Posted on 07/31/2006 1:13:29 PM PDT by kingattax
WATERBURY, Conn. -- The city, which already has a strict dress code for public school students, is considering implementing a similar one for teachers and other professionals in the school system.
The Board of Education is developing a policy that would ban such clothing as stretch pants, low-cut shirts, sun dresses, sandals and hats in the workplace. A draft proposal details the acceptable and unacceptable clothing, including what material is appropriate for pants, and would stipulate that skirts can rise no more than three inches above the knee. It would also ban facial piercings. The board plans to vote on the policy next month.
Some board members say the measure is necessary to reverse what they call slipping standards of professional dress.
"What you have here is a set of criteria that allows (principals) to make that call, and make that call consistently throughout the system," Ann Marie Sweeney a board member.
But the teachers' union says any rigid dress code would violate its contract with the city. That contract, which took effect July 1, states that principals should ensure that teachers wear "appropriate professional attire."
"For the Board of Education to add a laundry list of do's and don'ts regarding attire is simply insulting," said Patrick J. Ospalek, head of the Waterbury Teachers Association. "With student achievement being obviously the greatest concern, I think the board is simply wasting its time."
Waterbury's student dress code was the most extensive in Connecticut when it was enacted in 1998. It specifies what types and colors of tops and bottoms elementary and middle school students can wear, and prohibits clothing such as jeans, sweat pants and spandex.
Vincent Mustaro, a senior staff associate with the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, said he couldn't name any locations in the state with a dress code for teachers. A few school districts inquire about the topic each year, he said, but his organization generally counsels against a specific dress code.
If they are 22 to 40 YO hottie female teachers, miniskirts and 4" heels should be the uniform/
Sheesh! Next thing you know they'll ban all the hot teachers from having sex with the boys!
I'd rather see the district make sure that a teacher have good moral values and a dose of common sense in addition to professional credentials and solid work or school references.
Then the district would not have to worry about how that professional dresses when working in a classroom.
"It would also ban facial piercings"
Loincloths, face and body paints [include the tattoos under this heading] and the ornaments made from teeth and bones need to be included as well.
Spandex is a privilege, not a right!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.