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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I emailed them re a issue I had with a teacher, and she CC THE TEACHER, THE Teacher replay to the  email.... IS she allowed to do this? [/quote]
The principal is demonstrating that they don't want to hear complaints about teachers, and if the parent complains they will reveal their identity immediately to the teacher.

How the principal could have handled it better:

1) The principal should have first privately replied to the parent inquiring if the teacher can been made aware of the concern and if so how many times.

2) Principal should have then approached the teacher privately, verified the facts, and only then loop the parent in as needed—possibly with the parent's consent.

3) When the parent brings up a concern with the principal, the expectation is that the administration will handle it discreetly, not immediately copy the teacher and reveal the parent’s identity. This can lead to awkwardness or retaliation concerns, and may discourage parents from speaking up in the future.

[/quote]

Ha ha! No, not in large public schools, where the Principal has way too many things to do at any given time. I've had to deal with 7 Principals in my children's schooling (elementary to high school), and liked most of them. The rare times I've needed to contact them, I've received extremely short, terse responses - not because they're upset, but because they literally don't have the time. They solve the issue, tell me, and move on, in as few words as possible. And sometimes I haven't had responses at all, but someone else in the administration reached out to solve my issue, because the Principal delegated. Efficiency and time management are paramount. And that's fine with me, because all *I* want is for my issue to be solved!

No Principal is going to spend time tiptoeing around your little feelings. You need to go to a small private if you want that.

[/quote]
Good things worked out for you.  What if the principal did not address the concern, and simply forwarded it to the teacher by CCing them in the reply (assuming you already approached the teacher multiple times without response)?[/quote]

Then I would wait 24hrs for the teacher to respond, because in all my years of dealing with school staff, I've seen that teachers are under pressure to perform once they know the Principal is aware. This could be his/her way of applying pressure on the teacher. If you're talking about being embarrassed that now the teacher knows you've contacted the Principal, no, that kind of pressure is the point, especially if they have not responded before. It's what the teacher gets for having ignored you before. They deserve it.

Maybe you can tell me what the issue is?

[/quote]

I have 160 students. I get less than an hour at work to grade, plan, respond to emails, eat, visit the bathroom, attend meetings, and update my records.

You may not hear from me in 24 hours, and I won’t apologize for that. I have 25 or so emails A DAY to respond to, and they can’t be my top priority.

You want me at your disposal immediately? Then advocate for me to have more time to get my work done.

And my principal understands this. [/quote]

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