Thread by @jennthetutor

Ask me why I left my old tutoring company a year ago and started Jenn the Tutor (perceptions like these discussed and this thread made me bold)

From what I recall the words were of my former boss was: It’s racist to hire you just because your black and illegal

1/

https://twitter.com/Nicole_saysLove/status/1273024834193195009

A white tutor, one of our best, noticed that there was a mostly black class at Colgan High School for the after school paid program

She realized I was leaving due to low enrollment at Colgan & thought maybe representation by a Black tutor brought to the classroom would be better

she asked me if I could take over the class. Now mind you we were suppose to be independent contractors so subcontracting work was suppose to be in our power but we had to get approval from the boss.

So she calls my boss at Tri-Ed and says she wants me to take over or at least makes the case. I wasn’t on the call (my heart is racing just telling this story with a name- I’m still scared)

I go to my mother’s twin and the woman my middle named after- my closest aunt’s funeral- I had been to 4 funerals leading up to this and use to change in gas stations and didn’t miss class even the day after my aunt died. That’s how devoted I was to my job.

I was told take your time but I’m devoted to this job so I don’t see my aunt get buried on Monday and drive back with my sister and her husband to ensure I’m available to cover a class that week. I also drove directly from a class there

I show up to colgan to cover and realize the class is all Black. I ask the tutor what my boss at Tri-Ed said and she said she never heard back

So I ask the other white tutor... she’s an ally as well. This is not a cancel tri-Ed tutoring post this is a do better post because they have good tutors but the boss lost her way in my opinion

She said the boss asked her if she thought it mattered and they discussed it and they didn’t think it did so they moved forward (she had a bad ally day- give me a second to explain how before you jump)

So I start crying because

1. I’m one of the top tutors- top producer of hours, eat in my car regularly, get a lot of referrals, had enough kids interested in a follow up class that we started an SAT 2 class
2. I got great results- amazing results. 50-300 points increases

3. I’m Black and spent almost 5 years there and they didn’t think to ask the Black tutor of representation matters... what....
4. I had my father unzip me at funerals so I could unzip the rest of the way at a gas station 4 times prior just to tutor for this boss

5. I just missed my aunt’s burial to be present to cover for another tutor- to be clear my boss said I didn’t have to and sent me a lovely gift but I was so devoted at that point I wanted to and this is what I got in return

I meltdown and the other tutor being an ally realizes that she should not have taken authority in the conversation and admits she is wrong and says she’s going to take immediate steps

Allies don’t always get it right. But she tried to make it right

So she calls my boss and offers to give up the class so I can teach. There are not a lot of Black sat and act tutors at tri ed (that I know of) and at that time I was one of the few if not only Black tutor with experience with the sat after school curriculum

I get a call the next day. My aunts funeral was Saturday this call. We buried my mother’s close friend, Mrs. Blais, Thursday or Friday. My week has been hell. My boss knows all of this getting on to the call

And she says, first thing, I remember it like it was YESTERDAY BECAUSE IT WAS A SLAP IN THE FACE, something to the effct of “I’m tired of you all talking behind my back.”

Now she had heard I had a meltdown and the priority wasn’t to check on the tutor

The priority was to say stop talking about me... okay... OKAY

Now I’m going to paraphrase and she disputes this but mind you, I never taught that all black class at Colgan High School (I said it... I’m scared but I said it)

She told me (from what I remember) she can’t just hire me because I’m Black and it’s illegal to hire me just because I’m Black

I realized in that moment, she only sees me as Black. Not as the top producer. Someone with the great feedback. Someone who has parents book one on one sessions frequently. Someone who booked Sunday once from 8 am to 9 pm and ate 2 meals in a car and chilled in parking lots

For her im only the Black tutor

Which... was... devastating

I cannot tell you what it was like to be reduced down to my race by her... after being someone with a great track record and who has a reputation as a great tutor

She also explains to me... a Black UVA law grad (and she knows I have this law degree and I’m barred because it is in my bio and she discussed it with parents) that it’s illegal

Like these male editors she did not understand hiring someone with talent who happens to be Black isn’t the same as hiring only because you are Black

Also if you are hiring because you read the research and it proves that representation of Black teachers tends to produce results with Black students because they have shared history and form relationships quicker then... you aren’t just hiring me for my skin color

And both of my colleagues recognized we only have 8 weeks and building a relationship matter and sometimes we switch classes or students because we feel other the other tutor is in a position to succeed- wow, im about to be forced to publish this

Okay im back- scary part done- now that I hit the tweet limit let me go on

So the other tutors are fine losing a class because they think it’s in the best interest, I’m not even given- from what I remember- the opportunity to weigh in like my peers. I’m just told the law

Again, I have a law degree and I’m barred

My boss did not have a law degree, she was not barred. But she felt she was an expert on the law so... I guess what do I know 🤷🏾‍♀️ (hitting that first send really empowers you)

So she explains this all to me & I say

1. You aren’t hiring me just because I’m Black. I have some of the best scores at colgan for all classes, Black or white or Latinx etc- I’m more than qualified
2. The other tutors are willing to give it up
3. It’s not illegal- im a lawyer

4. We switch students all the time if we don’t feel we are a good fit now is this different

She softens and says she will consider it

But I never taught that class (except subbing twice or maybe 3 times) and the reason I was given is She could not figure out a class I could give up

She decided if I gained a class I had to lose a class to my colleagues (who didn’t ask for that and were comfortable losing the class from what I remember)

The priority was making sure everyone had the same amount of classes

That, in my view, outweighed the having representation

Now overall issues. I don’t feel stonewall Jackson high got the same devotion from Tri-Ed as Colgan, Patriot, Battlefield (where parents paid more and they had higher 1 on 1 conversion rates)

For those of you who don’t know, most SAT classes (in my opinion) aren’t designed for you to take it once and get what you need. They are designed to get you some growth but then get you to sign up for 1 on 1 tutoring (again my opinion)

My experience- if there are 10 students, 9 or 8 of them won’t hit their goal score and will want additional tutoring. I believe I was told most of the referrals come from the classes so I assume that’s why we created them

But stonewall didn’t produce a lot of 1 on 1s and I personally felt we didn’t deliver as much value there as other places (although I arranged to meet students at different times for free to give them extra help- you can sue me for that if you want- I admit it)

So it felt like we ended up with larger classes and more late enrollments there than the schools with higher socioeconomic status... patriot, battlefield, colgan . Im not going to make definitive statements

Even adding 1 extra kid can really devalue the experience of group tutoring. If that one student, for example, comes in with a 1300 and a 1400 goal and the other students have 900 then it’s hard to meet the needs

I just don’t personally feel there was as much concern about bringing additional tutors to break up classes or doing more tutors due to large score range at stonewall than at Battefield, Patriot, colgan

and maybe I’m wrong but I felt there was always concern about the quality of experience of the Battlefield, Patriot, Colgan but the same concern never seemed to be prioritized at stonewall

I also saw issues with homework at all schools. It felt like we sold the idea that these classes will help you succeed

the way the information was conveyed it didn’t feel (personal opinion) like the students and the parents knew that your score growth could be tied to your outcome

I mean, let’s workshop this: what parents is signing up for a class where the company says if your student doesn’t do their homework don’t expect a result or your money back

So we had to assign homework, it had to be a certain number of hours, and if the students didn’t complete it (many didn’t) they may not be eligible for a refund

The company did sometimes offer refunds

So most of the value of the class was dependent on the homework (again my opinion)

The class for the week covered some new lessons but a bulk came from homework that some didn’t complete. When I asked to do something different I was told homework was important

I believe I said but they aren’t doing homework and we know that and their parents paid and we should deliver... no change in policy

The homework ended up being a huge fight for myself and my boss. I believe in parents pay they should get a value even if their student didn’t do the work. She believed that to some extent but wanted homework I and others told her we weren’t getting back

My opinion: she wanted to keep homework in place so she had a reason the student, not the curriculum or the program could be blamed if the score goal wasn’t reached

To be clear she did let some students retake for free despite homework Incompletes but that was case by case

I just felt lessons centered around homework we weren’t sure would be completed did not provide the most value and wanted a flip the classroom model since students take other classes and I thought they should be able to show up to sat and get value even if they didn’t complete

That is not to say there was no value in the classroom, there was

I personally believe the exponent lesson for advanced math and the writing standard convention lessons by Tri-Ed were some of the best SAT and ACT lessons I’ve ever taught

But I also feel like a lot of students didn’t get value because of homework and if you consistently have a problem of students not turning it in, my opinion, you change the system to ensure the most value

I believe other tutors went off script because they felt this way and from what I remember, my boss was not happy about that... AT ALL and from what I recall (I’m being very careful here) she may have punished those teachers with less classes

I heard from parents after I left that they replaced me with tutors with less experience, I don’t know if that is true but it wouldn’t surprise me because from what I remember she gave them less money because they had less experience

Here’s the truth... in my view

There is nothing an sat or act tutor is doing after school that can’t be taught by teachers who are trained

I believe the current pwcs plan is to train a select group of teachers. I think that is a mistake. Don’t create a new certification, sat and act tutor, train as many teachers as possible so they can find ways to incorporate great testing strategies in as many classss as possible

Students need repetition and if they hear “guess on every question” from multiple teachers they can do it

I found in my practice, after being forced to ditch Tri-Ed curriculum, that most students can see a 50-200 point sat increase or a 2-5 point act increase in as little as 3-4 sessions. That could be done in the weeks leading up to the test

The problem with the private tutoring model is most students can’t afford the class. So the ones who can afford it get an advantage (the company had scholarships but they were dependent on enrollment- which I didn’t feel was fair but never expressed that and I wish I had)

Welp... most kids don’t get the advantage and kids are left behind

But when I started condensing the lessons, I discovered most students can have a score boost in 3-4 lessons.

Most of that is better strategy and not teaching substance. It’s teaching how to guess strategically and what answers don’t make sense and how and when to fill in bubbles. That can yield about 50-100 sat points 1-3 act points. And it’s easy to train teachers how to do that

So imagine- a teacher or specialist gets paid to stay after school and have an sat or act academy leading up to the test which teaches better test habits and goes over some of the basic content

Yeah the rich kids with tutors will still win- that’s why... #TestOptionalnow... but at least all students get some support

You would start about 5 weeks before the test and meet 2x or 3x a week- I find short lessons closely scheduled together yields the best results

Also the students didn’t not, in my opinion, respond to 2 hour lessons

45 min lessons in groups always seems to yield better results in my experience

This can all be done in house is what im@saying

Again- I still think a lot of the tutors at Tri-Ed are great but my experience was not great

I still have parents call me and tell me they requested me but got another Jennifer and they think that Tri-Ed intentionally sent other tutors named Jenn

I still remember that a Black community group said they requested me and they ended up with another person who wasn’t me.

The boss said that was because I said I didn’t want to tutor classes after the colgan and other blow ups but I think we both knew if a Black community group that my mother personally supports requested me, I WOULD HAVE MADE AN EXCEPTION

that was the final straw with me and Tri-Ed. I had a bunch of parents say they had requested me and were sent someone else (their words not mine) and I felt my name was being used to close a Black community group opportunity with no intention of using me

I also felt my boss penalized me for the allies speaking up at colgan. All the antics with parents requesting me and not getting me seemed to happen after the incident

The worse part, it’s almost been a year and I’m still having parents asking me why I am not the tutor who was sent or telling me they feel they got the run around trying to book me... their words not mine

When other tutors left I got some of their clients, it never seemed like there was an active measure to keep up a facade they still worked there. With me... I just feel my name is being promoted even long after I’m gone and being used to close opportunities

And I don’t know why i continue to hear from parents that they got the impression I still work there

I also helped market for the company and was told that my efforts weren’t bringing in a lot of dollars and the leads come from word of mouth so that relationship ended after colgan as well

And as a marketer I felt like crap when that happened and thought my work wasn’t good enough

But someone recently sent me a link to the YouTube page for Tri-Ed tutor. Many of the videos I developed and helped to create with my old bosss... surprise... they are there

That was crushing for me. You made me feel my work didn’t matter... that it wasn’t significant. Now you are downloading the videos and uploading them to Facebook. That’s your right... you are contractually allowed to

But to be told the work wasn’t valuable and to now see it being used to create more leads... it’s just a lot.

So that’s it. There are a lot of great tutors still at Tri-Ed but I call on them to implement better practices for homework and for the value at Stonewall, I feel is given at Battlefield, Patriot, Colgan

For those schools:

- Limit classes to 6 per or 7 max

- Demand the classes not have score ranges that exceed 100-150 points or demand if that is the case a rationale is presented

- ask all final reports include all students- not just the ones present and who did homework

And finally bring SAT and ACT into the classroom and eliminate after school paid programs all together (it creates disparities). The teachers are qualified to run sat and act camps, they just need to be trained

I didn’t say hire the tutoring company to do run camps. I believe tutoring companies will end up dilluting the class to create leads for 1 on 1 tutoring (not a statement of what Tri-Ed did- generalized statement on how I feel)

You want someone who feels they are connected to the school not a private entity (are we all not remembering what happened after no child left behind and private tutors being brought in.

I think most teachers are more invested and you want someone accountable to the school not someone whose goal is to make money... just a personal thought

If my old company wants to sue me... have at it. I knew the risks of discussing it but I’ve wanted to tell this story for a long time and especially after #BlackLivesMatter it felt like a betrayal not to say,

I don’t feel Tri-Ed prioritized Black students during that one experience at colgan

Since poverty and race are correlated due to segregation, when I say I don’t feel Stonewall received as value as the schools with wealthier students I am saying I don’t feel the needs of Black and Brown students at Stonewall are served in the same way as the richest students

Sue me... that’s how I feel. I have more to discuss and I already published these so nothing to lose

And a special thank you to @MsMagiera who encouraged me a while back to speak out. I did it, you were right, it feels better not to carry this ❤️

It’s 5 am now but I couldn’t sleep after I saw these editors say it is illegal to hire because of Blackness and I didn’t want to go to sleep carrying those words again and not publicly speaking out about the trauma I feel I endured hearing those words from my old boss

Night

And @threadreaderapp unroll please

Also, for the record, I like many Black women did not want to start a business. I found what many Black women find, I couldn’t exist and thrive in environments where I felt my well-being and the well-being of my community wasn’t prioritized

I was told for years to start my own company and I repeatedly said, no, I’m treated well here. And for the most part that was true

But after the Colgan incident I felt I was not truly seen. And after the anger from the Colgan incident I was told I was not qualified to teach certain students and that’s why I didn’t get leads

One student had a goal of 1100. I taught him in class and was told he requested me. He got another Jennifer and I was told I wasn’t qualified to teach him (the same student I taught in class)

At that time I was teaching students in the 1300-1400 or 28-30 score range. I had good results teaching students in the 700-1600 range. Most of my classes had score goals of 1000- 1200

As I became popular due to my free group tutoring program for Woodbridge students I felt she became more paranoid that I was going to start my own business and I was constantly asked if I was sure I wanted to work “for” her

I was sure... until she, in my opinion, made me feel small and insignificant so she could keep me in my place

So I didn’t want to start Jenn the Tutor but I’m happy I did

Black women, sometimes we are forced to start something because we know the world doesn’t treat us right

Sometimes we have to speak out because we know no one else will. So here I am... doing it... again... because what choices do you give us.

Black women are magic but sometimes we don’t want to use it, we are forced to use it because we can no longer endure the world you’ve created or the cages we feel you trapped us in and we don’t want to see more people victimized

I wish I could exist in a tutoring company because paying for books, calculators, test fees, and running my groups to ensure more access.... expensive... expensive.... expensive

But I know I would not have made the impact I made had I stayed with my former company

So I didn’t want a company... but i didn’t feel I had a choice... and now here we are

And that’s the Jenn the Tutor origin story and I wish I didn’t feel force to tell it but here we are

Hey @threadreaderapp please unroll