When is enough going to be enough..?

B'H
It is now over five years ago that my world and that of my young son was destroyed by a principal and his fellow principal at another school. I had, after a meeting with the then Education Officer of the Riverina area in NSW had a transfer to Young High School. After the Regional Principals Meeting in 2005, that transfer was suddenly rescinded and I was transferred to a school where I was at the mercy of person who was totally malicious and ruthless in his treatment as he wanted to 'punish me' for daring to make a complaint of discrimination against his mate at Narrandera High School.
I believed, perhaps, very naively that because I was a competent teacher, I could survive and rise to the challenges and defeat them in their unfair treatment of me. How wrong I was. They destroyed my standing and my confidence. They literally tried to drive me to suicide and even suggested that was the reason for me having my program extended as they stepped up a campaign of psychological extermination, because I was 'psychologically unstable'. Why was I psychologically unstable? Because I am a single parent and if you are a single parent, you must be somehow flawed and unsuitable to be a teacher or even to hold professional employment. You are flawed, according to their criteria. Well balanced people are in relationships or married. They made malicious and unfounded accusations about me to discredit me and to deceive others, including the potential principal of Young High School about me and my competence. They would rather keep a bumbling, incompetent ex-Deputy Principal on as the Literacy Advisor in the school than some one like me, trained and competent.
These are the accusations against me so far and I am searching for legal aid and representation to right this wrong and to be employed professionally again.
1. Myth 1 - I was incompetent as an English Teacher and could not write or read to the standard required for a teacher in NSW schools. Truth - my level of English and writing skills are better than many of my compatriot teachers who are still teaching. I often corrected even the Head Teacher who was a bit sloppy in some presentations. He resented that, which was a surprise to me. Often I had fellow teachers who were glad of a bit of help in editing and I would welcome the same. We are in this together.
2. Myth 2 - I was supposed to have 'established contact with students out side of normal school hours'. Apart from saying 'hello' to students who greeted me at the supermarket where they were working outside of school hours, I did offer extra tuition to the year 10 students in History and English and this took place on three occasions, straight after school in a classroom adjacent to the HISE staff room. On my recommendation for a Teaching Certificate, the principal makes quite a few double edged statements that would make any competent principal think twice about me. How about this one for starters 'Ilana has had to deal with some difficult students and classroom circumstances, She has always maintained an interest in each student's well-being, even to the extent of establishing contact out of normal school hours.' Now that is a sleazy insinuation if ever there was one, but I would expect nothing less of this principal. The same principal who asked me'Why are you going to so much bother for these kids?' when I posted out revision books for Australian History to two students who did not make it into class to go over the work for the School Certificate Exam. Then there was another comment about lateral thinking which would apply aptly to the young primary school trained replacement who he was so fond of. She did not even know the difference between a verb and an adverb and gave the Jack Davis 'The HoneyPot' work activities I did with my year 7's to a year 9 class I shared with her. That I thought most inappropriate as there are radically different ways to approach texts with year 7 to the year 9's and besides, I felt the text was not what we should have been doing with these year 9 students. They should have had something a bit more complex. I felt it was incredibly lazy on her part as well as showing her complete lack of understanding of what was required of year 9 students. These students needed to be challenged. She tended to focus only on grammar and very basic grammar which suited a year four or five Primary class and did not require these kids to think along moral or ethical issues which they should have been doing at that stage of their schooling. All they were required to do was to think about whether they had to use present tense or past or future and not to investigate and to really think about right or wrong. I had real problems with another teacher who now is a Head Teacher somewhere near Wollongong. she did a text with the year ten's about the Black Rock rape. One of her questions on a question sheet she offered to me, 'Do you think that Xxxx deserved to be raped? Explain why or why not.' Now that is  a stupid question for a class of fairly feral year 10 boys. If you know a little of how year 10 boys think, you would never ever phrase a question like that, besides it has no real value to my way of thinking. When I expressed my disquiet, I was literally told to shut up and that I did not know what I was talking about. This woman had a doctorate in children's literature and it was quite frightening that she seemed to have little idea of ethics or morality and the way to phrase questions that required students to actually think and perceive of rape as violent act against the rights of another human being. 
3. Myth 3 - I could not write reports without jeopardizing the reputation of the NSW Department of Education and instigating a law suit. Truth - I have written reports for 17 years both in Australia and overseas in Israel. No one had ever complained and in fact at Mac Quarie Fields High School, the head teacher of the Maths Department who was overseeing the reports collation,  commented to me on the depth of my perceptions and appropriateness of my reporting on students in classes that he had in Maths and complimented me on my lack of errors. He said that I and two or three other teachers had the least errors and rewrites of all teachers in the school. Needless to say, that list did not include the HT of the English Department ironically enough.
At Narrandera I was brought into the Principal's office with the Year Adviser in Year 10 of 2005 and I was told I had to change 5 reports. Taken aback I asked the reasons. The main problem was that I had called these five students 'intelligent and performing below their capabilities, because of absences from school and lack of homework and classwork.' Now I believed that these comments were fair and honest.  However I was told to write something that put all five students in a very negative light and in fact to present them as almost unable to be educated and imply they had real problems. I was told one student was Aboriginal and therefore problematic. He would never do better. I disagreed with that assessment and was told I did not understand the Aboriginal mind. They cannot cope with European education methods I was told. I disagreed. All it takes is a little effort and understanding on the part of the teacher to get these kids to perform better in a classroom situation and ironically enough - lateral thinking.  Another student, I was told, only had the potential for a Kings Cross sex worker. Again I disagreed as I would not make such a negative assessment of s student and if I thought she was in danger of that, I would work my butt off to ensure that she would not choose or fall into such a profession. And there is more, but I cannot bore you with the finer details.
This will be the first of three posts. 

At the Cricket

Nir had his first cricket game today. We also must get his proper cricket gear. Been so busy with the move that I have not had time to buy his box, pants or other cricket. It will be just the basics as I am very broke at present and need to work.
Need to do another post about aspects of bullying and the evil intentions of the Aleph GLTG group run by The foul mouthed Michael Barnett and his group of sickos who I am sure do NOT represent the majority of the gay population.

Peter Spencer Hunger Strike on a Wind Tower

B'H
Since the beginning of December 2009, a NSW farmer Peter Spencer has been on a hunger strike to draw the Australian Labor Government's attention to Land Rights and Usage issues in the Australian rural community and to protest the treatment he has received through the court system.
He has had over 200 court appearances all for nought as he has fought to try and regain the rights to use his land economically and to clear the vegetation and trees on some areas of his land.
Bueaucrats in the government have for the past nearly twenty years tried with ever increasing success to dictate to farmers and landowners how to use their land and what to plant and where and when. Unfortunately their successful meddling has destroyed the ability and rights of landowners to use their land economically. People have been forced off their land and have suicided and divorced because of the situation that has been forced on them through government meddling in rural and land issues.
If you want to find out more about this - go to this website and read on a number of issues that concerns the Australian rural community. These matters will have an impact eventually on the urban populace.

http://agmates.ning.com/group/peterspencerhungerstrike

This link will take you to the group and other related issues.

Well another blog started!

The cat has had six kittens. They are little rats. Stubby noses, eyes squeezed shut for the next ten days or so, skinny stick legs and spindly tails. They also squeak furiously when taken more than a few centimetres away from their mother which further enhances the rat metaphor.
Nir lies on his stomach, legs spread out behind him, face supported on his hands and gazes lovingly at the mother cat Mitzie and the six squirmy little things latching on to her. He is in love. I am at my wits end and thinking 'Come six weeks, they are in the pet shop and the mum is in the vet getting done!'

Life is cruel.