Your Opinion: JCHS graduate laments exodus of educators

Dear Editor:

I am writing with regard to the July 27 front-page story about a former Jefferson City High School teacher's lawsuit against Jefferson City Public Schools. As a recent JCHS graduate, this is hardly the first instance in which I have read and heard accounts of alleged employment discrimination within the school.

For full disclosure, I was a student of the plaintiff, Karen Ray, for two years. However, the true issue in this case does not lie solely with alleged employment discrimination. It begins with the fact that experienced teachers like Ray have fled JCHS en masse in recent years. JCHS has a severe retention problem. This is not a dilemma that is exclusive to a former teacher or an individual academic department. It is a school-wide problem that has festered for several years.

Our community's high school has hemorrhaged great teachers since the arrival of the current administration. Just a few years ago JCHS had a remarkable core faculty whose diversity of accomplishments and insights rivaled those of the professors I have had in university. Most of these teachers possess decades of teaching experience and were held in high esteem both within the community and the student body.

Among these teachers were professors, published writers, world travelers, and even a civil rights marcher (who was particularly dear to me). Many hold numerous awards in their respective fields and helped their students earn national accolades as well.

Very few of these teachers remain at JCHS. I consider myself immensely fortunate that I attended the school before most of them left. While at JCHS I witnessed a severe lack of administrative support for the faculty. It was disheartening to watch many of my favorite teachers lose morale in the face of unwarranted and excessive administrative pressures.

The exodus of JCHS's experienced faculty since 2008 is a shameful and preventable loss. As a community that is comprised of thousands of JCHS graduates and that hires thousands of JCHS graduates, we have a vested interest in the quality of instruction at JCHS and the administration's ability to retain experienced teachers.

I urge local parents and employers to question why so many teachers left - and continue to leave - and why JCHS is now involved in a district employment discrimination case.