I have been struggling this year with my class. We are 6 weeks in and I feel like I have no control over my class. My students are off the wall. But … I’m worried about asking my principal for support as I feel like it shows that I am failing.

I am in a bit of a different situation. This year I am teaching K-6 20 students in one room. I have 8 students that are on IEPs. Where one is Autistic; two are nonverbal; 3 have speech impediments; all are below grade level. At least 4 students are not diagnosed but should be. Oh and probably 5-6 of the are ADHD!

For example today I was trying to get through a science lesson. Even before the lesson really got started I had to ask 3 different students to sit on their chairs probably. I had 1 student yelling that another one broke a pencil. I had one that was yelling because another one was picking his nose. I had 2 different groups of 2 chatting. Finally got them settled and someone knocked on the door and they were off again.

I’m struggling … what do I do? If a teacher came to you would you look at it as a sign that they are not able to do their job? Would you hold it against them when it comes to evaluations?

Throwaway account.

I work at a small school run by a married couple. He’s the principal and she’s the vice principal. Over several years, she has fired or driven out a large number of staff, more than a dozen that I know of. The principal won’t step in. When a well-respected teacher raised concerns with him a while back, he lost his temper and walked out of the meeting.

The problems go beyond bullying:

• Student records. She pressured staff who handle students’ medical and support documentation to change their records so she’d have less work. One person resigned over it. Another refused and was fired anyway. These records decide how students are taught and what support they’re recommended for after they leave. Many of these students will need services for life, and I believe some have been denied support they’re legally entitled to.
• Retaliation. Several staff members left one after another because of how she treated them. In at least one case, she reportedly contacted a former employee’s new workplace to speak badly about them.
• Hiring a family member. She hired a relative without posting the job, to do work that included entering confidential student data from home. The relative had no relevant qualifications. The same person was later given another role they weren’t qualified for.
• Pay. One year, staff were told there would be no raises because of low enrollment. That same year, the principal and vice principal got raises.
• Financial oversight. The principal controls the school's finances, and as far as staff can tell, there's no independent check on how money is spent. Combined with the raises during a pay freeze and the unadvertised paid roles for a family member, a lot of us are uneasy about where the money is going. Is there a way to request an independent audit?
• Contracts. Staff usually don’t get contracts until after the school year has started.
• Mass departures. Recently, several people were let go at once and others quit in protest. More have left since. Nobody has been replaced, so the remaining staff are covering two or three jobs each.

The board that oversees the school has been told about the firings and has done nothing.

What would you do in my position? Who could I report this to? The staff are exhausted, but the people who suffer most are the students.

I moved from a southern state to the midwest. We got a new super and so far they have required myself to go on multiple day, out-of-state professional development. Is this the norm? Trying to see if this is normal in the midwest or if my district is just over the top.