Emery Loses 20% of its Teaching Staff: Dr John Rubio's Swan Song

Rubio's Swan Song: 20% Teacher Loss 
This Year

Emery Superintendent's Legacy:

Worst Teacher Retention in the Bay Area

a Net Failure for Academic Achievement 

Eight teachers are not returning to Emery in the fall according to recently released School District documents, marking a continuation of a four year trend of disruptive teacher churn that has earned the little district the dubious and ongoing distinction of having the worst teacher retention problem in the Bay Area. The teacher exodus is accredited to outgoing superintendent John Rubio who has claimed responsibility as part of a self described scorched earth program of jettisoning what he has characterized as the  “dead wood” of bad teachers.  

The eight certified teachers driven out so far this year represent 20% of the entire teaching staff at Emery, an improvement over last year’s epic 37% teacher loss but still far higher than any other district in the Bay Area. 

Critics of the Superintendent’s policies point out the fallacy of his claim he is merely firing bad teachers by noting the teachers he is now driving out (or firing) are the same ones he himself hired, a point conceded by an Emery teacher who told the Tattler recently, “He’s getting rid of the teachers he hired.”  The teacher, who wished to remain anonymous out of fear of losing his/her job, added that after four years at it (representing Mr Rubio’s entire tenure at Emery) almost every teacher left at this point is one he himself has hired.

Bold Experimenter in Teacher Purges:
Outgoing Emery Schools Superintendent
Dr John Rubio
He overturned the education status quo and delivered
maximum disruption in teacher retention as part
of a bold plan to raise student academic standards
by massive teacher churn.
The results for Emery have been failure.

 

For his part, Mr Rubio has thus far refused accountability for ill effects visited upon Emery as a result of the massive and disruptive teacher loss the District has been subjected to, effects universally recognized by educational professionals it should be noted, lashing out instead against his critics including the Tattler who has documented the teacher loss associated with his policies.

Educators commonly cite teacher retention as the single most important metric for measuring the efficacy of a school superintendent and also a school district.  Studies have shown districts with high teacher retention as being the best predictor for high academic progress regardless of student demographics.  Mr Rubio’s oft repeated assertion that the opposite is true; namely that the lower the teacher retention, the higher the academic performance, at least at Emery under his tutelage, is not indicated by the evidence; not at Emery or anywhere else in the world.  In fact, Emery’s academic standing has been markedly degraded since the implementation of Mr Rubio’s slash and burn teacher retention policies marked beginning in his first year at Emery.       

Lots of Bad Teachers at Emery?

Superintendent Rubio has often said the poor teacher retention numbers he has garnered at Emery are really a feature rather than a bug.  He states unequivocally that the academicians are wrong and he's right: low retention rates are a sign of a bold superintendent setting things right.  Besides testing people's skeptical nature with his claim, Mr Rubio's postulate assumes a strange and unquantified inability for Emery to attract quality teachers in the first place.  Implicit in his assertion is the notion that bad teachers really love Emery.  Somehow, other school districts can attract good teachers but Emery only seems to get the bad ones.  How else to explain the Superintendent’s astounding record of his firing and driving out teachers only to have to keep at it year after year with his own hires continually heading for the exits?  
In education, perhaps more than any other field, evidence-based policy has been the standard as opposed to whatever capricious policy has been coming from Mr Rubio, a man heretofore interested in keeping his employment at Emery.  As we search for a new superintendent,  Emery should try experimenting with what education academicians and sucsessful school districts around the world have for decades found to be true and leave the teacher purging experimenters for another district.

Board Meeting Date	School	Effective
4-25	ESS	6-30
4-25	ESS	6-30
4-25	AYE	6-30
4-11	ESS	6-19	Retirement
4-11	AYE	6-18	Retirement
4-11	AYE	6-30
4-11	AYE	6-30
4-11	AYE	6-30
4-11	AYE	6-30
4-11	AYE	6-30
4-11	ESS	6-30	Counselor

From EUSD Board packets:
Eight teachers quit or forced out, two retired and one councilor quit.