To the Editor and to whom it may concern, I am writing to express my concerns of the Cordell school board and superintendent. In my opinion, I do not believe that the school board members really know what is going on in the school system. If they do know or haven’t been told by Mr. Victory what is going on, then they are not doing their job.
Board members state that they have not been approached by teachers concerning their problems. If they haven’t been approached by teachers or staff to discuss Mr. Victory’s policies and practices in the school, then I have a few questions to ask the board members, and Mr. Victory.
1. Have the teachers and staff been told they cannot talk to board members? That could be why the last board member I talked to said he hasn’t received any complaints from teachers.
2. Were the teachers and staff told that if they went to the last board meeting, they would be fired or have repercussions? (Except for teachers or staff that are normally part of the meeting?)
3 Have teachers been told they cannot repeat any discussions at school, or it will be put on their record as “unprofessional” behavior, and it will follow them the rest of their careers?
4 Have any female teachers been told that their opinion doesn’t matter, because they are “just a woman?”
5 Have teachers been told that it does not matter how they were taught to teach, they will teach the way Mr. Victory tells them to teach?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, our teachers and staff have been hog tied and gagged. They have lost their freedom of speech. I believe this is called censorship. I do not believe in policies to destroy the freedom of speech. We as Americans have the right to freedom of speech and many Americans have died to protect that right.
It appears that when the statement was made that the board members are satisfied with Mr. Victory’s performance, the motion made to rehire, and their unanimous vote confirms that there is censorship going on. I am annoyed that the board members vote is always unanimous. Is there never a difference of opinion on the board? Is there pressure to make it a unanimous vote, because it will pass anyway? This tactic does not allow the public to know who is actually for or against the motion. The school board members should have the backbone to vote their convictions. They should also be able to hear from the teachers and listen to their concerns, without the threat of retaliation towards the teachers. Teachers do come and go but look at the number of teachers and families that have moved because of Mr. Victory. Families who have gone to Cordell schools for generations have moved. We are losing teachers and students at an alarming rate, and it will take years to repair the damages already done by the school board not listening to the teachers and concerned families.
Lastly, every board member except Jeff Jaronek has been appointed to the board, instead of being elected to the board. One was appointed and then ran unopposed. Another was defeated by Jeff Jaronek, and then appointed at the next open seat. We now have people who are interested enough to file for the school board positions. I feel we should all vote to better our school system. Be sure to voice your concerns to the board, and show up to the board meetings. We can’t let this continue like it has.
Jerry Willard Cordell, OK