MY KID'S TEACHER

My Kid's Teacher | May 4, 2003 | Luis Gonzalez

[Luis Gonzalez]

Just before going to bed tonight, as I kissed my oldest boy good night, he perked up and reminded me of the note his teacher had sent home on Friday. I assured him that I would read it, and tucked him in.

I knew that the note was about the upcoming School Book Fair, he attended his first one last year, and it was a great experience for him. It was the first time he was trusted with money to spend all on his own.

He is a First grader with Third Grade reading skills, I was an avid reader as a kid, and every time I see him sitting with a book on his lap, I feel like I'm walking on air.

I went downstairs and looked for the note, I wanted to see what was expected of him, and how payment for the books would be handled.

I have copied the note word by word below, the note written, and sent home, by the person who is teaching my boy to read and write.

I have left the particulars out for obvious reasons.

I am sending the note to Tallahassee, and asking for this teacher's removal.

[snippy_about_it]

lol!

[snippy_about_it]

You are correct in complaining about this teacher. I think some folks forget we are paying for them with our tax dollars and they should be held accountable.

I also agree with the poster who said the teaching of socialism may be worse than the poor grammer but both are important areas of concern.

Does the teacher even know who Condi Rice is? lol.

[TxBec]

Awww bless her heart. Homeschool, Luis.

[Tiger28]

totally true! our taxes are sky-high in the hudson valley and i had to supply my kindergartener with pencils, tissues, glue, scissors, restmat, etc the first day of school. i have received several notes sent home this year requesting more tissues and glue. and at the bookfair they send a note home with a list of the 'teacher's requests' for the classroom and you are supposed to buy them!

[ladylib]

A principal in a Baltimore County middle school introduced an astronomer to a school asssembly as an "astrologist," which is not a word in the English language.

This affirmative-Action recipient had been bounced from school to school (I believe the action is known as the "Dance of the Lemons).

The "astrologist" removed his son from her school and is sending him to the local Catholic school. The "astrologist" had a pin made up stating, "I am an astronomer, not an astrologist."

[ladylib]

A public school teacher can't afford to send home a note like that. It does nothing to create parental confidence in the public schools.

A secretary in my previous company would have been in hot water if she composed a letter such as the one this teacher composed.

Teachers should be held to higher standards.

[Luis Gonzalez]

You know what this note is indicative of?

Not of a tired, overworked teacher, but of a careless, semi-literate employee whose complete lack of concern for standards are aptly displayed in this note.

She didn't care enough to proof read a note being sent to parents, how am I supposed to believe that she cares enough to actually check my child's work at school?

[Kevin Curry]

Teachers should be held to higher standards.

As should we all in those areas of our lives, occupations, and professions where we should be on our best game but we all too often screw up.

I'm not saying the teacher isn't incompetent, only that I would need to base that opinion on something more than one brief note that she wrote.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Morning Luis:
Doesn't Florida have teacher's exams and standards? FReeper summer might know more about this.

Regards, Slim

[mrs fat city]

I sincerely wish you luck in getting rid of her - read on: I received a letter like this when my son was in fourth grade. It was describing her classroom policies at the start of the school year, so it was quite long. It was awful! I had a friend on the school board at the time, and I showed the letter to him . He was stunned, and went to the elementary school principal, who stated that the school was aware that she was awful, but she had an illness that required her to take a "LOT of PAIN MEDS" (YIKES!!!)all day, and she already had a lawyer on call to file a suit if she was let go. We moved our son to another class. It is almost impossible to get rid of a bad teacher.

[eniapmot]

I hear you.

You have articulated the real problem with American education.

[pbear8]

I'm sure that your efforts will bear great fruit. Best wishes.

[pbear8]

Oh dear, I wonder whose fault is was that the PTA made an @ss of itself.

[hedgetrimmer]

How did you do it?

I have been trying to alert parents at our school, but there is a very powerful group of teachers who have made the lives of some of the parents and their children miserable.

If you have ideas that work, please share.

[drq]

So What - we all make mistakes

[Thinkin' Gal]

9th Grade, September 1971, First Day of Class, Subject: English, 1st Period...my first year in the public education environment.

I could not believe my ears at the moronic behavior of my peers. In addition, the subject matter was identical to what was taught in my 6th Grade class in a private school.

Deja vu! I had a very similar experience on my first day in a public school (9th grade, Sept. 1978). It was the first class of the day, and the students were loud and fidgety. I had never seen such hyperactivity in a classroom.

I looked through the English textbook, eager to see what would be taught. Instead, I found myself looking further and further toward the back of the book, only to find material that I had already learned in the fifth grade.

A bit confused - boredom alarm bells were ringing in my head - I asked the teacher where the "real" textbook was. She informed me that the book was our textbook for the year.

"When do we get to diagram sentences?", I asked.

"Oh, we won't be doing that! That's too hard!", the teacher replied.

Sigh... sentence diagramming was covered by the private school in the 5th grade. It gave us a very strong foundation in writing and communication skills. I quickly learned to claim a desk by a wall whenever possible, so I could be more comfortable snoozing.

[hellinahandcart]

Make the school board account for the shape of the school system.

Improving the "shape" of the school system would include removing this incompetent teacher. You seem to want Luis to take the longer circuitous route instead of the direct route to the same necessary end. Years could be wasted your way.

"Making the school board accountable" is not going to improve the teacher's grammar or serve the immediate needs of the child. The only thing it might accomplish is the end of the beg-letters for tissues, which the janitorial staff have probably sold on the black market.

By the way, you throw the word "dissent" around just like a liberal. Your dissenting opinion isn't sacrosanct merely because you hold it. It has to stand up to scrutiny, and it just doesn't.

[MEGoody]

I agree that this is rather disgraceful coming from a teacher. On the other hand, we have no idea how rushed she was in preparing this note. We've all made typos, used improper grammer and left out words when we were posting on this forum. So what's new? That's a human thing to do, especially if one is in a hurry.

[MD_Willington_1976]

That letter is terrible. Are you sure you didn't copy those words from a Taiwanese motherboard manual?