Randy Turner

Classroom Confidential Randy Turner

Through four decades as a reporter, editor, classroom teacher, blogger and author, Randy Turner has presented a powerful voice for public education. Classroom Confidential tells stories that touch on many aspects of the educational system. Many of those stories are included in this book including Turner's dogged investigative reporting on efforts by billionaire Rex Sinquefield and Missouri governors Matt Blunt and Eric Greitens to privatize education, as well as the impact of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos' family and other supporters of the charter school/voucher movement on education Much of Classroom Confidential features Turner's writing on teaching experiences and teachers and students that leave a lasting effect on the reader. The stories include a profile of a man who spent decades of his life serving as a school board member, how the rape and murder of a fourth grade girl forever destroyed the innocence of her classmates and her community, a school shooting, a guest speaker who received a surprising question from a student, some thoughts about some of his students who died young, a football coach who opened his heart to a six-year-old, wheelchair-bound drunk-driving victim, and three teachers who died recently after spending their lives helping children. Other essays touch on a mother's battle to have her son, a victim of the Joplin Tornado, recognized at what would have been his high school graduation ceremony, two high school students who were planning to sing as part of a trio at the state competition, but ended up performing a duet when the third member committed suicide, and a field trip that provided lasting memories. Classroom Confidential opens the doors to our schools and shares stories of people you will never forget.