Jobs for the Crapper Boys and Girls
 

Vermont Secondary College

On 21 December 2006, I took a permanent position at Vermont Secondary College, in a formal interview, with Borutta, Eames and Jacobs. I said I would only take a permanent position and was official, because I had a strong tentative offer of permanency at another school. Jacobs left the interview to confirm he could do that and came back, saying, yes "we've done that before."

I was so excited, that after the interview I went straight to the Christmas party at St Albans Secondary and told them the great news. My position there had been taken by a teacher in excess at another school, the department imposing that person on the school. the principal Kerrie Dowsely said she fought for me at the merit protection board to prevent the teacher in excess, which I discovered later, was a lie.I had been trying for permanency since 1999, and despite being the most qualified and most effective usually, I discovered the position I was in was a sick leave, long term sick leave, or other temporary role.

I was guaranteed by Jacobs that this was not the case at this school.

I was replacing a teacher who was permanent, John Gordon as Borutta informed me, in February. Gordon was found unfit and could not cope and was forced into retirement, having a substantial pension plan. This was John Gordon, husband of the new art head in 2007, Elaine Gordon. They said they would formalise, my ongoing position in the new year and specified a three month probation period, as normal with permanent positions, in the new year.

In the new year though, I asked for the contract and it was refused me.

At no point did they give me a contract, for the permanent position, or any contract, and I regretted not taking the position at Epping Secondary, being too trusting, I assumed Jacobs would honour his agreement. But when it came to the end of the three month probation, he delayed it again. I asked for a meeting, given all feedback from my mentor, coordinator and Jacobs and others that my teaching and admin was exemplary. My student's work was on show, I coached one of my badminton teams to regional finals. My Coordinator said that people were noticing the quality of the work, "they've never seen performance like that." All this in just 3 months at the school. This high performance continued till I left the school, as the evidence shows.

I was forced to work, by Borutta, as the technician and a teacher and my workload was over 70 hrs per week, about double the maximum work load for teachers.

I was teaching graphics, wood technology, metal tech and supporting the human power vehicle project.I was usually the first person at school in the morning and the last person to leave at night.

I was achieving across the board and this while being exploited as a graduate teacher, onthe lowest pay scale, despite teaching since 199, in Sydney, the UK and Melbourne. And had good friendships with staff.

In late May 2007, I asked for the contract to be formalised. Tony jacobs randomly came to my class and told me to come in at lunchtime. In my time, against the ETRA 2006 and VGSA 2004 agreement active then. The principals made a whole series of false claims about my teaching, which did not happen. Jacobs had told me we would be meeting to discuss the permanent position, then this.

They claimed there was an incident where I said fuckoff to a class (I didn't swear back then) unless in humour or context -it did not happen. They claimed that I missed "an inlieu' due to not checking - the coordinator and I took turns checking the daily notices (for his extras). But still, I was still not meant to have inlieus by agreement and because of the time in excess in actual duties - their action was illegal by the ETRA 2006/VGSA 2006 again.

That I missed an inlieu (I was working over 70 hours) and worse in my verbal contract, I was told that I had no inlieus or extras, because I was already over the legal max of 38hrs- graduate time for planning and prep, which I was denied due to other imposed duties"

Little and ridiculous admin things were raised, just at the time i was scheduled to have my permanent position formalised.

I later realised that the people who had said this stuff were competing for my position and an associate of theirs, whom I had informed the principal had made paedophiliac admission, being Andrew Doyle (coincidentally the schools arch atheist- actively anti-Christian, with Rebecca Eames). At VCAT in 2008, principal Rod Williamson admitted that he had not investigated these admissions by Doyle, made in front of several other teachers, who must have raised it too. Williamson was protecting a pedophile or groomer, at least. We'll never know until his victims, or other junior school students come forward.

After this meeting, I complained to Principal Rod Williamson about the false claims and conduct of the Assistant Principals and about Jacobs conduct regarding the ongoing position. He said there was no ongoing position. I found it hard to believe, but Jacobs had either duped me or was being controlled. I was irate, at their gumption to remove a position agreed to and then claim it did not exist. At VCAT in 2012, I discovered the full nature of the corruption of these principals, teachers and the school manager at the school.

They had forged and created a fraudulent contract. the cover sheet had a different date to the contract. It had the wrong address (means it was copied from previous year contract), wrong signature, it did not correspond with the testimony of the principals (I had a permanent position of John Gordon (as admitted by Assistant Principal Fallon), not the young teacher on long term leave as claimed. Even here there was an issue.

This teacher inexpert in design and technology, had permitted with supervision a student to use a mig welder without any safety protection at the school. Ensuring radiation burns, hand eye retinal burning, molten metal burns. At a VIT hearing, Borutta, who had witnessed this serious safety breach, said, "I told you not to reveal that." But I was being accused of false things and unsafe, where I had only done everything correctly by law and was very conscientious and safe about my practice.

The principals said that I let students, sit on tables. While every teacher did this in the school generally, a principal at another school (who was at Vermont at the time) even had photos of students sitting on tables, as a feature, on their school website. My VIT portfolio, which was passed by principals and the VIT itself had photos of students standing on tables and no one ever found this wrong, back to 2005, or before. The OH&S safety audit, recorded no issue with standing on tables (as an issue except in the case of teachers using tables as a ladder - as they all do), so legally standing on tables is ok, up to a teacher's risk assessment. Being an expert, both being a qualified furniture technologist and industrial designer, that was me.

The most humorous claim of the principals was a claim by Sabrina Crosswaithe. Sabrina had attacked me in the staffroom one day, when I was talking with some friends. She said "we'll see about your permanent position..." A friend of hers (there was a gang of these older women) Alison Bate, had come into my room randomly once, observed and then said, "you're an excellent teacher, its a pity about what they are doing." I found it a really odd statement. This was in May 2007.
At open day, I was given the responsibility of running it for our department. John Gordon (whom I had replaced), was walking around chummy with his friend Rod Williamson, came to me specifically and said, "I don't see what their problem is, your work (looking at a display of my student's work) and the results are excellent," again a bizarre statement.

Later I discovered that this John Gordon was the husband of the Elaine Gordon the new art head and that he had been forced out of the school, disgruntled, because he could not cope with teaching and could not teach the basics essentially. Principal Fallon at the public, VIT hearing, admitted that Gordon (a teacher of over 20 years experience was incapable of being a teacher), but despite my successes in all dimensions at the school, he said, in the end he implied, he was as good as you. Early that year I was awarded full VIT registration after two years of scrutiny at two schools by two principals, folios and evidence of my successes. the previous year i had been promoted to Junior School Coordinator and had strong success in that, resolving disputes and identifying perpetrators of issues at the school.

Fallon admitted in walking past my classes, he saw no issues of concern.

Fallon admitted that my predecessor who was forced out as unsafe and could not manage a class or teach, was placed back in his old position. This only half true. To hide my permanent position, the school divided it into two new positions. When asked to explain this action at VIT, Rod Williamson claimed, that "we placed technology in the art curriculum." I realised what had happened. Elaine Gordon, the new head of art, wanted her husband back in his previous position, for their third investment property no doubt. They had gathered a group of teachers against me, to destroy my position at the school.

The pattern follows that they tried to undermine my performance prompting students to be violent and giving extreme work hours and duties. When my performance didn't fail, they made up false claims about it to, undermine my position at the school. Some also used politics, as Jacobs admitted, to remove my position (without declaring it) and creating new positions.
I had made financial commitments, based on the permanent position.

I had no idea why the principals had attacked me, with false allegations and Alison Bate had invented others at a camp. For example she claimed that the whole camp I just sat around doing nothing (in witness statements). Then admitted 2 years later, that the whole time I was there, I was involved in several activities. Andrew Doyle whom I had complained about, made a claim, that I tried to "visit a student on MySpace," yet when I showed VIT the transaction, it showed her attempting to friend me on MySpace, and no response from me. While there is no wrong in this. teachers internationally are friends with their students. Often they identify paedophiles in student's families and more help mediate student interactions, to prevent bullying and suicide. Teachers aim, to not live near students, or interact outside school, to actively not be part of the community, essentially to prevent work outside the school. Lazy and not caring about students essentially. In the case of that girl, her connection on MySpace (while I did not respond on MySpace, saw me arrange other students to befriend her, as she was being socially/racially isolated there, in this oddly "very white" school, not representing the surrounding demographic (how does that happen ?). And again I was proud of my success in this. No one at the school had helped her or identified the problem.

At VCAT in 2008, Borutta admitted that Gordon and Crosswaithe were not working out, or the new person either.

There are more issues at this school. My understanding was that I was in the teacher's union, for example. I had asked Adam Star the union rep, to check my status, as I was not receiving union newsletters at my Docklands apartment, and he had failed to inform me. It was Star or Neil Pearson, his close friend in drama there who told me that Borutta had bullied his father out of a position, at another school. Similar to what he did to Gordon with Jacobs, who wanted to be head principal by ousting Williamson, the plan to install his friend in PE, to use politics to get the Council to vote for him and pressure Williamson out, as he explained to me once. Essentially Star and others, were trying to bully Borutta out of the school and had failed for several years.

Because I was closely associated with Borutta and we made an effective team. Teachers started to attack me, as I would not go along with their attacks on him, while the head of department before Elaine Gordon said, Borutta is an unsafe teacher, just look at the way timber is stored and his lack of supervision, among other issues.

In term 2, Borutta viewed me as a threat it seems. Borutta was intentionally giving me duties before school and then not reporting this to the daily organiser. So iw as recorded as being late (a very few occasions). When i picked up on what Borutta was doing, I started informing the daily organiser about these duties. Tony Jacobs, seems to be behind the intentional attempts to male me late, saying that on one of these occasions where I was tasked to do work on my way into school, that this was lateness, despite having a duty. It was a strategy to undermine my teaching.

the reason is Jacob's had illegally failed to recruit me by DEECD procedures and policy and was attempting to create ways to undermine myself, to justify not employing me, so imagining he would somehow, be let of the hook. But DEECD policy and the agreement is clear. meritorious recruitment, by KSC criteria and again i was the only candidate on evidence who fulfilled it, as Borutta admitted at the VIT hearing in 2008. the principals were defying the law, against the public interest, to place political allies and friends in positions at the school, against merit and tried to undermine actual performance. Yes reduce the quality of teaching for political agendas in the school.

Borutta at the VIT hearing described himself as some guru, who had the power to employ and not employ teachers as if the school was his property, as with the principal's actions. 

What VIT and VCAT misses, is that all these actions were illegal.

Employment is only by merit, in the public interest.

At the VIT hearing, Borutta admitted that I was the only teacher who fitted the position description.

He claimed my employment interview was informal. This is not the case.

I was asked and presented Key Selection criteria and there was a merit trained person (Eames) and a principal, as well as the coordinator. Jacobs definitely said it was a permanent position, he even left the room to confirm that he could do that conferring with the school manager and said this was so. All the principals and Borutta lied about this at VIT, claiming it was not an ongoing/permanent position.

In 2012, at VCAT I also viewed what was a fraudulent contract, with a forged signature and obvious faults. the level of corruption of these principals, Fallon, Jacobs and Williamson and Ruff, are criminal at best.

Jacobs was exposed as cheating on the Government National Tests (Naplan) attempting to remove "underperforming students," from the test, by claiming they were disabled and on the school newsletter, formally asking parents to remove them. A clear example of cheating and fraud. he was exposed nationally by parents fro his allegedly criminal conduct. In the US in a similar situation, teachers were jailed fro up to 20 years for involvement in such maladministration/conduct.

VIT never questioned his registration and he is still a registered teacher today.

Jacobs needs to be de-registered and possibly IBAC and Police investigate him for his criminal conduct and how the department and VIT has managed to ignore it, when he has actively brought the entire teaching profession and all national data into disrepute.

Naplan cheating, has since has been found commonplace and because the Government, VIT and DEECD failed to prosecute his very real crimes, cheating and national Education Data, has been normalised and cannot be trusted Internationally.