John Giles has been teaching history longer than his students have been alive.
By almost any objective measure, he's been doing it well. The kids he's teaching now at Mount Tabor High School love him -- even as they're staring down the barrel of final exams. Their parents do, too.
Recent alums also praise Giles as a challenging yet inspirational instructor who's become a part of the fabric at Tabor even though he only teaches on a part-time basis.
So when word circulated that the economic crunch was forcing school officials not to renew contracts for the part-timers, the kids leaped to his defense. Phones started buzzing, e-mails flew and old-fashioned letters to school officials were written.
An online petition, "Keep John Giles at Mount Tabor," was started on Facebook. By yesterday afternoon, 567 people -- a lot of them kids younger than 20 -- had signed on to a campaign to persuade the board of education to keep Giles at school where he's been teaching since 1984.
"Economy or not, it doesn't make any sense to me," said Victoria Black, a 2008 graduate and a freshman at the University of South Carolina. "I know they'll probably have to let people go, but why him? He's such an asset to our school."
Rewarding experience
Given the economic morass and a state budget with a $4.6 billion budget hole -- nearly 25 percent of the whole ball of wax -- officials seemingly have no choice but to cut teachers.
Officials in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools handed out 304 pink slips to teachers two weeks ago. Across the county line in Guilford, officials are looking at eliminating up to 150 jobs. In the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, only 10 part-time teachers have been affected so far, including Giles.
Theo Helm, a spokesman for the school system, said yesterday that the decision not to renew contracts for some part-timers was painful but necessary as officials are obligated to rehire full-time teachers first. Administrators are anticipating that high-school class sizes will have to be increased by two students as the result of budget cuts from Raleigh.
"Two students might not sound like a lot but when you figure that across the board with 15,000 to 16,000 students, that could mean the loss of 40 to 50 positions," he said.
Right now, those lost jobs don't equate to layoffs. Officials hope they'll be covered through attrition.
Perhaps we should consider ourselves fortunate, given the blood baths elsewhere. After all, these are part-timers -- some of whom, like Giles, have retired and are drawing pensions. And they might yet be rehired.
Still, we're talking about real people with mortgages, kids in college and bills to pay. We're talking about the most experienced teachers, people with the drive to teach and who possess a bagful of tricks to help reach the electronic generation.
Honest debate
Like his colleagues, Giles is deep in preparations for the end of the school year. He's certainly thought about the 2009-10 school year but he doesn't want to say anything that could harm his chances of returning to Tabor if budget cuts turn out to be not as bad as feared.
He is aware of -- and humbled by -- the show of support by his students, however, and takes no small measure of pride that young people are channeling their dismay into positive protest through accepted channels. "I knew that they'd started the Facebook page," he said. "I feel blessed."
The true measure of his effectiveness and value in the classroom can be found in the words of the student who helped set up the Web-site page.
"Mr. Giles taught me how to stand up for my opinion, and debate in support of what I believe based on the facts," said sophomore Anna Kathryn Barnes.
No price tag can be put on independent and critical thought. It means so much more than knowing the year when the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) was fought. And that is where the true worth of teachers such as John Giles should be measured.
■ Scott Sexton can be reached at 727-7481 or at ssexton@wsjournal.com.
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