Posted on 02/27/2015 8:56:56 PM PST by lowbridge
Debora Vailes re-posted on her personal Facebook page a photograph of a little girl crying because of the shortcomings of Common Core. Later that day, her school principal, Dr. Dana Nolan, after discovering the post, gave Deborah Vailes her first written reprimand and ordered her to refrain from expressing any opinion about public education on social media and to remove her anti-Common Core post from the social media site – ASAP. (The school district refers to written reprimands as a “documented conferences.”) Dr. Nolan further informed Deborah that she could not to discuss her opinion in public – on any social media or any public forum.
Two days later, Dr. Nolan held a mandatory faculty meeting of the Pineville Junior high school. She informed the faculty at the meeting that Deborah Vailes was reprimanded due to posting a negative opinion about Common Core on Facebook. Dr. Nolan warned the faculty not to share their personal opinions or speak-out in any way. After hearing about the Principal’s gag order, Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, issued an executive order that teachers were to be afforded the same constitutional guarantees afforded to all citizens. However, his executive order did not deter the Defendant, Dr. Nolan, from continuing her vendetta against Deborah Vailes.
Before Vailes posted her Facebook criticism of Common Core, she had a stellar personnel record; she had never received a reprimand. Since her public criticism, she has received three additional written reprimands. School administrators are now constantly visiting her class, when before her criticism of Common Core, such visits were rare. Dr. Nolan has stripped Debbie Vailes of her responsibilities, and placed her in a job category which, according to Vailes’ colleagues, will be eliminated at the end of the school year resulting in her termination.
(Excerpt) Read more at joemiller.us ...
Communist Core at work and at war with all parents and all Chrisitans and Conservatives. Hope the government goes broke before the liars and thieves destroy all America is.
However, I don't see this as a 1st Amendment issue. Suppose, for example, a Ford engineer constantly posted Facebook comments about how terrible Ford products were. I think Ford would have some right to tell that engineer to shut up if he wanted to continue to work for Ford.
Now if Ford also harassed the engineer for no good reason, and that was against written company policy, that would be employer misconduct and grounds for action against Ford.
I liked America better when it was a free country with freedom of speech and me and my friends used to play like we were killing Nazis instead of voting for them the way we do now.
Ford is a private company..... this teacher works for the public taxpayer, you don’t see the difference?
I'm not sure where you're going with that. Are you saying that the teacher has more rights than the Ford employee, or less? I'm thinking there should be no difference.
Your comparison makes no sense. If I as a representative of a private company were to badmouth that company, I could expect to be fired. A teacher does not work for a company, a teacher works for you and I i.e., govt. employee... you don’t see the difference?
What does that have to do with the teacher speaking against common core?
The public school system claims to be part of the federal government. It does not claim otherwise, and nobody else claims such a thing about the public school system, either.
Constitutional questions have to do with what the federal government is allowed to do and what it is not allowed to do. This is where you should start. (Your posts are wrong.)
Teachers should not post on Facebook .
Now I see what you mean. But shouldn't the teacher be answerable to someone, perhaps to the elected school board?
And I do realize there is a fine line to be drawn here. Whistleblowers are VERY important, and doubly so in public institutions like schools.
A teacher has a right to speak out against curriculum they do not support. The entire basis of an open and free thinking educational system is to be able to question. Common Core supporters seek to remove any and all dissent and critique from those who are best to analyze the outcome of this program... the teachers. This is not a process that speaks to the liberties we are guaranteed by our Bill of Rights and Constitution.
>>The public school system claims to be part of the federal government.
If that is true, it brings up the question of whether this teacher has recourse against the school under the federal whistleblower protection act.
If they oppose Commie Core they most certainly should!
If we’re going to call for accountability, we should start with government. Meaning public schools, in this case.
When you’re saving the life of a person who’s been in an accident, the goal is to address things like arterial bleeding and ignore things like paper cuts.
Government accountability is almost bled out.
I see it a little differently.
Common Core is something that is being forced on most school systems. Much like seat belts. I would compare it more to a Ford employee criticizing the mandatory seat belts in all cars and the laws pertaining to them.
I know of some teachers that, in accepting employment, they are not allowed to have social media accounts.
Not true at all. Public schools are part of school districts, which are independent entities. They have legal ties to their respective states, but not to the federal government.
However, most school districts have been seduced by the federal government. They have taken federal money in return for promising to follow certain federal guidelines.
Constitutional questions have to do with what the federal government is allowed to do and what it is not allowed to do.
True. But the Constitution also describes the rights of the average citizen. Perhaps that's just another way of stating what you have said.
For what it’s worth, I have 25+ years experience as an urban public school teacher. I HATE Common Core. The standards it promotes is bad. And federal intervention in local issues is in itself wrong.
My point on this thread was more general. Employees should have the right to speak out as private citizens. But employers should have some rights too.
A school district is not the same as a private employer protecting a brand. A school district serves the citizen taxpayers. They are not a commercial brand, they are a government service. The teachers working within that system are honor bound to speak their minds when they see something is seriously wrong.
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