Posted on 02/28/2003 10:24:18 AM PST by NewHampshireDuo
Gov. John Baldacci and the state's top education and defense officials moved to allay the concerns of Maine's citizen soldiers Thursday after national media picked up reports that school personnel had been insensitive to guardsmen's children.
Baldacci said he was disappointed to learn from the Maine National Guard that it had received a dozen complaints through its family assistance centers about children feeling harassed or upset over the way schools handled the possible U.S. invasion of Iraq and their parents' military service.
"I am disappointed and disturbed by reports that a few insensitive staff members at Maine schools recently made comments that have caused concern and anxiety for the children of National Guard members," Baldacci said at a news conference. "Although these were isolated incidents, there is no place for them in Maine schools."
The complaints were received at family assistance meetings in Portland, Bangor and Augusta after Army Guard units in Bangor and Sanford were called up, said Maj. Peter Rogers, spokesman for the Maine National Guard. He would not identify the schools or the families, but said in one case, a middle school educator described the pending war with Iraq as "unethical and immoral" as was anyone who would fight in it. He said the incidents left children upset and confused.
"I certainly don't believe anybody has done this maliciously," Rogers said. "It may simply have been someone expressing an opinion who may not even have known a Guard member's child was in the classroom."
Rogers said the Guard has confirmed the complaints, though the parents involved have not sought intervention by the state or the Guard, choosing instead to deal directly with their schools.
Gen. Joseph Tinkham II, commissioner of defense and veterans services, said there were no incidents of educators taunting children, as had been reported in some national media outlets.
Rogers said the Guard is not upset with Maine educators. "A lot of the educators are actually guardsmen who are doing a fantastic job out there," he said.
Education Commissioner J. Duke Albanese said the anecdote recounted to him by the head of the Maine National Guard involved a teaching assistant who had been instructed to assume an anti-war position during a class debate. It is unclear whether that incident and the one described by Rogers are the same. The Guard did not provide details to the Education Department.
In two other cases referred to by Guard officials, an administrator refused to grant an excused absence to a student seeing off a parent being deployed, and a guidance counselor was insensitive to the needs of a child. The complaints also involve incidents of teasing by students.
Rogers said he didn't know the particulars of the complaints, such as how many stemmed from comments from teachers, other school personnel or other students, or how many took place in the classroom, elsewhere in the school or on buses.
Albanese said he believes the incidents are isolated and relatively rare given the 46,000 people working in Maine schools.
"But the children that were affected are real children and these are sensitive times for these kids," he said. "To think of dad or mom going away into what may be a life-threatening situation, we want to make sure people are sensitive."
He responded to the complaints by issuing a memo to all school districts urging staff to be sensitive to the needs of children whose parents may be leaving to face grave danger.
The memo advised teachers and staff to provide balanced information in classrooms that present different perspectives on the conflict with Iraq. He said discussion should allow for questions and differences of opinion, but "be grounded in civil discourse and mutual respect."
"Regarding instruction, most educators are being careful in their teaching about America's response to Iraq, although some reports indicate otherwise," Albanese wrote.
The Maine Guard has heard no new complaints since the memo was issued Tuesday, Rogers said.
The memo did catch the media's attention. By Thursday, newspapers in Washington, major broadcast networks and radio talk shows, including Rush Limbaugh's and Oliver North's, were reporting the story or calling state officials for comment.
Lee Umphrey, Baldacci's director of communications, said the state and its educators have in some outlets been unfairly criticized as unsupportive of National Guardsmen and their families.
"It's clear these are isolated incidents around the state," Umphrey said. "I think it's unfair for the national media to latch onto it as they have."
Rob Walker, president of the Maine Education Association and a teacher for 29 years in Lewiston, said the complaints, while unfortunate, are relatively few considering the 17,000 teachers at work in Maine schools.
"I think most educators are aware of the power and influence they have over a classroom. . . . The educator always has to be careful about forcing their views on everybody else," Walker said. "If there is a problem, it's a local problem and I'm sure local administrators are dealing with it, and if discipline is warranted, I'm sure it will be commensurate with what went wrong."
Nah, it would be better to simply make that idiot teacher pay for your therapy to recover from such a horrendous personal attack. Get a shrink in the reserves to prescribe a house, a new poor, home tutors, and a few Ferraris to make your selfesteem recover. Bankrupt a few of these jerks, take away their treaching certifications, and make them pay financially and they will get the message. And thena fter they declare bankruptcy, you can see if they accidently walk into a baseball bat one night.
Hey, Teach....what's the problem?
My daddy is only going to war so more Somalis can take over Lewiston.
Hey, Teach....what's the problem?
My daddy is only going to war so more Somalis can take over Lewiston.
The Democrats Booed the Boy Sscouts At the Democrats' request, the Los Angeles Council of Boy Scouts sent six Eagle Scouts and an adult leader to participate in the opening ceremony of the Democratic National Convention. You may already see where this is going. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court upheld the right of the Boy Scouts of America to bar gays from becoming scout leaders in their organization. It's the right of a private organization to do so. Convention attendee Gloria Johnson, a delegate from California, mustered her colleagues. They grabbed poster boards and markers and made signs that read "We Support Gay Boy Scouts." While the Scouts took part in the opening ceremony, the delegates, seated at the front of the hall, waved their signs and booed. The scouts were shocked at the rude reception. DNC spokesman Rick Hess tiptoed around the issue, saying that the party is committed to gay rights but most Democrats also support the work of the Scouts. It's sort of reminiscent of the New York state Democratic Convention, where participants jeered and spat upon police officers as they entered the convention hall. That's right, the Democrat delegates couldn't even extend a friendly welcome to a group of Boy Scouts who were there as guests of the convention's organizers. Their crusade to take away the freedoms of private organizations took precedence.
I agree with you though. I no longer have school age children but if I did, I'd simply go to the school and beat the crap out of the offender. They'd probably haul me off to jail and when they finally let me out, I'd do it again. And like old Red Ryder used to say, "I'm a peacable man." (but just don't screw with me or mine.)
Fox News article said it was MORE than 1 city.
The complaints have been filed at Guard Family Assistance Centers in the cities of Augusta, Bangor, Calais, Caribou and Portland, and prompted the state's top educator to fire off a letter to superintendents and principals. Fox
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