Teacher Fired for Bush Picture

[MaxFisher]

A teacher was asked to turn in her keys and leave the school for hanging a picture of Bush up with pictures of other past presidents. The school said she needed to hang a picture of Kerry to be fair. How is this unfair?? Bush is the president and to display his picture with past U.S. presidents is ony a logical thing to do. If Kerry wins the election the teacher can put up a picture of Kerry.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/WABC_100304_middleschoolteacher.html

 

[ThatGuy]

People being fired over politics.

 

[nbcrusader]

It is a shame that the school responded to the partisian complaints of a few parents.

This wasn't a shrine to GWB, it was an inclusion of his picture among all Presidents.

 

[ThatGuy]

Well we'll have to see if she files a lawsuit before we can determine whether or not the story is true, right?

 

[Bonochick]

This wasn't a shrine to GWB, it was an inclusion of his picture among all Presidents.

Agreed.

What a bunch of bull.

 

[nbcrusader]

Well we'll have to see if she files a lawsuit before we can determine whether or not the story is true, right?

Cute.

If she was the only source for the story, I would be suspicious of this as well.

 

[ThatGuy]

Cute.

If she was the only source for the story, I would be suspicious of this as well.

Isn't she, though?

 

[Klaus]

Well if the story is true i'm sure she'll get back her job after the judges were over the case.

 

[nbcrusader]

I would expect a teacher's union to step in here.

 

[deep]

I guess nobody takes time to read.


They just jump on a bandwagon.


NOBODY has been fired.


Perhaps one of the Mods will change the title to this thread.

 

[kobayashi]

This wasn't a shrine to GWB, it was an inclusion of his picture among all Presidents.

i dont mean to suggest this action is legitamite in any way, but the article only said 'other Presidents', or something to that effect. if, and i am only speculating, the board only shows republican presidents, then i could see parents reacting.

regardless, it seems the school, let alone the parents, has over reacted.

what kind of a ridiculously misguided discourse results in items such as these, or the alleged firing of a lady over her bumper sticker, being the subject of conversation?

 

[MaxFisher]

Deep,

If my boss came up to me today and said, "give me your security badge and leave the office" I would assume I was being let go.
Even if we induldge your notion that she wasn't actually fired, the school's behavior is completely illogical and unprofessional.

 

[verte76]

This is dumb.

 

[joyfulgirl]

Maybe he meant for her to go home and think about what she did.

Yeah, pretty stupid.

 

[deep]

Deep,

If my boss came up to me today and said, "give me your security badge and leave the office" I would assume I was being let go.
Even if we induldge your notion that she wasn't actually fired, the school's behavior is completely illogical and unprofessional.

Middle School Teacher In Trouble Over Presidential Photo?

By Ken Rosato

(Monmouth Junction-WABC, October 3, 2004) — You might say it is a symbol of the Great American Divide, a teacher putting up a picture of President Bush in the classroom. Some say it is partisanship while others say it is patriotism.







Rita Bianco, Parent: "Children should know their president and their first lady!"

Parents expressing outrage after a teacher is kicked out of her public school for hanging a picture of President Bush next to pictures of other presidents in her classroom.


Shiba Pillai-Diaz, Teacher: "It happened on a small bulletin board near the American flag and also with a poster of the Declaration of Independence."

This is Crossroads South Middle School in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey. On Thursday, there was a back-to-school night for parents of students.

Veteran English teacher Shiba Pillai-Diaz says she was shocked when three parents confronted her. The three, insisting the teacher either add John Kerry's photo to the montage of presidents or remove the Bush photo.
When Pillai-Diaz refused, she says the school's vice-principal threatened her job which is an act that has parents here fuming.

Paula Sjolund, Parent: "She didn't do anything wrong, and I think that it should have stayed up there."

Pillai-Diaz ultimately removed the entire bulletin board and says School Principal Jim Warfel told her she disrupted the school with her "inflammatory politics". She says he then ordered her out of the building. While she says she is a Bush supporter in her personal life, Pillai-Diaz says she keeps politics out of the classroom.

Shiba Pillai-Diaz, Teacher: "There was no political intent, nor was there any political content in that photograph nor on the bulletin board."

School officials would not talk on camera but insist nobody here has been fired. To that, Ms. Pillai-Diaz asks what does it mean then when your boss asks you to hand over the keys and kicks you out of the building? She also says she is not sure if she'll be returning to school tomorrow.

It sounds like the Vice Pinciple responded to parents complaints.


It sounds like the teacher is milking this for all it is worth.

It is worthless,
but partisans will give it value.

 

[nbcrusader]

No, it gets milked when the Bush campaign "hires" her.

 

[joyfulgirl]

this is where it got confusing:

School officials would not talk on camera but insist nobody here has been fired. To that, Ms. Pillai-Diaz asks what does it mean then when your boss asks you to hand over the keys and kicks you out of the building? She also says she is not sure if she'll be returning to school tomorrow.

 

[MaxFisher]

Making a teacher go home for displaying a historical figure along with other similar historical figures should make you angry whether you are democrat or republican.
This is not a partisan issue.

 

[deep]

Max,

Can we agree she was not fired?

 

[MaxFisher]

Deep,
1. She was asked to leave.
2. Asked to turn in her keys.
3. She hasn't been contacted by the school resulting in her not knowing if she should come in or not.
I guess if we are splitting hairs I will admit that no, she wasn't technically fired. However the writting seems to be on the wall.
If the forum administrator wants to change the title of my post so be it.

 

[MissMaCo]

I'm a teacher. Once I put a photo of Bush here. And they told me to leave too...

 

[drivemytrabant]

Even if she wasn't fired--that this is even an issue is absurd.

 

[Klaus]

MissMaCo
your kiddies asked you to leave?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

we should just get over this... she wasn't fired, she was simply placed on administrative leave

 

[RockNRollDawgie]

Ok...let me see if I got this right?
Teacher puts up a pic of Bush, next to
other presidents, and is asked to leave
the building?
As much as I detest Bush, he is still the
president.
This makes no sense at all. I think there's more to this story, than just a posting up a picture of Bush.
If not, I see this school's action leading to big doo doo.

 

[swizzlestick]

I would expect a teacher's union to step in here.

I doubt that, since the NEA is predominately liberal.

 

[Sheltie]

When I was teacher, teaching about current leaders was part of our lesson plans and in the standards.
That teacher needs to get a lawyer and sue the school district for harrassment and anything else which applies. Then, she needs to take the vice-principal before the school board to have his motives reviewed.
This is why I dont teach anymore! Too much bulls--t

 

[verte76]

This makes no sense. She puts a picture of the president up. She gets harrassed because she doesn't include a picture of the damn Democratic nominee. I may be a Kerry supporter, but this pisses me off. Bush is the president; Kerry is not. She's put pictures of the presidents up, and gets kicked out of her school for it.

 

[neutral]

FWIW....

Announcements from the South Brunswick Board of Education

Ms. Pillai-Diaz is a new Language Arts teacher in the South Brunswick Schools. Recently, the school administration began receiving complaints from students and parents that Ms. Pillai-Diaz was using her position, classroom and teaching time to engage in partisan politics. Students reported that she had made statements which denigrated one party over the other. The conversations included Ms. Pillai-Diaz telling some students who offered opinions contrary to her statements, that she was “glad they were not old enough to vote.” Other comments to students, including such statements as, “you should be ashamed to be a Democrat” have been verified through student interviews.

A classroom bulletin board, normally intended for curriculum-related matters, was set up as what she herself described as a “personal bulletin board.” On the bulletin board she placed a picture of the President, the President's dog, the Oval Office and several other Presidential artifacts. In addition, she placed a stuffed elephant on a classroom cabinet, which generated student reaction and discussion about partisan politics.

http://www.sbschools.org/boe/announcements.php

 

[deep]

IF this is true.

and i do believe it.

why else, would three parents complain?


this teacher is a sack

that should be sacked.


But, the UNION will probably save her.