Apex teacher suspended for Facebook comments (college, live in, rating)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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THANK YOU!!! It's a public school people. I am so sick of things like this. Yes she should know better to change it to private but still... freedom of speech! The child who put that Bible on her desk should also have someone talk about tolerance and understand others beliefs. The Triangle has so many others that live here with their culture and beliefs. If I am going to be chastised for not following the Christians then I need to move out of what I hoped to be a diverse area!
THANK YOU!!! It's a public school people. I am so sick of things like this. Yes she should know better to change it to private but still... freedom of speech! The child who put that Bible on her desk should also have someone talk about tolerance and understand others beliefs. The Triangle has so many others that live here with their culture and beliefs. If I am going to be chastised for not following the Christians then I need to move out of what I hoped to be a diverse area!
Okay this is complicated for sure...I am a teacher and a secular humanist and I've often wondered what I would say if pressed on the subject of Jesus.
Anyhoo, this was not a hate crime, but I do think she was harassed, and her administration could have helped her out. She could have spoken to individual students "I appreciate your concern for my immortal soul, but..." or talked to the parents. Requested mediation. But no matter how lousy she was feeling, as a teacher IMHO it is just not appropriate to express anger at a student in a public forum. I had students I didn't like, and I had students who made me angry (and sad, and frustrated). I had staff that made me feel the same way. But no matter how I felt, I would not feel it appropriate to express that on Facebook.
I don't think she would win a lawsuit over the suspension due to her comments. But she might have grounds for a civil suit re: the harassment.
There may not be a specific policy in place, but every where I've worked we have received a lecture from the principal about internet identity. It is made very clear that teachers do not post personal info on the web. Common sense.
I also am a secular humanist and have strong religious freedom views. This includes all religions and non religious views. I see the student harassment of the teacher as an example of why religion needs to be kept out of our school. The real question is why it was not reported. The first time a student put the Jesus documents on her desk she should have gone to the administration, and they should have addressed it with the class, and if needed the parents of those children. We have killed enough people in our existence due to one perceived god or the other and basic logic should tell us all if we want to stop the deaths and killings of millions we need to learn the basic respect of others views.
This teacher needs to be reinstated, with an apology from the administration. She should not have to go to her face book to vent, but rather to feel free to take this issue to the administration. The fact she did not feel that freedom is another problem. The adminstration in turn need to address the issue with the parents of the children as that is where the problem exists. The parents need to do their job and teach their children to respect other, and learn the differences in people are strengths, and something to study and learn from. This is an embarrassment to have the most progressive education system in the state having something so backwards as religious harassment.
During my own tenure, some of the MOST uncomfortable I ever was, was in a school with 'proselytizing' Christians. Once, when asked by colleagues about my own beliefs, I foolishly answered, and found in my teacher's mailbox just off the main office, all sorts of publications in admonition of my personal stance. Told me a lot that the information shared -- pages copied from a daily devotional -- came to my box, UNsigned.
I shared it with the administration, copied what had been placed in my box, and responded, but was forced to tape it to my box since I had little idea from where it originated. (Actually, I had a good idea, but could never have proved it.) I quoted Roger Williams's sermon to the settlers, that they reconsider their attitude towards the natives, lest they get to heaven and find the gates 'shut to thee, and ope wide to the heathens.'
The gift of the Bible to the teacher was less a gift, and more a slap in Ms. Hussain's face. It had nothing to do with the spirit of Christmas, and more to do with what middle schoolers, if misguided, are capable of doing. These 'values' came from the home -- narrow-minded worshippers who profess to be Christian, but act less Christ-like than they would recognize or acknowledge, if you hit them over the head with their own copy of the Bible. The students were out-of-line.
This is not to excuse Ms. Hussain's poor judgment, or wrongdoing. The whole situation could have been handled much differently, and she would have benefited from being more forthright in her approach to nipping the problem much earlier. Her discomfort with the students' behavior should have been discussed, behind closed doors, with the appropriate administration, the parents, and the students. The administration should not have let the classroom disruption escalate to renditions of Jesus Loves Me.
Did it occur to no one, not the parents or the school's counselors or the administrators, to perhaps request a reassignment for the students who appear to be uncomfortable in Ms. Hussain's class, and sought to misguidedly set out to change her views? Both Ms. Hussain and the students could have come out the 'winners.' The move could have been handled professionally, and without incident.
These children strike me as not acting of their own accord, but carrying the views of their parents and the home into the classroom, and that is as unsatisfactory as had the teacher been expounding upon the views of secular Humanism, agnosticism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, or even atheism. The theory of evolution is accepted as part of the curriculum in NC Schools, and those in disagreement with it, need to reconsider sending their children to NC's public schools. Last time I looked at the curriculum, I thought it did include some discussion of the Creation theory, but perhaps not enough to these families' satisfaction?
"Reporting it" sounds easy enough, but it doesn't always work.
When I first moved here, I found out my young son was being taught religion in his public school. It ran the gamut, but the most disturbing concept he was told was that he wasn't responsible for wrongdoing, it was the devil's fault.
I complained to the teacher by phone and sent a letter to the head of the school board with a cc to the principal. The teacher repeated her default reply, "God shall set you free" about ten times in our fifteen-minute conversation.
The principal ignored my letter, saying when I called later, "I thought the school board handled it." She took no action. The head of the school board simply sent me a letter with quotes of the related law cut and pasted in the letter, with no other information. (I already knew the law.) Absolutely nothing was done.
I felt like I'd moved to an alternate universe.
The teacher was named "Teacher of the Year" a few years later.
Where I come from, the teacher would have been put on leave immediately and most likely fired.
The entire incident took place about sixteen years ago, but beliefs are strong and deep here. "Freedom of religion" is a concept that is understood by many only if the religion in question is theirs.
Today, some government employees may understand the law, and may give lip service to separation of church and state, but in their hearts, the greater, overriding law is that of their religion.
I've always though it was a horrible shame that all children aren't taught a "Religions of the World" course in elementary school. They are often taught in their homes that theirs is the only religion and everyone else is ignorant or going to hell. Even if such a course was ever approved (chances: NEVER), finding an impartial person to teach that course here in the Bible Belt would be nearly impossible.
The administration should not have let the classroom disruption escalate to renditions of Jesus Loves Me.
Did this happen in this situation? Or are you describing a potential worst case scenario? I hadn't read this in the published news reports, but not much surprises me anymore.
I read the teacher's comments, and I fully see why she was suspended. I don't think I would want a teacher with that mindset in my childrens' classrooms. It reflected very poorly on her.
I understand that she did not appreciate the gift of a Bible. However, unless the school rules prevent gifting to teachers, the student did nothing wrong. And if she plans to teach evolution as 'fact', she needs to be prepared for students challenging that. An effective teacher would be prepared, and have a plan to defend her teaching. Going on Facebook and griping is not effective.
The student was dumb for giving her a bible and the teacher was dumb for posting anything about it on Facebook, privacy filters or not.
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