We have no idea what fired Johnson County teacher faced in the classroom | Opinion

This morning, I read a story about a kindergarten teacher in the Blue Valley School District who was terminated for violating district policy 3522. This policy says that district personnel may use seclusion or physical restraint only when less restrictive alternatives have proven to be ineffective, or when a student is putting himself or others in danger.

Although we don’t have full details, it appears that this veteran teacher moved a child with special needs out of the middle of a hallway, and then was terminated for supposedly using restraints. Other educators and families are defending the teacher, saying she was offering this child dignity, not restraint.

The public needs to know that the people making these life-altering decisions for teachers are school board members who almost never know what is required of educators in their professional lives. I’m an educator. I was in the classroom for 20 years. I was an administrator after that, providing supervision, mentorship and social-emotional support to preschool teachers. Today, I provide coaching and professional development for teachers. I have been doing this work for nearly 30 years in every neighborhood in Kansas City, and I can tell you, there is never, ever a one-size-fits-all approach to behavior management for little people.

I can guarantee that this teacher, in that moment, was forced to think on her feet and make a quick decision with the safety of her students in mind. Outsiders have absolutely no idea what goes into the ways that teachers react in these situations. Everyone thinks they do, but I assure you: They do not. And now, a teacher with more than 25 years of experience has lost her job because someone who wasn’t even there is making a decision about her livelihood. I don’t even know this teacher and I am rushing here, quick as lightning, to defend her.

In my opinion, anyone who hasn’t been in a classroom for the last few years has no right to weigh in on these situations. Unless this is your profession, you have no idea what it takes to face a classroom of 20 to 30 students every day. Some may have all of their needs met outside of school. Some may be unhoused. Some may have experienced trauma. Some may have food insecurity. Some may have parents who are working two or three jobs to make ends meet. Some may have parents who have no reason to trust an educational system that has failed them for generations.

On top of thinking about all of those things for each of your students, now you have to teach them — meet their individual academic needs, while funding for special needs and extra supports in the classroom is being cut daily. Imagine, if you will, that this is what you’re faced with every single day at work. Don’t forget that teachers are also human beings with problems of their own that they are expected to leave at the door.

It simply boggles my mind that we accept this kind of huge decision-making for teachers from school boards — especially when families of former students are showing up to defend this teacher. In the same way that I would not walk into your bank and tell you who to approve for a loan, or walk into your restaurant and tell you how to season a steak properly, it should not be up to anyone without the deep expertise of educators to make huge decisions about education.

Kate Tammeus is a reader, writer, teacher, mentor and a fierce advocate of high quality early learning environments, early literacy and family engagement. She lives in Kansas City.

This story was originally published October 14, 2025 at 4:32 PM.