Lake Providence, LA, Teachers Walk Off Job in Protest

Monroe, LA, News-Star ^ | 11-13-03 | Cannon, Chuck, Faulkner, Leesha

[Theodore R.]

LAKE PROVIDENCE - Lake Providence Junior High School teachers met informally Wednesday night to decide to return to their jobs this morning if the principal, Theodore Lane, didn't come to school.

More than 30 teachers and support staff had walked off the job Wednesday morning to protest, in their words, poor working conditions and disrespect from the principal. The teachers - waving signs that read "Teachers Have Rights," "Teachers Have A Voice" and "No More Lane" - had said they were unhappy with Lane, vowing not to return to work until he was removed.

[Theodore R.]

Lake Providence is one of the poorest towns in LA. It is rare for teachers in the Deep South to walk off their jobs. Jobs are few and far between in East Carroll Parish.

[Theodore R.]

Administrators are hesitant to suspend students who use profanity. Why? Each time a student is sent home, the school loses money for each day the student is absent. LA, like many states, funds schools on the basis of "the monthly report," which is the number of students attending a school every 20 class days. It could also be that with the coarsening of the culture administrators no longer consider "profanity" to be a "serious" matter.

[BureaucratusMaximus]

Yes!...The Trifecta!