How to write a letter against a problem teacher?

[redbetta]

I am a senior at a Catholic high school. Since I am approaching graduation, I feel that I can start to try to get someone to address some issues with the school without a fear of repercussions. We have this English teacher who is plainly a bad teacher. She uses time ineffectively, starts something and doesn’t follow through with it, and doesn’t actually teach much at all. I’m in her Advanced Placement class and we are three novels behind. We spent over a month talking about just Act 1 of Hamlet.

My initial thought was to write a letter to the school. But, my friend’s mother already wrote a letter to the school concerning the teacher when her sister had her. It turns out, parents and students have been complaining about her for years. I’m guessing because she’s been teaching at that school for 40+ years, she is considered untouchable. But, the students suffer for it and we should get better for the tuition we are paying. My mom suggested that I write a letter to the Archdiocese. This school was started by a congregation of sisters, but, they do not run the school anymore and just sponsor it, so, I feel that the archdiocese is the last resort here.

Okay, I know there are a lot of parents on this forum and, hopefully, some who have been in this sort of situation. I need guidance on how to write a formal letter of compliant and how to send it so that it can be read. I can list multiple instances of bad teaching, so, that is not a problem. I can easily get classmates and some parents to confirm that I’m not lying. I genuinely love learning and I am a top student and I don’t complain about educators willy-nilly. So, I’d appreciate any (name removed by moderator)ut. Thanks.

Also, I feel compelled to write a letter considering religious education at my school, but, that is enough for this original post.

 

[jmcrae]

Instead of writing a letter of complaint against her, instead, write a letter of praise for the good teachers you’ve had.

That way, you won’t be remembered as a complainer, and you will have made your point about what good teaching is supposed to look like.

 

[redbetta]

If I write my letter to the archdiocese and not the school, no one will no it was me that was complaining. And, I genuinely love most of my teachers and plan on thanking them. But, if someone performed poorly on any other job, he or she would get fired. So why is it different for teachers? This year, she taught English to about 130 of our 160 seniors. We are a college prepatory school and we have to take four years of English no matter what. None of us could transfer out of her class because there were no other options. Honestly, education is too important a thing to be neglected like this. A bad teacher can make or break a subject area for a student. A bad teacher could make a kid’s overall GPA suffer even if it wasn’t that kid’s fault. The most responsible thing that the school can do if remove teachers that do not perform well and even ruin the educational experience for students.

 

[EasterJoy]

If you’re going to voice a complaint, voice it. As soon as you get your diploma, write a letter asking for a meeting with the principal concerning your experiences at the school. I would make it a joint request, because it would be good to bring some other honor students with you. Start by talking about the things about your school that you appreciate the most. Put some thought into that part, because it is also important.

When you have done that, broach the subject of this teacher. Voice your regret: in contrast to your experiences with other teachers, it was regrettable that so much of your academic career was wasted by this one teacher’s ineffectiveness. Do not get personal or, if so, only to admit that she has positive personal traits. Then enumerate the things you had hoped to accomplish and what you felt was accomplished, instead. Contrast what you covered with what was covered in similar classes at both public and Catholic high schools in your area. Then say that you are speaking out in order to voice your concern for the students coming after you. Ask if you can approach the school board of the school with your concerns. If not, ask what is going to be done, making it clear that now that you are alumni, you really want to see this problem addressed.

Then listen to what the principal has to say. Really listen. Whatever you do, thank the principal for talking with you, and take some time to think the meeting over before you decide how to follow up.

 

[St_Francis]

And write a thank-you note to each of those with whom you meet.

 

[Neofight]

How? I suggest with charity and humility!

 

[Irishmom2]

If I write my letter to the archdiocese and not the school, no one will no it was me that was complaining. And, I genuinely love most of my teachers and plan on thanking them. But, if someone performed poorly on any other job, he or she would get fired. So why is it different for teachers? This year, she taught English to about 130 of our 160 seniors. We are a college prepatory school and we have to take four years of English no matter what. None of us could transfer out of her class because there were no other options. Honestly, education is too important a thing to be neglected like this. A bad teacher can make or break a subject area for a student. A bad teacher could make a kid’s overall GPA suffer even if it wasn’t that kid’s fault. The most responsible thing that the school can do if remove teachers that do not perform well and even ruin the educational experience for students.

You are obviously well spoken, and can write well despite your inept teacher. I had to look and see that you weren’t actually from my children’s school, the case is so similar.

I think you should meet with the principal, with your parents included. Most likely, it will do no good, but you would be going through the proper chain of command. After that, write a letter to the Archdiocese and have your parents sign it as well.

Unfortunately, even that might not help, but at least you know that you tried. If you can get other people to do the same, you might have a better chance at success.

 

[PolarGuy]

Go ahead and write, but be prepared: it will do absolutely no good. Absolutely none.

Look, the entire educational system is built around the concept that every problem ends in June of each year. Students are graduated and if the incoming class has an issue it can be solved over the next few months (or in the following June).

 

[pianistclare]

They will absolutely know you wrote the letter. The policy in our Archdiocese is for the Archbishop’s office (or the Superintendent’s office) to copy the person (s) described or mentioned in the letter.
That’s where the repercussions come in.
If you feel passionately about it, I’d wait until after graduation. Have plenty of facts, dates, evidence, and specific incidents that you can address. Don’t dance around the issue.
Be SPECIFIC. Don’t make it about the person, but the LACK of education.
See if you can get your peers to sign the letter with you. See also, if you can get one of the clergy to schedule a meeting for you with either the Superintendent or the Bishop.
Ours won’t see anyone unless you bring one of the men in black with you.
That will be the hardest part. It’s not easy to find a priest who is willing to possibly upset his boss for someone who may or may not have good data.
As Polar Guy says…it likely won’t do any good.
We have a school here that is slowly dying. No one cares.
Unless you can get a huge contributor ($$$) in your camp.
Good luck. I hate to sound discouraging, but honestly, we’ve been there.
I hope you get a positive response.

 

[Xantippe]

I am a senior at a Catholic high school. Since I am approaching graduation, I feel that I can start to try to get someone to address some issues with the school without a fear of repercussions. We have this English teacher who is plainly a bad teacher. She uses time ineffectively, starts something and doesn’t follow through with it, and doesn’t actually teach much at all. I’m in her Advanced Placement class and we are three novels behind. We spent over a month talking about just Act 1 of Hamlet.

Oh dear. If it’s been 40 years, presumably/hopefully, retirement is coming soon.

If you ever really want to go nuclear (and I am not suggesting that you do), there are school review sites:

greatschools.org/

Yelp also hosts school reviews.

I see there’s also a site called ratemyteachers.com that covers high school.

But if you do that (and I’m not suggesting you do), make sure to paint a fair picture of the school as a whole and give positive reviews of teachers that deserve it.

 

[Allegra]

I am a senior at a Catholic high school. Since I am approaching graduation, I feel that I can start to try to get someone to address some issues with the school without a fear of repercussions. We have this English teacher who is plainly a bad teacher. She uses time ineffectively, starts something and doesn’t follow through with it, and doesn’t actually teach much at all. I’m in her Advanced Placement class and we are three novels behind. We spent over a month talking about just Act 1 of Hamlet.

My initial thought was to write a letter to the school. But, my friend’s mother already wrote a letter to the school concerning the teacher when her sister had her. It turns out, parents and students have been complaining about her for years. I’m guessing because she’s been teaching at that school for 40+ years, she is considered untouchable. But, the students suffer for it and we should get better for the tuition we are paying. My mom suggested that I write a letter to the Archdiocese. This school was started by a congregation of sisters, but, they do not run the school anymore and just sponsor it, so, I feel that the archdiocese is the last resort here.

Okay, I know there are a lot of parents on this forum and, hopefully, some who have been in this sort of situation. I need guidance on how to write a formal letter of compliant and how to send it so that it can be read. I can list multiple instances of bad teaching, so, that is not a problem. I can easily get classmates and some parents to confirm that I’m not lying. I genuinely love learning and I am a top student and I don’t complain about educators willy-nilly. So, I’d appreciate any (name removed by moderator)ut. Thanks.

Also, I feel compelled to write a letter considering religious education at my school, but, that is enough for this original post.

Did you bring up your concerns about the class in a respectful way to the teacher first? Even as a teenager, I wouldn’t have sat droning on about Hamlet for a whole school year without dropping at least a gentle hint that I’d like to see another book before the end of the school year! I guess at this point, all you can do is write a note about how you feel. I don’t know what you have to say, but I highly doubt they’re going to fire a teacher who has been teaching for 40 years because of one kid’s letter. She’s probably a year or two from retirement as it is and unless she has been abusive or broken a school policy, they don’t usually fire teachers without documenting what they want her to change about the way she teaches and giving her a year to implement it. You probably would have gotten better results by asking for what you wanted while the class was still going on.

 

[redbetta]

Did you bring up your concerns about the class in a respectful way to the teacher first? Even as a teenager, I wouldn’t have sat droning on about Hamlet for a whole school year without dropping at least a gentle hint that I’d like to see another book before the end of the school year! I guess at this point, all you can do is write a note about how you feel. I don’t know what you have to say, but I highly doubt they’re going to fire a teacher who has been teaching for 40 years because of one kid’s letter. She’s probably a year or two from retirement as it is and unless she has been abusive or broken a school policy, they don’t usually fire teachers without documenting what they want her to change about the way she teaches and giving her a year to implement it. You probably would have gotten better results by asking for what you wanted while the class was still going on.

I never said anything to her. Nobody says anything because she is known to play favorites and one does not want to get on her bad side. I was waiting until after graduation in order to help future students without repercussions towards me.

 

[EasterJoy]

Did you bring up your concerns about the class in a respectful way to the teacher first? Even as a teenager, I wouldn’t have sat droning on about Hamlet for a whole school year without dropping at least a gentle hint that I’d like to see another book before the end of the school year! I guess at this point, all you can do is write a note about how you feel. I don’t know what you have to say, but I highly doubt they’re going to fire a teacher who has been teaching for 40 years because of one kid’s letter. She’s probably a year or two from retirement as it is and unless she has been abusive or broken a school policy, they don’t usually fire teachers without documenting what they want her to change about the way she teaches and giving her a year to implement it. You probably would have gotten better results by asking for what you wanted while the class was still going on.

It is good to lodge complaints in real time, but it is too late for that. In any event, there are usually independent standards for Advanced Placement classes.

On second thought, the parents of these students ought to join in meeting with the principal, and if the parents are not satisfied with the results, they ought to go to the president of the school and the board. If the parents are alumni of this private school, so much the better. Catholic high schools are expected to be competent college preparatory schools without complaints from students to spur incompetent teachers into doing better. They also do not tend to have tenure polices that keep them from replacing teachers who have fallen so far short of their educational standards that it is impossible that the teacher is unaware of the issue. You never know when you are going to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.* If it might help some students after you to get a better education than you did, make the effort.*

 

[Xantippe]

It is good to lodge complaints in real time, but it is too late for that. In any event, there are usually independent standards for Advanced Placement classes.

Right. If the school’s scores for AP English are dismal compared to their other AP scores, that might raise some eyebrows.

At the very least, if it’s that bad, this teacher should not be teaching AP English.

(I remember AP English from high school. We moved FAST. There was no time for dawdling over Hamlet.)

 

[redbetta]

Right. If the school’s scores for AP English are dismal compared to their other AP scores, that might raise some eyebrows.

At the very least, if it’s that bad, this teacher should not be teaching AP English.

(I remember AP English from high school. We moved FAST. There was no time for dawdling over Hamlet.)

I’m afraid we will not be able to use the English scores argument. I’ve taken both kinds of AP English exams and many other AP exams. With that, I can say that the AP English exams are probably the easiest AP exams out there. If one reads a lot in his or her spare time and knows the basics of how to write an analytical essay, all one needs to do is refresh on some different literary devices before he or she takes the test. A lot of the students in my class are good readers and writers despite the teacher. So, unfortunately, we cannot use the scores against her.

 

[EasterJoy]

I’m afraid we will not be able to use the English scores argument. I’ve taken both kinds of AP English exams and many other AP exams. With that, I can say that the AP English exams are probably the easiest AP exams out there. If one reads a lot in his or her spare time and knows the basics of how to write an analytical essay, all one needs to do is refresh on some different literary devices before he or she takes the test. A lot of the students in my class are good readers and writers despite the teacher. So, unfortunately, we cannot use the scores against her.

I think taking several of the other top by-then recent alumni and all of your parents to the principal and asking what is going to be done about this is a good start. If some of those parents are alumni who contribute to the school on a regular basis, so much the better. If there are members of the administration who are alumni that you can talk to, so much the better, too. Be ready to listen, but be firm in your resolve that this teacher must not be allowed to continue to deliver so much less to her students than a student at your school ought to be able expect.

 

[sharmin]

Honestly, I think the fair and moral thing to do would be to approach her first (or ask your parents to). If that doesn’t go anywhere, then request a meeting with the principal and the teacher. Make sure the teacher is present so she has the opportunity to defend herself if she feels the need to.

 

[Et_Cetera]

Approaching the teacher will be a waste of time. I’m sure that this teacher knows that they’re not giving the students the education that they deserve.

Redbetta, I commend you for caring enough about the students that will come after you. I think that trying to get some other people together to meet with the principal (or perhaps someone higher in the diocese) might be more helpful. Talk it out in person, if possible. However, don’t be too disheartened if nothing much comes of it.

I’ve dealt with these kinds of issues from middle school to where I am now at the doctoral level. All have been at over-priced private schools, and my public school friends have had the same complaints. It happens too often, and I know that it is extremely frustrating. One thing that made my current school (40k/year tuition and granting doctorates) finally admit to big administrative problems was having students go online and start giving them poor reviews on school review sites. They started to really care when they felt that their good public image was changing. In the dean’s public statement about cleaning up a department of the school, he specifically pointed to student online reviews as being a big catalyst. Sometimes a school has to feel like there will be real-world repercussions before anything will be done, which is damn shame.

You seem to be very well-spoken, especially for someone who is just graduating high school. I think you’ll be fine. Just stay confident and cool-headed when you voice your complaints.

 

[Allegra]

I’m afraid we will not be able to use the English scores argument. I’ve taken both kinds of AP English exams and many other AP exams. With that, I can say that the AP English exams are probably the easiest AP exams out there. If one reads a lot in his or her spare time and knows the basics of how to write an analytical essay, all one needs to do is refresh on some different literary devices before he or she takes the test. A lot of the students in my class are good readers and writers despite the teacher. So, unfortunately, we cannot use the scores against her.

I don’t have rally strong memories of my English AP, but as I recall, there was a lot of reading short excerpts of different kinds of writing and comparing them or analyzing them in some way. So, if the teacher, or even other English teachers in the school, have successfully taught those skills, it probably doesn’t matter (in regards to AP test scores) if the teacher dawdles over one piece of literature. I do remember that there was a lot of recommended reading for my AP class but it seemed to be understood that no one was going to read the entire list, but that the students should study a well-rounded selection from multiple genres. It’s been a while, and the test may have changed, but I don’t think it was important to have read the specific piece that the AP excerpts came from. I do remember that my AP teacher glossed over Hamlet rather quickly as we had already read two other Shakespeare plays in other years and he felt we were more lacking in experience with different kinds of poetry. Maybe your teacher is under the impression that you didn’t get enough Shakespeare in your other classes?

I still think you would have been more successful if you had asked for a change in curriculum during the class. There are certainly ways to express that which would not get you on someone’s “bad side”.

In regards to your letter, I would try to emphasize what you would have liked to have gotten from the class and what you felt would have prepared you better for your AP exam and for college. I would not say “she didn’t teach anything”, but state some of the important things that you didn’t get to because too much time was spent on one genre. Other than that issue, you haven’t stated what you take exception to, but I would avoid complaining of issues of “bad teaching”, but rather explain what you would have liked to see. For example, you could say, “I think we would have gotten a lot more out of more group discussions and sharing of one another’s essays rather than the majority of the time being used for lecture.”

Finally, I believe there are standards that a class must have in order to qualify to be called an AP class. You might consider finding out what those are and pointing out the class didn’t qualify. (Assuming it doesn’t) You might be able to affect a change without having to directly attack the teacher at all, if the school is concerned about losing the AP status.

 

[EasterJoy]

I don’t have rally strong memories of my English AP, but as I recall, there was a lot of reading short excerpts of different kinds of writing and comparing them or analyzing them in some way. So, if the teacher, or even other English teachers in the school, have successfully taught those skills, it probably doesn’t matter (in regards to AP test scores) if the teacher dawdles over one piece of literature. I do remember that there was a lot of recommended reading for my AP class but it seemed to be understood that no one was going to read the entire list, but that the students should study a well-rounded selection from multiple genres. It’s been a while, and the test may have changed, but I don’t think it was important to have read the specific piece that the AP excerpts came from. I do remember that my AP teacher glossed over Hamlet rather quickly as we had already read two other Shakespeare plays in other years and he felt we were more lacking in experience with different kinds of poetry. Maybe your teacher is under the impression that you didn’t get enough Shakespeare in your other classes?

I still think you would have been more successful if you had asked for a change in curriculum during the class. There are certainly ways to express that which would not get you on someone’s “bad side”.

In regards to your letter, I would try to emphasize what you would have liked to have gotten from the class and what you felt would have prepared you better for your AP exam and for college. I would not say “she didn’t teach anything”, but state some of the important things that you didn’t get to because too much time was spent on one genre. Other than that issue, you haven’t stated what you take exception to, but I would avoid complaining of issues of “bad teaching”, but rather explain what you would have liked to see. For example, you could say, “I think we would have gotten a lot more out of more group discussions and sharing of one another’s essays rather than the majority of the time being used for lecture.”

Finally, I believe there are standards that a class must have in order to qualify to be called an AP class. You might consider finding out what those are and pointing out the class didn’t qualify. (Assuming it doesn’t) You might be able to affect a change without having to directly attack the teacher at all, if the school is concerned about losing the AP status.

What she could have done when she was still in the class is water under the bridge. Besides, this is not a one-year problem. This teacher has been a problem for some time.

Put it this way: If I’m the principal and I have a large proportion of my top graduates thinking that my AP English teacher is not only ineffective but has gained a reputation for retribution against those who object, I want to know. They graduated with honors–what reason do they have to complain now? It is because they care about those who come after, because they cannot profit personally. If I’m the president of the school or I’m on the school board and I find that we have a principal who gets information about a problem of this magnitude and I find that my principal has done nothing about the complaints, I want to know about that, too.

Once the OP has graduated, she can also use the alumni association to enlist the opinion and help of other recent alumni who have had similar complaints. When some alum comes back to the school board and says they are appalled that after four years nothing has been done about a problem they themselves had to suffer through, some h#$l can be raised among the donors.

If she finds that essentially none of the other alumni care enough to pursue this, then she may just want to drop it. All I would do in that case is to have my parents warn the parents of next year’s seniors to watch out for any problems with this teacher and to be sure to call them if the parents of current students need help in taking a proactive stance in nipping similar problems in the bud as they arise. When parents go to the principal and complain that exams aren’t being returned and the curriculum is below the necessary standards for an AP course, that is a different matter than when complaints are coming from students only. Alumni and parents of past students can also help in some ways that people still at the school cannot help themselves.