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Fluency at issue as ex-teacher's suit goes to SJC
Lowell Sun ^ | January 5, 2010 | Lisa Redmond

Posted on 01/06/2010 2:08:41 PM PST by ConservativeStatement

BOSTON -- Should a teacher who can't speak fluent English to her students be allowed to stay in the classroom?

The outcome of Phanna Rem Robishaw's case against the Lowell School Department and Lowell School Committee holds statewide ramifications for the state's educational system.

Today, the state Supreme Judicial Court was scheduled to hear arguments from Robishaw, a former Lowell teacher who was fired for failing an English-fluency test, after a lower-court judge upheld the firing, saying the teacher's English proficiency was "utterly incomprehensible."

(Excerpt) Read more at lowellsun.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS: education; english; law; publicschools; robishaw; teachers
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1 posted on 01/06/2010 2:08:46 PM PST by ConservativeStatement
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To: ConservativeStatement

If you cannot shoot a gun, should you be a beat cop?


2 posted on 01/06/2010 2:09:51 PM PST by wac3rd (Felipe Calderon supports the public option.)
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To: ConservativeStatement
Where in the hell did my country go???????
3 posted on 01/06/2010 2:12:32 PM PST by ROLF of the HILL COUNTRY (Islama delenda est!)
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To: ConservativeStatement

I thought “Equal rights” applied to people in that people with “equal skill levels” had to be judged equally despite what genetics they happened to have.

Instead it is now “Implied” to mean you have to judge everyone equally irregardless of what skills they may or may not have....

Progressive Creeping...


4 posted on 01/06/2010 2:16:02 PM PST by GraceG
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To: wac3rd

...that would make you a bobby.


5 posted on 01/06/2010 2:16:35 PM PST by WOBBLY BOB (ACORN:American Corruption for Obama Right Now)
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To: ConservativeStatement
Question: "Should a teacher who can't speak fluent English to her students be allowed to stay in the classroom?"

Response: In America 2010 A.D. the answer is a resounding YES!

6 posted on 01/06/2010 2:16:42 PM PST by AEMILIUS PAULUS (It is a shame that when these people give a riot)
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To: wac3rd

Apparently, soon you won’t even have to pass an entrance exam (see the Chicago threads)!

I have liberal friends that are upset that their kids can’t join the military for free college, but don’t want them to be required to go to war! HUH!?!?!?! I believe that they really think the US government’s job is to give things away for free!


7 posted on 01/06/2010 2:17:34 PM PST by ExTxMarine (Hey Congress: Go Conservative or Go Home!)
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To: ConservativeStatement

I was at Walmart before Christmas, I stopped an asian looking employee to ask where light bulbs were..she had no idea what I was asking.. I repeated the request using some hand motions to indicate a light..she pointed me to the lamps.

When I mentioned that Walmart had a non english speaking employee to a friend she knew exactly what I was talking about..

I just got a bill in bilingual forum

To think that kids would have a non english speaking teacher is incredible!

I want my country back!!!


8 posted on 01/06/2010 2:19:25 PM PST by RnMomof7
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To: ExTxMarine

Liberalism is a sickness.


9 posted on 01/06/2010 2:20:45 PM PST by wac3rd (Felipe Calderon supports the public option.)
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To: ConservativeStatement

A foreign teacher, perhaps with an accent or not-always-perfect grammar, but passionate about teaching is preferred to a native speaking clock-puncher.


10 posted on 01/06/2010 2:22:19 PM PST by DTogo (High time to bring back the Sons of Liberty !!)
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To: ConservativeStatement

How did this woman get hired in the first place?


11 posted on 01/06/2010 2:23:51 PM PST by Ben Mugged (Unions are the storm troopers of socialism.)
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To: ConservativeStatement

So in Cambodia they allow teachers who cannot speak the language? Somehow I don’t think so. Or in Mexico, France, Germany, etc., etc..

The country is truly going mad.


12 posted on 01/06/2010 2:24:41 PM PST by greatplains
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To: ConservativeStatement
Can she put a condom on a banana? Can she teach the kids to sing songs about Dear Leader Obama? Is she willing to get bused to Capitol Hill to hold a sign saying “Republicans Starve Children” when an education spending cut is being proposed?

Then she's qualified to be a “teacher.”

13 posted on 01/06/2010 2:25:38 PM PST by Opinionated Blowhard
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To: ConservativeStatement

Why not? The instructions I got for a radio were written in pidgin English. I liked the part about buckling my seatbelt before turning the radio on. But when it said to defrost the chicken before submerging it in boiling greece, I got confused.


14 posted on 01/06/2010 2:26:05 PM PST by sergeantdave
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To: ConservativeStatement

Can’t speak or comprehend english but has been there for 11 years? Who hired her?


15 posted on 01/06/2010 2:26:36 PM PST by paul51 (11 September 2001 - Never forget)
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To: ExTxMarine

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/01/military_gibill_springdelays_010510w/

Sad part is, even those who DID go to war are not getting the free college. My son is skipping this semester. It is the government, after all....


16 posted on 01/06/2010 2:34:07 PM PST by NEMDF
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To: NEMDF

I heard about that - my son-in-law (a Marine) just got back from Iraq and he too got caught up in this backlog of problems! Ridiculous!


17 posted on 01/06/2010 2:37:22 PM PST by ExTxMarine (Hey Congress: Go Conservative or Go Home!)
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To: ExTxMarine

It seems that they have to assume they will never get the GI bill money, and then be surprised if they do. Problem is that many cannot afford to go to school without have it on a current basis, at least the current semester.


18 posted on 01/06/2010 2:39:12 PM PST by NEMDF
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To: DTogo
A foreign teacher, perhaps with an accent or not-always-perfect grammar, but passionate about teaching is preferred to a native speaking clock-puncher.

I had a 7th grade math teacher with a heavy Italian accent. Not only did I struggle in the class, I failed one semester. She didn't take kindly to requests for clarification, either. The woman was a nightmare, and one of many "teachers" that spoiled my view of private Christian schools. They scraped the bottom of the barrel when they hired her.

19 posted on 01/06/2010 2:44:52 PM PST by Kieri (The Conservatrarian)
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To: NEMDF

He is trying to get his GI Bill transferred to his wife (my daughter) so that he can use the Hazelwood Act here in Texas and the tuition assistance that his local unit provides.

Hopefully! Here is Texas, with the Hazelwood Act, ALL veterans get free tuition at state funded colleges! Up to a Bachelors degree!


20 posted on 01/06/2010 2:45:02 PM PST by ExTxMarine (Hey Congress: Go Conservative or Go Home!)
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