Posted on 04/14/2013 6:47:46 AM PDT by SJackson
(JTA) -- A New York teacher who assigned her students to write a persuasive essay on why Jews are evil has been placed on leave and will be disciplined.
The teacher, who has not been named, was placed on leave from her job at Albany High School on Friday, and could face a reprimand or firing, according to the Albany Times Union.
School Superintendent Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard said in a news conference on Friday, where she appeared with members of the Anti-Defamation League and Jewish Federation, that the teacher will be disciplined by the school district and might not return to the classroom this year.
The district also will bring in sensitivity trainers from the ADL to work with the teachers and their students, the newspaper reported.
Wyngaard said the teacher was a long-time employee whose work has never been criticized but said that her assignment "displayed a level of insensitivity that we absolutely will not tolerate."
The writing project, assigned before the class read "Night," by Elie Wiesel, called on the students to research Third Reich propaganda and then write a letter to a Nazi officer arguing that "Jews are evil." One of the three classes given the assignment refused to carry out the assignment, the Times Union reported.
I think it was a cover for a larger purpose — surround your true intent around issues that soften opponents objections...kinda like what Google did on Easter...of course, I didn’t pay attention to the fact they used a Catholic Mexican immigrate to celebrate what he did for the poor and oppressed by forming a union to protect them from larger farm/corporate industries...I burned off a letter thinking it was a young Hugo Chavez...but I got wrapped up in the e-mails and what others were saying instead of taking my time and researching the “true” intent...which was to totally ignore Jesus’ Resurrection and in its place - put someone who championed more or less the same cause...I don’t trust the education system anymore......
I can appreciate your thoughts on how to develop a meaningful course on an historical era so important in shaping the world we have today nearly 80 years later.
However, unless this was a senior or junior level High School AP class and not a grade school assignment (which I believe was speciously documented after the fact), there is no educational basis for what this woman was trying to do, period.
In this day and age and the multitudes of stories and anecdotes about school curricula, I find it impossible to believe such a thoughtful, learned process in constructing this teacher’s assignment existed. I’d say morelike after-the-fact concocted bullshit.
Try your own poll. If you have kids, any age grade 6 through 12, ask them to tell you about Hitler. I’d be willing to bet you that many of them will say to you “who’s Hitler.” I’d footnote this with the caveat that you’d probably get a reasonable answer from the home-schooled ones.
Betcha she doesn’t lose a dime of pay.
It was a 10th grade class. Which IMO is way too young for this kind of assignment.
I agree.
The teachers' union is very powerful. There's a lot of steps that have to be taken before you can fire one. Investigations have to be completed, making sure you've dotted every 'i' and crossed every 't' before you can fire a teacher so you suspend them with pay while doing so. Failure to follow every proper procedure and the teacher will be right back teaching after receiving a whole lot of back pay.
re: “However, unless this was a senior or junior level High School AP class and not a grade school assignment (which I believe was speciously documented after the fact), there is no educational basis for what this woman was trying to do, period.”
According to the article, this was a high school assignment. I didn’t see a particular grade level mentioned, but if it was a high school class, then I don’t think the material is beyond them.
I agree there are a lot of “anecdotal” stories everyday about public schools and some of the crazies there are within it. But, remember, just as we suspect all the crap that the news media spews out, I would take some of these stories with a grain of salt. Remember that there are about a half a million public schools (elementary to high school), and ANY organization that big is bound to have idiots and crazies in them. But, I don’t necessarily believe that all teachers or all administrators are equally idiotic. But, that’s another issue.
As to this particular teacher, I just don’t know enough information to condemn her - yet.
Try an assignment of why Islam may have been considered evil and see where that gets them.
It seems to me if what you say were actually the truth, they'd use the truth as a defense, not attempt to hide the crime.
The cover-up indicates they know it wasn't just an innocent assignment.
It was 10th grade BTW per DmanA.
I am not about to be as forgiving as you are on this. I find the premise, content and explanation of this assignment by this ‘teacher’ despicable and indefensible.
We can just leave it at that. I’m expecting her to be fired at the minimum, but my expectations won’t be realized. The organizational structure under which she is operating has apparently fallen way too short in my opinion, because she felt it appropriate to assign such a task in the first place.
I could not disagree with you more. We should be compelled by decency... for the memories and honor of those slain by Hitler and those of our republic that died trying to kill that “paper hanging nazi son-of-a-bitch”.
LLS
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/04/albany-jews-evil-nazis-teacher-high-school.html
...The weird part, though, is that the assignment calls on the students, in making their cases, to draw upon a packet of Nazi propaganda, “what you’ve learned in history class,” and “any experiences you have.” With ... Jews being evil?...
And her identity protected so she can be quietly reinstated (or promoted?) when the outrage dies down.
She has a bright future in Minitrue the Dept of Education...
An essay on how they would carry out a mass shooting at their school or local mall.
What I’d like to hear is the teacher has been fired.
So she wins. While on paid suspension she can spend her days searching the net for more anti-Semitic rants. She will then return to the classroom refreshed and rested and even more evil — the perfect public school teacher.
Let me open another dimension. This is a government school. One size fits everyone. I can conceive of a very bright 10th grader handling an assignment like this (assuming the most benign interpretation of her intentions). But not most. And for a few outliers it may be the spark that sets them off into God know what directions.
But that’s the tragedy of a government school system: everything that goes on in there is everyone’s business, and everything has to be geared for the dumbest kid in class.
Here’s a reference that says 10th grade:
That’s all well and good for an intellectual exercise, but I know who and what this lady is. There is no denying it.
What’s her name?
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