By Bethany Bray
Andover teachers and students have planned a rally for today, Thursday, July 2, to protest what some say is discriminatory treatment of Daniela Ioannides, a deaf teacher of American Sign Language classes at Andover High School whose contract has not been renewed.
On Tuesday, June 23, students learned their teacher could be replaced.
"There wasn't a single dry eye in that classroom. Even the boys were crying," said Kailagh O'Keefe, who just finished her junior year at AHS. "ASL class opened my eyes to something I had never experienced before. Ms. Ioannides was the best thing that ever happened to me. I have an A in that class not because I wanted an A, but because her teaching makes me want to learn and understand the deaf culture."
Ioannides, who has taught full-time at AHS for five years, says her contract was not renewed because she has not been able to pass the communication section of the basic English competency part of the state's teacher certification exam. The Andover schools granted her a waiver this year to be able to teach without state certification.
"I have taken the English literacy part of the test many times and have not been able to pass it. I have been deaf since birth, and don't have the competence (in English) of someone who is exposed to the language daily ... American Sign Language is my first and natural language, rather than English," said Ioannides through a sign language interpreter.
Without ASL certification, the state has offered her two options, said Ioannides: become certified as either a "teacher of the deaf" or a teacher of some other classroom subject. Neither option applies, said Ioannides. She teaches hearing students, not deaf.
"The Department of Education does not have any testing for ASL teachers, and they have tried to get me to take a test that is not in my subject area. It's the equivalent of someone who has a degree in math, not offering a math test, and asking them to be certified in psychology," she said.
That catch-22 has prompted Ioannides' colleagues and students to organize the rally for the morning of July 2, in front of Andover's School Administration Building, said AHS Spanish Teacher William Kolbe.
"Our message is simply that Daniela be granted what the entire Andover educational community wants, which is for her to be reinstated, with a waiver to give the DOE time to change the exam," said Kolbe. "We want Daniela back, and the DOE to start working to rectify this deficiency. In the mean time, there is no justification to let Daniela go. The right course of action is to give her a waiver, and let her continue her most meritorious efforts as a teacher and mentor to the students of Andover."
It is commonplace for teachers to be issued waivers for as long as 10 years as they work on achieving state certification, said Kolbe. To not grant Ioannides a waiver is discrimination, he said.
"This places the onus of fault on Daniela instead of accepting it themselves," said Kolbe of Andover school administration.
Superintendent Claudia Bach said the district must prove it cannot find any other certified teacher for the job to be granted a state waiver for Ioannides.
"Daniela Ioannides is on a waiver because she has not been able to pass her certification test. The DESE (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, formerly known as the DOE) requires that a school district keep a teacher on a waiver only until the teacher becomes licensed or until we are able to find a teacher who is properly certified," said Bach in an e-mail to the Townsman.
"So, every year we have done everything we could to help her get certified... and when that has not happened, we have requested a waiver for her. To have the waiver granted, however, we also have to advertise the position, so that we can tell the DESE that we could find no one who was certified and qualified to teach ASL," said Bach. "Once again, we will advertise the position, and if no one applies who is qualified, we will ask the DESE for another waiver for Daniela."
O'Keefe, who just finished her first year of ASL classes with "Ms. I," said she learned not only a new language, but culture as well.
"Because Ms. I is deaf, she brings in her culture, and talks about her own experiences. We went on a class field trip to a restaurant, and had to communicate solely in sign language. I understood that being deaf is hard because people treat you differently. It was a shock, hearing what the people at the restaurant were saying about us because they thought we were deaf. It was definitely eye-opening," said O'Keefe. "The way (Ioannides) teaches, she doesn't connect on a student-teacher level, she becomes one of your friends."
Kolbe also spoke of Ioannides' qualities as a foreign language colleague.
"Daniela is always upbeat, smiling, engaging. She has a renowned rapport and impact upon her students. She essentially, with ASL, deals with students, many of whom did not feel engaged or attracted to other (foreign) languages offered at the high school," said Kolbe. "She has an incredible following of students that adore her, evidenced by the deep, profound devastation felt when she was notified on June 23 that she would not be rehired."
Besides teaching ASL at AHS, Ioannides also teaches at UMass Boston, she said. She has an undergraduate degree in psychology from Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. and taught at a charter school in Hadley, Mass.
"The goal of the rally is to educate. I want to show people that the system is unequal right now. It doesn't provide an appropriate and accessible way to evaluate deaf people who do not have auditory access to the English language, as well as not having a certification in my subject area," said Ioannides.
"The rally is not to place blame, but to put attention on this issue for me and other people who are experiencing the same thing. To ask Dr. Bach to provide a waiver for me so I can continue teaching, until the DOE has an appropriate and relevant test I can take."
