We Were Harassed and Bullied by Leaders of the PWS College of Teachers

PART ONE Submitted by a Former Pasadena Waldorf School Dad

In May of our first year at PWS, my wife and I met with our child’s teacher to discuss concerns including how he communicates with parents, how he treats the students in his class and how he handled a specific incident our child had in his classroom. He opened the meeting by asking us if we were getting divorced. We told him no and attempted to discuss our concerns. He dismissed our response and continued to badger us about the state of our marriage. Unsatisfied with our response, he turned to me and said in a very snarky tone “you know,  (chuckle, chuckle), your wife is on campus telling me she is a single mom (chuckle, chuckle).” We calmly explained that when I travel for work, XX is a solo mom and that she never told him she was single. The teacher then consumed the balance of our meeting arguing the nuances that distinguish single from solo while boasting about the number of hours he works as a “single dad.” I believe he was trying to incite a fight between my wife and me in order to avoid a discussion that could potentially lead to criticism of him. I also believe that a teacher that attempts to interfere with a child’s parents’ relationship does not care about that child.

DOG CHASING TAIL At the end of that ineffective meeting, we asked the teacher, “Who are the College Leaders at PWS?” And he chuckled saying that he was one of the three. We asked about the Administrator given he, too, was new to PWS and he chuckled again, “ You mean the Chief Complaint Intake Officer.” That struck us as a horrible way for a College Leader to dismiss another colleague.