How I Joined Teach for America — and Got Sued for $20 Million

City Journal Vol. 13, No. 1 ^ | Winter 2003 | Joshua Kaplowitz

[Rytwyng]

ping

[wideawake]

The small group of Bosnians in my sister's school takes the exact same view of the situation.

One father said: "If I have to miss another day of work because you are misbehaving and ruining your education, I'll take you to work with me instead of school next time. You are taking money out of my pocket and food out of your sister's mouth."

The kid was crying.

[HarryDunne]

Too. Many. Words. ping

[Hat-Trick]

Please tell me we've vetted this story as an urban legend.

Hat-Trick

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Excellent post.

I also think that he is learning that liberal intentions do not add up to success in education. Responsibility falls on every staff member, from the principal on down, who chooses to allow the children to run the school.

[jimkress]

Ironically this is precisely what is going to put an end to all the nonsense that the author describes -- when teachers start suing the school districts for $20 million over incidents in the classroom.

Where do you think the $20 million will come from? It comes from the TAXPAYERS, not the school district or any of its employees. Thus, the school district and union will have no motivation to change because none of its employees are held PERSONALLY accountable.

You want to make things change? Criminally charge and prosecute school district and union staff, and management as accessories to assault and the other criminal acts being perpetrated. Once school district and union staff and management understand there are PERSONAL consequences to them for their behavior, things will change - not before.

[Alberta's Child]

It comes from the TAXPAYERS, not the school district or any of its employees. Thus, the school district and union will have no motivation to change because none of its employees are held PERSONALLY accountable.

Then let the taxpayers deal with the school district and the union. It may take some time, but it will eventually get done.

Look at the case of that woman in New York who died of a heart attack when the cops raided the wrong apartment in a drug raid. The cops themselves are probably not going to be held personally liable in this case, but the City of New York immediately changed the procedure for drug raids of this sort.

[freekitty]

And we are paying three fourths of our property taxes here in Houston to schools. This is sick.

[Alberta's Child]

The school district can't be held personally liable as long as education is considered mandatory for minors. We can't expect them to be able to cope with "students" who belong in a sweatshop instead of in a school unless we are willing to give them the power to throw the bastards out of school.

[bert]

The article describes the education process in the feral enclave of Washington

[Amelia]

My sister is in the midst of TFA in NYC and she has many similar stories, with the added fun of being sexually harassed by thirteen year old predators.

I've taught in relatively calm schools and seem similar stories. Note the points that the teachers were trying, but a lot has to do with parental and administrative support.

[jimkress]

The school district can't be held personally liable as long as education is considered mandatory for minors

So, if a student attacks a teacher, the school district does nothing, and then the student attacks another teacher, you actually believe the people at the school district (who have facilitated an environment where the student knows there are no consequences for attacking a teacher) are blameless and can't be held criminally accountable as accessories to a crime because education is mandatory?

Unbelievable. People with that kind of viewpoint are a big part of the problem in our country.

Until adults in school systems (Teachers, Management, Unions) are held personally accountable (including criminal accountability) for their actions (or lack thereof), our schools will continue to be a place where only barbarism is learned.

[iconoclast]

Give the guy a break. Yeah, I have to agree with wideawake.

To quote (or perhaps paraphrase) Winston Churchill, "If your twenty and not liberal, you don't have a heart. If your forty and not conservative, you don't have a head".

[CaptainJustice]

It's time for us to abandon those communities which continually reject the basic laws of civility. It may seem harsh, but its time for every teacher at Emery to quit and let the community cannibalize itself. They will not play by society's rules, they abuse the system, they ought to be left to their own devices. The people who care will move away and the rest of the community can destroy itself and the rest of us can go on with our lives. Class darwinism. I'm sick of these communities dragging the rest of us down.

[brityank]

Bookmark bump.

How to fix it?
1. Cancel the causative clause "ALL children belong in school."
2. Get the troublemaker students out of the classrooms.
3. Get rid of the -ologist-type 'counselors' and turn those kids back to their parents.

[Tamzee]

"Too. Many. Words. ping"

But.Worth.It.

;-)

[iconoclast]

Please tell me we've vetted this story as an urban legend.

If you'd ever even walked the halls of an inner-city school, the urban legend thought wouldn't have occurred to you.

[Alberta's Child]

So, if a student attacks a teacher, the school district does nothing, and then the student attacks another teacher, you actually believe the people at the school district (who have facilitated an environment where the student knows there are no consequences for attacking a teacher) are blameless and can't be held criminally accountable as accessories to a crime because education is mandatory?

If the school district is prohibited by law from throwing a bastard out of the school, then the people who work for the school district can hardly be held accountable.

If a student attacks a teacher, then the teacher has no business "reporting it to the school district" -- the teacher should pick up his or her cell phone, dial 911, and have the little f#cker arrested. The little bastard will be dealt with -- outside the classroom -- and after the police show up five or six times, the classroom will have no more troublemakers.

Incidentally, more and more urban school districts are putting cameras in the classrooms to monitor teachers in case they are accused of assaulting a student. I'll bet they never figured that these cameras would instead be used as evidence in criminal cases filed by the teachers against the students.

[EggsAckley]

bttt