Posted on 08/23/2003 3:25:10 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
A Pasadena teacher, who instructed her students last spring to write highly charged letters to state legislators about proposed education budget cuts, has been assigned to a desk job and will resign at the end of the semester, school officials said Friday.
Vicki Williams, 50, a fifth-grade teacher at Mae Smyth Elementary, faced termination after district officials learned earlier this year about the letters, but the district and Williams' lawyers reached a settlement Wednesday that will allow her to stay until the winter break.
The Pasadena Independent School District board is expected to vote on whether to accept the agreement Tuesday during a regular board meeting.
District officials said that Williams coached the students on what to write and that the district was particularly concerned about references made by some students to the 1979 suicide of state Rep. Kent Grusendorf's teenage son.
Grusendorf, R-Arlington, is chairman of the House public education committee, and an advocate of school vouchers and streamlining state education spending. He could not be reached for comment.
Kevin Lungwitz, Texas State Teachers Association general counsel, and Williams' lawyer, said he doesn't know how she introduced the topic of the suicide of Grusendorf's son with the children.
"But she did tell them he had suffered this type of tragedy," Lungwitz said. "I can assure you it was not done maliciously but in an attempt to explain his political motivation and the letters from the kids bear that out."
He said only a few of the letters refer to the suicide.
Prior to this incident, Williams had an unblemished career with the district and received the highest job reviews that a teacher can attain in the district, Lungwitz said.
Williams, a member of the teachers association and president of the Pasadena Educators Association, took the letters to Austin in March. Many of the students pleaded for legislators to spare field trips, textbooks and teacher salaries from the budget ax.
A district spokesman said Williams took the roughly 40 letters to the office of state Rep. Joe Moreno, D-Houston, which passed them on to Grusendorf.
The letters eventually landed in the hands of district officials who accused Williams of flouting the school system's standard of professional conduct.
"Students wrote letters to Rep. Grusendorf containing inappropriate personal attacks, some of which specifically referenced his personal tragedy," said Pasadena Superintendent Rick Schneider in a prepared statement released Friday.
It is unclear whether Williams even read the letters before she took them to Austin.
"I think one of her biggest mistakes was not fully proofing the letters and she admits that," Lungwitz said. "She has been forthright about that from day one."
Lungwitz said the settlement between the district and Williams was a compromise that didn't sit well with either party. "I leave with the feeling that there are some viable First Amendment issues," he said. "I can tell you Ms. Williams regrets what she said and expressed those regrets many weeks ago to Mr. Grusendorf."
Schneider said the district has a responsibility to protect young children from being used to advance a teacher's personal views.
"In this case, the teacher used poor judgement and clearly crossed the line," he said. "It is an unfortunate incident for her, the school district, and, most importantly, for Rep. Grusendorf and the children involved."
Williams' supporters say the district proposed firing her in response to political speech. The district denies politics played any part in the decision to fire her.
But Lungwitz contended the district is "taking a certain amount of political cover by doing what they are doing."
It wouldn't matter, because the laws are interpreted by our judges. I am in Massachusets. We have a machine called the Massachusetts Education Association, so are infected by both that and the NEA.
If it's For The Children, it's above any Law.
What essentially happens is that activists move in from Cambridge or Brookline, etc. (Berkely East), run up the taxes, and then, as soon as their litters move through the school system, leave.
I’m sure you are correct. Teachers all over the country (ab)use their students for political letter writing campaigns, turning them into non-voluntary political activists.
Schools at odds in racial division - Hearne ISD sues nearby Mumford for "white fight"
Teachers from Philippines arrive in Boston to teach math and science
Professors take on role as high priests of activism
"persistently dangerous" - School-safety rankings - or just black marks?***"It's the scarlet letter in education today," says Mr. Trump. "Administrators have said to me privately that they would rather be academically failing than be a dangerous school."***
That may be true. But to my knowledge, only public schools in Texas are subject to Chapter 21 of the Texas Education Code. I know private schools are not, and charter schools may not be.
Private and charter schools may not have to follow the same laws as Ms. Williams. But it is clear to me that Ms. Williams failed to meet the standards of the profession as exists in similarly situated (public) school districts in the state of Texas. In fact, there is a case from a couple of years ago from this very district where a teacher was fired for embroiling her students in one of her personal disputes.
Excerpts from several of the letters:
"I'm very sorry that Mr. Grusendorf's son had a bad experience, but that's no reason to make everybody work harder, cut field trips, go to school more days, make our parents buy our textbooks and make the schoolchildren go to private schools and pay thousands of dollars a year."
"Just because you don't like schools because of what happened to your son it doesn't mean you have to punish us. Because it's not are fault. I don't mean to be rude but you don't have to get all offensive."
"Your legislation is stupid because you just blame one teacher you blame them all. You have a brain that does not think. So never blame something to a teacher Kent Grusendorf. So start making your brain think."
"Another thing is that I hate Grusendorf because he dislikes teachers ... I have a couple of question for you if you read my paper or letter it doesn't matter. My first question is why are you doing all of this is it for revenge or is it for torcher?"
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10055787&BRD=1579&PAG=461&dept_id=181233&rfi=6
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