Chatham Teacher Pleads to Keep Job

After running a pharmaceutical marketing agency for 14 years, Bernardsville resident Daniel Thomas stepped away from the corporate world to give back. He became a teacher.

Thomas, 54, went to school nights and got certified as a teacher at Rider University. He got a job teaching business courses at Chatham High School. Earlier this year he learned his teaching contract with the district would not be renewed, but he has yet to know why.

"I put myself wholeheartedly into the teaching profession," Thomas said. "All of a sudden I was called in and told I wasn't getting renewed. I know as nontenured teacher we have very little rights, but ... this is not about me and this is not about tenure. It’s about the students. It’s the students that miss out."

Over the past three years Thomas helped to shape the business courses offered at Chatham High. He started a new club, the Executive Society, which now boasts 65 members among the student body. He designed a marketing class for the 2013-14 school year, which 120 students have already signed up for.

"That's five classes right there. That's enough for one teaching job alone," Thomas said. "I think many of those students signed up because they knew I was going to be teaching it. ... I'm not a young teacher, I am experienced, and I bring a lot of real-world stuff into my classes."

Thomas also said he found it baffling that the administration would have him design the new marketing course, then approve it for the curriculum, if there were any red flags in his teaching record over the past three years.

"There's been nothing said verbally or in writing to suggest anything wrong with my teaching," he said. "Why would they have me go ahead with this course of there was a problem with me?"

Now, unless Thomas can convince the Board of Education to reverse the administration's decision to not bring him back again next year, "they're missing out on someone who brings in real-world experience. That's something the students tell me they really value, I'm teaching them things they're really going to use," Thomas said.

After he pressed the issue with the administration, Thomas said he received a letter outlining reasons why his contract was not being renewed. The stated reasons, he said, seemed to "pick out little things, not walking around the room enough," he said, while not taking into account the material discussed or his rapport with the students.

Not only that, Thomas said, but "many of the things they say in the letter are refuted in the observation reports. The letter says I'm not making enough use of the classroom space, but in an observation report it says, 'Mr. Thomas made great use of space.'"

Observations were conducted by Thomas' supervisors and assistant principals. Chatham High Principal Darren Groh has not been in to observe his classes, Thomas said.

To test whether he was missing something, Thomas said he set up an anonymous online questionnaire for his students. He gave out the website and asked his 300 students to tell him what they really thought of him.

"I have wonderful feedback and wonderful statistics from that survey," he said, feedback which he plans to bring with him when he speaks before the Board of Education.

When he spoke with Superintendent Michael LaSusa, Thomas said he was told one possible reason for Thomas to lose his job now could be because the administration wished to take the business department in another direction.

"Mike said to me, it could be because we want to go in a different direction, maybe bring in AP Economics," Thomas said. "But I'm certified to teach AP Economics."

As a new teacher Thomas said he knows Chatham "took a risk" when they hired him three years ago. "I'm grateful to Chatham for taking that risk, but what I do not understand is why when they did that, they're letting me go now. There's been nothing communicated to me about why this is happening."

After further discussions, Thomas said he was advised to resign from his position. But he doesn't want to resign, and he said he does not understand why this is happening.

"I love teaching and I really think I’m good at it. I find this really baffling," he said. "I'm lucky in a way because I've got other things I can do, but this is what I want to do.

Groh declined to comment on this article. LaSusa declined to comment on Thomas' contract specifically. "I can say that as a district we take all personnel decisions very seriously and we try to make the best decisions possible for our program and our students," he said.

The Board of Education meets at 7 p.m. Monday at the Chatham Township Municipal Building. The only items on the agenda is a discussion of a personnel matter and an executive session. The agenda is in the Photos & Documents section of this article.