OT: Teachers bullying

[William]

I apologize, I don't usually like posting downer stories but this one really hit me...to the point of shedding some tears for the young girl in the article. Like a comment that was left on that page, there is a special place in heck for people like that. As a parent it especially hits hard... I really hope that school district does the right thing and revokes her teaching license.



William

Teachers caught on tape bullying special-needs girl

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45302947/ns/today-parenting/t/teachers-caught-tape-bullying-special-needs-girl#.TsKih7-k850

"When a 14-year-old special needs student in Ohio told her father she was being bullied at school, he figured it was something that many teenagers endure.

Then he realized it was his daughter’s teachers doing the bullying.

“We were shocked,’’ he tearfully said. “We couldn’t know. We didn’t know.’’

After being told repeatedly by school administrators that his daughter was lying about being harassed and bullied, he outfitted her with a hidden tape recorder under her clothes. For the next four days, she recorded a series of abusive and cutting remarks from a teacher and a teacher’s aide at Miami Trace Middle School in Washington Courthouse, Ohio......"

[fuzzalow]

.. I really hope that school district does the right thing and revokes her teaching license.
Endemic to the lack of authority of the school district to enforce, reprimand & fire a teacher, it is unlikely that anything will be suffered by the teacher(s) as consequence.

There is no panacea for what ails the education system in the USA and not all teachers are to blame but they contribute to the mess. Teachers unions are a special interest group and should not be expected to operate contrary to their own self interest. The student are merely collateral damage. IMHO.

See the film Waiting for Superman.

[Fixed]

The three-yearly OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, which compares the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds in 70 countries around the world, ranked the United States 14th out of 34 OECD countries for reading skills, 17th for science and a below-average 25th for mathematics.

sad


cheers

[ergott]

I've seen teachers removed from the classroom for less.

It's horrible and I hope this teacher never works in education again.

[dekindy]

This child has the ability to somewhat stand up for herself and make her needs known. At present our special needs child does not have that ability. The teachers reported to us that our child had been hit by another special needs child yet we were not able to get out child to acknowledge this to us when he came home from school. My child's inability to protect himself or even report abuse is one of my greatest concerns as the parent of a special needs child. It only takes one bad apple and there seem to be plenty out there. Recently it seems that has been a regular stream of media reports of teachers inappropriate behavior with normal students that are much better equipped to protect themselves than our child.

[AngryScientist]

absolutely terrible. not excuse for this.

what i dont understand is why anyone would go into child education who would act this way in the first place? generally people dont just "start" acting this way, its usually a hardwired bad attitude that causes them to be this caustic. why go into an educational field with these feeling though? :crap:

[Dave B]

absolutely terrible. not excuse for this.

what i dont understand is why anyone would go into child education who would act this way in the first place? generally people dont just "start" acting this way, its usually a hardwired bad attitude that causes them to be this caustic. why go into an educational field with these feeling though? :crap:


My thoughts exactly. He is more then likely a dick to begin with. I work with several who are.

Not all teachers are bad, but this one screams to be let go.

[dekindy]

absolutely terrible. not excuse for this.

what i dont understand is why anyone would go into child education who would act this way in the first place? generally people dont just "start" acting this way, its usually a hardwired bad attitude that causes them to be this caustic. why go into an educational field with these feeling though? :crap:

With the teacher labor market very tight this teacher may have taken this position just to have a job. Indiana requires additional certification for special needs teachers but I am not sure every state requires additional training or whether this additional requirement serves as any type of filter to prevent situations like this; probably not.

[AngryScientist]

With the teacher labor market very tight this teacher may have taken this position just to have a job. Indiana requires additional certification for special needs teachers but I am not sure every state requires additional training or whether this additional requirement serves as any type of filter to prevent situations like this; probably not.

on that note - someone mentioned a teachers "license" - is there a such thing?

[tuxbailey]

This is sick.

[Dave B]

on that note - someone mentioned a teachers "license" - is there a such thing?


There sure is in Indiana. I have a license and have to have it renewed every few years. It can be taken away just like a physician.

There used to be life licenses and teachers who were teachers before the 90's do not have to have theirs renewed ever. Mistake in my book.

[Dave B]

Obviously this hits home for me as I find this behavior disgusting. I love working with kids, and trust me it isn't the salary. Special needs students being picked on by anyone is sad. I love working with kids who need more. I find a huge amount of personal and professional working with kids who require unique approaches to understanding information and sure it can be frustrating, but that is what makes the successes so awesome.

This guy is a douche and deserves what is coming. I would also think the admin has a hell of a lot to answer for.

Not all teachers are bad, but you don't hear the good stuff about the godo ones. Unless you watch Oprah or Ellen. You hear the bad stuff, because today's media needs dirt to capture the attentions of today's "reality" obsessed wathcers. Scandals sell, don't lump us all in with this guy.

[AngryScientist]

i'm one of the lucky ones i guess. i have nothing but fond memories of all the teachers i had growing up, especially high school, where a few great teachers led me to an eventual career i enjoy very much.

[dekindy]

on that note - someone mentioned a teachers "license" - is there a such thing?

In Indiana there is a long list.

[DreaminJohn]

Heartbreaking. Truly.

My son has been blessed to have caring people responsible for his education.

[Cinci Jim]

This is a tragedy and also I think a result of 20 years of Ohio's insane school funding process. 10 years ago the Ohio Supreme Court rules Ohio's school funding process unconstitutional (not just one time, 4 times). 50% of school funding was from local taxes with weird rules about how much could be funded thru levies & not allowing schools to keep money from increases in property values. Washington Courthouse is a poor, rural city in SW Ohio. No Child Left Behind forced standards on schools but did not provide funding.

I think poor rural school districts are forced to make no win decisions that allow some people into classrooms who never should walked in the door - the alternative certification requirements are really minimal.

[SamIAm]

My thoughts exactly. He is more then likely a dick to begin with. I work with several who are.

Not all teachers are bad, but this one screams to be let go.

Just an FYI, the story involves 2 teachers bullying the student and they are women, not men. But your sentiment is right on!

[Dave B]

Just an FYI, the story involves 2 teachers bullying the student and they are women, not men. But your sentiment is right on!


Yeah not sure how I messed that up. Sad for the student, what a couple of ignorant adults!

[bigflax925]

Disgusting. There's just no excuse for this.

As a product of Ohio public schools, I am sickened to think that not only did this occur, but the teacher has managed to keep her job.

[beeatnik]

Endemic to the lack of authority of the school district to enforce, reprimand & fire a teacher, it is unlikely that anything will be suffered by the teacher(s) as consequence.

There is no panacea for what ails the education system in the USA and not all teachers are to blame but they contribute to the mess. Teachers unions are a special interest group and should not be expected to operate contrary to their own self interest. The student are merely collateral damage. IMHO.

See the film Waiting for Superman.

Always blame the unions. It's interesting how hard it is for some people to put aside their political agendas/worldviews. How about this? The teacher is an awful person. She would be an awful person in any profession. She's probably an awfull parent as well. Are unions to blame for her parenting skills?

Full disclosure, I drive a European import assembled by those evil, lazy, identity politics, neo-marxist syndicates in Germany. It drives like buttah.

[Chance]

Bullying is extremely common at all levels. It can be parents, teachers, cops, or any person in a position of power. It’s amazing how amazed some seem to be as if this kind of bullying doesn’t happen every day in all kinds of settings.

No excuse for it but it's not that unusual. These teachers just got caught.

[Louis]

Always blame the unions.

Plus, I bet that before they were forced to join the union, those women were perfectly good people, but it soon twisted them into the monsters they are today. (Unless their parents were union, in which case the evil Red seed was passed on through their DNA.)

[Bruce K]

Teacher was asked for her resignation.

Para was put on administrative leave at least through the end of the school year according to our local news (in MA). She should have been let go as well.

There is no excuse for this behavior and it wouldn't surprise me if a criminal complaint were lodged by the family.

BK

[Pete Serotta]

My daughter is also a teacher who does it out of love.

My question is "why didn't the Principal nor peers take action"?

We will never know why they did not nor why they were not also held responsible for "non action"

THis is sad but keeping it open is not for this forum.

Sorry

Pete




Closed.