Why Student Disrespect Shouldn't Bother You - Teacher Habits

Why Student Disrespect Shouldn't Bother You - Teacher Habits:

Why Student Disrespect Shouldn’t Bother You

I once had a student throw a water bottle at me while shouting something that rhymed with “stuck glue.” I’ve had more than one flash me the middle finger while my back was turned. There have been countless eye rolls in response to what I thought were reasonable requests. If you’re a teacher, part of the job is being on the receiving end of occasional disrespect from students.

It used to bother me. I’d see red. How dare she! How could he? I’ll show her! I’d upbraid the impudent offender in front of the whole class. If a student was going to challenge my authority, I was damned if I was going to let her get away with it. I’d put her in her place. If I didn’t, wasn’t I inviting more of the same?

It was the wrong approach. It often gave the insolent student the very thing he wanted. It raised everyone’s stress level. It ruined my mood and wore me out. It damaged the relationship I had with the student and negatively affected the classroom culture.

There’s a much better way to deal with student disrespect. It starts by changing how you think about it.

It’s Probably Not About You

We teachers tend to be sensitive people, and we sometimes accept too much responsibility for what happens in our rooms. A lot of student misbehavior has little to do with the teacher. When a student mouths off or audibly sighs at a benign request, it’s often the culmination of a series of negative events. You may have provided the spark, but the Why Student Disrespect Shouldn't Bother You - Teacher Habits:

Nick Melvoin’s School Board Candidacy Is Controlled By Wealthy, “Special” Interests – redqueeninla

Nick Melvoin’s School Board Candidacy Is Controlled By Wealthy, “Special” Interests – redqueeninla:

Nick Melvoin’s School Board Candidacy Is Controlled By Wealthy, “Special” Interests

When parents pretend astroturf is genuine

It’s amazing to see the talking points issuing from 4th LAUSD board district (LAUSD4) candidate Nick Melvoin’s boosters coming from multiple directions, in persistent waves, with identical wording. Social media messages from “just-folks” all feature professional flourishes such as, for example, every single appearance of the candidate’s name typed ALL IN CAPS, and always alongside catchy phrases or paired with hashtags.

Can no one be left to think for themselves and ask genuine questions from within? Must all public expression be focus-grouped? Even reporters seem to be regurgitating identical, manipulated questions.

This contributes to a collective loss-of-confidence among we, the people, that anyone can figure out what information is true and genuine. Conversely we second-guess the validity of even primary sources.

Melvoin’s donors are not local stakeholders of the school district he seeks to control

Let’s consider this aggressively repeated challenge:

“How Do You Know Melvoin’s Taking Money From Outsiders”?

Well, the answer is simple to obtain in principle, if difficult in practice: peruse the City of LA ethics website and count the people with out-of-town addresses found there.

As of April 20, 2017, a rough categorization of personal contributions to Nick Melvoin suggests that he received “outside” donations from folks across the country (fig 1) totaling $81K dollars. But note that California is a big place; from northern California to parts south of Los Angeles, only 41% of his donors are eligible to vote for the LAUSD school board, and only a little more than half the total of personal donations originate from LAUSD4 stakeholders.

Campaign monies exist in two completely different pots

In tracing these patterns of giving to candidate Melvoin, it is critical to understand that campaign money derives from two very different sources (fig 2).

Contributions to the candidate directly are limited in size to $1,100 per election from any given donor. The candidate controls expressions funded by this money; he is accountable for “campaign contributions”.

A second source of money supports the candidate as well, only it has no upper limit on the size of donation permitted. This money is aggregated by a “Committee” for the purpose of making “Independent Expenditures”. The “IEC” is not controlled by the candidate, enabling “plausible deniability” of any message it conveys.

This is the rationale Nick Melvoin claims in disavowing California Charter School Association (CCSA) money, distributed in the name of their copyright-infringing “PTA” (for Parent-Teacher “ALLIANCE”, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CCSA, which Nick Melvoin’s School Board Candidacy Is Controlled By Wealthy, “Special” Interests – redqueeninla:

 

Dear Mr. Civil War Scholar-in-Chief | SocialistWorker.org

Dear Mr. Civil War Scholar-in-Chief | SocialistWorker.org:

Dear Mr. Civil War Scholar-in-Chief

Dearest Mr. President of the United States of America:
Did you receive my last letter about Frederick Douglass? Somehow your response never made it to me. Sad.

I know you're busy. At first, I thought you would have plenty of time on your hands--for golf, letter-writing, etc. But now, I'm realizing that being the president is probably a lot harder and more time-consuming than I originally thought. Who knew?

And who knew Black history would become a theme of your presidency? For the second time, I am pole-axed by your comments about Black history. You are all about Black history! Me too!

Last year, I decided to read James McPherson's book on the Civil War Battle Cry of Freedom. Basically I wanted to read it because I, too, was asking myself, "you know, the Civil War--if you think about it, why?"

You've probably read McPherson. Heck, you probably could have written the book, and it probably would have been better and probably sold more copies and won even more awards.

McPherson wrote, "The slavery issue would probably have caused an eventual showdown between North and South in any circumstances." But, he wrote, "it was the country's sprawling growth that made the issue so explosive...slavery brought this danger to a head at midcentury."

That is where you are right, and McPherson is wrong. Clearly, the Civil War could have been avoided.

What you meant, of course--which no one in the FAKE MEDIA appreciates--is that the war could have been avoided had the nation not been built on unfree labor of people kidnapped from Africa and their descendants in the first place.

Everyone knows the Civil War was a war initiated by the secession of the Southern states fighting to preserve slavery and expand it into the new territories. No slavery, no Civil War! You were so right--the whole thing could have been avoided!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

EVERY DAY, I'm hearing more and more people say that you are callous, ignorant or racist. I guess these people didn't pay attention when you very clearly stated: "I am the least racist person." I'm sorry, but that case is closed, folks! You heard the man! "Least racist," by its very definition, means you cannot get less racist than Donald J. Trump.

These people just won't listen. They keep pointing at you for speaking up for racists in U.S. history like President Andrew Jackson--who owned slaves and ordered the genocidal removal of Native people from their homelands--and your appointment of contemporary Dear Mr. Civil War Scholar-in-Chief | SocialistWorker.org:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: B-CU students turn their backs on DeVos

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: B-CU students turn their backs on DeVos:

B-CU students turn their backs on DeVos

Less than a week after Pres. Trump threatened to cut off funds for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), his ed secretary, Betsy DeVos was invited to Bethune-Cookman  to deliver the commencement speech. At her side, hoping to run interference, was Trump cheerleader and "highest ranking" African-American in the White House, Omarosa Manigault.

The outcome was predictable. Both Manigault and DeVos were greeted with a chorus of boos which continued throughout DeVos' speech even as B-CU administrators threatened to withhold the graduates' diplomas if they kept it up. The more they threatened, the louder grew the jeers.

Much of the students' anger was directed at B-CU Pres. Edison Jackson who has jumped into bed with Trump in hopes of winning favor and getting some alms for his beleaguered school.

Trump has tried to make the case that HBCUs are "unconstitutional" and discriminatory against whites. Two nights later, after a storm of criticism, the White House "walked back" the threat in a statement that declared the president’s “unwavering support” for such schools.

Back in February, DeVos caught hell for her ignorant description of HBCUs as "real pioneers" of "school choice" rather a righteous a response to Jim Crow and blacks being excluded from all-white colleges and universities. Yes, you guessed it. Another walk-back. She even misspelled the name of W.E.B. DuBois in her statement.

DeVos opened her speech with this:

 “One of the hallmarks of higher education, and of democracy, is the ability to converse with and learn from those with whom we disagree. And while we will undoubtedly disagree at times, I hope we can do so respectfully. Let’s choose to hear each other out.”

This has been a theme over the past few months as campuses from UC Berkeley to the Univ. of Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: B-CU students turn their backs on DeVos:

Outside money continues to pour into L.A. school board campaigns - LA Times

Outside money continues to pour into L.A. school board campaigns - LA Times:

Outside money continues to pour into L.A. school board campaigns

If the Los Angeles school board elections were a movie, then the nominee for best supporting actor might go to an individual who so far has received little attention: Reed Hastings.

Based on documents reviewed by The Times, the co-founder of Netflix has contributed close to $5 million since last September to the California Charter Schools Assn. Advocates, a major conduit of funds for school board candidates backed by charter school supporters. His most recent contribution was $1 million on Tuesday.

Another major recent contributor is a familiar name in education politics. Eli Broad put in $400,000 last Friday, on top of $50,000 he gave in November.

Teachers unions and their allies, including other labor groups, also are spending big, matching the pro-charter side dollar for dollar in one of the races.

The major outside player on that side is the American Federation of Teachers, a national union headed by Randi Weingarten. It has reported contributions of about $1.2 million so far.

If charter backers prevail, they could win their first pro-charter majority on the school board of the nation’s second-largest school system.

Charter supporters are backing Kelly Gonez for the soon-to-be-open seat in District 6 in the east San Fernando Valley. Outside spending on behalf of Gonez totaled about $2.1 million through Wednesday, according to records filed with the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission.

United Teachers Los Angeles is supporting Imelda Padilla, who has benefited from $2.14 million in outside spending, in the race.

In District 4, stretching from the Westside to the west Valley, charter advocates are behind Nick Melvoin, who is challenging union-backed, two-term incumbent Steve Zimmer, the school board’s president.

Outside spending for Melvoin has surpassed $4.25 million; for Zimmer, $2.16 million.

Both charter-backed candidates have raised more money for their own campaigns than their opponents have.

Charters are privately operated public schools that are exempt from some rules that govern traditional campuses. Most are nonunion.

CCSA Advocates can use donations for any political purpose, but the L.A. school board race — the most expensive in the nation — has been its primary project.

Besides having money, Hastings is a desirable donor for the charter side in left-leaning California. He’s been a regular and reliable contributor to Democratic causes and candidates. That’s a valuable attribute given the state’s anti-Trump political climate — because the Trump administration has made increasing the number of charter schools a central goal.

Like Trump’s Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Hastings is an ardent, longtime advocate for charters and a major donor to charter causes. (California Gov. Jerry Brown also strongly supports charters, though not as a big-money contributor.)

The teachers union casts donors such as Hastings in the role of outside billionaire trying to Outside money continues to pour into L.A. school board campaigns - LA Times:

 

OMG NO BROAD: Oakland schools pick Homegrown superintendent amid budget mess - SFGate

Oakland schools pick superintendent amid budget mess - SFGate:

Oakland schools pick superintendent amid budget mess

After a national search, the Oakland school board picked a city native and longtime employee to serve as superintendent and steer the district through a budget crisis.

Kyla Johnson-Trammel, now the district’s interim deputy superintendent, was selected from among dozens of applicants and is the sole finalist for the job, President James Harris announced during Wednesday’s school board meeting.

Johnson-Trammel, who turns 41 on Monday, was born and raised in East Oakland and has worked in Oakland schools for 18 years as a teacher, principal and administrator, district officials said.

“If you don’t know Kyla, she is third-generation Oakland, she is a native,” Harris said. “I would offer that you have someone before you who knows what it means to be of this town, and somebody who I believe and this board believes can guide us forward.”

Teacher union officials applauded the selection.

“Kyla Johnson-Trammel has developed the relationships, she knows who is who and she knows what is what,” said Trish Gorham, president of the Oakland Education Association. “She has totally proven her commitment to Oakland and Oakland’s children.

“She is the candidate,” Gorham said, “who will begin the healing in Oakland.”

The new superintendent will likely have her hands full in that healing process. The board meeting Wednesday was raucous, with Harris calling a temporary recess after speakers insisted on exceeding public comment time limits to protest proposed cuts to special education and reading programs.

Johnson-Trammel was previously the director of talent development and the associate superintendent for leadership, curriculum and instruction as well as a network superintendent for elementary schools. She was appointed interim deputy superintendent after Devin Dillon was appointed interim superintendent in February.

Johnson-Trammel’s experience has been more on the academic side of school management than the financial. But the new superintendent, who is expected to take over by July 1, will step into fiscal upheaval, including a projected $10 million shortfall this academic year and up to $20 million in cuts needed next year.

Due to declining enrollment and skyrocketing special education and cafeteria costs, among other issues, Oakland Unified has struggled to balance the books this year. And the district is still paying off a $100 million state loan required to ward off fiscal insolvency in 2003.

Dillon, who also applied for the permanent position, implemented a comprehensive hiring and spending freeze in April to ensure the district can pay its bills through June.

The deficit this year is in part related to lower enrollment than expected, which has meant significantly less funding from the state.

Aside from immediate budget problems, Johnson-Trammel must confront over the long term what Harris and other district leaders have acknowledged is an unsustainable business model: The district has too many schools and too few students.

The district has 86 schools for 36,600 students, while San Jose Unified, with nearly as many students, operates 41 schools. Sacramento City Unified has 43,000 students at 77 schools.

Thousands of Oakland students have moved to the nearly 40 charter schools in the city. But while district officials have merged some existing schools, they avoided closing any in recent years, despite the costs of principals and support staffers at the schools, many of which are under-enrolled.

“We are excited by the announcement of Kyla Johnson-Trammell as the Superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District. She represents the best of our aspirations for a home-grown, thoughtful, and values-driven leader, with experiences as an Oakland parent, teacher, school principal, and district administrator,” said Ash Solar, executive director of GO Public Schools, a nonprofit working on education issues in underserved communities, in a statement.

“Hard choices must be made,” Solar said, “and done right, they will include school leaders and community members in the Oakland schools pick superintendent amid budget mess - SFGate:

Betsy DeVos’ controversial statements on African-American colleges in the past

Betsy DeVos’ controversial statements on African-American colleges in the past:

Betsy DeVos’ controversial statements on African-American colleges in the past

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was booed and repeatedly interrupted by students Wednesday during her commencement speech in Bethune-Cookman University, a historically black college in Daytona Beach, Florida.

The hostile reception for DeVos, who was one of President Donald Trump's controversial cabinet choices, was mainly as a result of controversial statements she had made in the past regarding African-American colleges.

One of those came at the end of Black History Month this year, when she equated the role of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with her “school choice” policy.

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, Feb. 23, 2017. Photo: Reuters/Joshua Roberts

“HBCUs are real pioneers when it comes to school choice,” DeVos said in a statement, Politico reported. “They are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater quality. Their success has shown that more options help students flourish.”

Read: Betsy DeVos’ Education Department Calls Him 'DeBois,' And Then Misspells Apology Tweet

DeVos’ statement eroded any goodwill from the African-American community Trump might have hoped for after signing an executive order beckoning the White House to take a more hands-on approach to higher education, stated a Politico report. 

Robert Palmer, an education professor at Howard University, branded DeVos’ statement “a bit crazy,” while Austin Lane, the president of Texas Southern University, an HBCU in Houston, found her statement to be puzzling.

“HBCUs were created for African-Americans because they had no choice and were unable to attend schools due to segregation laws,” Lane said.

When social media users blasted DeVos’ original statement, a spokesperson for the Education Department tried to calm the situation down by claiming her statement was taken out of context. In an effort to clarify her statement, DeVos made another comment, which Betsy DeVos’ controversial statements on African-American colleges in the past:

New Orleans’ Charter School Transformation: the Very Definition of Injustice | janresseger

New Orleans’ Charter School Transformation: the Very Definition of Injustice | janresseger:

New Orleans’ Charter School Transformation: the Very Definition of Injustice

When I look back, I can see that the year between September of 2005 and September of 2006 was when I realized deeply and in the most unforgettable way how powerful people can transform the systems we take for granted and in the process disempower the vulnerable.

In November of 2005, I couldn’t believe it when I learned—while bodies were still being discovered in the attics of New Orleans’ flooded and abandoned houses and while most people were staying with relatives in far away places or FEMA trailers in Houston—that the state of Louisiana had changed the law to seize the city’s public schools and fire all the teachers as part of a complicated school governance experiment driven by ideologues in the U.S. Department of Education, the state of Louisiana, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. I had naively imagined that the goal would be to get families back to town as soon as possible and get children back in school under the secure guidance of the teachers those children knew.

Others were alarmed as well. Naomi Klein used the seizure and mass charterization of New Orleans’ public schools as the very definition of what she called “the shock doctrine”: “New Orleans was now, according to the New York Times, ‘the nation’s preeminent laboratory for the widespread use of charter schools’… I call these orchestrated raids on the public sphere in the wake of catastrophic events, combined with the treatment of disasters as exciting market opportunities, ‘disaster capitalism.'” (The Shock Doctrine, pp. 5-6)  Leigh Dingerson and the Center for Community Change published a short resource titled, Dismantling a Community. And later, in a book published by the Teachers College Press, Pedagogy, Policy, and the Privatized City, Kristen Buras shared the voices of New Orleans’ high school students describing what had been done to their schools.

In July of 2006, I was able to spend a week in New Orleans and to write about it.  I listened to all kinds of people including experienced teachers—replaced by Teach for America recruits—who had lost their profession and lost their livelihood. Tracie Washington, a civil rights New Orleans’ Charter School Transformation: the Very Definition of Injustice | janresseger:

 

You Can’t Keep a Bad Charter Down

You Can’t Keep a Bad Charter Down:

You Can’t Keep a Bad Charter Down

“No question about @MagnoliaSchools academic superiority – questioning your reading skills.”

-Alex Johnson, VP LA County Board of Education

“Specifically, the CAASPP results in ELA and Math indicate that in both 2014-15 and 2015-16, 0% of the school’s English Learner (EL) population met or exceeded proficiency.”

– LA County Office of Education Staff

As the LAUSD prepared to take the unusual step of not renewing the charters of three Magnolia Science Academies last October, their chief executive claimed that “it would be wrong to punish kids [for poor management] by closing strong schools.” After the vote, the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) released a statement complaining that charters were no longer “evaluated mostly on the degree to which they were helping students learn.” Ignored by both parties was the fact that the CCSA itself had ranked one of these schools as a one out of ten, which in no way can be considered “strong”. The other two were at best average with ranks of four and six.

The Magnolia organization appealed the LAUSD’s decision to the Los Angeles County Board of Education. In a meeting right before Christmas, this Board ignored the findings of both the LAUSD and their own staff and renewed these charters. This means that they will continue to operate within the borders of the LAUSD without any You Can’t Keep a Bad Charter Down:

My review of ‘letters to a young education reformer’ | Gary Rubinstein's Blog

My review of ‘letters to a young education reformer’ | Gary Rubinstein's Blog:

My review of ‘letters to a young education reformer’

I was eager to receive Rick Hess’s latest book ‘letters to a young education reformer.’  Hess is the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a conservative think tank.  Hess is one of the few defenders of the reform movement whom I respect.  His writings, like his column in Education Week, always have the nuance that most reform writers at places like The 74 and Education Post lack.

With states opting out of the Common Core, parents opting out of state tests, and prominent reformers even opting out of ed reform, the reform movement is currently experiencing a slump.  This book explains what is behind some of the failures of the reform movement.

Though the book is written in an informal tone with plenty of very interesting anecdotes, it is a very scathing critique of the reform movement, the style of reform that really became big with people like Michelle Rhee, Joel Klein, and, of course, President Obama.

Hess knows what missteps reformers committed along the way to lead to this.  By writing about these mistakes in a series of letters to an unnamed ‘young education reformer,’ Hess hopes that the next generation of ed reformers will avoid those mistakes.

Many of these mistakes are things that Hess warned reformers about as they were making them.  They didn’t heed many of his warnings back then, but maybe now that they seem to be losing momentum, this book could be used not just by young education reformers, but My review of ‘letters to a young education reformer’ | Gary Rubinstein's Blog:

Betsy DeVos Spoke at Bethune-Cookman Commencement. Audience Noise Was Constant; FL NAACP Issued a Formal Opposition Statement. | deutsch29

Betsy DeVos Spoke at Bethune-Cookman Commencement. Audience Noise Was Constant; FL NAACP Issued a Formal Opposition Statement. | deutsch29:

Betsy DeVos Spoke at Bethune-Cookman Commencement. Audience Noise Was Constant; FL NAACP Issued a Formal Opposition Statement.

I watched US ed sec Betsy DeVos’ 23-minute speech to Bethune-Cookman grads on May 10, 2017. The full video is below:

I do not envy DeVos the task. DeVos stumbled over her words a number of times as she faced an audience of graduates set on actively resisting her as she spoke.

DeVos’ voice cracked as she spoke of Mary McLeod Bethune. I am sure the pressure to complete this speech was profound. However, DeVos is a walking controversy, the most controversial US ed secretary to date.

She made a smart decision to include the stories of three of the Bethune-Cookman students in her remarks. The graduate audience behaved best when DeVos spoke of these specific students.

She continued to verbally stumble. I have attended numerous graduations, and I have yet to hear a commencement speaker falter as much in his/her speech.

Based upon DeVos’ voice, particularly as her remarks approached the 19-minute mark, it seemed to me that DeVos might be on the verge of tears. Still, she seemed to regain composure around the 20-minute mark.

One can read the text of DeVos’ speech here.

She did not use the opportunity to overtly sell school choice.

DeVos did say that she “want[ed] to re-affirm this Administration’s commitment to and support for HBCUs [Historically Black Colleges and Universities] and the students Betsy DeVos Spoke at Bethune-Cookman Commencement. Audience Noise Was Constant; FL NAACP Issued a Formal Opposition Statement. | deutsch29:

I’m The Rubber And You’re The Glue – redqueeninla

I’m The Rubber And You’re The Glue – redqueeninla:

I’m The Rubber And You’re The Glue

…why do we let Nick Melvoin’s words bounce off him and stick to LAUSD’s world?

Negative Ads Undermine Democracy

Mostly, the fourth board district school board race has been one of incessant negativity and lies. Why do we permit this uncivilized behavior? I can tell you in walking my neighborhood I am met with deep weariness, wariness and hostility. This is the legacy of democracy abused. This race has been nothing if not about Big Lies and electoral abuse, and that’s a lesson being bought – and paid for – dearly.

Independent Committee expenditures (IECs, the new normal for “PAC”s) in favor of both candidates have been about the same, averaging $1.8 million dollars at the moment. Each. You read that right. Think of the children. (Think of the printers.)

What is not similar is IC expenditures in opposition to their candidate. Melvoin’s IC devotes half an order of magnitude more in slandering Zimmer than his IC spends to oppose Melvoin.

Thus quite apart from the overall total spent which is obscene, a dramatic distinction between candidates is evident from what’s being spent to smear the other guy. Zimmer’s adherents spent less than one-quarter, 25%, of that average toward denigrating their opposition ($441K). Melvoin’s buddies sunk 140% of that average spent in support of their candidate ($2.4 million) on negative ads.

In fact, the amount Zimmer’s IEC devoted to negative campaigning is so comparatively trivial, the negligible difference between both campaign’s positive expenditures, which is just 6% – this sum ($114K) is 25% of what Zimmer’s camp spent in negativity altogether. His challenger spent 5.5x as much as the incumbent in stuffing our mailboxes with scurrilous lies.

So the current overall total of IECs is $6.4 million, and the electorate has I’m The Rubber And You’re The Glue – redqueeninla:

Big Education Ape: Sen. Bernie Sanders Endorses Steve Zimmer and Imelda Padilla for LAUSD School Board | UTLA http://bit.ly/2qLt181

Teacher Appreciation Week is a Pathetic Joke! | gadflyonthewallblog

Teacher Appreciation Week is a Pathetic Joke! | gadflyonthewallblog:

Teacher Appreciation Week is a Pathetic Joke!

It’s Teacher Appreciation Week, America!

All over the country, millions of educators can look forward to a free burrito. Or maybe an Arby’s sandwich. Or a complimentary donut.

Because we REALLY appreciate teachers here.

What a pathetic joke!

I don’t mean to seem ungrateful.

I’ll redeem my coupon at Chipotle. I’ll take that Roast Beef Classic. I’ll grab that Dunkin’ Cruller.

But let’s be honest. These cheesy buy-one-get-one coupons don’t demonstrate appreciation. They’re guilt.

They’re a manifestation of the feeling that we SHOULD appreciate teachers, but don’t. Not really.

Not for one week, not for one day!

Why else would we begrudge them a middle class income? Why else would we provide them with so few resources and so much responsibility? Why else would we bar them from making any meaningful decisions about how their students should be taught yet hold them accountable for everything their students do?

Appreciate teachers? We don’t LISTEN to them. We don’t RESPECT them. Many of us don’t even LIKE them.

The only time we value teachers is when a maniac enters a school with a gun. Then – when they protect our children with their very lives – then we praise them as heroes!

On that day and that day only. But every other day – not so much.

We won’t do anything to keep guns out of the hands of school shooters. At most we want to arm teachers – Great! Something else to be responsible for on top of education, Teacher Appreciation Week is a Pathetic Joke! | gadflyonthewallblog: