Charter International

[pedro01]

Hi

I have my son due to start at Charter International at the End of August.

I just received the diatribe (below) from a fellow parent.

Anyone else know anything ?

Cheers

Pedro

Dear Parent:

You may have heard by now that Julie Lane has left Charter International School.

What some of you may not be aware of is that this was not her choice, despite what the school’s new “administrator and c.e.o” would like to have us believe.

Julie was under intense pressure from the moment this arrogant buffoon was hired by the school’s owners. She was consistently ignored, sidelined and increasingly isolated in an effort to force her out. She maintained, and continues to maintain, her integrity and professionalism throughout this difficult period in her career, but, as two of many parents whose decision to keep our son at Charter for the new school year was based on the belief that the school’s academic path was to remain under her able and competent management, I feel it is only fair to her, and to our children, that we point out to the owners of the school that we, the parents (although I strongly feel that the current administrator sees us merely as “customers”), are not as stupid or as poorly informed as they might like to believe we are. I think most of us have clearly noticed the factionalism, mistrust, confusion, paranoia and two-faced manipulations that have manifested themselves since Suratip’s arrival.

In fact, many of us have expressed mounting concern over the underhand, divisive, unprofessional and deceitful behaviour of Dr. Suratip since his arrival at the campus.

While he may enjoy the trust and support of the school’s owners, I do not believe that the majority of parents share their enthusiasm. In fact, from our extensive discussions with many parents, the consensus is that Suratip is a clear liability, and many of us not only do not trust him but actively dislike him.

While it appears that the owners and administrators of Charter obviously prefer to believe that we, the parents, are either ignorant or stupid and do not notice the troubling scenarios that have been developing around the campus, this is not the case. Many parents have voiced their concerns to each other over the last several weeks. Following are just some of the comments about Suratip, his conduct and his handling of his “c.e.o.” position that we have heard commented on by various parents of children in all grades at Charter over the last few months

1 His qualifications are insufficient for the job

2 He is too young and inexperienced to handle the workload and responsibility

3 He has no clue about the education system (British) we, the parents, were told the school is following and that we, the parents, signed our children up to pursue. His referral to GCE A- and O-levels as “level A and level O” during the meetings he arranged with parents early on in his tenure clearly demonstrate that he has not even bothered to research the education system the school is supposed to be following

4 He has lied to the parents consistently. Most damningly, his claim that “We hope Julie will be with us for a long time, we trust her and respect her and look forward to continuing working with her in the future”, a claim that was made to parents during the meetings he arranged with us after being pressed by a number of concerned parents over the issue of Julie’s future in the school, was an outright lie: clearly, Suratip never had any intention of maintaining Julie at the school and he was actively working against her from the day he arrived.

5 He has established a divisive and paranoid culture throughout the teaching staff. He has encouraged factions and used these to create uncertainty and confusion amongst the academic staff to further either his personal or the school’s owners’ aims of removing Julie Lane and her influence. And quite possibly of changing the entire curriculum that we signed our children up for.

6 Since his arrival, there do not appear to be any English-speaking staff left in the office

7 We are concerned that many of the teaching staff and assistants will quit or be removed

8 While we respect the rights of individuals to follow whatever sexual preferences they want, we do not think it is appropriate that an overtly gay man should supervise our children and their teachers. This is an extremely bad example to set to innocent and impressionable children. Furthermore, senior staff at a school should not show up to work (usually late) wearing lime green, pink and orange shirts. This man is a disgrace.

9 By sending out two letters to parents inviting them to a meeting, one in Thai and one in English, that were completely different, Suratip demonstrated his two-faced mindset. By failing to inform the teaching staff of his plan to meet the parents (they were unaware of the meetings until parents started asking them what it was all about), he demonstrated his total lack of management and people skills

10 The lack of senior native-speaking academic staff members with a strong background in the British curriculum, coupled with Suratip’s obvious lack of experience in the British education system, is unacceptable in a school that claims to be following the British curriculum, and it does not encourage parents to believe that our children are going to be educated in the system which we have paid, heavily, for our children to follow.

11 With the removal of Julie Lane, there is now no effective leadership for the academic staff. If Suratip has decided to place himself in overall charge of the academic staff, this is utterly unacceptable.

12 Charter is no longer an international school as defined under Thai laws. It already did not have enough foreign students enrolled to qualify as a true international school, and now that the academic side of things is apparently under the control of a much-disliked, disrespected, dubiously qualified non-native English speaking Thai national administrator, we, the parents, feel we are being cheated.

To summarize, Suratip’s position at Charter International School must be urgently reviewed by the School’s owners, and I feel it is up to us, the parents, to ensure that our voices are heard effectively by the owners in order that they realize the mistake they made hiring this inadequate and offensive person, and remove him immediately.

It has been our experience at other schools that when parents feel the school no longer fulfills their expectations, they simply remove their children without explaining why.

Our eldest son was at Angsana school, and the academic system was clearly not functioning to our or any other parent’s satisfaction. As a result, all but two of our son’s class did not return after the Xmas break, but not one parent expressed their dissatisfaction to the school. Accordingly, they were unable to make the changes that would have satisfied the parents and kept the children (their customers) at the campus.

I would not like to see the same thing happen at Charter. We have the greatest respect for the teaching staff, our children love the school and their teachers and teaching assistants, and it would be a great shame if we were forced to find new campuses for our children without making the effort to inform the school’s owners of the problems we, the parents, see with the administrative side of things.

While we respect the right of the school’s owners to hire and fire whom they please and see fit, they should also understand that we, the parents, also have a stake in their business as well. Not only are we paying customers, who resent being lied to and manipulated by an arrogant, incompetent, unprofessional, under-qualified, divisive, manipulative administrator of dubious sexual morality; we also owe it to our children, and to their teachers, to ensure that they are being educated in a caring and nurturing environment, following the system that we have been led to believe is being followed by the school, and that the school is being administered by competent, native-English speaking academic professionals with sufficient years of actual experience in the system being taught.

On a personal note, we believe that we have been tricked into paying up front for the next term, as we had been led to believe that Julie Lane would still be in place (certainly, her last newsletter, which she signed off with: “I look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Wednesday, 31st August for the Opening Ceremony which starts at 8:15” tended to bear out Suratip’s assertion at the parent meetings that Julie would be remaining at the school “for a long time to come”. Knowing Ms. Lane personally, I am 100% certain that she was not intending to leave: she loved Charter, and we have only heard good things about her and her work from other parents. But it has been equally evident to many parents that she has been under enormous pressure for some time. She was fired, or forced out, whatever the school would have us believe, and was subjected to a miserable six weeks by Suratip, and this reflected throughout the academic staff, who were unable even to get the next year’s classes and curriculum confirmed in a timely way due to the arrogance and incompetence and manipulative, deceitful traits of Suratip.

Perhaps the school’s owners and the c.e.o. don’t think we parents can be bothered to inquire too closely into the academic structures we are placing our children into? From our observations, many parents are extremely concerned with all aspects of their children’s education and ask many questions of the teaching and administrative staff. Up until Suratip arrived, the teacher’s answers to such questions were always forthcoming, concise, accurate, and clear. But for the past six weeks or so, parents have become increasingly confused and dismayed with evasive and inconclusive answers to their usual questions, denoting a clear lack of confidence as to the academic or professional direction the school is being taken by Suratip. Obviously, no-one is telling them what they need to know to answer the parents, and they are at a loss as to how to answer simple questions, like what is the curriculum next year, who will my son’s teacher be, and so on.

Parents notice things like this, and it doesn’t make us feel comfortable. We can only assume that the teachers have been feeling even less comfortable about the situation.

Therefore, I would like to invite all parents who feel the same way as we do to join us in canvassing the school to remove Suratip immediately for the reasons outlined above; to hire a competent, professional, experienced administrator or head teacher to replace him; and to insist that we, the parents, are given representation in any future decisions affecting the way the school is run, staff hiring policies, or the curriculum to be followed. This is common in most private schools, International or not, but is not something the owners of Charter have seen fit to introduce until now. Perhaps they do not believe we, the parents (customers) are intelligent or concerned enough to bother with the concept of including representatives in their closed-door discussions. Had the parents had effective representation, it is doubtful if we would have allowed the situation that now exists to happen (the head teacher removed; the school’s curriculum and academic direction unclear; no effective or competent academic leadership; a divisive and unacceptable administration; a clearly dissatisfied and unhappy teaching staff; and the hiring of staff with inadequate qualifications to teach the curriculum the school claims to be following).

Please use the “reply all” button to communicate your feelings and thoughts, in English or Thai, so we can all share our opinions and communicate them to the owners of the school, and if there is a consensus that we can and should do something to remove Suratip and force the school to listen to our concerns and expectations, let us act swiftly to ensure our voices are heard.

I should remind all parents that Charter has a thirty-day refund policy, meaning that if we were to remove our children from the school before the start of next term, we would have to apply for our refunds on or before July 30, so there is not much time in which to act.

Lastly, I find it ironic that Charter School’s owners are investing huge sums of money building a new campus when, if they do not wake up and listen to the concerns of the existing parents, it may well be that within the next several months many of the students they currently have are likely to leave.

We hope to hear from you all soon

[Ijustwannateach]

Haven't heard anything, but where there's smoke there's fire (and this articulate letter certainly seems to come from a rational and logical thinker). There *are* other schools around- perhaps it's best to start backing out now if you can?

"Steven"

[chownah]

Respond and get a list of other parents who object and get more opinions. The complainer might just be a homophobe and is blowing this whole thing up because of this.

[Bluffer]

wow. hadnt heard anything but then most international school teachers dont mix with the likes of us normal teachers

[kenkannif]

^ I know a lady at one of THE best Int. schools here. And she said while the wages etc. and all that are better...it's still run as a business and people pass 'cos of $$$ rather than their 'cleverness'!

[Rumpole]

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. This is is just par for the course. Most Thai outfits are run in exactly the same autocratic, totally clueless and xenephobic fashion. The word "international" when attached to the word school generally has no meaning whatsoever in Thailand (with a handful of exceptions). Competent, professional educators are not required and needn't apply.

I am really glad that I don't have kids to educate in Thailand.

Edited July 15, 2005 by Rumpole