Friday, June 12, 2009
Education / Hannan Dear Metro Nashville Public Schools: Hire David Fuqua
Posted by Caleb Hannan on Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 6:00 AM
Comments (20)
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Great job, Caleb. As one of the hundreds of students who took Mr. Fuqua's class (way back in 1998-99, his first year at Hendersonville), I know the influence he has had.
I took honors classes almost exclusively and, at the time, there was only one level of U.S. Government offered at Hendersonville. I was in a class with students that I hadn't shared a classroom with since P.E. my freshman year. Mr Fuqua didn't shirk though. He challenged every student, regardless of their perceived level in the academic hierarchy. He made everyone defend an idea.
Government classes run the risk of being a semester-long version of "I'm Just a Bill," but Mr. Fuqua focused on what democracy is about– the rights of the people v. the power of the government.
Hendersonville is losing a top-notch educator that truly connected and engaged all students.
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The new principal must feel threatened by Mr. Fuqua's status. That kind of stuff goes on all the time in public education in MNPS too.
Mr. Fuqua is a great man and a great teacher. When I first heard about this situation James Barnes and I knew something had to be done. The best part about it, is the fact that everyone else agreed.
-jh
Good job, Caleb. Fuqua deserves this, and I'm incredibly proud that he's gotten this type of response.
JB
I can understand why he was reassigned. Mr. Fuqua stands in the way of Hendersonville High producing mindless drones that sleepwalk from class to class learning the text book version of various disciplines of thought. We can't have our students engaging in thought crime. Correction...we can't have our students engaging in any type of thought. They must be taught what to think. We need them to simply show up to school, fill in the bubbles on their standardized test, and then return home to watch American Idol. We don't need individuals! We must teach our children to respect authority above all else.
Sadly Sumner County has a history of doing this for little or no real reason. Often it comes down to who does or doesn't like whom. This same thing happened last year to a popular guidance counselor, though it didn't make the news.
First of all: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to Caleb Hannan and the Nashville Scene for picking up this story and reporting on it. Fuqua deserves every single ounce of attention from all of this because it is living proof of the effect he has had on his students over his teaching career. And perhaps more importantly, it is Fuqua's educational philosophy applied to the real-world.
As one of Fuqua's former students (c/o 2007), I can easily say I learned more in his class than any class I've ever taken--even counting current college courses. I feel truly honored and privileged to be able to show my support for a man who has been such a wonderful inspiration to me in the days since graduating high school. The guy is simply awesome in the biblical sense of the word (and for the record: Ms. Stephens was one of my favorite teachers I never had).
Wonderful article. It's too bad the administration and the school board felt it necessary to remove Fuqua. You'd think if they truly cared about the students...
--Riley
Fuqua once told me that Paul Decker--a fine principal who served Hendersonville High for years and brought Fuqua on board--told him that he hired him because he wanted the kids to be prepared for the challenges (intellectual, ideological, etc.) that college would bring. Decker said that he remembered moving from a sheltered high school to the free-thinking marketplace of ideas that is your typical college, and being completely unprepared. Decker was a good ol' boy in a lot of ways (the football stadium is now named after him), but he understood the value of a teacher like Fuqua.
This was where Fuqua excelled--beyond constitutional law, civil rights and social responsibility, he taught the importance of critical thought. Students came away from his class (when I attended, a mere half-semester mandatory standard course) with an increased ability to ask questions, and when those questions were answered, to ask the questions the answer posed. He taught with passion, urgency, and good humor. It was an invaluable experience.
Fuqua thrived under Principals Decker and Shelton (also, I understand, a capable principal) for a decade, but is suddenly kicked to the curb after a year under Principal Worsham? Those of us who have been following this closely know exactly where the responsibility for this cowardly decision lies. Fuqua will be an asset to any school he's a part of, but he had made a home at Hendersonville, and the treatment he has received is contemptible.
It's too bad the administration and the school board felt it necessary to remove Fuqua.
Nitpicky thing that keeps getting repeated as this story develops – but the "School Board" does not make personnel decisions. Those are made by the "School System" (in this case, presumably, the principal, though ultimately the director).
The School Board (or Board of Education, what have you) can hear an appeal of a decision from an employee, pursuant to board policy, but the board itself had nothing to do with this decision.
@JR - Thanks for catching that. My fault. Sub "school board" for "director of schools," and the intent of my last statements still stands.
--Riley
I am heart broken at the way Mr Fuqua was treated. I believe that ANYONE who has gone to HHS knows the "real" reason for him being removed (and yes her initials are JW) It is very sad that soeone who is on a "god" trip can do soething like this to a wonderful teacher like Mr Fuqua - I can only hope that with the attention this story is getting the rest of the forward thinking teachers still at the school will be safe - I am sure if you think you will know who else I am referring to. I hope that if that was her plan she will reconsider any other "removals" of teachers.
Joni Worsham was upset with him because he inspired free will in the students. After her absolutely shameful and disgracing job at graduation I think this is just proving more that one year of being a principal for her was one year too many. I can't stress how heartbreaking the graduation she COULD and SHOULD have made well was. She's the main problem here, and no one wants to admit it. I really want Mr. F back, and can't help but think the only issue between his employment and his reassignment was Joni Worsham's inferiority complex. She's threatened by him and teachers like him, and now she's trying to pick teachers like him off.
If we don't stand up for Mr. F no one will.
Caleb Nailed It.
Ask David Fuqua how many students he keeps up with after high school and even college graduation. Then ask other teachers the same. Ask him how many former students visit him; we sneak back into high school just to see him and sit in on a class. Ask other HHS teachers how many visitors they see. The difference in numbers will shock you. Unless you ask his wife--another treasure to Sumner Co.
Fuqua was a great teacher and a friend. He opened my head to political intellect, teaching me to question EVERYTHING.
He is a prize for whatever school receives him. Hendersonville High School--you messed up...big time.
Thank you Mr Hannan for this pro bono political advertisement. Is it ever possible for you to simply share relevant fact? Your agenda is frequently off the mark and biased; Please stop with the soapbox!
I've been teaching for twenty-five years. And, in the Arizona school district I teach in they would never transfer a teacher from one school to another without a reason. If there is not a valid reason for this transfer, or if the eventual reason they give is BS, then the parents and the students of Hendersonville High must come to Mr. Fuqua's defense! Anything short of helping Mr. Fuqua stay at Hendersonville High makes you no different than the current Principal at Hendersonville High and the people at the district who are moving the transfer forward. From what everyone is saying about Mr. Fuqua, he deserves your support! Keep in mind, Principals believe they can do anything that is not written that says they cannot do. Who will stand up for Mr. Fuqua and hold the Principal and the people at the district for their unwarranted actions toward Mr. Fuqua? No action on your part means no action for Mr. Fuqua.
I was in the class of 2007 along with many other people following this article with such attention. Paul Decker was a saint. He was by far hands down the best principal ever to grace Hendersonville High School. When he left Mr. Shelton stepped in he too was a great principal. Now Worsham was always there as the Asst. Principal and I can't name you one student that I knew to like her. She is the one to blame for this tragedy. I for one was shocked to hear that she had got the Principal position after I had graduated. She doesn't deserve and is niether qualified to hold this position. She just can't grasp the students like Decker or Shelton could and needs to be removed immediately from her position as Prinicpal of Hendersonville High School. For the sake of the up and coming students to Hendersonville High School, Sumner County desperately needs to reinstate Mr. Fuqua to office. Exellent article.
Mr. Fuqua was the best teacher I ever had at HHS c/o 2004, eduation is a joke at that high school but he made you want to learn, made it into a way we understood and he challenged us too. Mrs Worsham is closed mided and conservative like most of hendersonillve's school and Mr. Fuqua is just too liberal and free minded for her. I learned more from hid then anyone.
As many of you have looked past facts that are usually not printed by the news papers and done with poor journalism just trying to sell papers or to get people to read their stories there is another side to this story. I'm not saying that Mrs. Worsham was all in the right in her actions, but you did not see the side of Mr. Fuqua that his fellow teachers and many of the parents who complained about him on a daily basis. From what I have seen the other teachers are glad to see a bully of a man leave Hendersonville.
On a daily basis there were people in the office waiting to make complaints on Mr. Fuqua. I have even once overheard him tell a former student of his that his thought it was wrong for him to be going to a Christian college because he should be out living and getting drunk. These are stories that you will never hear about but happened.
Of course there were not just complaints by the parents or your fellow classmates and teachers but complaints by Mr. Fuqua himself. These complaints went from talking about how terrible all the students at Hendersonville are (yes I'm sure that several of you coming to his defense are ones that he complained about) to how he could not wait to leave the school. His loud words can be heard through doors. Mr. Fuqua has made several attempts to leave Hendersonville in his 10+ years at the school and did not care one bit for the students who thought so highly of him.
As for the article about hiring Mr. Fuqua in the Metro-Nashville school system. He had interviewed at several of the schools in the Metro-Nashville school system and they did not want him at their school either.
Mr. Fuqua is not the man that everyone is coming to the rescue of and you need to understand that yes there are two sides to every story especially when one of the sides has two faces.
