Background checks rile professors

The Christian Science Monitor ^ | 8/5/04 | Mary Beth McCauley

[CaptRon]

So, the bottom line is that they are against them because they make them feel bad?

[summer]

you have a civil tort just like you would have against a non teacher and can sue them.

yeah, more litigation. More legal fees. More lawyers. More clogging up the courts. I guess that's how things have to sometimes be.

[summer]

... your recourse, as with any other individual, is to offer to kick their ass.

Now, that may be better advice. :)

[summer]

How many workers in this country have such protection?

True, education has never been like the real world.

But teaching kids today is a tough job, and teachers need all the help and support they can get.

And, tenure does not always help, in my view, because what it does is it keeps the "old boys" in power -- and they are resistant to change and innovation and new people.

The most hopeful notes on the horizon in education, in my view, are these facts: a lot of teachers are retiring in the coming years; and, more Republican leaders are following people like Gov Bush's lead, and taking an active role in shaping education. And, these GOP leaders are very much for good teachers. I really think that's where our best hopes are in education.

[AmishDude]

Which college? If it's private, the conduct of the professor is the business of the school, if public, there are probably state laws covering it.

There's also the issue of tenure. But the problem, even with untenured professors, is that professors are often not dismissed or disciplined for political activity in the classroom. They hide behind "academic freedom", which universities are unable to distinguish from classroom behavior.

[Born Conservative]

I agree; we need an infusion of young teacher's with open minds, and also that education is a tough job. However, whether it's a tough job or not, tenure is a bad idea. There are a lot of people who have "tough jobs"; however, that doesn't mean that tenure should be granted to them. As far as I'm concerned, tenure=socialism.