Posted on 10/02/2004 10:43:17 PM PDT by 11th_VA
SOUTH BRUNSWICK: A middle school teacher walked out on her job after being asked to remove a picture of the president from her classroom, she said.
Though she says he has not resigned, the teacher's situation at Crossroads Middle School South is not yet resolved.
Shiba Pillai-Diaz's walkout involved the local police, left school officials mum and appalled the local Republican Party.
Pillai-Diaz, 33, a volunteer with the Bush campaign and an English teacher, has had a publicity picture of the First Couple hanging in her classroom since the start of the school year, she said.
The photo became an issue last week.
Parents e-mailed an assistant principal accusing Pillai-Diaz of suppressing free speech because the teacher refused to talk to pupils about why the color photo hung in the room.
"Students said, 'You like George Bush? He's killed people,' " Pillai-Diaz said. "As a rule I don't talk about my politics in the classroom."
According to Pillai-Diaz, Assistant Principal Mark Daniels said he had no problem with the photo, which hung next to posters of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. But Daniels told the teacher she should address questions that arose because of the photo.
"He wasn't giving me the power to direct conversation in my classroom," said Pillai-Diaz, who regarded the picture just as an image of the current president.
Thursday, at back-to-school night, the controversy exploded after a parent asked why the picture was up, Pillai-Diaz said.
"The way she asked was a political assault," the teacher said.
Then the parents started their own debate about the picture, and one mother stormed out of the classroom, Pillai-Diaz said.
Friday morning, the teacher, who is in her sixth year of teaching and her first in South Brunswick, was called into the assistant principal's office. Daniels told her to remove the picture, Pillai-Diaz said.
"He said, 'If you care about your job, you'll take the picture down,' " she said.
Pillai-Diaz told the assistant principal to take the picture down himself. Then she sought Principal Jim Warfel, who gave her an upbraiding.
"He said, 'You've caused more disruption, hatred and anger than anyone I've ever known,' " she said.
The teacher said the principal told her to "get out," so she left and headed to the South Brunswick Police Department.
An officer accompanied Pillai-Diaz back to the school because she said she feared for her safety when she went to collect her belongings, police said.
Once Pillai-Diaz felt safe at the school the officer left, police said.
In the school, Pillai-Diaz had a two-hour meeting with Superintendent Gary McCartney and a representative from the teachers' union. Both parties told the teacher she would lose any fight she would try to start about the picture, Pillai-Diaz said.
"They weren't interested in the substance of the issue," she said.
The superintendent said no one has resigned, been fired or suspended. McCartney would not discuss the incident, calling it a personnel matter.
When reached Friday night, Sylvia Lee, president of the teachers' union, said no teacher had been fired and she didn't know about the incident. Lee did not return multiple telephone messages left for her yesterday.
Board of Education President Robert Long declined to comment on the incident, calling it a personnel matter.
He did say he could not find any district policy addressing the presence of pictures of presidents in classrooms. He said it would be too early to tell whether the incident merited a policy change.
"We don't want to develop a policy for something that is not needed," Long said. "Whatever the facts may be, it is something we will certainly take a look at if needed."
Democrats dominate South Brunswick's government, holding the Mayor's Office and three of the four council seats.
Of the 40,000 people living in the township, about 5,000 are registered Republicans. Registered Democrats outnumber them by a 3-to-2 margin, said local Republican officials.
"It's horrible that a teacher was asked to take down a picture of the president of the United States," said Dawn Smith, chair of the local Republican Committee. "It's unconscionable."
Smith said she would expect the same procedures to apply whether it was President Bush or former President Clinton.
"When did we stop honoring our country's leaders?" Smith asked.
Pillai Diaz said the only way school officials may have known she was a Republican is because she could not attend a meeting with teachers on the day she volunteered at the Republican National Convention in New York.
"I never once said 'I am a Republican' or 'I support the president,' " Pillai-Diaz said.
Pillai-Diaz turned in the keys to her classroom on Friday. She packed up the picture and her classroom decorations, taking them with her when she left. She is unsure about her future employment, but said she is supposed to speak with district officials about it tomorrow.
"My ultimate goal is to teach," she said.
AND QUICKLY!
Why?
May I ask you a question?
How would YOU re-act if on Parent's Night you saw a photo of Bill and Hillary Clinton hanging up on that wall
remember now,...next to the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.
Just being fair and balanced...;^)
Little knows the Royal Dame
That John F. Kerry is my name !
Nice poetry. You aren't referring to yourself are you?
Seriously,where in Tophet do you teach that you have sustained a 15% pay cut ??(Some of our denizens may want to move there,)
Well, I make 15% less than I did 2 years ago, that's it. I will not say everyone has, but our teacher salaries haven't gone up for years.
I have teachers in the family,and, although they make the obligatory complaints about salaries,they're both doing rather well,thank you !
Yes, and I'm not doing too bad either, BUT I know very few teachers who work as the primary single-salary breadwinner. Over 90% here are part of a dual-income household (as the secondary salary) or are single.
Yes, I am aware that in some places, teachers do quite well in salary, I would even say too much in some places. That is not the case in my area though.
..but I can certainly answer that question!!!
For 8 long years Clinton was..president .....and many schools, businesses I went to had pictures of him....
..and libraries and classrooms had pictures of her.
It was a matter of having to 'take it'....whether I agreed or not.
He was the president, after all.
So what's your point by asking this question???????????????????????
Just how far do you think I would have gotten by demanding they take down his or her picture????????????????
Just how far, I ask you!!!!!!!
moog, is that an actual dollar figure? Are your actual dollars 15% less or are you just whining about not getting a raise? Most teachers won't tell you the dirty little secret - they get "step raises" whether or not they are voted a "pay raise." My industry isn't giving "step raises."
I work in the computer industry. We have to pay out-of-pocket to keep current on technology just as much as teachers have to pay. Most other occupations also have out-of-pocket expenses.
I am really sick of whiny teachers.
They all say,"we didn't go into it for the money," and then they whine about the money.
I just understand how some people hate the opposing party.
My blood starts to boil whenever I see a Kerry/Edwards bumper sticker in front of my face.
This election is about more than Iraq. It's about the complexion of the Supreme Court for the next generation or two.
30 days before an election...tempers rise. Maybe the complainer had a close relative get killed in Iraq? You don't know all the details.
That said, Go President Bush! 4 More Years!
"He said, 'You've caused more disruption, hatred and anger than anyone I've ever known,' " she said.
So it wasn't the mean spirted parents who apparently are all dems who are the problem. It's time to close down all those public schools!
My husband and I are this way, because it is the way our parents were as well.
I feel we were very fortunate in that her teacher from last year (kind) was moved up to 1st grade this year and requested the same class. My understanding is that the principal didn't even blink at the request, as it is something he strongly believes in. So I already have a built in relationship with the teacher. The computer, art, and music teachers are also the same as last year.
The only teacher I have not yet met, but will at the parent/teacher day next week, is her reading teacher. As with computer, she is above grade level in reading. Unlike the computer class, where, although she stays with the 1st grade class she does higher level assignments, with reading she is in the 2nd grade class. I have corresponded with the teacher, but I am looking forward to a face to face meeting.
Call me old-fashioned, but I just don't understand parents that don't work with the teachers. There are two, 2-hour parent/teacher opportunites each marking period, and I didn't miss one last year. I was absolutley appalled at being only the second parent to sign in with my daughter's teacher, with only 30 minutes left before the PTA meeting which follows each one.
using their logic any President could be accussed of that! What total morons!
Why, because one did something absolutely stupid? Not all public schools are bad, just as not all private schools are good.
I'll say. Its the President of the United States for God's sake.
People really have gone off the deep end.
And do you think, do you really think, any principal would have given that parent the time of day, much less jerk the job away from the teacher????
Do you
Talk about heated....I'm getting heated trying to follow your logic.
And I've concluded...
...your not being logical!
My kids went to private school until we moved into this excellent school district. The problem I saw with the private school district was that the administration was loath to deal with serious discipline problems. Suspension or expelling meant a monetary loss.
I work as a volunteer in our literacy program for 2nd and 3rd graders. Mainly it involves just listening and helping children in oral reading. Going into it during my first year, I thought the children just needed a little extra help. One of "my" little girls improved so much over the first few weeks, I made a comment to her about how proud her parents were going to be listening to her read. She very candidly told me that no one will listen to her read at home. She became a special one to me in that moment and has inspired me to stay with the program. I've never forgotten her. It's been four years and she still runs up to give me a hug.
Not really. Remember, this was in response to PARENTS. The parents there are not teaching what is right. PARENTS are the most influential teachers of their kids.
Oh, since when do schools cave in to parents? Only when they agree with them.
It was a vicious cycle that we did not want to get caught up in. And my husband was adamant in his opposition to the school district we lived in, as it was the same one he went to and as bad as it was 30 years ago, it has gone down hill since.
So we started exploring schools and districts in the 3 state region my husband's job takes him prior to her becoming of school age. We found one and moved.
What a heartwarming story.
Reading has always been an integral part of my life, as in my husband's. It comes as no surprise our daughter loves to read as well.
Thank for the work you are doing for those kids.
THis story is just unbelievable especially in light of the fact that, I'll bet a measurable portion of the population doesn't know who the President and vice president are.
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