I worked as a teacher in a unique public charter school for two years with no union and an At Will contract. The population at this school was predominately one religion. I belong to another religion. Historically, these two religions do not like each other. I was not interested in this, and simply wanted to do my job, and do it well. When I responded to anti-Semitic student work, the student, replied, "Why do you care? Are you Jewish?" From then on, the student population assumed that I was Jewish and made my life very difficult. They used the word "Jew" as an insult among one another, threw things at me in the classroom, made Nazi jokes during my class, and generally harassed me. I went to the principal and solicited help. The problems continued. I asked that an in school diversity training be given but this never happened. When I asked students to stop, or involved the parents, the parents became defensive. One day, a parent even drove by my open classroom door and yelled out angrily, "Jew!" There was even a swastika posted in the hallway of the school. It was a student assignment, and the student wrote about the Nazi party and their growth, but never mentioned the Holocaust. I was very uncomfortable and felt threatened when I saw the swastika. I asked the principal to talk to the teacher who posted this and to take it down. Months went by and nothing happened. It remained until I took it down myself.
I went through so much emotional and psychological suffering at this school. You may wonder why I continued, but I had to for economic reasons. During my second year, my personal belongings were vandalized in the staff room. The principal laughed when I told him. He did nothing. Certain staff would not even acknowledge me in the hallways, which belonged to this other religion. Five days before my contract was to end, I was given notice. There was no reason given. I had done a really exemplary job but I was given no letter of recommendation. I can prove the many fine things I did at this school. I have been too upset to return to teaching and am considering a career change. This was a public school in America! Now I am on unemployment. I am considering filing a case against the school with the Department of Fair Housing and Employment. What do you recommend? Who should I file with? What are my chances? How can I prove my case? Can anyone provide me with assistance? The fact that students did the majority of the harassing may be complicated, but I know that the administration had a responsibility to protect me, and they tolerated the abuse.
I went through so much emotional and psychological suffering at this school. You may wonder why I continued, but I had to for economic reasons. During my second year, my personal belongings were vandalized in the staff room. The principal laughed when I told him. He did nothing. Certain staff would not even acknowledge me in the hallways, which belonged to this other religion. Five days before my contract was to end, I was given notice. There was no reason given. I had done a really exemplary job but I was given no letter of recommendation. I can prove the many fine things I did at this school. I have been too upset to return to teaching and am considering a career change. This was a public school in America! Now I am on unemployment. I am considering filing a case against the school with the Department of Fair Housing and Employment. What do you recommend? Who should I file with? What are my chances? How can I prove my case? Can anyone provide me with assistance? The fact that students did the majority of the harassing may be complicated, but I know that the administration had a responsibility to protect me, and they tolerated the abuse.