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Monday, February 22, 2016

Marla Kilfoyle: The REAL Silencing Of America’s Teachers! | PopularResistance.Org

The REAL Silencing Of America’s Teachers! | PopularResistance.Org:

The REAL Silencing Of America’s Teachers!

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 Above Photo: From Badassteachers.blogspot.com.

A new trend has appeared on the horizon – laws that silence teachers!  In most states teachers are not allowed to engage in political activity while in school but what has appeared in the last few months, thanks to lawmakers in Ohio and Mississippi, is frightening.
Two recent events disturbed me as an educator in America! Beware Teachers – silencing your voice is the just the tip of the iceberg
Example #1 – Ohio
HB 420 would harshly penalize teachers who even breath the word “opt out.”
Ohio School Board Member A.J. Wagner put it so eloquently on Facebook
“Amended House Bill 420 proposes to set into law these words, “No employee of a school district or public school shall negligently suggest to any student, or parent, guardian, or custodian of that student, enrolled in the district or school that the student should choose to not take any assessment prescribed by section 3301.0710 or 3301.0712 of the Revised Code.” Violation of this law is termination, loss of license, and a criminal record.
So, a teacher who says on Facebook, “These tests aren’t helping our kids;” a janitor who reports to his neighbor what he heard in the teacher’s lounge about the waste of time these tests are; a superintendent who honestly says to the PTO president who challenges the tests, “I’m only doing this because the state makes me do it, this doesn’t help your children;” a principal who testifies to a legislative committee that the tests are damaging our schools; a counselor who says to a parent of an anxiety-ridden child on the verge of a breakdown, “The testing pressure is too much for her;” a parent who works in the cafeteria and opts her son out of the tests; a school board member who votes for a resolution The REAL Silencing Of America’s Teachers! | PopularResistance.Org: