workplace bullying will not be tolerated," he said.

Of the 450 teachers asked to take the survey, 39 percent responded. Kirschen said the number was lower than it might have been because it was done during finals weeks in June, but it is higher than some national surveys. It will be repeated next June.

Some 20 percent of those surveyed said they were bullied because of sex or gender identity; 15 percent felt bullied because of age and 29 percent because of a personal characteristic or action. The largest number in the poll was that 42 percent said they felt bullied for being critical of a district decision or policy. Seven percent of those surveyed sought medical help as a result and 10 percent sought counseling.

A significant 45 percent said that bullying has negatively affected their work.

Here are some of the comments by teachers on the survey:

 Administrators keep files on all staff members and share this information among themselves. The information may be inaccurate, slanderous, and damaging. 

 Being bullied made me feel disrespected and unappreciated for the hard and dedicated work that I do. 

 The Principal has abused his position to repeatedly demoralize his staff by continually criticizing staff workers' performance, including my work, and threatening to base teaching assignments upon their willingness to conform to his teaching style preference. I have witnessed fellow colleagues crying as a result of the Principal's insensitive remarks with no subsequent effort to reconcile such negative comments. 

 The incidents that I experienced were repeated and pervasive enough to cause me to seek out support from my site union rep on multiple occasions. 

 I was told by some of the teachers that the individual who was the bully sought out one teacher every year to be his target and that I was the one that year (and the next). I dealt with it by leaving that school. I was screamed at, had a door slammed in my face, and was repeatedly and unfairly criticized, sometimes in front of my students and colleagues. 

 I was told by some of the teachers that the individual who was the bully sought out one teacher every year to be his target and that I was the one that year (and the next). I dealt with it by leaving that school. I was screamed at, had a door slammed in my face, and was repeatedly and unfairly criticized, sometimes in front of my students and colleagues. 

This is something I have never experienced at work before or since, so it was quite shocking and emotionally draining at the time. This individual sometimes even publicly acknowledged others for the same things he put me down for. I felt very isolated until I sought out my site union rep for support. My husband was very angry at this person and ready to come to my defense at any time, but I asked him to please stay out of it. How it affected me was that I ended up leaving the school at the close of a school year. I got sick more those two years than any other. I was in a state of stress, because I never knew when I was going to be treated this way. I eventually had the courage to stand up to him. In standing up to him, the bullying began to diminish slightly. 

 Facing potential repercussions for speaking honestly about proposed changes to our department and criticism of my and colleagues commitment to students and our methods of teaching I am hesitant to speak honestly now. I have also been inclined to decrease how much time and effort I spend to go beyond what is expected of me because I would rather spend more of it on my own physical and emotional health and have more time available for my own family. I also fear that the district will judge our work as teachers by comparing our students' scores without taking into account differences in the student composition of our classes or any other of the accomplishments we achieve with our students or the richness of our curriculum or the special experiences we offer our students in any of our classes. 

 The district administration does not seem to trust or acknowledge that we are committed, knowledgeable and thoughtful in the way we design or present our curriculum or evaluate students. They do not seem willing to acknowledge that there are also circumstances beyond our control that cause some students to not succeed or to acknowledge the accomplishments of these students and teachers when some students still struggle but make strides in the right direction. 

What do you think of this report?