Just as soon as four new “deeper learning” resource teaching positions were approved by the board, Maddie wasted no time in submitting her application. Had she been recruited by current JCTA leadership and offered a fast-track to cushy “teaching” positions and grooming her for the top union leadership position?
She began teaching in Shelby County in 2013. She transferred to JCPS in 2017, but it is unclear if she has actually taught in JCPS, especially since the pandemic and NTI. She has been JCTA Treasurer since 2018, I believe.
Her JCPS application doesn’t say WHO in the district recommended her for the job, but she had no difficulty sliding into home plate in one of four newly created “deeper learning resource teaching” positions that are protected by MOU from actually being assigned to a classroom, even during a teaching crisis. This is a negotiated “perk” that goes with this controversial position, which she and her colleagues have exercised on more than one occasion.
Even though the filing window did not technically open until December, this article ran in the Courier Journal indicated she is the only one running for the Presidency role. This is not accurate, but since there is no way for the reporter to know this, someone must have submitted this story to her.
Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of dollars in JCTA-funded advertisements that are currently running, which feature Ms. Shepard and not her competitors.
In addition to receiving preferential treatment in her bid for presidency, Shepard calls herself his “understudy.” She has been hand-picked and groomed by McKim as his replacement. JCTA Members should ask Ms. Shepard what she intends to do in the top role that she was unable to do already, and why hasn’t she done it already. Will she bring back term limits? What about the process for teachers’ interests to be represented during BSK endorsement decisions? Under the current leadership, JCPS working conditions and teacher benefits has continued to decline. Meanwhile, she and her colleagues have had no trouble advocating for the four resource teaching positions that were created in 2017 for union favorites. These declines are due, in large part, to the lack of advocacy from union leadership against unprecedented attacks from all sides, allowing it to reach its lowest point in modern history. If members want more of the same, Maddie is the perfect choice.
If they want change, we recommend:
- Kenyata Dean Bacon for President
- April Back Stevens for Vice President
- Tyra Walker for Secretary
- Cheri Eskridge, Write In for Treasurer
OPEN RECORDS
Here’s a document we got from open records showing times when she exercised the MOU in order to prevent herself and another deeper learning teacher from having to cover classes. And this person wants to represent teachers at the highest level?
young-2Here’s a copy of her personnel file if you want to check her references and work history for yourself. More documentation to come as time allows.
maddie shepard file