McLane teachers want students to excel

Thanks to Bee reporter Mackenzie Mays for bringing McLane High School’s staff concerns to the attention of The Bee’s readers. The Dec. 11 article did a fine job of focusing on one of many issues that face our campus.

Those go far beyond the concept of restorative practices and how they are being implemented. Other more emergent problems include a lack of communication and professionalism, a culture of intimidation and fear, and generally low morale as evidenced by the huge turnover of staff each year.

Altogether they create a fairly toxic environment. Hence, the petition, which didn’t mention the restorative practices program at all. Teachers at McLane want the best for their students, which means giving them every opportunity to succeed. Unfortunately, because of the problems that have been ongoing for at least the last five years, it’s very difficult for the school to be operating at peak efficiency.

That won’t happen until site and district leadership establish a clear vision for the school, treat teachers as professionals, and support calls for increased student accountability. McLane teachers want our kids to excel despite the long odds against them. Business as usual is setting them up to fail.

This story was originally published December 24, 2016 at 3:04 PM with the headline "McLane teachers want students to excel."