1

4
APPEAL of the LAUSD’s
5

6
5-PERSON COMMITTEE’s
7 1/20/11 NOTICE of
DECISION to “SEPARATE”
8

10

11
ME, Mr. (John) Philip A.
12

13
(Vander) Kok from
14

15
EMPLOYMENT as a
16
SUBSTITUTE TEACHER
for the LOS ANGELES
17

18

UNIFIED SCHOOL
19

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22
DISTRICT
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1
 1

2 HOW I LEARNED ABOUT THE DECISION TO “SEPARATE”

3 This is my appeal of the decision of the LAUSD 5-person-committee. On January 20, 2011
4 (my 44th birthday, thank you very much) as I was leaving an assignment at Belmont High
5 School I was handed a message by a secretary at the office who curtly almost “ordered” me
6 to call this person (whose name was on the paper) immediately, as if it was an emergency.
7 My first thought was about FAMILY. Was somebody hurt ? A death ? And if so, why was I
8 being told by the office? And for that matter does the LAUSD even have “emergency
9 contact” information on file at the district office ? I recall being at Westchester High on the
10 day that a beloved member of my family’s church, the Crystal Cathedral, commit suicide ,
11 and simply hearing on the news (from my cell phone in the classroom) that a gunman was
12 “holed up” at the church, and I had NO IDEA what had happened or to whom, if anything
13 yet at the time (but since my dad works there it was a matter of concern for me; although it
14 was a relief to discover none of my immediate family members were hurt, the fact that it
15 turned out to be a suicide of Johnny Carl, the long-time beloved Hour of Power orchestra
16 director, did NOT make it any easier).
17

18 Anyways, to my RELIEF, on January 20, 2011, it was NOT about a family member but
19 from somebody at “employee relations.” I wondered, “employee relations” at where ? It did
20 NOT say LAUSD and since I had recently filed a complaint with PERB (Public
21 Employment Relations Board) in December of 2010 I saw “employee” & “relations” and
22 thought it was a message from PERB. Before I turned and walked out of the office the
23 secretary once again ORDERED me to call the number “NOW.” It felt as if she was
24 speaking to me as an inferior, and I wondered WHAT RIGHT she has to ORDER ME to
25 call anybody immediately after my assignment is over . Anyways, I had my phone in my
26 hand and intended to call the number as I was walking down the hallway to my car. I did
27 NOT need to be ORDERED by a secretary to call anybody immediately.
28

2
 1 Thus, I left the main office at Belmont High School and called the number as I was walking
2 down the hallway and out of the building. A man by the name of John Braadsfield (?)
3 answered the phone, and it was at that time that I REALIZED this was LAUSD. I did not
4 know the name John Braadsfield, nor had I ever had any contact with employee relations,
5 but Mr. Braadsfield introduced himself as a “deputy” of some sort (“deputy director”?).
6 There were NO NICETIES about the conversation. There was NO “HOW ARE YOU
7 TODAY?” The only indication that Mr. Braadsfield had any “feelings” about what he was
8 doing & saying was that he prefaced the bad news by saying, “I HATE TO BE THE
9 BEARER of BAD NEWS, but the SCHOOL DISTRICT has DECIDED to SEPARATE YOU
10 FROM EMPLOYMENT with THEM” or something to that effect. Having been with the
11 school district for thirteen years now, having begun substitute teaching in January of 1998,
12 I was STUNNED to say the least, especially because I had NO PREMONITION of any such
13 coming action or decision against me.
14

15 In fact, at first I thought this was a BAD PRANK, an early April Fool’s joke, but Mr.
16 Braadsfield kept assuring me this was NO JOKE. Then we lost connection. By that time I
17 had arrived at my car and I called the number again and spoke with Mr. Braadsfield for a
18 few further moments with the intent of determining if this was a LEGITIMATE
19 representative of the LAUSD . I asked to speak to his supervisor, and I asked, “If you are
20 legitimate, then tell me on WHAT BASIS I am being separated ?” Mr. Braadsfield
21 first said a “background check”, but then said, “I mean THREE ISR’s in your file?” At that
22 time I didn’t even know what the letters “ISR” represented and found out it is in regards to
23 “Insufficient Service Report” by schools where a substitute was on assignment. I’m NOT
24 sure what the slip-up was all about (i.e. why he first said “background check” and then
25 said “ISR’s” , but being informed of THREE ISR’s, LET ALONE ANY ISR’s in my file
26 was NEWS to me. I thought at that time I had ZERO ISR’s.
27

28

3
 1 WHY NO WARNING of REVIEW & PENDING ACTION ?
2
WHY MUST THIS NOTIFICATION
BE SO SUDDEN & ‘OUT of the BLUE’ as if it was
3
DONE INTENTIONALLY to SHOCK, UPSET & DISTURB ?
4
I told Mr. Braadsfield that I thought that this was a “DISHONEST” & “RUDE” way [&
5
the more I think about it, although I did not say it at the time, a cowardly way] to
6
inform a person of such a decision, and WONDER WHY the LAUSD doesn’t bother giving
7
a WARNING of potential “impending doom” so that if there are inaccuracies in one’s file,
8
or things an employee DID NOT KNOW ABOUT in his or her file he or she can ADDRESS
9
these ISSUES before the LAUSD GIVES such a DIRE ANNOUNCEMENT of
10
SEPARATION by the phone. I contend that this constitutes “INTENTIONAL
11
INFLICTION of EMOTIONAL DISTRESS”, unnecessarily so (which is unlawful, by the
12
way).
13

14
Substitute teachers, as far as I know, have ONLY have one real forum for being given
15
information about substitute issues, namely the substitute teacher committee led by David
16
Peters, Leonard Segal, & a few others. I did attend a few of these gatherings but did NOT
17
always find it to be a comfortable setting or atmosphere and was NOT given all the
18
information necessary to respond to all the substitute teacher issues, or potential issues that
19
arise. I wonder if I was discriminated against at the substitute teacher meetings because of
20
“politics” (I know that some have labeled me as “conservative” or “conservative Christian”
21
and probably assumed Republican, even though for many years I was independent and for
22
that matter I consider myself more of a “moderate” than complete conservative; and
23
that many, if not most, in education are liberals and democrat.)
24

25

26

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4
 1

2
HOW COULD I KNOW ABOUT the ISR’s
3
WITHOUT A REQUIRED MEET & CONFER
4 PRIOR to the ISR BEING ISSUED ACCORDING to
5 ARTICLE X.7.0 of the LAUSD-UTLA CONTRACT ?
6 Nonetheless, I waited to inquire further until I spoke with John Braadsfield’s supervisor,

7 who apparently is Ira Berman. Mr. Berman returned my call shortly later that same day

8 and he mentioned the three ISR’s and gave me the names of the schools, and a few of the

9 dates. Two of the ISR’s were OVER a year old, and the latest ISR was from a year ago

10 (January 2010). I remembered incidents at all three schools, none of which I returned to

11 subsequently, but I did NOT know that I had received an ISR for any of the incidents, all

12 of which I have responded to individually with an explanation and defense in separate

13 documents, and for which the UTLA subsequently also filed a grievance on my behalf in

14 January 2011, or so they say (as I am writing this on February 2, 2011, I am only aware

15 that a grievance has been allegedly filed for each ISR).

16

17 I told Mr. Berman I had NO KNOWLEDGE of any ISR’s and he said that they were sent

18 by certified mail. Mr. Berman did NOT indicate whether or not there was a ‘RECORD of

19 CONFERENCE” prior to the issuance of ISR’s, but I can testify that there indeed was NO

20 CONFERENCE prior to any of the ISR’s and therefore ALL of them are

21 CONTRACTUALLY INVALID according to Article X.7.0 of the contract, regardless of

22 mailing issues, regardless of whether or not they sent them to the correct address, and

23 regardless of whether or not I signed for anything.

24

25

26

27

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5
 1 SENDING AN ISR by MAIL without the
2
PREREQUISITE MEET-&-CONFER
(or GOOD FAITH ATTEMPT to MEET-&-CONFER)
3
is AKIN to TRAFFIC OFFICER SENDING A CITIZEN a
4 SEATBELT CITATION in the MAIL
5 WITHOUT EVER STOPPING (i.e. technically “arresting”)
6
the CITIZEN ON THE STREET
at the SCENE of the ALLEGED INFRACTION.
7

8 By the way, I might add that the way the schools did the ISR’s IN ALL THREE CASES is
9 like a cop MAILING an ALLEGED SEATBELT TICKET to you without ever stopping
10 you on the street. In such a case, if the cop never stopped you, let alone had you sign a
11 citation, there is NO CITATION, whether or not they mail it to you or deliver it directly to
12 you. If they do NOT stop you on the street “at the scene of the crime” (i.e. insignificant
13 traffic infraction) there is NO CRIME, plain & simple. This is at the HEART & SOUL of
14 the cat-&-mouse infaction process (as opposed to more serious felonious crimes, or
15 serious misdemeanors) because a lot of this MICKEYMOUSE infraction nonsense has
16 NOTHING to do with the INTENDED SPIRIT of the LAW and therefore the cops must be
17 held AS ACCOUNTABLE at the nit-picking mickeymouse level as the person they are
18 attempting to “write up.”
19

20 LIKE being OFFICILLY STOPPED (i.e. “arrested”) by a TRAFFIC

21
OFFICER The MEET & CONFER PREVENTS LAZINESS &
SHODDY ENFORCEMENT & is the SINE QUA NON of the ISR
22
without WHICH there is NO ISR
23
The traffic officer is LEGALLY OBLIGATED to stop the alleged offender at the moment
24
he (the officer) observes the alleged offender not wearing his or her seatbelt, & is
25
LEGALLY OBLIGATED to ask for the alleged offender’s information (driver’s license &
26
registration) at the SCENE of the ALLEGED INFRACTION. This is the SINE QUA
27
NON (that which comes before the next step” without which there is nothing”, OR “an
28
indispensable and essential action, condition, or ingredient” ) of a valid traffic citation &

6
 1 also the SINE QUA NON of a legitimate ISR in a LAUSD public school. If the “site
2 administrator” does NOT FULFILL his or her contractual obligation to meet & confer (or
3 make a good faith attempt to meet & confer) with the person whom they are “writing up”,
4 the ISR is as INVALID and ILLEGITIMATE as a seatbelt citation from an officer in the
5 mail who never stopped you on the street. It is ABSOLUTELY INVALID and
6 ILLEGITIMATE, and has NO BINDING EFFECT whatsoever. This is a SAFEGUARD
7 against LAZY & SHODDY administrative and rule-enforcement behavior. The person
8 enforcing the law or rules MUST be at least equally, if not more so, in conformity with the
9 legal process as the person who they are scolding for an alleged infraction. We do NOT
10 LIVE in a communist country where enforcement of alleged infractions can be done such a
11 haphazard, unpredictable, or even self-serving manner such that the system becomes
12 oppressive & essentially corrupt or evil, used for control purposes rather than any sincere
13 concern about the welfare of the people at all.
14

15

16
SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS MUST ALSO FOLLOW PROPER
PROCEDURES WHEN WRITING DISCIPLINE REFERRALS
17
Just as “site administrators” have an obligation to follow the proper steps prior to issuing
18
an ISR, a substitute, likewise, has an obligation in the classroom, when interacting with a
19
“difficult” student to take “prior steps” before cursorily sending a student out of the room.
20
Even on referral forms, many schools ask or require indication of “prior steps” before
21
sending them out of the room (such as “1st warning”, “2nd warning”; or for regular
22
teachers “contacted parents” , etc. ). In fact, there has been times where I have sent
23
students out without taking the “prior steps” & a a few times the assistant principal or
24
dean has sent the student back with a note saying I need to do a “proper” referral. Needless
25
to say, a “discipline referral” has no long-lasting impact (such as “separation” from
26
employment) apart from possibly being out of the classroom the rest of the period. This
27
keeps substitutes & regular teachers on their toes and prevents “totalitarianism” of sorts as
28
well.

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 1

2 ALL REGULAR & SUBSITUTE TEACHERS & SITE

3
ADMINISTRATORS MUST FOLLOW PROPER PROCEDURES &
DUE PROCESS & BE BETTER than ‘LAZY COPS’ or
4
TOTALITARIAN DICTATORS ’
5

6 With ALL DUE RESPECT for the MANY GOOD SITE ADMINISTRATORS (& also
7 regular & substitute teachers) at LAUSD schools (which is MOST of them) , for those who
8 are LESS diligent & conscientious , just as we must require & expect “due process” and
9 “proper procedures” in regards to student discipline referrals from regular & substitute
10 teachers, we must require that site administrators be held accountable to the proper ISR
11 procedures. ALL of us, substitute & regular teachers, as well as site administrators MUST
12 BE BETTER than LAZY COPS . And as is the case, if a traffic cop FAILED to pull me
13 over for a seatbelt citation, but instead just MAILED me a citation in the MAIL it would
14 be MEANINGLESS. If the traffic officer fails to follow the PROPER PROCEDURES of
15 enforcing traffic laws, they are routinely dismissed by our good judges. This prevents
16 LAZY enforcement & essentially TOTALITARIANISM, which also, by the way, CHILLS
17 the human spirit & is bad for any community and country.
18

19 Furthermore, our society & system does NOT require nor expect citizens to go ‘TURN
20 THEMSELVES IN’ for a seatbelt citation or other insignificant alleged traffic infractions
21 ( I say “alleged” because I am currently in the process of arguing that the seatbelt laws are
22 unconstitutional). For anybody at UTLA or LAUSD to click their tongue at me for
23 REFUSING to SIGN for certified mail as if it is LESS THAN GOOD CITIZENSHIP, in
24 fact, the truth is that it is EXCELLENT CITIZENSHIP, in contrast to the site
25 administrator who FAILED to PROPERLY MEET-&-CONFER (or attempt to meet &
26 confer) prior to issuing an ISR that can, does, (& in this case did) seriously effect an
27 employee’s career. There are SERIOUS matters that require MORE DILIGENCE by
28 citizens such as serious traffic accidents (& all involving injuries) where a citizen is

8
 1 expected & required by law & ethical obligations to STAY-at-the-SCENE & report the
2 incident, or if we witness criminal behavior (observe drunk driving, etc).
3

4 Or, God forbid, if we ourselves engage in criminal behavior, we should, actually TURN
5 OURSELVES IN (and/or make proper amends for such behavior) (in fact, as a youth,
6 mostly during college, I did engage in a few instances of shoplifting for which I was not
7 caught, & later in life, as I was starting seminary I “turned myself in” so to speak by
8 sending an anonymous money order for a few dollars above what the items cost ( frozen
9 pizza, bottle of soda, etc) to the stores that I shoplifted from & subsequently have NEVER
10 shoplifted ever again) (for a while, actually less than a handful of times, I had “justified”
11 shoplifting against “corporate” entities because I believed they represented an unjust gap
12 between “rich” & “poor” (i.e. I had a Robin Hood notion ). I still believe there is an
13 UNJUST GAP between rich & poor but do not believe it justifies stealing from the rich.
14 And in regards to anything at any schools, I have NEVER engaged in any behavior of any
15 sort that would require me to “confess” of any wrongdoing as a substitute teacher nor as a
16 citizen in the last twenty years. I have been an UTMOST GOOD CITIZEN as a substitute
17 teacher for thirteen years (& even gone BEYOND the bare minimum in many ways), as I
18 was prior to such as a regular teacher in Coachella Valley.
19

20

21 Re LETTERS of REFERENCE on MY BEHALF

22 Mr. Berman proceeded to say that I could APPEAL the 5-person committee decision
23 in writing, and an independent committee of 5 different individuals would review my file
24 along with any explanation and references I sent. I asked what kind of references he
25 recommended and he mentioned “regular teachers” who have previously requested me.
26 Although I may have been requested by some regular teachers, & a few times I recall a
27 regular teacher or secretary asking me for my phone number, I do NOT know or recall
28 their names or if they ever subsequently requested me. They may keep a list of substitutes

9
 1 they like, but I do NOT have a list of the teachers who like, or appreciate, or respect, or
2 specifically request me.
3

4 If teachers have specifically requested me, I believe that would be done via the sub finder,
5 not by directly calling me anyways, which is why I always wonder why they ask me for my
6 phone number, but don’t argue. As for principals, I do NOT normally interact with a
7 principal at any schools, and rarely, if ever, see a principal in the classroom. Unfortunately,
8 the only time one seems to interact with a principal or assistant principal is if they think
9 you have been “bad.” It would be NICE if occasionally they might stop in to see how
10 GOOD a substitute teacher is being, and make a note of it. As for “preferred
11 substitute” lists, I do NOT know if my name is on any at any schools.
12
What I can do is be a LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION FOR MYSELF, as is written in
13

14 2 CORINTHIANS 3.1-3

15 “Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or

16 do we need, like some people, letters of
recommendation to you or from you? 2 You
17
yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts,
18 known and read by everybody. 3 You show that you
19
are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry,
written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living
20
God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human
21 hearts.
22
This is my PRIMARY LETTER of REFERENCE, Res Ipsa Loquitur (It speaks for
23
itself, or I speak for myself) . You would have to personally meet me to truly know me, but if
24

25 I am already negatively pre-judged (i.e. prejudice), I don’t have a chance. As for any other

26 letters of reference, written on ink, I have been away from my academic institutions for
27
quite some time now, I do not know if my former professors will respond for me, some of
28
whom, in fact, have passed away, God bless them. In terms of asking other substitutes for

10
 letters of reference in ink, as mentioned I have NOT been very comfortable at some of the
1

2 substitute committee meetings. I have been ‘profiled’ or stereotyped negatively as

3 “conservative Christian” and do not feel highly welcome or appreciated or even liked for
4
that matter, which is unfortunate because nobody there truly knows me.
5

7
I have had some email correspondence with a Karen Morgan, whom I know NOTHING

8 personally about; & also with a David Peters (who is the apparent leader of the substitute
9 committee), but Mr. Peters apparently is facing some trouble of his own and he said that a
10
“letter of reference” from him would NOT help me at the moment. Karen simply responded
11
that she needed to see the ISR’s to know how to ‘FIGHT’ for me. I believe my parents, Jim
12

13 & Linda, sent a positive letter of reference to Ira Berman on my behalf, for whatever good

14 that may be. I do not intend to go soliciting letters of references from any school principals
15
or teachers. At this point, after THIRTEEN YEARS in the classroom with ONLY THREE
16
ISR’s (which, had I known about immediately, may have been able to get dismissed right
17
away) I think my GOOD RECORD SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.
18

19

20 IF I DIE ANY FURTHER TO SELF, I WILL BE LITERALLY

21
DEAD. IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?,
& IF SO, WHAT DOES THAT MAKE YOU ?
22

23 At some point in time in life you MUST DEPEND in good faith on others being able to

24 recognize and appreciate goodness & decency. I think my record, academic, work, driving,
25
etc, all SPEAKS FOR ITSELF and beyond any piece of paper, beyond any status symbol
26
such as salary (or none at all) , kind of car I drive (or don’t drive), what floor my office is on
27

28
(or none at all) & if I have a window or not, what fancy title I have (or don’t have),

11
 BEYOND ALL THESE SUPERFICIAL MATTERS, who I am speaks for itself, and if you
1

2 cannot recognize and appreciate goodness & decency, the question then turns to you: DO

3 YOU HAVE REFERENCES ? If you cannot recognize goodness & decency in me, or will
4
NOT take the time to meet with me & truly get to know me, then I must question YOUR
5
CHARACTER, your goodness, your decency, & your integrity.
6

8 The TRUTH IS I cannot become any more “gentle” & self-denying & “dying to self”
9 without actually literally dying as Jesus did on the cross. Is that what you want ? If you
10
want me to become so selfless to actually come to the point of having NO SELF whatsoever,
11
what does that make YOU ? I have already “died to self” in a Christian manner of speaking.
12

13 If I die any further I will literally be without a heartbeat. Is that what YOU want, and if so

14 what does that make you?

15

16
CAN I TRUST & RELY UPON the
17 SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS COMMITTEE ?
18

19 To be honest, I am NOT sure I can completely trust the substitute committee to educate me

20 & keep me alert on issues of concerns for substitutes, let alone to be working on our behalf
21
as substitutes to make sure those of us in the top 75% are getting the guaranteed 100 days
22
(Subsequently, Karen Morgan indicated that she was the one who wrote about the “100
23

24
guaranteed days” but said she allegedly included that as part of a “wish list” if the

25 substitutes “win their superior court complaint” (albeit as far as I know the substitutes do
26 NOT have a superior court complaint, but a PERB complaint). Was she being honest with
27
me or am I BEING TOYED WITH AGAIN, even by my own substitute committee ?
28

12
 1

2 For that matter, I do NOT know why suddenly I got an email from Dave Peters in

3 November of 2010 at an email address that he had never used before and out-of-the-blue
4
after so many years with no direct communication from him or the substitute committee
5
whatsoever. The yahoo subs group is NOT SUFFICIENT for me. It seems to be just a
6

7 constant flow of rant-&-raving, & I informed Dave Peters by email that he had NOW

8 subscribed me to Yahoo groups on three different email addresses, including my gmail

9
account which does not have unlimited free space like yahoo.
10

11

12 WAS this RETALIATION for my PERB COMPLAINT ?

13
I also mentioned to Mr. Berman that this FEELS LIKE RETALIATION because of the
14
complaint I filed with PERB in December, 2010. I observed that the last of the three ISR’s
15

16 was from January 2010, one year ago. Why, suddenly, did they decide to allegedly “review”

17 me now? He had NO ANSWER for me.

18

19
The TRUTH is I had NO CHOICE but to file a complaint with PERB as a LAST-CHANCE
20
action before having to make a decision to resign from the district at the end of the year
21

22 because of UNDER-EMPLOYMENT. By December of 2010 I was barely getting called two

23 days a week, and most often to the most difficult or challenging schools (i.e. “incentive
24
schools”?) By this time I had been WITHOUT HEALTH BENEFITS for almost two years,
25
and the substitute committee had NOT gone to bat for me to ensure that I got the
26

27 “guaranteed 100 days” that all substitutes in the top 75% of seniority are supposed to
28 get. I noticed the year after I MADE A BIG FUSS about getting my benefits back because

13
 of a miscount of my hours that there was a DEFINITE CHANGE in the way I got called as
1

2 a substitute.

7 THEY WERE TOYING WITH ME:

8
PULLING ME UP ONLY TO LET ME BACK DOWN
9 There was a SLOW-but-SURE “pulling & letting go of the rope” so to speak, as if they
10
were intentionally “TOYING” with me. Like man hanging by a rope over the edge of the
11
cliff, I felt at times I was being PULLED BACK UP to the top (i.e. suddenly getting a lot of
12

13 calls), but then just as suddenly the ROPE was let go & I fell back downward (i.e. blank

14 period of no calls, sometimes weeks at a time & any calls to the sub unit, almost inevitably
15
answered by Diane & Irma usually resulted in the same old NO-HOPE responses, without
16
much sense of care on the other end either). It SURE FELT as if something intentional was
17
being CONCOCTED, and sure enough, the next two years I did NOT get 100 days and
18

19 therefore did NOT get my health benefits. The rope would GO UP at times but MORE

20 OFTEN it was GOING DOWN, slowly but surely I was SINKING, not being brought up to
21
the top.
22

23
STATUS DEGRADATION by HEADSTRONG INDIVIDUALS in
24
LOS ANGELES COUNTY & at the LAUSD;
25 DYSFUNCTIONAL SYSTEMS
26

27 I did NOT grow up in Los Angeles, but I’ve been around it long enough now to know some
28 things for certain. As mentioned my grandfather came here in 1936. My dad grew up here

14
 through the 7th grade, & we returned as a family (minus my older brother & sister who were
1

2 in college by that time) to southern California in 1984, at which time began my tradition of

3 going back-&-forth from Michigan (where I finished college & part of seminary) to
4
Southern California . Later, I taught school in Coachella Valley (‘94-96,the eastern end) and
5
then back to Michigan for a year (’96-97) and then to the Los Angeles area (Sept. ’97 to the
6

7
present) where I finished 99% of seminary & started substitute teaching (for thirteen years

8 until January 20, 2011. During the time I’ve been here AS AN ADULT on MY OWN I spent
9 a lot of time starting my ministry, making ministry videos, maintained a ministry office for
10
a while, & became more familiar with the Los Angeles area as an adult, not just as a
11
substitute teacher, but also attending Dodger & Angel games, participating annually in the
12

13 Tournament of Roses activities, attending church for many years mostly at the Crystal

14 Cathedral on a Sunday basis & also as a phone counselor; & later became more involved
15
with the Roman Catholic Church on a daily mass basis, while also starting my English
16
Audio Bible (& subsequently other languages as well), a lot of writing, my Sunday
17
Messages, etc. (all of this ministry & education related).
18

19

20 And DURING ALL THIS START-UP TIME, the #1 MOST DIFFICULT ASPECT of being
21
in Southern California was being MISTREATED by some of the HARD-HEADED
22
“LOCALS” who systematically use a M.O. (modus operandi) of “STATUS
23

24
DEGRADATION” to try to make you feel inferior. This can be something as SEEMINGLY

25 innocuous as the Latino cashier calling you “dude” or “man” at a convenience store (but
26 these words are chosen for a specific micro-management (i.e. social engineering at a very
27
subtle but definite level) , and not to flatter); or “sweetie” by a female colleague older than
28

15
 you (also not intended to be flattering);or in the classroom even by kids who have already
1

2 learned the nefarious art of “social engineering” by the way the treat (or mistreat) people;

3 …and the LIST GOES ON…including interactions with police who should be professional
4
& just do their job & call you “sir” but instead become corrupt & involved in the social
5
engineering status degradation process; & most nefariously, even to the extent of FALSE
6

7
ACCUSATIONS; I’ve experienced a LOT of this ATTEMPTED STATUS

8 DEGRADATION & it made LIFE DIFFICULT.

9
Re DIANE & IRMA ANSWERING the PHONES
10 & CONTROLLING the SUBFINDER
11
And to TOP IT OFF I began experiencing it also at the LAUSD DISTRICT OFFICE
12

13 building on Beaudry, in particular at the sub unit, where Diane & Irma appear to have
14
MADE A STRONGHOLD FOR THEMSELVES. I get the distinct feeling that they
15
have been with the LAUSD for so long they know every inch of the floor they work on &
16

17 know who “belongs” & doesn’t belong, & may even think they are superior to their

18
superiors. I felt such a strong sense of EMOTIONAL CONTROL emanating from
19
Irma & Diane, to the extent that just hanging up on diane when she was being rude to me
20

21 triggered a reaction of extreme contempt in her towards me that led her to call for security

22 when I came to visit with Regina Echols & Marjorie Josaphat later in the day. But even
23
prior to this experience I got a VERY EERY SENSE that they even KNEW ME BY MY
24
VOICE when I called and had a “set” way of “dealing with Mr. Kok” (even after I told
25

26
them I preferred a variation of my name, “Vander Kok” which I was “changing by usage”

27 they still strictly called me “Mr. Coke” ). It ALL FITS UNDER the category of “working
28

16
 1
class status degradation” whereby other “workers” keep others down rather than lift
2 them up. I don’t know why some people FALL into this category of degrading others while
3
others become more positive and affirming, but such is the case (perhaps it relates to
4
dysfunctional family patterns. I contend this may also have been part of the reason even
5
somebody as “high-ranking” as Ira Berman made evasive attempts to avoid me when I
6

7 showed up at the district office on January 24, 2011 to pick up copies of my ISR’s (a lady

8 behind the desk said she just saw Woody & Ira running down the stairs, despite the fact
9
Woody said he was going to look for Ira & would tell him I was there). The district office
10
had become DYSFUNCTIONAL. It was/is dysfunctional BEYOND simply status
11
degradation & evasiveness, but even when I asked specific questions about the subfinder all
12

13 I got from Marjorie Josaphat was a big sigh of actual or feigned resignment & a response of

14
“It’s TOO BIG” , as if the subfinder & the school district itself is like an “animal” too big
15
to control or to comprehend, let alone provide me with any specific answers. And then, ON
16

17 TOP OF THAT, when I mentioned to Marjorie that I might be content with a “same thing
18
everyday job” and again, she sighed, or smirked (?), & said, “If you can find one…”
19
( and she knew, or should know, my academic qualifications, BA/BA/M.Div) . It just did
20

21 NOT make any sense.

22

23
I also inquired about switching from secondary to elementary to get more assignments, &
24
both Regina & Marjorie responded negatively or skeptically as if it wouldn’t make a
25

26
difference. But I just noticed in the Daily News (2/11/11) that “potential layoffs” would

27 include the possibility of MANY MORE non-permanent secondary positions (391) rather
28 than elementary (10) , whether this refers to substitutes or probationary teachers it is not

17
 clear (I posted it on my news website at http://thedailynews4u.com/manyh-more-
1

2 elementary-than-secondary )

7
MY SENIORITY WAS WRONGLY RANKED
8 (INTENTIONALLY SO ?) SINCE 2005 thus FURTHER LIMITING
9 the AMOUNTS OF ASSIGNMENTS
10
I SHOULD HAVE BEEN, BUT WASN’T, GETTING
11
I also found out in December of 2010 from Regina Echols that my seniority was
12
WRONGLY RANKED with me as beginning in 2005 when in fact I began in 1998.
13
Subsequently, Marjorie Josaphat corrected this, but apparently it had erroneously been this
14

15 way since 2005, definitely impacting the amount of calls I was getting (or lack of) and

16 therefore health benefits. Subsequently, I also called Anita Martinez in Oakland who is
17
assigned to my PERB case and she recommended that I file an amended charge, which I
18
have, in fact, done.
19

20

21

22
Re RACISM or ‘REVERSE RACISM’ and ‘HATE ATTITUDES’
23

24 I told Marjorie that this “may be my last year” if things do not improve. I simply

25
cannot survive this way. I also mentioned some of the negative experiences I had at some
26
of the schools, and my concern about racism or “reverse racism” as some people call skin
27
color discrimination against white people by so-called “minorities.” The fact is that Los
28

18
 Angeles is different than many cities in that “white people” are, in fact, the minorities, but
1

2 legally, on paper, for purposes of “protection” such is not the case. The fact is, however,

3
according to a government study, it is the “…the most likely victim of a hate crime in
4

5
the U.S. is a poor, young, white, single urban dweller, according to an analysis of

6 Justice Department statistics collected from between July 2000 and December
7
2003…” (see http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=34888 ) ( & even as such the “white victim”
8

9
may be under-reported because of the way the FBI maintains statistics re “hate crime” see

10 www.vanguardnewsnetwork.com/v1/index311.htm )
11

12
I believe I’ve been exposed not necessarily to a lot of “hate crime”( although I have had
13
things stolen in the classroom, including a cell phone and also a flash drive from my laptop)
14

15 but more often to “hate language” and “hate attitude” not only in the classroom, but even

16 outside, including the “Christian geek” comment by Daryl Bohanon, an African-American

17
from Chicago & fellow substitute who I met for the first time in December, 2010 at a
18
substitute committee meeting. Also see my discussion about “religious ignorance” and the
19

20 time I was called a “motherf—k—g Jew” (see below under discussion of need for school

21 chapels).
22

23 WAS I ABANDONED BY MY OWN FELLOW SUBSTITUTES

24 BECAUSE I AM YOUNGER ?
25
And this ALSO leads to a mention of the fact that MOST of the “career substitutes” who I
26
see at the substitute meetings are OLDER than me (I just turned 44) (maybe by ten, twenty,
27

28
or even thirty years ). I see Vietnam veterans. I see people who grew up in the sixties (when I

19
 was born). I do NOT see a lot of people my age, or younger. As much as these older
1

2 substitutes ‘express’ rhetoric of care & concern for “us young people”, unless they are

3 secret saints, I get the feeling that first & foremost their primary concern is, naturally,
4
themselves & their own jobs & welfare.
5

6
For that matter, Kennon Raines (older by fifteen years ? ) NO LONGER RESPONDS to
7
my emails. I have NOT heard back from Karen Morgan (older by fifteen years ? or more ?)
8

9
in many weeks now (as of 2/8/11), nor have I heard from Dave Peters (also older by at least

10 twenty years or more) who seems to have been forwarding my emails to a Filipino substitute
11
by the name of Virgie (Graciela ?) (also older by twenty years or more) who responds with
12
words of “Christian comfort”; and Bill Evans (significantly older), the elderly attorney who
13
represents the substitutes in the PERB action, whom I ran into at Pasadena Library on
14

15 Friday, February 4, 2011, has NOT responded to my correspondence (a $5 postage packet

16 mailed to him that same day after we talked) expressing interest in his assistance in my own
17
personal case. He asked me at the library if I “made my living” as a substitute & at the
18

19 moment I did NOT have the heart to tell him that I had just been FIRED after thirteen

20 years, so I said “not really” but in my subsequent written correspondence I gave him the
21
details and asked for his help. The truth is, despite having a higher calling to Christian
22
ministry I was still ATTEMPTING to make a living as a a “tentmaker” evangelist
23

24 by substitute teaching.
25

26

27

28

20
 1 RE MUCH OLDER TEACHING MUCH YOUNGER
2
& the DEATH of GOOD YOUNGER INDIVIDUALS
& DECLINE of OUR NATION if OUR ELDERS have LOST a
3
SENSE of CARE & CONCERN for the YOUNGER GENERATION
4 (i.e. PROPAGATION of the SPECIES
5
It is ironic, by the way, that some of our much older substitutes & even some retired regular
6

7 teachers-turned-substitutes are pushing so vigorously to remain “preferred substitutes” &

8
may be also engaging subtly in the status degradation process of younger persons with
9
better qualifications for self-serving purposes. Some of these elderly persons, with all due
10
respect, went through the academic system without even passing standardized tests, that
11

12 which today is the sine qua non of promotion to the next level of academia. In some cases
13
also, perhaps not that much older, but those who apparently did not do so well on
14
standardized tests or academia in general are working at the district office and are
15

16 participants in the status degradation of persons with higher qualification working in the

17
schools as ‘servant leaders.” I know how TEMPTING it must be to “quash” others
18

19
because one has a “nice job” but the fact is this SORT OF THING NOT ONLY KILLS

20 GOOD INDIVIDUALS (either literally or in a slow process of falling out) but also is
21
LEADING to the DOWNFALL & DECLINE of our nation.
22

23

24 I am concerned that our older generation is NOT carrying on the time-honored tradition of
25
leading our young people into the future with the hope & expectation of a better future not
26
only as Americans but as world citizens. If a “MAMA BEAR” with cubs encounters another
27

28
aggressive wild animal or in some cases even humans the NATURAL TENDENCY of mama

21
 bear is to PROTECT HER CUBS even at the possibility of her own death. This is true of
1

2 almost all, if not all, wild & domesticated animals (unless they have become “dysfunctional”

3 due to bad breeding) . Mama bear or bald eagle or whatever animal you choose
4
INSTINCTIVELY defends her young ones, as do most good human mothers. I mention this
5
as an analogy to what SHOULD be something we observe in society by our leaders & elders
6

7
& parents & family members [insert quote here]

8
The special physiological and psychological features of pregnancy and of the
9 birth and growth of the child are what give the family its particular character.
10
It is these too which impose clear-cut and unvarying rules of conduct on the
members of this elementary social group. Father, mother and children
11 constitute a kind of organism, an association of different but complementary
entities. Like the organs of our body, they work for one another. But they only
12
form a harmonious whole if, by voluntary effort, they fight against their natural
13 selfishness, vanity, coarseness, intemperance, and nervous irritability. Unlike
the bitch or the cow, a woman needs the help of her consort to provide for her
14 during the final period of her pregnancy until after lactation
15
http://chestofbooks.com/society/metaphysics/Reflections-On-Life/5-Rules-For-The-
16 Propagation-Of-The-Species-Birth-And-Formation-Of-The-Child.html

17
This extends (or should) BEYOND the nuclear family & the mother but society as a
18
whole, which, if healthy & functional is naturally concerned about the welfare of each
19

20
other in their community & society, especially near, but also far; whereby we “die” to

21 ourself in some regards for the welfare of others. We lose some of our ego & selfish
22
demands & learn to give, to restrain ourselves, to be patient, to listen, to be protective of
23
our young ones etc.
24

25

26 Often, this comes natural as with mama bear (albeit humans must be protective without

27 becoming violent, except in self-defense) , but some dysfunctional societies have not always
28
naturally “inherited” or learned this arguably instinctive ethic of care (if one argues it

22
 needs to be taught, then we need to teach it; if one argues it should be instinctive, then we
1

2 need to nurture or re-ignite that instinctiveness, not extinguish it) & therefore it needs to

3 be written & enforced as “law” in some cases; regardless of whether it is a matter of law
4
or instinct of care, it is an essential part of all decent communities, large & small,
5
including schools.
6

8 Also, what seems to come “natural” to wild animals is when to let their young ones ‘GO
9 FREE’. Mama bear doesn’t keep her cubs with her forever. There comes a time when they
10
wander off and become mama & papa bears themselves. We often say “ self-
11

12 preservation & propagation of the species” but self-preservation refers to the species
13
as a whole (not selfish behavior at the expense of one’s own brothers, sisters, neighbors,
14
community & world citizens) not the individual self. This is a CRITICAL aspect for all
15
healthy societies: elders must acknowledge their own mortality & prepare their young
16

17 ones to carry on with the hope of an even better world in the future. This is also at the

18
HEART & SOUL of education: without such a sincere hope for a better future,
19
educators will NOT be naturally nor with 100% diligience preparing the young ones to
20
carry on. This is something that should come from within but we also have laws & rules to
21

22 try to enforce such an ethic of futurity. As a substitute I must hope, expect. & trust, that

23 those who are “governing” above me have a sincere concern for my welfare& future, as
24
students must hope, expect, & trust that their regular teachers, substitute teachers, staff &
25
site administrators have a sincere concern for their welfare & future & our society’s
26

27
future as a whole.

28

23
 Furthermore, an ethic of care goes BEYOND treating us as deterministic
1

2 mechanical/biological “animals” who simply need to be treated as slightly more intelligent

3 animals. This mechanistic attitude leads to the degradation of others, including those who
4
expect us to respond to “orders” as if we have no soul, conscience, of feelings.
5

7
The IGNORANCE of OTHERS HURTS ME

8 As mentioned, the ignorance of people hurts other people, including me. This is another
9 reason for education. We try to teach history & social studies to help our young people
10
understand others better & therefore lessen the effects of ignorance, especially the danger
11
of being misunderstood, misperceived, pre-judged wrongly (i.e. prejudice), etc. I can’t help
12

13 but wonder if I was an African-American who came to the sub unit after hanging up on

14 Diane (African-American also?) whether or not I would have been pre-judged as

15
“potentially dangerous.” As mentioned, a principal at a previous school in a previous
16
school district thought “reformed” in regards to my denomination (“Christian Reformed
17
Church” referred to “reformed school” (i.e. for young people with discipline problems,
18

19 such as juvenile detention). In fact, the Christian Reformed Church is an offshoot of the

20 Dutch Reformed Church which was part of the Protestant Reformation, & the
21
denominational college I went to (Calvin College) is regularly voted in the U.S. NEWS as a
22
“top liberal arts college.” The word “reformed” has NOTHING to do with jail, juvenile
23

24
detentional, reform school, or a disciplinary history, but this principal had already

25 negatively pre-judged me based on what he saw on paper & had NOT taken the time to
26 properly research himself before asking me, “What is this, some kind of reform school?”
27
(by the way, this principal was subsequently terminated) . IGNORANCE hurts people,
28

24
 especially when it is the “superior” who is ignorant or acting ignorant (to be fair, when I
1

2 first came to Coachella Valley I had very little knowledge about the Latinos in the

3 community nor even much about Cesar Chavez & the history of Latino immigrants to
4
California, but I took the time to LEARN before pre-judging & made the effort to learn
5
with the Latino classes I was teaching). . Likewise, before making grand pronouncements
6

7
or negative judgements about Los Angeles students & schools I simply worked as a

8 substitute for thirteen years & observed, learned, & hopefully, people observed & learned
9 from me as well. I accepted being a “servant leader” for thirteen years & did not jump
10
immediately from the classroom to administration at the first opportunity even though
11
being in the classroom is not always a piece of cake.
12

13

14
WHO AM I ? MORE ABOUT ME & MY BACKGROUND &
15
ACADEMIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS & EXPERIENCES
16
Let me elaborate on who I am: I started out as a REGULAR TEACHER in Coachella
17

18 Valley USD from 1994-96 after having obtained my preliminary teaching credential with a

19 second bachelor’s degree from Calvin College in the Spring of ’94. I originally graduated
20
from Calvin College in 1989 with academic honors, and pursued other interests and
21
potential careers until I returned to Calvin College in 1992 until 1994 during which time I
22
completed a second major (in English) combined with the teaching-specific courses required
23

24 for a teaching credential (student teaching practicum, educational psychology, philosophy of

25
education, etc.). Calvin College is a fairly conservative “denominational college” located
26
in Grand Rapids, Michigan (where I grew up, partially) and is affiliated with the Christian
27

28
Reformed Church (CRC) (which has NOTHING to do with any sort of “reformatory

25
 school” (i.e. disciplinary school, which Alex Franco, the subsequent principal at CVHS
1

2 ignorantly assumed. The word “reformed” in this case comes from “Protestant
3
Reformation”) originally the Dutch Reformed Church. My father is an ordained pastor for
4
the CRC and also attended Calvin College & Calvin Seminary. Grand Rapids is also a fairly
5

6
conservative (republican) city.

8 I am a MODERATE,
9
NOT EXTREME CONSERVATIVE NOR LIBERAL
10
I consider myself MODERATE, I am definitely pro-life which puts me more in the
11

12 republican party, but on the other hand also support universal health care and more

13 government help, in general, for the “poor”, which would put me closer to the democratic
14
party. Nonetheless, die-hard democrats immediately PROFILE me as a “square” and as
15
“conservative” and “republican” but rarely, if ever, express their negative feelings about me
16

17
straight to my face as a Daryl Bohanan did (as mentioned above) at a sub meeting in

18 December of 2010, when he said “YOU’RE A CHRISTIAN GEEK.” Thank you for
19 expressing your feelings, Daryl.
20

21
I also met a “John Walsh” (older by twenty years ? did he say he was 68 ? ) on one occasion
22

23 at a PERB hearing, where I was just observing (not joined with that particular action) in

24
December of 2010. . I remember him saying to myself & Karen Morgan“Where are all
25
the other substitutes, j—k—g off ?”
26

27

28

26
 It was a bizarre statement, to say the least, & I couldn’t help but wondering if he was
1

2 POSTURING BECAUSE of MY PRESENCE; that is, he was saying that because he

3
thought that was the way people like “all of us conservatives” or “all of us
4

5
conservative Christians” from the Midwest rant & rave. He was WRONG. That is NOT

6 the way “ALL of us conservative Christians” from the Midwest rant & rave, NOT me
7 anyways; although YES, unfortunately, I did experience some of that where I grew up, but
8
not from my family or my circle of “people.” Later, a “Vicky” from Peru showed up at
9
PERB, at that time she thought, erroneously, that I was a “new sub” and she asked for my
10

11 phone number (second time she asked for it). A few moments after I left she called me on

12 the phone as I was going into church for evening mass at Incarnation Church in Glendale
13
(just around the corner from PERB). That is when I told her I am NOT a new substitute,
14
but have been substitute teaching for THIRTEEN YEARS. She wondered doubtfully why
15
she had never seen me before at the substitute committee meetings and it is because either
16

17 she wasn’t there when I was there, but also because I DID NOT attend many substitute

18 committee meetings over the years because I did NOT feel comfortable nor very welcome, &
19
also because when I FIRST ATTENDED for the first time I was definitely new and DID
20
FEEL like a “spring chicken.”
21

22 THIRTEEN YEARS AFTER I BEGAN SUBSTITUTE TEACHING

23
I WAS TREATED like a FIRST-TIMER
at the SUB UNIT in DECEMBER 2010
24

25 However, I did NOT expect to be treated like a “first-timer” thirteen

26

27
years later when I showed up at a few of the substitute teacher gatherings in December
28 of 2010, but that is exactly how I was, in fact, treated. But what TIPPED ME OFF that

27
 something MORE THAN MEETS the EYE was going on was that the day after I gave
1

2 Vicky my phone number (& nobody else), I got a PHONE CALL from JOHN WALSH.

3
When I answered, he said, “YOU CALLED ?” I said, “Who is this ?” He
4
said, “John Walsh.” I had NOT CALLED John Walsh, and did NOT even have his phone
5

6 number. At first I didn’t make the connection to John Walsh from the previous day, but he
7 had ALREADY HUNG UP ANYWAYS. The ONLY POSSIBLE WAY he had gotten my
8
phone number was from Vicky, & the only thing reason I can surmise he called me in the
9
manner he did was to HARRASS ME. Later, I found online that he is a diehard
10

11 DEMOCRAT & very active in democrat party issues (see www.HollywoodHighlands.org

12 where it says, in part, “Hollywood Highlands Democratic Club is a grassroots club for
13
Democrats who are independent thinkers…”; although at the same time, many sections of the
14
website seem to have been left as-is without being updated recently) and apparently very
15
critical of the LAUSD, maybe NOT CONSTRUCTIVELY SO as much as
16

17 DESTRUCTIVELY. Again, personally, I do NOT actively promote any particular political

18 agenda but consider myself MODERATE . I agree with some issues on BOTH SIDES of the
19
political spectrum (for example I am pro-life on the one hand, but also support universal
20
health care on the other hand). I am NOT a “hard-core conservative” or “hard-core
21
Republican & consider all matters diplomatically, issue-by-issue, not simply according to
22

23 “party lines” & do not appreciate being negatively stereotyped.

24

25
Nonetheless, the call & hang-up from John Walsh re-confirmed my hunch & suspicion that
26
somebody had decided to CREATE ME as the “REPUBLICAN MONSTER” or
27

28
“CONSERVATIVE MONSTER” (the way a lot of people have unfairly vilified former

28
 1
president George Bush) as well as the fact that people were ‘networking” to each other &

2
that I was included in their conversation (or gossip as it may be) . Vicky must have
3
communicated with John Walsh about me. Who knows what they may have said about the
4

5 person they apparently consider a “conservative Christian” or maybe a “Christian geek” or

6 whatever other stereotype they had decided to AFFIX to me, but obviously, at minimum,
7
Vicky had provided John Walsh with my phone number. Of course, all this negative
8
stereotyping presupposes that those who are doing the finger-pointing have self-proclaimed
9
themselves as “perfect” in every way and need to CREATE enemies, or CREATE “bad
10

11 guys” out of nothing (i.e. a “paper lion” )

12

13
They had NOT given me a chance to BE WHO I TRULY AM, a good person. I suspect
14

15 there is/was an email “network” below the “radar” of friends, possibly including some of

16 those ON THE SUBSTITUTE COMMITTEE, and/or other substitutes that were

17
preventing me from being ACCEPTED ‘AS IS’ at FACE VALUE. Even when I asked
18
Karen Morgan or Kennon Raines a question at one of the sub meetings when she was
19

20 standing up front , I think Dave Peters whispered something in her ear first. That made

21
me suspicious and uncomfortable as well.
22

23
Re CALVIN & FULLER SEMINARY: MORE ABOUT ME
24
Coming out of Calvin College (for the second time) in the Spring of ’94 with my golden
25
retriever, Lola, I headed west. I was not married at the time & remain a bachelor currently.
26
I spent a summer in Jackson, Wyoming, and by the end of the summer had my first
27

28 teaching job as a 9th grade English teacher for the CVUSD. I stayed at CVUSD for two years

29
 and after some good classroom experiences but also some negative political experiences
1

2 outside of the classroom I moved onward, and went to Calvin Seminary to pursue a higher

3 calling. After a year at Calvin Seminary (1996-’97), I transferred to FULLER SEMINARY

4
in Pasadena, CA where I remained for the next five years (’97-2001) and also began
5
substitute teaching for the LAUSD.
6

7 BEGINNING TO SUBSTITUTE TEACH IN 1998:

8
A FORM of SERVANT LEADERSHIP
9 Substitute teaching was a new challenge and FIT with a CHRISTIAN NOTION of
10
“SERVANT LEADERSHIP.” Rather than go for the glory of a high-paying skyrise office
11
job or even a higher paying job as a regular teacher, (nor immediately for a job as a church
12

13 pastor, when I completed my masters-in-divinity) I decided to intentionally START at the

14
BOTTOM as a “servant leader.” I did NOT want a lot of “pomp & circumstance” at
15
the time. I simply wanted to do a quiet job as a substitute while also working on my masters
16

17 degree, & when I finished the masters degree (or 99% of it, 2002) I continued to substitute

18 teach and was content with it as long as I got a certain minimum or assignments.
19

20
When I began they still contacted substitute teachers personally on the phone for
21
assignments. Shortly later they switched to the automated sub finder and also moved from
22

23 Grand Ave to Beaudry. I felt MORE at ‘home’ around Los Angeles than I did in Coachella

24 Valley because, in fact, my parents moved here in 1984 when I was a senior in high school.
25
Also, my grandfather started out in Bellflower as a pastor for the CRC and started Valley
26
Christian Schools, which is still operating as a K-12 Christian educational organization. My
27

28
grandfather Kok spoke Dutch & English and helped new Dutch immigrants get settled,

30
 many of whom worked on dairy farms around Bellflower, many of which later moved to the
1

2 Chino area.

4 Re DUTCH HERITAGE:
5 ROCKVIEW MILK, BUTTERBALL FARMS
6
If you drink Rockview Milk or have heard of it, this is a product of one of the Dutch
7
immigrants who lived in Bellflower during the dairy years, and, in fact, the Degroots still
8

9
live in that area, and their son Kurt was a classmate of mine at Calvin College and now

10 helps operate Rockview Milk.

11

12
As an aside, if you have ever had butter on your hotcakes at McDonalds, you have had my
13
late grandfather Peter’s (no relation to Dave Peters by the way) butter, or what I simply
14

15 call “Grandpa’s Butter.” Although my grandpa Peters did NOT move to California, but

16 stayed in Illinois and Michigan all his life, his “butterball” butter can be found all around
17
the USA. In fact, even the name “butterball turkey” originally came from my grandpa
18
Peters who sold the name to the turkey people, but retained the rights to use it for his butter
19

20 and company, Butterball Farms, which is still based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. By the

21 way, as lucrative as the butter business may have been for my late grandpa Peters, and now
22
his son (from his second marriage) who operates the business, I personally do NOT derive
23
any income from the butter business, either by means of a trust or inheritance or in any
24

25
other way. Whether my mother does or not I do not know.

26

27

28

31
 1

3
The SKYRISE EFFECT & CHANGE OF LAUSD SINCE 1998:
4 WHEN I BEGAN I FELT APPRECIATED as a ‘SERVANT
5 LEADER” but this GRADUALLY CHANGED to being
6
“SPOKEN DOWN” (sometimes by those at the district SKYRISE with
less education, less experience, & less involvement with students)
7
TO as a BARELY WORTHY “SUB”
8

9
When I began teaching as a substitute teacher in 1998 the headquarters was still at Grand

10 Avenue, a relatively humble setting, and now the location of a new highschool (where I have
11
been as a substitute a few times during the 2010-11 year) . I was attracted to the LAUSD
12
because of what I thought was it’s humility and desire to reach out to ALL PEOPLE of all
13
skin colors, religions, ethnicities, even sexual orientation. As a Christian I felt it was
14

15 important to be KIND to ALL PEOPLE (& also expect kindness from others) even those,

16 or perhaps, especially to those with whom I did not agree in terms of religious doctrine or
17
lifestyle etc, or did not agree with mine.
18

19
As much as I am a Christian, I am also a CARING PERSON who wants to HELP ALL
20

21 PEOPLE, not just other Christians, nor just conservatives (I’m a moderate by the way).

22 Thus, substitute teaching, despite being a relatively LOW-PAYING job (in terms of other
23
career positions which I would be qualified for given my education) was a way to
24
CONTRIBUTE to society as a educated, Christian person fulfilling a role of “servant
25

26
leadership” of sorts.

27

28

32
 FOR A WHILE it was great ! I accepted the challenge of going to new schools, new
1

2 classrooms, new ares of L.A. county, but every year I would also have a little bit of

3 interaction at the NEW LAUSD BUILDING on Beaudry that left me a little

4
DISAPPOINTED. In some cases, somebody at the sub unit would TRY TO MAKE CLEAR
5
TO ME that I needed to “do my business” and GET OUT OF HERE, as if I was on “their
6

7
turf.” Other times, on the phone, the manner & tone in which I was spoken to (usually

8 Diana or Irma, but especially Irma) was very demeaning. I felt like they thought of me as a
9 person of VERY LITTLE WORTH, nothing more than an “object” to be told what to do, &
10
where to go, with a few numbers to write down, and to do it quickly. Don’t ask twice. Don’t
11
repeat yourself & don’t bother us with “How are you?” or anything social or nice. This
12

13 happened more than once, so much so that I did NOT even want to call the sub unit after a

14 while.
15
WHY WAS IRMA at the SUB UNIT PRIVY TO CONFIDENTIAL,
16
PERSONAL, INFORMATION PERTAINING
17 TO MY EMPLOYMENT STATUS ?
18
Then the BIG DROP of the BALL happened sometime in the Spring of 2005. I called the
19

20 sub unit and asked about assignments & Irma said with an INTENTIONALLY
21
CRYPTIC VOICE, either “YOU’VE BEEN TERMINATED…” or “YOU’VE
22

23 BEEN FIRED”( I definitely recall she obviously intentionally chose the harshest & most
24 distressing way of putting it rather than the nicest or least shocking, such as “You’ve been
25
temporarily laid off or separated pending a hearing…” (in fact, after all was said & done I
26
was subsequently re-united with the LAUSD as a substitute once again). Irma did NOT
27

28
say why & in fact I think she hung up on me, but definitely spoke in a way that was meant

33
 to cause me DISTRESS & also showed that she COULD CARE LESS about me as a
1

2 person.

4
The fact that IRMA had personal information about me so much so that she, herself, was
5
the FIRST person to give me notice of separation, which she preferred to call
6

7
“termination” rather than the director or assistant director of the sub unit contacting me

8 and showing any personal care or concern about me was very disturbing. The fact that she
9 was told anything about my employment status other than possibly “non-active” at the
10
moment is VERY TROUBLING. Given a notice of separation may be a mistake, or that an
11
appeal or even lawsuit could over-turn such a decision, or any number of other reasons,
12

13 including the fact that an employee can be laid off “without cause” makes telling low-level

14 employees (especially antagonistic employees and/or employees without higher level

15
thinking skills ) anything BEYOND about another employee apart from the bare basics of
16
“active” or “non-active” very questionable, troubling, and alarming.
17

18

19 Later I received a one or two sentence“notice of separation” from LAUSD in the mail and
20
it had to do with a VERY LATE NOTICE from the CALIFORNIA TEACHING
21

22 CREDENTIAL COMMISSION re a misdemeanor simple battery & disturbing the

23
peace charge against me back in 2001 (which, by the way, was later expunged &
24
dismissed, & which I had also dutifully reported every year on the form for credential
25
renewal).
26

27

28

34
 1 DO LAUSD ADMINISTRATORS USE the IMMENSITY of the
2
LAUSD as a COP-OUT ?
It raises the question about the IMMENSE SIZE of the LAUSD being something
3
administrators HIDE BEHIND as a COP-OUT? If, as a substitute, if a principal or dean
4
ever asked me something about an individual student in a classroom, & I responded, “How
5

6 would I know ? I have thirty plus students in the classroom, five or six periods per day !” it
7 would be inappropriate. Yet, that’s EXACTLY how Regina Echols responded to me in
8
December of 2005 when I inquired about a substitute issue and she said, “I HAVE 5000
9

10 SUBSTITUTES to THINK ABOUT…” It was very inappropriate & evasive. But even
11
more disturbing was the feeling that, in fact, somebody was personally “tracking” me at the
12
LAUSD, but NOT for my welfare; instead in a manner that prevented me from thriving as a
13
substitute teacher, especially after 2007.
14

15

16 CHRISTIAN MINISTRY I STARTED,

& PROJECTS I’VE COMPLETED, ALONG the WAY
17

18 Anyways, after five years at Fuller Seminary I earned most of my masters-in-divinity but
19
continued to substitute teacher while starting my own ministry, Mustard Seed
20

21 Ministries (a non-profit organization, & also a non-landed ministry). I also began working
22 on AUDIO BIBLES, initially an entire voice-recording of the Old & New testament in
23
English (see www.HearingTheWORD.posterous.com) , & subsequently a Spanish Audio
24
Bible (NT only, see www.LaPalabraDeDios.posterous.com ), a Tagalog Audio Bible (NT
25

26
only, see www.TagalogBiblya.posterous.com ) and currently a Dutch Audio Bible (NT only,

27 see www.DutchAudioBible.posterous.com in progress). I also have various blogs that I

28 maintain, including a Daily News blog (see www.TheDailyNews4U.posterous.com ), a

35
 church blog (www.cblogs.posterous.com ), and even a Hollywood blog
1

2 (www.hwblog.posterous.com ) , among other things. Outside of ministry & substitute

3 teaching I am actively engaged as an avid sports spectator, primarily Angels & Dodgers
4
baseball, but also professional football, among other things. I also played high school
5
football in Grand Rapids, MI and earned all-city honorable mention honors. I also did a
6

7
“Semester in Spain” in 1988, and also taught as a tutor for half-a-year in Costa Rica where

8 I also did disaster relief with my church following the earthquake. I’ve done a summer
9 short-term mission in the Philippines also with a church group, and as mentioned,
10
completed seminary and started my own ministry.
11

12

13 Inside the classroom as a regular teacher, one of the accomplishments of which I am most

14
proud were the portfolios I completed with the students at Coachella Valley High School
15
a (you can read about part of it and see samples of some of it at
16

17 http://www.scribd.com/doc/30726133/Young-Joe-A-Journal-Story-1997 (I used a pen name

18 and changed many names, even my own name, to protect confidentiality).

19

20
I believe STRONGLY in student portfolios so that there is a record of what the teacher has
21
taught in the classroom along with what the students have completed. By using student
22

23 portfolios both the teacher and the students are held accountable for what is happening in

24 the classroom, and the students or others cannot blame the teacher if they don’t have a
25
portfolio showing what they accomplished or attempted to accomplish. Had there not been
26
negative, antagonistic politics at this school, I may have been content to remain at CVHS,
27

28 but once again I felt what seemed to be “political discrimination.”

36
 1

2 In fact I wonder if David Brewer, the superintendent who retired early felt some forms of
3
discrimination during his short-lived tenure at the LAUSD (which is why, when I speak of
4
racism, sometimes I think it is actually a “local form” of racism, or actually “localism”, thus
5
some “whites” or “blacks” who for one reason or another are a “local favorite” would not
6

7 feel the discrimination as much as others who are perceived as from the “outside” or “new.”

8 Some people in the LAUSD can be VICIOUS, as well as some of the reporters at the Los
9
Angeles Times, and I find it highly questionable whether giving teachers public “ratings” in
10
the newspaper had any positive consequences whatsoever. I think there should be legitimate
11
accountability for regular teachers but in a constructive manner.
12

13

14

15
BRIEF COMMENT ABOUT the ISR’s
16
(for more information read the attached)
17 As for the SPECIFICS about the THREE ISR’s, please read the attached documents. In
18 short, I will say this: In the case of two ISR’s, none of them directly involved any issues
19
with a student or students. One was about better, or at least adequate, lighting at Liechty
20
Middle School; the other was about NOT accepting an “alternate” assignment from my
21

22 subject area (English) for which I was called by the sub finder and had accepted that

23 specific assignment (at Audubon Middle School). In the third case, a junior high student
24
wet his pants (at Young Oak Kim Academy) and I was UNFAIRLY blamed (read the
25
entire attached document).
26

27

28

37
 In NONE of the three cases was I given a “disciplinary conference” prior to the issuance of
1

2 the ISR (the UTLA-LAUSD contract specifically states that “…Prior to issuance of such
3
a notice, the site administrator shall make a reasonable effort to contact and
4

5 confer with the substitute regarding the allegations…”( X.7.0). As you can read for
6 yourself in the attached, in every instance of an ISR being issued I was ON ASSIGNMENT
7
either the next day or next week at another location where I could have EASILY been
8
reached by the “site administrator” at the school which issued the ISR’s. Furthermore, in
9

10
none of the three cases did I actually know about the ISR until January 20, 2011, and did

11 NOT see them for myself until January 24, 2011. I was aware of once deliberately NOT
12
signing for any certified mail at my Agoura Hills Post Office shortly after the Young Oak
13
Kim incident (perhaps more than ten days); I have never been told nor am aware that I
14
have any legal obligation to sign for any certified mail, or anything at all, especially if I do
15

16 NOT understand what I am signing (for).

17
By the way, if the 5-person-committee, after re-reviewing my file and the explanations of
18
the three ISR’s, decides to over-rule the initial decision to separate me, I MUST ASK for
19
some certainty of better conditions & treatment inside the schools themselves. I am NOT
20
sure those of YOU who work at Beaudry, and who have never worked as a substitute
21
teacher or as a regular teacher can IMAGINE what the experience inside some, not all,
22
schools can be like in worse-case scenarios.
23

24

25 NEEDED GUARANTEES PRIOR TO

26 RETURNING TO LAUSD AS A SUBSTITUTE TEACHER
27 I’ve mentioned abusive treatment by a few employees at various schools (i.e. something as

28 seemingly innocuous as calling a grown-man “sweetie” is actually very insulting; not

38
 1 having a restroom key can be a hardship; not being able to get through to anybody on the
2 wall phone is very upsetting at times; having hall monitors or even adult assistants in the
3 classroom scold you for allowing too many students go to the restroom, or telling you NOT
4 to allow them to go to the restroom, can be cause quite a lot of cognitive dissonance after
5 the incident I experienced at Young Oak Kim; being yelled at by a secretary for “strolling
6 in late” is abusive, given I was not strolling, not being casual about my slightly late arrival
7 time (nor did she inquire as to what time I was called); localism often leads to mistreatment
8 of a “sub” as a person simply filling space; and the list goes on.
9

10 NEED 100 DAYS GUARANTEED IN WRITING

11 If I return, I also must have some assurance that I will, in fact, get the “100 guaranteed
12 days” that all subs in the top 75% of seniority are supposed to get, and therefore also my
13 health benefits. I must also be assured that employees at the district office will NOT FAKE
14 FEAR in a theatrical manner of me, given I have done NOTHING threatening to anybody,
15 either physically, or in writing, or verbally, or in body language, or in any other manner,
16 NOR have any intention of doing anything violent or harmful to anybody or anything.
17

18 DO I NEED A BODYGUARD ? AM I SAFE ?

19 I once hung up on Diane who answers the phone at the sub unit because she was speaking
20 “down” to me in a rude & condescending manner. In fact, that was the morning (early
21 December 2010) I had requested to see Regina Echols and when I arrived to see Ms.
22 Echols, Diane called for security to stand outside the door during our meeting. I need
23 assurance that this sort of harassment will NOT continue; or that I be allowed to bring my
24 own bodyguard when I visit the district office (or that the district provide me with a
25 bodyguard when I visit the district office for business purposes).
26

27 NO RUNNING AWAY, PLEASE. DO NOT BE EVASIVE

28
WE ARE ALL GENTLEMEN & WOMEN, I HOPE

39
 1 On January 24, 2011 when I arrived at the LAUSD to pick up copies of the ISR’s I had not
2 yet seen, I was told by an employee that she just saw Mr. Berman “going down the
3 stairs” with another employee who had just told me he would try to find Mr. Berman so
4 that I could talk to him. There was already a LAUSD security guard with me. Mr. Berman
5 had NOTHING to fear. Why was he being evasive ? I needed to speak to him as a
6 professional person to clarify issues of the ISR’s and my appeal. I need to know that Mr.
7 Berman and all others at the LAUSD will continue to work with me and for me and
8 communicate professionally with me regardless of political or religious ideology that they
9 have which may not be in agreement with my own.
10

11 IF YOU WANT TO “FAKE FEAR” GO DOWN TO CENTRAL

12 CASTING & MAYBE YOU CAN GET AN ACTING JOB,
13 BUT IN ALL OTHER DAILY BUSINESS,
14 FAKING FEAR is FRAUD
15 & has SERIOUS REPURCUSSIONS.
16

17 FAKING FEAR of somebody for self-serving reasons, or for purposes of a political agenda,
18 or any purpose at all is FRAUD and potentially DEFAMATORY. To PRETEND you have
19 fear of bodily harm from a person, even when there is a bodyguard or security guard with
20 them CONSTITUTES FAKE FEAR and can harm their reputation as a professional
21 person where TRUST is important, especially absolute confidence that this person will
22 NOT resort to any form of violence or bodily harm to resolve a conflict. I have assured &
23 re-assured ALL people that I have NO INTENTIONS of using violence, aggression, or
24 intimidation to resolve any issues, and, in fact, at this point I am MORE AFRAID of FAKE
25 FEAR of me or a fake or false accusation and would prefer to have a bodyguard or be
26 provided a security guard at any LAUSD meetings or gatherings.
27

28 MICKEY MOUSE SCARES the HECK OUT OF ME:

40
 1 YEAH RIGHT, & I am the POPE
2

3 I could CLAIM to be AFRAID of MICKEY MOUSE, for example, but it would be

4 irrational fear, without foundation. There’s NOTHING to fear from Mickey Mouse, but
5 fear itself. In fact, for me to allege I am afraid of Mickey Mouse makes ME more suspect,
6 mentally, than Mickey Mouse. I do not claim that I am as comical as Mickey Mouse nor
7 such a “little sweetie” like Mickey Mouse (nor for that matter would it be appropriate for
8 me to be treated like a “little sweetie” by other adults in a professional setting), but I think
9 my record in the classroom for thirteen years without any violence SPEAKS FOR ITSELF
10 (res ipsa loquitur). I am a nice, civil, Christian person, who does NOT use violence,
11 intimidate, or threats of such in response to conflict, even when I feel I am being wronged.
12 If you search diligently you will find that I have responded to various conflicts and issues
13 where I feel I have been wronged in a CIVIL MANNER (i.e. after much prayer & after all
14 other legitimate avenues of discourse & conflict resolution, I turn to civil litigation).
15

16 Fake fear, or irrational fear (i.e. fear that has NO REASONABLE BASIS or is out-of-
17 proportion to any prior incident or alleged incident or conflict or alleged conflict ) is
18 defamatory to the person whom one ALLEGES to fear. ALL of us must interact and
19 communicate with others on a daily basis, whether it is colleagues, cashiers, gas station
20 attendants, secretaries, customer service, etc.
21

22 Sometimes disagreements occur, but NOT every disagreement, including hanging up on

23 somebody who is being rude on the phone, constitutes a rational or reasonable basis to
24 become afraid, subsequently, of bodily harm from the other person. If such was the case
25 we would ALL need a bodyguard and/or body armor every day everywhere we go. Despite
26 what we hear in the news on a regular basis, MOST OF SOCIETY is VERY CIVIL,
27 including me, and thirteen years in the classroom WITHOUT A SINGLE INCIDENT of
28 VIOLENCE by ME SPEAKS FOR ITSELF (res ipsa loquitur). To continue to ACT

41
 1 FEARFUL of me DEFAMES ME and causes me professional harm. I am AWARE that
2 portrayal of me as an unpredictable person, potentially violent in time of conflict
3 constitutes a DEATH SENTENCE to my career as a level-headed, diplomatic person in the
4 classroom. Nothing indicates that I am of such an unpredictable nature, not even the three
5 ISR’s have anything to do with violence, threats, or intimidation. I must ASK that this sort
6 of FAKE FEAR cease immediately.
7

9
IN DAY-to-DAY LIFE, IN SOCIAL, BUSINESS, & EVERY OTHER
ASPECT OF LIVING NOBODY EVERY ACTS AFRAID OF ME:
10
THE SPONTANEOUS NATURAL REACTION TO ME in DAILY
11
LIFE IS NEVER FEAR. WHY SUDDENLY
12 the ACTING JOB AT LAUSD, et al. ? IT is DISHONEST
13 In daily life, when I go to stores, restaurants, coffee shops, the post office, athletic events,
14 church, and into classrooms I have NEVER perceived anybody to be NATURALLY
15 FEARFUL of me at first sight, nor after any interaction. People do NOT spontaneously
16 react to me as a person who evokes FEAR. Normally, I feel that people respond to me with
17 normal, civil, usually gracious, respectful behavior in accord with the setting. People
18 naturally respond to me as a person who seems nice, decent, polite, respectful, educated;
19 maybe even good-looking (on a good day), but NEVER do they spontaneously
20 respond to me with an attitude of FEARFULNESS unless they have a social
21 agenda, and treating me fearfully has a self-serving SOCIAL ENGINEERING
22 PURPOSE . Again, this would be FRAUDULENT FEAR especially if it causes my
23 reputation & livelihood to suffer because of such FAKE FEAR. Again, if people want to be
24 ACTORS & ACTRESSES, and PRETEND to be FEARFUL, they should go register at
25 Central Casting in Burbank, and maybe they can win an Academy Award for their ability
26 to ACT FEARFUL, even if there is NOTHING REALLY to be afraid of; but outside of a
27 Hollywood acting job, in any other setting, FALSELY ACTING AFRAID of SOMEBODY
28 CAN BE DEFAMATORY to that person.

42
 1

7 I NEED ASSURANCE the SUBSTITUTE COMMITTEE WILL

8
WORK NEUTRALLY, without POLITICAL AGENDA, ON BEHALF
of ALL SUBSTITUTES, INCLUING ME
9
I also need some sort of assurance that the substitute committee will continue to work
10
NEUTRALLY on behalf of all substitutes, not just the substitutes they deem worthy, or
11
who they deem to be in accord with their own political ideology or whom they simply like
12
or favor more than others. I need to KNOW for certain that they will DEFINITELY
13
ASSIST to the best of their ability.
14

15
NEED TO KNOW that LOCALISM & RACISM WILL NOT BE
16 ALLOWED TO INTERFERE WITH PROPER FUNCTIONING OF
17 THE SCHOOL DISTRICT AT LARGE
18
& AT ANY of the INDIVIDUAL SCHOOLS
I need to know that localism or racism or a combination of it, along with any other forms
19
of prejudice (including religious prejudice & discrimination) will not interfere with my
20
ability to work professionally as a substitute teacher in the classroom, especially at the
21
more challenging schools (including Mann Middle School, L.A. Academy Middle School,
22
Crenshaw High School, Audubon Middle School, & Liechty Middle School, among others).
23
These are only a few of the items I need assurance about before I will even accept a decision
24
of re-employment (or an over-ruling of the initial decision of “separation).
25

26
NEED TO KNOW the LAUSD TRULY CARES ABOUT the
27
SUBSTITUTES & will PROTECT US
28

43
 1 I need to KNOW the LAUSD definitely CARES about the conditions inside the schools for
2 all people, including the substitutes and that the LAUSD and school employees will
3 SUPPORT the substitute teacher to the best of their ability. I need to know that the
4 substitute teacher will NOT be forced into a NO-WIN situation where they are being told
5 they “CAN’T” do this or that by certain employees, while at the same time they “MUST”
6 do this or that by other employees; that CLEAR DIRECTIVES be sent to all employees in
7 such regards (especially concerning student usage of the restrooms) .
8

9 It’s NOT JUST ABOUT BEING an AT-WILL EMPLOYEE but

10
ABOUT AN ETHICAL CODE OF CONDUCT
11
I also felt that there were some LESS-than-ENCOURAGING individuals including Dave
12
Peters who (January 2011) immediately “reminded” me that I am an “at will”
13
employee and seemed to be trying to DISCOURAGE rather than ENCOURAGE ME & he
14
also sent me an email saying that “This wouldn’t have happened if you had come to
15
the substitute meetings.” What the __??!! Why not ? & then he scheduled an emergency
16
“write-up composium” for the upcoming Saturday and said “You can’t afford to miss
17
this..!” I said, “TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE”AFTER I had already been
18
“separated.” Mr. Peters, as a few of the other UTLA people I spoke with in the immediate
19
aftermath not only HIGHLIGHTED the discouraging “at-will” word, but also FAILED to
20
mention ETHICAL ASPECTS of CONDUCT that should govern ALL
21
TREATMENT & interaction between & amongst ALL EMPLOYEES & COLLEAGUES.
22
Failure to speak of an ethical code of conduct and speak of substitutes as robots at the mere
23
whim of any principal, assistant principal, and the district itself, is OUTRAGEOUS
24

25
Needless to say, I did NOT trust this “invite” and did not show up. There was MORE
26
THAN MEETS the EYE with things at the substitute committee & substitute meetings,
27
& what it was, was LESS than straightforward, to put it nicely. I also noticed that, as
28
apparently is the M.O., the name of the sub unit director is listed as a person who is

44
 1 supposed to be at these substitute committees, but never actually comes; instead she
2 (initially Dale Van Mill, now Marjorie Josaphat) may or may not send something in
3 writing. Neither Dave Peters nor Leonard Segal (were they officially elected to be sub
4 committee leaders & for HOW LONG ? ) ever answer or know why the sub unit leader is
5 never present at the sub committee meetings.
6

9
NEED TO KNOW that ALL “SITE-ADMINISTRATORS” (i.e.
10 principals, assistant principals, et. al) WILL FOLLOW their
11 ETHICAL & CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS TO TREAT
12
SUBSTITUTES PROPERLY & FAIRLY
I need to be assured that I will not become a SCAPEGOAT in the event of an incident that
13
was BEYOND MY ABILITY to CONTROL, or an incident in which I was THRUST into
14
an emotional “situation” in which the site administrator or school employee FORCED A
15
CONFRONTATION and I thereby had to make a NO-WIN decision to either DEFEND
16
MYSELF and my integrity & masculinity as a person & therefore get “written up” ; or be
17
emasculated and belittled in front of the students. I need to know that site administrators
18
will, indeed, follow their OWN CONTRACTUALOBLIGATIONS in regards to
19
communicating and corresponding with substitute teachers and will not belittle the
20
substitute or cause a NO-WIN confrontation in front of the students for religious, racial,
21
ethnic, political, or other self-serving reasons, (see article V section II.1.0. of the LAUSD-
22
UTLA contract re Discrimination).
23

24
SUGGESTION #1: IMPORTANCE of a REQUIRED
25
PROFESSION OF COMMITMENT to EDUCATION
26 BY ALL EMPLOYEES, NOT JUST TEACHERS
27 I also have the FOLLOWING SUGGESTIONS to improve the school district as a whole:
28 1)First, I recommend that ALL employees from custodian to secretary to sub unit director

45
 1 to superintendent sign a “profession” of commitment to education as a prerequisite to
2 becoming employed by the LAUSD or remaining employed with the LAUSD. That is, as
3 many religious organizations have all employees sign a “profession of faith” as a
4 prerequisite to employment with the organization, I believe that ALL education employees
5 should sign some sort of “profession of commitment” to the educational mission statement
6 of the district. This will prevent employees from “copping an attitude” such as “You’re the
7 teacher. I just work here” which sabotages the teacher and the classroom and eventually
8 the entire school or district atmosphere. If a secretary, hall monitor, security guard, at the
9 school or even the director of the sub unit, or those who answer the phones at the sub unit
10 or the “deputy director” in employee relations, etc. forgets the larger purpose of education
11 and simply thinks of him or herself as performing certain “functions” disconnected to the
12 larger purpose, it is inevitable that a substitute or regular teacher or principal or those
13 committed specifically to the educational purpose itself will feel abandoned or sabotaged. If
14 these employees will NOT sign a “profession of commitment” to the larger educational
15

16 purpose, whether they fully understand it or not (yet) then they should not be hired or
17 should not remain employed. There is ALREADY a web of localism & loyalties within the
18 LAUSD that has the potential or actuality to make the organization dysfunctional. These
19 employees need to make a TRUE COMMITMENT, or at least begin by signing a
20 profession of commitment to the educational mission statement of the LAUSD and the
21 general principles of all soundworthy educational organizations.
22

23 SUGGESTION #2: NEED for CHAPELS AT ALL SCHOOLS

24 2) As I have mentioned, I come from a Christian background and Christian profession of
25 faith & commitment in addition to educational commitment. As such, based on m y
26 experiences in the many schools & classrooms I’ve spent a day or days in around Los
27 Angeles, I believe the students need MORE EXPOSURE to religion not just as an academic
28 topic, but as a spiritual topic. This is NOT to say that students should be indoctrinated into

46
 1 any one particular religion, but that they should have the opportunity to EXPERIENCE
2 the practice of various religious, including Christianity (Protestantism & Catholicism),
3 Hinduism, Mormonism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Transcendental Meditation, et. al.
4 Teachers regularly take students on class trips to various places to ‘expose’ them to events
5 and traditions, but rarely, if ever, take them to a church or worship service or a mosque or
6 temple, etc. Of course, it would be impractical to take them to most of these places because
7 of the time & day they gather.
8

9 Therefore my suggestion is that ALL SCHOOLS provide a “chapel” for the students where
10 pastors, priests, rabbis, and other religious leaders can come and illustrate how their
11 particular religion formally gathers for worship, discuss their particular beliefs &
12 doctrines, & have a Q & A session and allow the religious leader to “demythologize” their
13 religion (i.e overcome false stereotypes & ignorance about their religion by people of other
14 faiths, or no faith), and/or provide reading material. I recall on more than one occasion
15 where students mistakenly, and with negative stereotypes in mind, thought I was Jewish;
16 even in one instance a student said loudly as he entered the classroom, “He’s a
17 motherf---ing Jew”. I usually tell people I am Christian if they ask, or if they mistake
18 me for being Jewish or something else, but I also think that those with anti-Semitic
19 attitudes need to be corrected in many ways so that they don’t become abusive towards
20 Jewish people as well as people they mistake for being Jewish, and so that they simply
21 become truly educated, and thereby become better citizens. I am surprised by how many
22 young people who may attend a protestant or catholic church have strongly anti-Semitic
23 attitudes, and when I say, “Jesus was a Jew” they are SHOCKED ! A lot of our young
24 people need to know more not only about other religions but their own religions as well.
25

26 The school chapel should be also open at various times for students who are already
27 committed to a faith to practice their faith, whether it is praying the rosary, meditating,
28 singing, chanting, etc. The specific details of such could be determined on a school-to-

47
 1 school basis. The outcome of such would hopefully be not only spiritual but also contribute
2 to academic knowledge of (& exposure to) various religions. Hopefully, a chapel would
3 have a beneficial impact on students in terms of less aggressive behavior, less violent
4 actions or language, and better relationships with each other, if not also with the deity to
5 whom they commit, if any.. It should, if done right, make students BETTER CITIZENS in
6 general as well as better students in many ways, including academic. It could ALSO
7 potentially be beneficial to staff & faculty. I know that there are times when I need
8 spiritual regeneration at a school, and usually just pray when I am alone in the classroom,
9 but would find it even more edifying to pray in a nice little chapel.
10

11 Under Penalty of Perjury

12
(John) Philip A. (Vander) Kok
13
Former Employee #704195
14 BA/BA/M.Div

15
Some people ask me why I include “John” and “Vander” and it is because I began
16 changing my name “by usage” some time ago, and in the classroom after several years I
began going by “Mr. Vander” rather than “Mr. Kok.” Kids seemed to have a little too
17
much fun (or even ridicule) with the name “Kok” while Mr. Vander seemed to resonate
18 better with the students. I also added “Vander” to reflect my Dutch ethnicity. More than
once people assumed I was Asian based upon my name, on paper, before meeting me and I
19 simply wanted to be known according to my ethnicity and heritage, i.e. Dutch-American.
20
And I simply grew to dislike my given first name, partly because of the way people
intentionally mispronounced it and also because I wanted to establish a new identity
21 according to my closer walk with Christ and in Christ later in life.
22

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