Providence (RI) middle school teacher Ramona Bessinger has yet to hear the result of the “pre-discipline hearing” launched against her by the School District. One day you will listen to the hearing audio. The hearing was a badgering attack by an experienced senior “Human Resources” officer who attempted, without success, to get Bessinger to admit she let children out of her classroom during an “instructional lockdown” (it was not a more serious “shelter in place” lockdown).
Bessinger, while it wasn’t her day to present her side of the case because this was an inquisition, made the point that to the extent any children left the classroom, it was likely because of malpractice by school administrators. The school recently changed policy to allow children to leave classes without a hall pass, creating doubt among children that a teacher could compel them to remain in the classroom. During the lockdown, various bells also sounded, creating more confusion among students.
But all of this is a charade by the school district, which is looking for a pretext to punish Bessinger because Bessinger blew the whistle in a July 2021 post at Legal Insurrection on racialized Critical Race Theory curriculum that was stoking racial tensions against her from students and staff because she is white, I’m A Middle School Teacher And See How Critical Race Curriculum Is Creating Racial Hostility In School.
Bessinger recently detailed the retaliation against her, I’m A Middle School Teacher Facing Retaliation After Blowing The Whistle On Critical Race Curriculum.
And we documented additional harassment, Harassment Of Providence Anti-Critical Race Whistleblower Teacher Ramona Bessinger Intensifies.
The harassment and retaliation was so bad that on October 3 Bessinger filed a formal internal complaint. Two days later, on October 5, the school district served notice of the charges and hearing.
The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board has taken note of Bessinger’s plight in a stunning Editorial, Education Horror Show, Continued – A teacher is targeted after she described the baleful effect of critical race theory.
The Editorial started by quoting extensively from Bessinger’s original post at Legal Insurrection:
Bad teachers are rarely held accountable, but the public school bureaucracy seems to be less tolerant of teachers who transgress against the Democratic-union establishment. Behold how one middle-school English teacher in Providence, Rhode Island, is being run out after publicly criticizing critical race theory.The Providence Public School District hauled in Ramona Bessinger on Wednesday for a “pre-disciplinary administrative” hearing because she allegedly let students leave her classroom during a school lockdown related to a fight between a student and staff member. Ms. Bessinger, who has taught for 22 years, denies the charge.Her real offense is chronicling the alarming effects of critical race theory on students and teachers. “I love being a teacher and I care a great deal about my students, almost all of whom are non-white. This past 2020/21 school year was a sad and worrisome turning point for me as an educator,” she wrote this summer on the blog Legal Insurrection.“Providence K-8 teachers were introduced to one of the most racially divisive, hateful, and in large part, historically inaccurate curriculums I have ever seen in my teaching career,” she wrote. “Teachers were encouraged to participate in ‘white educator affinity groups’ where we would be given essays on how not to be a white supremacist in the classroom.”“Midway through the academic year, some students started calling me ‘America’ because I was white,” she added. “These students, whom I love, were turning against me because of my skin color. I don’t blame them, I blame the racial narratives being forced upon them in school. Several of my colleagues stated I had ‘white privilege.’ I was quickly made to feel as though I was becoming the enemy.”
Then the Board of Editors honed in on the point, which is that the lockdown is a pretext:
The harassment by fellow teachers and administrative officials increased this year after some media outlets highlighted her story. Last month a union representative at a faculty meeting said teachers were circulating a petition against her. On Oct. 3 she filed an internal complaint about retaliation and a hostile working environment.The district subsequently issued her a notice alleging that she violated protocols during a school lockdown and calling for a hearing. “These allegations create a legitimate concern that you may not and/or will not be able to perform your duties within the scope of your accountable employment with PPSD,” the letter says. “Please note appropriate disciplinary action” including termination may result.The district would be unlikely to win a disciplinary case against Ms. Bessinger for opining online about critical race theory because the Supreme Court in Pickering v. Board of Education (1968) held that the First Amendment protects teachers from retaliation for speaking on matters of public concern. Hence, the district needed a pretext to target her.
The Editorial also referenced a report in 2019 on the truly pathetic state of Providence schools:
Readers may recall a 2019 report by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy (see our editorial “An Education Horror Show,” July 2019) documenting teacher misconduct, chaotic classrooms, student violence and academic failure in Providence public schools. Teachers were rarely disciplined even if they abused students, skipped classes, dozed off or lied about grades.Although the state subsequently took over the district, collective-bargaining agreements and teacher tenure protections have impeded reform. Maybe the bigger problem is the progressive education establishment cares more about enforcing its ideology than improving instruction.
Providence schools are failing badly. Rather than educate children, Providence has embarked on racial agitation.
Bessinger blew the whistle on it. Now the district is trying to get even with her, to punish her, to make her an example to others to keep their mouths shut.
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