Deadwood Teachers Unite

We are a teaching couple who worked at the same school. We noticed something after No Child Left Behind was passed by Congress: there was an erroneous, automatic assumption on the part of many school administrators that "senior" teachers were standing in the way of the teaching and learning reforms that they wanted to impose. Our new superintendent told the assembled district employees that if you weren't going to engage in the new process, "you should go do something else." Our principal told staff on multiple occasions, "If you don't like it here, go somewhere else." The expression "get rid of the 'deadwood' " was frequently used. "Deadwood?"

Generally, "deadwood" teachers are assumed to be those over a certain age or experience level and are all stereotypically RIP (retired in place) or incompetent. This seems to be a fairly obvious case of age discrimination, but this is not a movie that will be wrapped up in 100 minutes in sweetness and light. It didn't seem to matter whether the teacher was a good one or not. The operating philosophy seemed to be "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten." In our building, that meant that "senior" staff were targeted for removal by the principal (aided by the office manager) by the use of bullying. This was, for us, a three year journey; it continued after we left two years ago. Our union was of little assistance in the matter.

This blog has been started for the purpose of identifying and tracking the use of bullying to force (generally) experienced teachers to leave the building, district, or profession. It is designed to inform victims of what happened to them, if they haven't figured it out yet. We hope to alert targets and witnesses to the tactics used by administrators to bully teachers. It is also intended to track efforts in a variety of States to pass laws banning adult bullying in the schoolhouse. The blog might also serve as a place to describe and discuss best practices that we, as professionals, have utilized as well as observed.


Adult bullies don't threaten to take your lunch money, they threaten to take your career. Since most teachers feel they are called to teaching and have a good deal of their "self" invested, the loss of that identity is often economically and psychologically devastating. Adult bullies take your identity as does someone who steals your credit card.


You are encouraged to comment, cite your experiences, encourage others who have stories to tell, and join together to stop this mean-spirited and destructive practice. If you have seen students negatively affected by adult-on-adult bullying, share that as well. No names are needed; we understand your need for privacy. While we are interested in all stories, those from the State of Washington are of particular interest as we are working to pass legislation here to protect teachers from adult bullies.