Rose City teachers who supported colleague in sex case keep jobs From The Det

[Ptarmigan]

Rose City teachers who supported colleague in sex case keep jobs
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130820/SCHOOLS/308200084/Rose-City-keep-7-who-supported-teacher-guilty-molesting-student?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Rose City— Now that the West Branch-Rose City Area School Board has made a decision, it will await the possible ramifications.

During an emotional meeting Monday, the board voted 4-2 not to discipline six teachers who wrote letters of support for another teacher, Neal Erickson, who was sentenced to prison for having sex with an eighth-grade student.

Parents have been threatening for weeks to pull their children out of the district if the teachers weren’t fired. Several said Tuesday they now will.

The public school system is screwed up. 

[JohnnyReb]

Rose City teachers who supported colleague in sex case keep jobs
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130820/SCHOOLS/308200084/Rose-City-keep-7-who-supported-teacher-guilty-molesting-student?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

The public school system is screwed up. 

Maybe he was doing a good job......................................on the 6 teachers.

[Eupher]

Parents get their panties in a bunch because 6 teachers wrote letters of support on another teacher who ****ed up? Demand their being fired?

Bullshit.

As much as I loathe unions, this time the union is dead on target. The teachers' 1st Amendment rights have to be protected. When the mere act of writing a letter can result in job termination, there's something really ****ed up about that.

Hey, parents, I know you're all hot and bothered but here's a news flash for you:

Somebody can write a letter of support for the individual and his/her performance, without condoning the action that the individual allegedly engaged in. It's possible, and it's been done before.

Now, put your big boy pants on and go take care of business. If you want to pull your kids out of school, hey, don't let the door hit 'em in the ass on the way out.

[Ptarmigan]

Student exodus in Michigan school district where teachers defended child molester
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/09/12/michigan-school-district-sees-student-exodus-after-teachers-defend-convicted/?intcmp=latestnews

Enrollment appears to be nosediving in a Michigan school district where several teachers publicly supported a former colleague who admitted having sex with a middle school student.

The student body count in the West Branch-Rose City district, in northeast Michigan is down unofficially some 87 students following a tumultuous summer in which angry parents blasted seven teachers for writing letters in support of former teacher Neal Erickson. The letters urged a judge to be lenient in sentencing Erickson, who admitted to sexual misconduct with an underage, male student from 2006 to 2009. When the school board declined to take action against the teachers, many parents vowed to pull their kids out of the public schools, which have a total enrollment of just over 2,000.

“I can’t speculate as to why the students have left, but there were certainly parents who vocalized that they were pulling their children out of school because of the teacher’s support,” West Branch-Rose City School Superintendent Daniel Cwayna told FoxNews.com. “We addressed the issue as best we could without infringing upon the teacher’s first amendment rights. There’s only so much we can do.”

[Eupher]

Student exodus in Michigan school district where teachers defended child molester
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/09/12/michigan-school-district-sees-student-exodus-after-teachers-defend-convicted/?intcmp=latestnews

BFD.

Cut the football program. And the pom pon girls. Cut the basketball program too, while you're at it.

That ought to make up the difference that 87 students will cost the school district.

[wasp69]

BFD.

Cut the football program. And the pom pon girls. Cut the basketball program too, while you're at it.

That ought to make up the difference that 87 students will cost the school district.

Euph, I think you might be looking at this the wrong way.  The parents made the demands, and when they weren't met (as patently absurd as firing someone for their 1st Amendment rights can be "demanded"), they voted with their feet.  I hope they figured out that putting action to their words and not depending on a governmental body to do the work for them carries much more weight than slinking away after being told "no" by mommy govt.

Gotta find a silver lining in there somewhere....   

[Ptarmigan]

Euph, I think you might be looking at this the wrong way.  The parents made the demands, and when they weren't met (as patently absurd as firing someone for their 1st Amendment rights can be "demanded"), they voted with their feet.  I hope they figured out that putting action to their words and not depending on a governmental body to do the work for them carries much more weight than slinking away after being told "no" by mommy govt.

Gotta find a silver lining in there somewhere....   

Well said!

[wasp69]

BTW, has anyone read the comments at the Detroit News linked article?  These "teachers" will be lucky if they aren't lynched...   

[Eupher]

Euph, I think you might be looking at this the wrong way.  The parents made the demands, and when they weren't met (as patently absurd as firing someone for their 1st Amendment rights can be "demanded"), they voted with their feet.  I hope they figured out that putting action to their words and not depending on a governmental body to do the work for them carries much more weight than slinking away after being told "no" by mommy govt.

Gotta find a silver lining in there somewhere....   

Nope, I don't believe I am looking at this "the wrong way."

**** that.

This time, the union got it right. The teachers decided to write a letter of support. That falls squarely in their 1st Amendment rights.

What YOU are talking about is the political fallout at the result of parents pulling their kids out of a school that dares to allow its teachers to write letters of support. The school district opted to not contest the union's opinon on the issue, and I happen to agree with it. Nothing "wrong" with that, in my view.

Again -- BFD. The students aren't being educated in the public school system.

They'll be home schooled or tutored or whatever the hell the parents decide to do with their kids. That's THEIR right as parents.

The parents will still pay their taxes and the state will not pay for those students that leave.

So who's ripping whom off here?

Call it unintended consequences if you like, but the school district made the right call because freedom transcends money.

Or it should, at least.

[wasp69]

What YOU are talking about is the political fallout at the result of parents pulling their kids out of a school that dares to allow its teachers to write letters of support. The school district opted to not contest the union's opinon on the issue, and I happen to agree with it. Nothing "wrong" with that, in my view.

Now, hold on a minute.  The parents are pulling their kids out of school not because the teachers wrote the letters in support, but because their letters sought to minimize the grooming and raping of a child by its teacher.  The board is citing 1st Amendment protection while not addressing the bigger problem which is "educators" that went out of their way, and incurred the wrath of the judge, to support an admitted pedophile while ignoring the child who was violated.  No one appears to be demanding dismissal over the right to free speech, they are demanding consequences for actions.

Call it unintended consequences if you like, but the school district made the right call because freedom transcends money.

Or it should, at least.

Sorry, but "freedom" has nothing to do with this.  When the schoolboard says "any discipline could lead to costly lawsuits", the 1st Amendment becomes a skirt to hide behind.  In this case, money transcended everything.

My main thrust is that the parents have the best idea - strangle and starve the beast, get rid of the trash in the next election, encourage these "educators" to go elsewhere. 

Since the schoolboard has placed the almighty dollar above all else, and it appears this won't blow over in a few weeks, there will be consequences brought by the governed while the 1st Amendment will stand as written.

[Dori]

Gosh.  I think there is a whole lot more to this story than we know about. We also don't know how the letter was written or presented, or how egregious the man's crime was.

We have almost an epidemic of teachers committing sexual crimes against our kids.  I for one like to see the parents getting involved and putting their foot down. It doesn't seem to me that the argument is about the teachers' first amendment rights, they are upset about a child molester being supported by his colleagues.  That isn't going to make the parents very secure about the safety of their children in that school.

[Wineslob]

Now, hold on a minute.  The parents are pulling their kids out of school not because the teachers wrote the letters in support, but because their letters sought to minimize the grooming and raping of a child by its teacher.  The board is citing 1st Amendment protection while not addressing the bigger problem which is "educators" that went out of their way, and incurred the wrath of the judge, to support an admitted pedophile while ignoring the child who was violated.  No one appears to be demanding dismissal over the right to free speech, they are demanding consequences for actions.

Sorry, but "freedom" has nothing to do with this.  When the schoolboard says "any discipline could lead to costly lawsuits", the 1st Amendment becomes a skirt to hide behind.  In this case, money transcended everything.

My main thrust is that the parents have the best idea - strangle and starve the beast, get rid of the trash in the next election, encourage these "educators" to go elsewhere. 

Since the schoolboard has placed the almighty dollar above all else, and it appears this won't blow over in a few weeks, there will be consequences brought by the governed while the 1st Amendment will stand as written.

       


If it were my daughter, that "teachers" face would be used as a punching bag.

[Ptarmigan]

Gosh.  I think there is a whole lot more to this story than we know about. We also don't know how the letter was written or presented, or how egregious the man's crime was.

We have almost an epidemic of teachers committing sexual crimes against our kids.  I for one like to see the parents getting involved and putting their foot down. It doesn't seem to me that the argument is about the teachers' first amendment rights, they are upset about a child molester being supported by his colleagues.  That isn't going to make the parents very secure about the safety of their children in that school.

Agreed. I think we are hearing more teachers having sex with students due to more awareness.

[Texacon]

You also don't know what their (the school board) counsel suggested.  The District pays huge amounts to the consultants of the District and you ignore their advice at your own peril.

If their counsel suggested they take no action and the Board voted against that and it ended up in court then the Board would have very little in the way of legal protection.

If their counsel suggested they take action and these Board members ignored that the same would be the result.

Yes, I know you have to vote your conscience on things but at the same time you step out of that protective bubble when you strike out on your own on a decision like that, and you have to weigh what the consequences to you and your family could be.

KC

[Eupher]

Now, hold on a minute.  The parents are pulling their kids out of school not because the teachers wrote the letters in support, but because their letters sought to minimize the grooming and raping of a child by its teacher.  The board is citing 1st Amendment protection while not addressing the bigger problem which is "educators" that went out of their way, and incurred the wrath of the judge, to support an admitted pedophile while ignoring the child who was violated.  No one appears to be demanding dismissal over the right to free speech, they are demanding consequences for actions.

Parents pull their kids out of public school for any number of reasons. Some of those "reasons" become that "skirt" the parents are hiding behind. Fact is, they're pissed off because those teachers had the unmitigated gall to support one of their own -- and those parents seem to interpret that support as acceptance of pedophilia.

We could argue about this all day, but I'll bet my next paycheck that NOT ONE of those teachers who penned a letter in support of their colleague support pedophilia. They are apparently able to separate this reprehensible suspected or even confirmed behavior with the performance that this pedophile teacher had in the classroom. I congratulate them for that. On the other hand, there are political consequences for standing up for someone who's become less popular than Barry Soetoro in Joplin, MO. And THAT is what we're seeing.

Sorry, but "freedom" has nothing to do with this.  When the schoolboard says "any discipline could lead to costly lawsuits", the 1st Amendment becomes a skirt to hide behind.  In this case, money transcended everything.

Let's let the courts decide on this "skirt" business. I'm not convinced these teachers are hiding behind anything. They put their careers and their very lives on the line to stand up for a principle they felt strongly about. And that speaks directly to freedom. No other way to put it.

My main thrust is that the parents have the best idea - strangle and starve the beast, get rid of the trash in the next election, encourage these "educators" to go elsewhere.  

Just as the educators have the 1st Amendment right to write a letter of support for one of their suddenly-unpopular teachers, the parents have the right to "strangle and starve the beast." That's the consequences we're talking about. Let's see whether those teachers stick to their guns and how far the community is willing to go to ostracize them, shun them, even fire them.

Since the schoolboard has placed the almighty dollar above all else, and it appears this won't blow over in a few weeks, there will be consequences brought by the governed while the 1st Amendment will stand as written.

Agreed. Money talks in every facet of our lives. This is no different. But I'm saying that to compensate for parents pulling their kids out of school and the school district losing that money that the parents are paying for anyway   , cancel the sports programs and the extra crap that's part and parcel of every school system.

Lord God almighty, how about laying off or furloughing half of the ****ing school board? Administrators? Bus drivers?

[Eupher]

I re-reviewed the article referenced above.

Those teachers wrote a letter recommending a more lenient sentence be handed down by the judge.

That doesn't sound like completely ignoring the issue.

And like Dori said, we don't know the content of those letters of support either. We don't know what those teachers may have said about the abused student, the school itself, or the impact of the issue on the entire community. We just don't know.

My point is, and remains, it doesn't matter what the contents of those letters are.

What matters is those teachers are allowed to write whatever they want to whomever they want. That is their right and that right shall not be infringed.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Eupher's right.  Those letters were evidence on sentencing, if the teachers really felt that way (And I assume they did, of course they knew him as a colleague and not as a victim, so that's what their character evidence would be taken for) it basically says you guys think employers should fire any employee who testifies truthfully on positive character evidence in a trial if you don't like the defendant or what he/she did. 

And that really is bullshit.  Trying to make the whiniest, neediest parents happy is one of the reasons our schools are so FUBAR now.