Upon officially going to work on July 16, 2001, Pedro Garcia made several decisions which would set the tone for the next year, possibly the next five years. Drew Ruble, in an article about one year later concluded that the goal was to get the test scores up in the fastest and easiest way possible, and incidentally please the business community by oppressing the MNEA, the NEA affiliated teachers' union. Forrest Gump had another theory: "Stupid is as stupid does." For his entire tenure in Nashville, educators have not been able to decide if he is diabolical or simply too dumb to learn.
Almost the first public proclamation from Garcia was that the system was dysfunctional. He never explained what he meant by that. But he was soon to introduce a dysfunctionality that had never been seen in the schools before. So this was a kind of pre-emptive language, so that others could not effectively use the word against him. After about three months, Chris Norris told him in a school board meeting that she was tired of that term, and he rarely used it again. Meanwhile, he forced several key central office persons to retire and moved one or two principals. This sent a chilling message that plain spokenness was not to be encouraged.
This then indicates the psychological definition of dysfunction. No one denied that the system had problems. To change from a system with problems, which virtually every system has its share, to a dysfunctional system means that you don't talk about the problems. You don't acknowledge that problems exist. Further, if anyone is indiscrete enough to mention the problems then social pressure (sanctions) are brought to bear on that person so as to enforce their silence.
He avoided meeting the MNEA leaders except when required by the Educational Agreement and did not respond to an invitation to attend the MNEA sponsored new teachers' meeting. Later, he said he could not meet the new teachers because he had to speak to a gathering of the cafeteria managers. He did, apparently, have a good briefing of the new teachers' meeting, attended by the mayor and well received by many. The next year he required the new teachers to come to his own meeting where he tried to exclude the MNEA and the mayor. This was a membership issue to the MNEA and Garcia apparently believed that he could injure the MNEA best through attacking the membership numbers.
In early meetings with MNEA leaders, Garcia hinted darkly that the MNEA would not be speaking for teachers much longer. Soon he had Diane Long, errand girl for his plot, try to discover the membership percentage of union members. The number of members is always uncertain during the fall membership campaign and these were not given. This caused Long to write in the Tennessean that MNEA's membership percentage was below 50 percent. This was completely untrue, and she had been told it was over 60 percent, but still she served Garcia's purpose. The aim was clear, however, someone had convinced Garcia that the MNEA could be "decertified" by a simple vote of the board since the numbers were low. He would try this tactic again one year later, but the MNEA's status was never in danger during those years because the number of members held firm.
A more public problem was concluding the negotiations cycle and signing off on the "contract" for the school year. The difficulty was that a large school tax had been passed; money was available; Metro personnel had been given a 4 percent increase; MNEA wanted 4 percent; the school board was offering 3 percent. People expected Garcia to make a recommendation--that's why he was earning the big bucks. In retrospect, we now know Garcia never makes a decision of this magnitude. Before the labor struggle had a chance to heat up, September 11 happened. And the war started. War always hurts organized labor and this was no exception.
The MNEA leadership found themselves completely isolated from the members. That is, the members would like to have had an increase, but they were unwilling to pull themselves away from television sets to come to any meetings. Ultimately, a federal mediator, Peter Chang, settled the contract at 3.25 percent. Both the board and MNEA were glad to have the issue behind them. The board especially liked the concept of a two year contract which gave them a free hand in things financial as the next budget year was contemplated. Indications were that Bill Purcell wanted a lengthy contract that matched, in the out-years, the Metro government's pay plan for its employees. In the entire struggle, Garcia appeared to be on the sidelines, letting Pat Crotwell, a school board member, do most of the communicating with the Mayor, MNEA, and the Federal Mediator.
Within the school organization, the big change was an administrative meeting every Monday at 3:33 PM of all principals. Garcia said he wanted them there on time "come hell or high water." This led to major stress on the part of principals who in some cases could not leave emergency situations back in the local schools. The meetings also were lengthy--no less than ninety minutes. And one principal, when she found herself out of favor with Garcia, was accused of going to sleep in the meeting. Knowing how long a principal's day is, and how sitting for such a long time at the end would be exhausting in itself, there were probably several who went to sleep. But when dealing with an authoritarian mindset, it is important to have the right face while sitting in the meeting.
The only other point of contention in the early part of the year was the calendar. Meetings were held; two calendars were presented to the school board. A crowd of about 300 teachers and community supporters was in the board room for the vote--afterwards described by the Tennessean as "over 100 teachers". The board adopted the calendar devised by the California people over the objections of almost all locals. But amazingly, then in the summer they recommended changes piecemeal which restored the original calendar except for a holiday on Veterans' Day. In retrospect, the calendar struggle was minor except for showing the imperious nature of Garcia's assistant, Sandra Johnson. This was the first real evidence of Forrest Gump's motto.
Sandra Johnson's husband had been brought to Nashville and made principal of Bellevue Middle School. Soon, reports reached Harry McMackin, MNEA President, that Allen Johnson was being paid off the negotiated pay chart by about $10,000. McMackin filed a grievance to enforce the negotiated agreement. This issue dragged on for a few months before Johnson willingly gave up the extra money. Unconfirmed reports were that this issue of arbitrary pay caused John Dietz, the business manager, to start seeking other employment. The rumor, which had the ring of truth, was that Garcia wanted to increase Sandra Johnson's salary by the amount Alan Johnson had given up.
The other minor player in Garcia's early days was "Dr" Gene Hughes. This muscular man was appointed "Director of Employee Relations." It was his apparent job to say "no" to anything and everything MNEA, or individual teachers requested. He told one MNEA staff person that every single on-the-job injury claim was false and it was his job to eliminate them. He accompanied Garcia to many meetings--apparently for bodyguard value--until he started speaking out and caused problems for administrators and teachers alike. Later (2003) he was discovered to be a fraud. He claimed to have played pro football for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He claimed to be a Navy Seal. He claimed to be a lawyer. All were false, discovered by Larry Brinton of WSMV News. (He had graduated from law school but never passed a bar examination in any state.) Instead of quietly and quickly letting him go, Garcia held on to Hughes through weeks of public embarrassment. Finally, after school board members lost a lot of respect for both men, Garcia moved Hughes out.