TJUSD Board Meeting - September 16, 2014

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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - September 16, 2014

Postby shadylady » Thu Oct 02, 2014 6:50 pm

The Fault in Our Stars Banned in Schools
Book reconsideration committee? :up2:
It's hard to imagine why any reasonable person would ban this book!
:smack:
When asked how he felt about the news about his book being banned in Riverside, John Green wrote:
I guess I am both happy and sad. I am happy because apparently young people in Riverside, California will never witness or experience mortality since they won’t be reading my book, which is great for them. But I am also sad because I was really hoping I would be able to introduce the idea that human beings die to the children of Riverside, California and thereby crush their dreams of immortality.

LA TIMES: http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-john-green-the-fault-in-our-stars-banned-riverside-20140929-story.html
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - September 16, 2014

Postby wildrose » Sat Oct 04, 2014 6:59 am

Banning Books Is Stupid ...And Still Happening in the U.S.
Apparently some people live in a bubble and they like it that way and want to force others to live in their bubble... of stupidity!
:sun:
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - September 16, 2014

Postby CoolChick » Sat Oct 04, 2014 7:21 am

Banned Books
I think banning books usually backfires and motivates more people to read them, which should work out well for Mr. Green. :nod:
This video lists Alice in Wonderland, which has already been mentioned a couple times in the thread, oddly enough! :thumb:
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - September 16, 2014

Postby cactuspete » Sat Oct 04, 2014 8:30 am

New York City Dept. Of Education Suspends Special Needs Instructor For Helping Student With A Kickstarter Project
Although the article is interesting, a comment left by someone who read the article is much more insightful:
"Justice" in most organizations generally has more to do with loyalties and alliances than actual conduct.

Piss off the wrong person, and they'll be patiently waiting for the first opportunity to throw the book at you for the smallest of infractions. But prove your loyalty, and you can literally get away with murder. Like the Albuquerque cop with a history of misconduct who has been rewarded with a 6-month (and counting) paid vacation for killing a homeless guy he previously told another cop he planned to shoot. Keith Sandy must be good pals with some influential people on the police force to get such favorable treatment, despite the public pressure to fire him. (I wonder just how long these *paid vacations* can last?)

As for Therapist Deb Fisher, I can almost guarantee you she got on the wrong side of her bosses, and if it wasn't for Kickstarter, they would have sooner or later found something else.

Some people get away with murder and others get in trouble for the least significant things you can imagine. It's not what you do, but who you know. It's always been that way. Which is exactly why I'm all for due process rights and unions providing support for workers accused of wrongdoing, to make sure they don't get stepped on by people out to get them!
LINK: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20141003/10431628720/new-york-city-dept-education-suspends-special-needs-instructor-helping-student-with-kickstarter-project.shtml
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - September 16, 2014

Postby desertrat » Sat Oct 04, 2014 9:37 am

New York City Dept. Of Education Suspends Special Needs Instructor For Helping Student With A Kickstarter Project
The article was so-so, but the comments were more interesting. Here's one person who has been hypnotized by sensational headlines:
It's not "blatant ignorance in our education system", it's a systematic, unionized protection system that needs to be crushed.

Paying a child predator $350K while waiting 6yrs to prosecute the dirt bag is what unions are all about now days.

Recent Headline: "Parents horrified as teachers union fights for $10,000 severance for child molester"

"Michigan’s largest teachers union will force arbitration in an effort to compel a rural school district to pay a $10,000 severance buyout to a former teacher convicted of molesting a teen boy.

The disgraced teacher, Neal Erickson, had been a math and computer-education teacher at Rose City Middle School before he was convicted of having sex with the victim on multiple occasions. The sexual encounters began when the unidentified student was an eighth-grade student."

Union pukes are a child-abusive/molesting protection group.

Here's a more sober appraisal of the situation:
The headlines are one thing, but the reality is that people get falsely accused of wrongdoing quite often. It's important that teachers be afforded special treatment when it comes to due process since they are likely to be targeted by administration, parents, students, etc. Support of unions is incredibly important regardless of the ACCUSATION. Automatically believing an accusation is the problem and is exactly why special protections and union support are incredibly important to prevent the injustice of losing one's job as the result of a false accusation.

I added the underlining to help me make the following point: Gossip more often than not contains only ten percent truth and many false accusations develop as a result. This is especially true in small towns and to the list should be added vindictive board members or board members who have an agenda to dismiss someone in order to make a job for a relative. Not that anything like this would ever be the case in Trona.
:roll2:
It's important to keep in mind that headlines are headlines because they are exceptions to the general rule. Many people accused of unethical behavior are innocent of any wrongdoing and are merely being targeted and teachers are especially vulnerable in this regards. Hence the special protections above and beyond normal due process.
LINK: SAME AS ABOVE!
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - September 16, 2014

Postby wildrose » Mon Oct 06, 2014 7:13 am

desertrat/cactuspete: As a retired school teacher I've witnessed many situations which demonstrated the importance of unions for me. Whether it's unscrupulous administrators, unreasonable parents, or board members with obvious agendas, there are many who would like to bend the rules and treat teachers in an unfair manner. The truth is that I never encountered an incompetent teacher during my entire career, but I have seen administrators try to railroad colleagues out of the profession and I've seen parents go on the warpath and make outrageous accusations rather than support the teacher. It's not an easy profession and special protections are necessary to ensure that rights are not violated.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - September 16, 2014

Postby tronagirl » Mon Oct 06, 2014 7:16 pm

The War Against Fun. Swings Banned On Washington Playgrounds
Apparently nowadays EVERYTHING IS TOO DANGEROUS!!! How are kids supposed to develop physical skills and coordination if they don't have fun equipment to climb around on. Once you eliminate the most dangerous playground equipment item, something else winds up as the most dangerous attraction, and when that one gets eliminated yet another item becomes the most dangerous piece of equipment, etc. Pretty soon there's nothing left!!!!
:curse:
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - September 16, 2014

Postby shadylady » Tue Oct 07, 2014 4:16 pm

School Apologizes After Atheist Student 'Intimidated' Into Standing For Pledge Of Allegiance
It's nice to see that the parents of this student and the American Humanist Association stood up for the rights of this student! Bullying should not be tolerated at school, especially when it's done by the teacher!
A ninth grade student at Oak Park High School in California's Ventura County said he had attempted to stay seated at his desk while his class recited the pledge. However, the student said his teacher reprimanded him for sitting and "intimidated" him to the point where he felt compelled to stand during the exercise.

LINK: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/02/pledge-of-allegiance-apology_n_5921126.html
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - September 16, 2014

Postby MojaveMike » Thu Oct 09, 2014 3:48 pm

Student 'intimidated' into standing for Pledge of Allegiance gets apology
The LA Times ran an article on this situation also...
Compelling an atheist high school student to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance against his will was a mistake rooted in ignorance of his 1st Amendment protections, a misperception that apparently existed throughout the Oak Park Unified School District, the superintendent said.

LINK: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-student-atheist-pledge-allegiance-20141001-story.html
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Re: Pledge of Allegiance

Postby panamint_patty » Thu Oct 09, 2014 3:53 pm

shadylady: It would be best if we went back to the pledge the way it was prior to 1954. This would eliminate "under god" from the pledge and set things right again. Religious people should admit that this is a case of ill-gotten gains and recognize that the separation between church and state is a good thing and support a campaign to fix this problem!
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