"Student" said: "
Dear Ms. ----:

I have a complaint against World History teacher, ----- -----. Throughout my
experience in his class I have found him to be unqualified, irresponsible,
and downright abusive. I believe that for the well being of my fellow
classmates, and myself Mr. ----- should not be permitted to maintain his
position at this school.

Mr. ----- has made it obvious that he is unqualified for his profession. He
even outright stated so to an entire class on the first day of school. He
said, "I'm learning right along with you guys." He, on the same day, had
also admitted to not having read the summer reading book over the summer and
instead, read it during the first week of school. Mr. ----- also goes off
topic quite often to talk about his family and his absurd project ideas,
leaving no time for the students to learn much of what is in the curriculum.
On top of that, Mr. ----- once admitted to one of my peers that he randomly
assigns grades on tests. He uses this grading method on other assignments,
also. Every week, the students are required to do a current event, which is
a short summary of a news article. He admits to not even reading them and
again, randomly assigning grades. This man is clearly not doing his job,
which leads me to my next point.

Mr. ------ is irresponsible. Lately, it seems that we students have been
loaded down with more and more work while our teacher seems to be doing
less. Mr. -----'s idea of teaching is to assign his students many projects.
These projects require the students to get into groups and teach the class a
section of the chapter we are learning. Afterwards, the students are
required to make up test questions for the chapter test. Mr. ------- even has
a student "volunteer" to type everything up. After taking the test in
groups, we are asked how we think we did, which is how he grades his tests.
When asked about why he couldn't teach the lesson, he says that there is so
much material to cover in so little time. On the contrary, it would take the
same amount of time for him to do the teaching himself, since he one or two
lessons are presented on one day. Plus we are given several days to prepare
our presentation with our group. As I mentioned in the paragraph above, Mr.
------ likes to waste time. If he had spent class time actually teaching then
maybe he wouldn't have to subject his students to his twisted logic. He
defends himself be saying that it would help us remember information that is
taught be ourselves. But let me ask you, isn't he the teacher? If the
students can teach better than the teacher can, why is he the one getting
paid? The mere fact that the students are better at teaching than the
teacher himself is disturbing.

Even more disturbing is the verbal and physical abuse that Mr. -------
inflicts on his students. In class, he regularly puts students down and even
hits them. One example is when one of my friends was hit over the head with
a very heavy textbook for merely defending me. One day, Mr. ------ had asked
the class to look something up in the World History textbook. I had finished
using the textbook and had put it in the rack underneath my chair. Mr. ------
comes over and sees a Biology textbook on my desk and tells me to put it
away because I needed to have my World History textbook out instead. My
friend promptly informs him that I had already finished the assignment and
didn't need the textbook. In response, Mr. ------- picks up my Biology
textbook and uses it to beat my friend over the head. In a rather recent
incident that happened sometime last month, Mr. ------- somehow acquires a
long, plastic stick and hits another student on the back with it. Two days
ago I asked him about why he was always hitting his students. He asked me if
I had ever been hit and I said that I had not. He goes on to basically tell
me that if I was never then it should not matter to me. This makes me wonder
what would have happened if, for example, during the holocaust what would
have happened if it did not matter to the gentiles, heterosexual,
non-Romani, etc. if their fellow humans were being massacred. Mr. ------ also
claims that because none of the abused students had ever come forward to a
higher authority, then that must mean that they were just fine with being
abused. It should be noted, however, that when someone had spoken up in
class to question his abusive practices earlier in the year, Mr. -------
responded with a long speech about how it would be a bad idea to sue him. I
have asked around and have concluded that he gives the same speech to the
other classes that he teaches. This speech goes on to inform the students
that if he were to be sued for abuse, he would be suspended from work with
pay and the child's parents would lose money by having to hire an attorney,
which would ultimately amount to nothing because he would be found not
guilty.

You may have had some questions as to why I had waited until close to the
end of the school year to come forward with my complaint. There are many
contributing factors. One of which is a research paper that I had to write
in English class, the topic of which was people who had fought for justice.
Many of my fellow classmates would just let it go, believing that it
shouldn't matter because school is almost out and we will no longer have to
deal with Mr. ----- ever again, but after doing research for my English
paper, I have found empowerment and inspiration to fight for justice.
Another inspiration is my younger sister, who will be attending ------
High School in the coming autumn. I don't want her to risk going through
what I had. There is one more reason why I decided to write this letter.
Ironically, Mr. ----- suggested it himself after I spoke to him about my
concerns. I know that the only reason he did so was because he thinks that I
will not go through with it. Unfortunately for him, I am stronger than that.

I was appalled and outraged when I discovered that this unqualified,
irresponsible and abusive man had been masquerading as a teacher for ten
years. ----- has been doing nothing but waste time and tax dollars for
ten years. As a student of -----, a school that claims to be one of the best in the
district, I feel that I deserve better.

Sincerely,

------- ----"