Articles labeled: teachers

We’re staunch supporters of separation of church and state, and will go to the mat if we thought our rights were being infringed upon. So when boneheaded teachers and school administrators at a high school in Madison, Wisconsin enacted policies that clearly demonstrate they have no idea what the Establishment Clause really means, they don’t do anyone any favors and just provide more fodder for the other side. See, geniuses, it refers to the government endorsing a particular religion, it doesn’t mean that religious beliefs of the students need to be suppressed or banned. Sheesh, we thought that should be pretty obvious to people with college educations.

According to the lawsuit [filed by the student’s parents], the student’s art teacher asked his class in February to draw landscapes. The student, a [Tomah High School] senior identified in the lawsuit by the initials A.P., added a cross and the words “John 3:16 A sign of love” in his drawing.

His teacher, Julie Millin, asked him to remove the reference to the Bible, saying students were making remarks about it. He refused, and she gave him a zero on the project.

Millin showed the student a policy for the class that prohibited any violence, blood, sexual connotations or religious beliefs in artwork. The lawsuit claims Millin told the boy he had signed away his constitutional rights when he signed the policy at the beginning of the semester.

The boy tore the policy up in front of Millin, who kicked him out of class. Later that day, assistant principal Cale Jackson told the boy his religious expression infringed on other students’ rights.

OK, we’ll admit it — after covering a bunch of stories involving teachers getting attacked and beat up, their jobs might just be harder than we give them credit for. And if teachers think that they can play it safe and stick with teaching elementary school, think again:

A group of third-graders plotted to attack their teacher, bringing a broken steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape and other items for the job and assigning children tasks including covering the windows and cleaning up afterward, police said Tuesday.

The plot by as many as nine boys and girls at Center Elementary School in south Georgia was a serious threat, Waycross Police Chief Tony Tanner said.

“We did not hear anybody say they intended to kill her, but could they have accidentally killed her? Absolutely,” Tanner said. “We feel like if they weren’t interrupted, there would have been an attempt. Would they have been successful? We don’t know.”

The children, ages 8 and 9, were apparently mad at the teacher because she had scolded one of them for standing on a chair, Tanner said. A prosecutor said they are too young to be charged with a crime under Georgia law.

Absolutely unbelievable. They even had the mindset to COVER THE WINDOWS? Where are they picking up this stuff?

After hearing countless times that the parents don’t respect their kids’ teachers enough, Dr. Bill Maxwell, the new Wales, UK chief inspector of schools, tells the teachers that they shouldn’t take “respect for granted and must ensure good communication with families.” What a novel idea!

[Dr. Maxwell] warned that Wales was in danger of losing its tradition of respecting and valuing education unless more was done to engage parents and carers.

“Good schools are taking notice but some need to try harder,” Dr Maxwell said.

“Society is changing. There’s no question that the automatic respect once accorded to school teachers, for good or ill, is not automatic now. Schools have to proactively seek and earn respect.

“Schools should be very conscious of their reputation and image in the local community.

“Successful schools try to break down the barriers between the harder-to-get parents and the school. Many of these parents, possibly, had very negative experiences of school and may even have had the same teachers.”

A new survey indicates that while both parents and teachers agree that homework is important, there’s a big divide over the specifics:

The survey, commissioned by the insurance giant MetLife, found a big disconnect between teachers and parents when it comes to homework. Veteran teachers said homework is crucial to students’ academic success in school. Most assigned homework to help students build skills like reading comprehension or to help them prepare for tests. One out of four teachers rated the quality of their homework as “excellent.”

But one-third of parents rated the quality of homework only “fair to poor.” Parents also complained that there’s too much homework — that it takes up way too much time and deprives their children of sleep.

Man, teachers soon are going to start requiring hazard pay. Just a week after a Cleveland teacher was beat up by her students, five kids at a McAllen, Texas, “alternative school” put the smackdown on their teacher:

The incident began with a confrontation between a student and the teacher at the Mercedes Discipline Alternative Education Program, then the other four joined in, Mercedes Independent School District Interim Superintendent Walter Watson said.

“It wound up that five boys beat him up rather badly,” he said.

The teacher was taken to a hospital and received stitches for a cut over his eyebrow, Watson said. He also had other small cuts, scratches and bruises.

The students, ranging in age from 14 to 16, were to be detained at the Hidalgo County Juvenile detention center for about two weeks before a hearing, Watson. It was not clear what charges they would face.

The only thing really noteworthy about this story is that it took an act of legislation to put this in place — really, shouldn’t the various school boards already be taking this sort of action?

The [Utah] House Education Committee on Tuesday unanimously passed HB286, which would permanently revoke the license of any teacher who molests a student or any other child. Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, said he sought the bill after Frank Laine Hall, a Riverton teacher, was convicted of molesting his students.

He said the odds of Hall returning to teaching already are miniscule. The Utah State Board of Education revoked Hall’s license for 25 years.

But Wimmer wants to make sure there is no chance of that happening.

While law enforcement and parents are left scratching their heads as to why there has been a noticable increase in teachers sexually assualting children, one needn’t look past the reason why predators are teachers in the first place. It’s all about access. Occam’s razor. Predators choose professions that give them access to children. The question is, should parents be concerned? The answer is YES! The Boston area has similar findings with the epidemic that is teacher/coach predation in our schools:

It’s a parents’ nightmare. And it’s one of 30 accounts of sexual misconduct by licensed teachers and school employees recorded from 2001 to 2005 in Indiana, according to a review by The Associated Press.

Sexual misconduct was reported in all types of schools — urban and rural, rich and poor, private and public. Victims were girls and boys, from 17 years old to as young as 8. Crimes included child molesting, sexual battery and child pornography. And the teachers involved were often those who spend time with students outside the classroom — band directors, choir teachers or coaches.

PINELLAS PARK — Authorities in Pinellas County, Fla., are investigating accusations that two school teachers enlisted two older boys to beat up younger students in the classroom as a form of discipline, and then tried to thwart a police probe of the incident, MyFoxTampa reported Saturday.

All this while one teacher stood by and laughed.

Honestly, we have to have a better/easier way of getting rid of bad teachers. There are a lot of good teachers out there, but the bad ones should not be tolerated and I hope these two teachers are made examples of and thrown into prison where a few bitches might teach them a thing or two.

What the hell? Is this really the road we’re going down in this country? First, a Michigan legislator wants to issue teachers conceal and carry permits, now a teacher in Oregon who already has a permit has gone to court for her right to bring her gun into the classroom:

The standoff between the teacher and the school district has grabbed the attention of both sides of the national gun debate.

After a student shot dead 32 people at Virginia Tech University in April, some pro-gun advocates have argued that teachers and perhaps students should be armed to prevent such tragedies in the future.

“The right to protect yourself is natural, God-given and should not be taken away,” said Kevin Starrett, executive director of the Oregon Firearms Federation, which is paying for the teacher’s legal bills.

“State law unequivocally allows her to do this,” he said.

I know creating mass hysteria over an isolated and rare incident is a great way to push your cause, but I don’t think having a bunch of Dirty Harry’s teaching our kids is a real wise way to deal with school safety.