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Dear Physics students and parents,
As many students and parents have already heard, I am not being brought back to CCA to teach next year. This has been explained to me to be due to insufficient staffing allocations given upcoming enrollment numbers – basically, I’ve been told that we are overstaffed, and lack of tenure means I’m among the first up on the chopping block.
I’ve spent the past couple months doing whatever I can in an attempt to convince anyone with any say in decisions like this of the importance of keeping me here. I’ve spoken a bunch with admin to see if there might be a way to move things around and allow me to stay; I’ve mentioned that I would do quite genuinely anything to be able to keep teaching in this community I’ve come to hold so dearly – whether it be taking a pay cut, foregoing my prep period for next year to teach all 4 periods, or literally fundraising my salary myself.
I really do mean it when I say I’d do whatever it takes to be able to keep building this community through teaching physics at CCA – because it’s become so painfully clear to me that so many students have gone unseen, unheard, and insufficiently supported. The number of students that have lamented to me about how they lost joy and interest in physics after going through other physics classes breaks my heart, and it’s shown me that the current state of physics chips away at any existing interest and fails to develop and nurture potential interest in the subject.
But I know that it does not have to be this way. Some of the personal experiences I’ve heard from my students have made it extremely evident that deviation from that norm is needed – and words of encouragement from both students and parents have made me confident that pushing for this change is the correct choice for us to make.
It’s become incredibly apparent that, in a hyper-competitive environment like CCA, it is beyond necessary to have access to an environment that students understand is a safe space – during class of course, but also before and after school. Watching my classroom’s reputation grow into that and so much more in just this year has meant the world to me.
Ultimately, it’s tough to concretely state what anyone can do to help. I don’t want people to be harassed in an attempt to change minds. But neither do I want to hide behind the people that have so graciously given their support. I am willing to lead the charge and take genuine action in the pursuit of change, and it would mean the world to me to know if people would stand behind me. Were I given the chance to present a case to the district, I’m sure it would be of tremendous help to have some sense of scale as to how many people care – and the reasons why.
Much of the cautionary advice I’ve been given surrounding this situation is not to burn any bridges – not to shine too much light for fear of making myself unemployable if people feel I am causing unnecessary trouble. But with every fiber of my being, I believe that this is trouble worth making. In working up the courage to author this letter, I’ve effectively decided that this issue means enough to me – and to our students – to take that risk. In just one year of teaching, CCA has become my home. And to love this community so deeply is to strive endlessly to change it for the better.
Thank you wholeheartedly for supporting me through this endeavor. Please reach out to me with any questions, suggestions, or potential ways we can work together to move forward. Additionally, please feel free to share this message with any similarly concerned parents and students, whether or not I have ever had the privilege to meet them. I firmly believe that grassroots expression of our profound caring for our students and community expression of the desire for change will get us there.
Mr. Dunne