In recent years, Americans have had the
opportunity to learn about the
mysterious culture of Persia, Iran, due to the
stories of individuals who
immigrated to the United States after the Revolution
that have served to
enlighten Americans about what really happened during the
Shah’s reign
and why a country whose traditions go back to one of respecting
religious
freedom of all groups would turn against their Constitutional
Monarchy
and establish a repressive religious Islamic Republic. As more
information
about what it was really like under the rule of the Shah becomes
available,
a sense of perspective about what happened begins to emerge.
One of the most comprehensive stories
in this collection of books is the memoir written by Sattarah Farman-Farmaian
entitled “Daughter of Persia.” Ms. Farman-Famaian was the daughter of a Persian
prince who ruled over vast lands much like a feudal lord during the early part
of the Twentieth Century. Her father lost power after the creation of a
Constitutional Monarchy in 1906. The backdrop for “Satti’s” formative years saw
the first overthrow of this democracy and the rise of the first Shah with the
help of Great Britain after World War I in an effort to seize control of Persia’s
most valuable asset –oil. Satti was sent to the United States to go to school
during World War II and then returned to what was now Iran (land of the Aryans)
under the rule of the second Shah who rose to power with the help of the United
States in 1953.
While
in the United States, Satti discovered what she believed to be the key to
changing the deplorable conditions of poverty she knew existed in her country
and had existed for centuries. The power of free speech. She had experienced a university education
where people were talking openly about social problems and dialoguing with one
another to find a workable solution. Satti states that she learned …”if you
could talk openly, you could discover what to do about a problem.” She saw this
as the way people developed initiative in order to solve their own problems.
This was the way to creating a stable, successful Iran. She set about
establishing her school of social work and while trying to help alleviate
poverty, she also worked toward instilling initiative and creative dialogue
among the students she served in the School of Social Work. The thing that
worked against her and led to the collapse of her school and her flight from
Iran in 1979 was the repressive nature of the Shah’s so called rebuilding of
Iran.
While
the Shah was touting all the wonderful achievements of the westernization of
Iran, his secret police (SAVAK), whose members were trained by the United
States CIA and Israel’s MOSSAD were watching trade unions to prevent strikes.
SAVAK members also monitored the universities and publications critical of the
Shah and some of his policies. Many fled to London but weren’t safe even there.
A vocal Islamic cleric named Ayatollah Khomeini was also exiled for his criticisms
of the Shah’s regime. Free speech was
non-existent and in the end everything fell apart and chaos ruled allowing an
even more repressive regime to take over Iran. The right of free speech cannot
be denied if a society is to move forward and create meaningful, lasting
change.
The
whistleblower’s law passed near the end of the Twentieth Century was recognition
in this country that even without a secret police to murder and torture, free
speech can be inhibited by those who don’t have military power (yet), but those
who control the economy and the delivery of goods and services in this country.
I became familiar with this law in 2003 when I naively took on this role in my I
position as a teacher at Camp Florence in Florence, OR.
I had moved to Florence in 1998 after being hired as a classroom teacher
for this small, transitional facility that served adjudicated males ready to
move back into society. I was eager to take on this challenge after teaching in
a middle school in Albuquerque, NM for ten years and being part of a dedicated
team of professionals who were making a difference in the barrio school on the
West Mesa. Although I received numerous awards and acclaim from my colleagues
as well as the community, my biggest reward was knowing that I had been a part
of a team that was making a difference. We talked; we communicated. We listened
to one another with respect and encouraged each other and never sacrificed the benefit
of the community we served just for the ego’s satisfaction of being right. Our
team leader never listened to gossip generated from unhappy students or other
teachers, but brought people together to talk openly to discover the root of
the problem and how to handle it. It was my stellar resume along with
enthusiastic recommendations that made me the candidate selected for this
challenging position.
After the passage of Measure 11
in Oregon a new educational paradigm was being established. For the first time,
juveniles were now spending most of their high school years incarcerated so
detention facilities were now creating schools that were accredited by the
state to issue diplomas. I couldn’t have been more excited about being a part
of this, and had a wealth of ideas and expertise to bring to the job.
For three years ideas flowed freely and programs were created. I joined
the Alternative Educators Association and began to be asked to speak and do
workshops at professional meetings. Our program that tied vocational training
to the classroom was written up in the Eugene “Register Guard.” I wrote a
lesson plan that was incorporated into a text entitled “Powerful Teaching” published by the search-institute.org – a forerunner
in the use of Asset Based (instead of problem
based) approach to teaching youth.
Beginning in 2001, I began to notice some disturbing methods being used
by my teaching partner. I started to speak out first to my direct supervisor,
my principal who was based in Albany and then, at her request to the Director
of Camp Florence who worked for Oregon Youth Authority – the agency that held
the contract with the ESD that I worked for.
I never dreamed the two year nightmare that ensued that would lead to my
resignation under duress. There are more ways to get rid of someone than
actually firing them, I learned.
All communication stopped. I was isolated, my character was questioned
and I felt totally alone and unable to trust no one. When the decision was made
to transfer me to another location that might suit my rigid personality better
and be placed on a Plan of Assistance, I obtained a lawyer. After that, I had a
racial harassment complaint brought against me for singing “La Bamba” at a
professional in- service, was relegated to teaching computer classes, taken
from the Independent Study Program, denied attendance at IEP (Individual
Educational Planning meetings for students in special education) and virtually
any contact with students that was not monitored by other classroom teachers or
Oregon Youth Authority Staff who reported anything they believed I said that
was “out of line” and causing the dangerous situation among the student
population at Camp Florence.
When I protested through my
attorneys once again, I was placed on paid administrative leave while these
charges were being investigated. For one entire semester I sat at home with no
one contacting me for lessons plans, etc. to direct the student activity for
the substitute hired to fill in for me. At the beginning of the semester when
the “investigation” was complete, I was called back to work under a “letter of
reprimand,” the first step toward a
disciplinary action that would lead to firing. The next was to put the
results in my personnel file – another step
toward firing. I resigned under duress and exercised my right of free speech
and filed a lawsuit against Linn-Benton Lincoln ESD and the Oregon Youth
Authority. The only thing that gave me the courage to do this was that I
believed, given my professional history, I could find another job with no
problem at all. I had an emotional breakdown and serious illness after learning
that if I resigned without a sixty day notice, I would lose my teacher’s
license. After twelve weeks of medical leave and lots of therapy, I negotiated
with the school district to allow me to keep my teaching license and resign.
I
felt invigorated and renewed. I knew I would find a job by the fall of the year
and that would sustain me through the difficult court process that lay ahead
for me for the next four years. During
this time, I found out what others who weren’t so naïve as I already knew and
learned the reason for their lack of support – my teaching career was over the
minute I spoke out against the “system.”
Today, I don’t consider myself a “victim” and I have forgiven everyone
involved in what happened. Although I
lost my house, my retirement and almost my health, I would still do the same
thing today that I did before. I write this story now at the urging of my
conscious that has learned to see a bigger picture and friends associated with
two other people in the community who have spoken out about problems in their
work environment and have suffered much the same consequences. The most recent
was a good friend of mine, Dr. John Egar. I cannot sit back and hear what has
happened to him without offering my insights about the overall world situation and
its connection to what happens on an individual level too often in the
workplace and communities throughout this country.
Dr.
John, as we lovingly call this physician who worked at Peace Health and had
over 1,000 patients, was recently fired for writing letters to the editor
informing the local community about the way medical costs were handled in
Florence as opposed to Eugene. In speaking with John, that is what I
understand. I was appalled to learn that Peace Health, which controls the
medical services in Florence, can fire their employees for “no cause.” As I
understand it, there is a shortage of medical doctors in Lane County that is
affecting the service to the sick here, despite the fact of the supposed
success of Obamacare giving people a way to pay for their care. Now, because a
corporate monopoly does not want their “dirty laundry” questioned by the
professionals who take their roles seriously, 1000 people in need of services
are out of luck. Not only that, in this writer’s opinion, we have lost a caring
professional because he thought transparency and sharing information is a step
toward improving a system that is not functioning to serve the people who use
it. I offer my personal gratitude and
support to Dr. John and have decided to share my story once again for all those
who may feel caught in the same situation and are fearful to speak up even
though in this country we have “freedom of speech” without reprisal either by
government or those corporate entities whose economic power can be as dangerous
as that of an absolute monarch.
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