Former Teacher Tells Her Side of Story in Book "Rotten Apples"

The Alexandria, LA, Daily Town Talk ^ | 03-15-03 | Peters, Emily

[Theodore R.]

Former teacher Patti Powell believes the Rapides Parish school system is rotten to the core.

"Rotten Apples: We've Made Worm's Meat of Education" is her 500-page, self-published attempt to tell her side of the story after the School Board fired her for alleged neglect of duty in September 2001.

[Theodore R.]

One thing for sure, this ex-teacher is finding out how difficult it is to self-publish a book and then try to find a market for it. One of the few who made a success in the self-publishing market is the esteemed Phyllis Schlafly.

[Puppage]

the esteemed Phyllis Schlafly

If only the world had more people like Phyllis Schafly!!! One of the better people on the planet.

[Damagro]

She currently is an adjunct professor at Central Texas College at Fort Polk, but she said her involuntary termination from Rapides Parish has made finding a job hard.
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This has me confused. Fort Polk is in Louisianna, and Central Texas is, of course, in Texas.

[mlmr]

It means that she is hired by the class and has no benefits or real status. Essentially she is a temp.

[TexasBarak]

Perhaps it is an extension of the college? Sounds a little odd, but I can see it happening. Then again, it's just as likely that the reporter got the facts wrong.

From reading the article, I gather that she has self-published using a print-on-demand (POD) publisher. This isn't terribly expensive- a book can be published and lightly marketed (via the web) for around a thousand bucks.

This is because, as the name implies, books aren't printed until ordered, so the author doesn't have to pay up front to have thousands of copies printed. I'm planning to use this myself for a design book I'm working on- it's aimed at a somewhat limited market (woodworkers, mostly), and I'll retain copyright and complete control.

I think hers would be an interesting book to read- small town schoolboard politics can get really nasty. I was the last of my parents four children in our local school system.
After I graduated, they made a hobby of checking up on the school board- going so far as to drive to Austin for face to face talks with state officials to expose blatant lies by the locals.

[Theodore R.]

Perhaps Fort Hood has a college branch at Fort Polk. I don't know, however. Fort Hood is in Killeen, Texas, nearly 300 miles from Fort Polk.