Concord School Teachers

[Dreepa]

We have the evidence, I took screen shots.

[CNHT]

We have the evidence, I took screen shots.

Danke!

[ravelkinbow]

Billy and I will go though and try to get screen shots as well.  I am working on a statement to be release from parents to wmur, we have desided to do things this way to try to keep our kids out of the line of fire from our actions.

[lildog]

Billy and I will go though and try to get screen shots as well.  I am working on a statement to be release from parents to wmur, we have desided to do things this way to try to keep our kids out of the line of fire from our actions.

Isn't it sad that whenevery you question anything going on with a school you have to fear whether or not they'll take it out on your kids.  And since most of us are taxed to the point of poverty there aren't many among us who can afford to pay taxes and pay for a private school on top of it, we're left having to either have a stay at home parent who can home school or having to rely on public schools.

And because they know they have us where it counts they feel they can get away with this kind of unprofessional behavior.

I've had threats made against my kid's education already as I've spoken out against my local school system but they don't scare me... if anything I'm going to get even MORE involved and speak out even more about things I disagree with.

[Dreepa]

Isn't it sad that whenevery you question anything going on with a school you have to fear whether or not they'll take it out on your kids. 

Yeah... that is exactly how I feel.

[ravelkinbow]

Well I have sent letters to the school board, principle and main teacher.  I submited a letter to the concord monitor and just now submitted a statement to wmur...so they already know about me and I also made it clear there had better not be any retaliation against my son.
The statement to the press is unsigned.  They have names to varify the statement but have been told not to disclose them.

Here is the statement:

We feel it necessary to submit this statement united but without our names, at this point we are in fear of retaliation against our children.
This fear stems from the events of last week and we realize our children have become fair game.

We are disappointed and appalled by the treatment of our children during these contract negotiations.  Our children are being used as pawns and we will not stand by and watch this happen.  We demand that all parties involved cease harmful actions against children ages five years and up.  Stop for a moment and realize they are learning from the events of the last week which included the removal of classroom items and refusal to allow replacements. We stand by the teachers that have refused to go along with these and other harmful tactics employed by some. Some of us are considering removing our children from the public school system while others have offered to bring in replacement items only to be told that, in some cases, it would not be allowed. 

As parents we are concerned about the potential interuption of our childrens education. As a result we implore Governor Lynch to be involved with the matter to appoint a third party mediator to help with contract negotiations.

[Tunga]

http://www.thememoryhole.org/edu/school-mission.htm

In that same book, The Philosophy of Education, Harris also revealed:

The great purpose of school can be realized better in dark, airless, ugly places.... It is to master the physical self, to transcend the beauty of nature. School should develop the power to withdraw from the external world.

Several years later, President Woodrow Wilson would echo these sentiments in a speech to businessmen:

We want one class to have a liberal education. We want another class, a very much larger class of necessity, to forego the privilege of a liberal education and fit themselves to perform specific difficult manual tasks.

[CNHT]

LTE submitted to Concord Monitor:

While updating their websites, the hosting space of such sites being provided by the city of Concord, may be a 'work to rule' item, that is, an extra not required by the teacher contract of the past, putting political messages on those sites to promote their raises is illegal as it is using the taxpayers money for the sending of a political message. This is in violation of the 'compelled speech' laws of NH and both the union and the teachers as individuals are liable to be taken to court for this.

The union took a vote to have the teachers stop work on those sites, but the law says a .edu URL cannot be used to influence a political view.
It is not only in poor taste to speak to the students about this on school property and on school time, but it is illegal as well, and the evidence has been noted!

[Dreepa]

Lots of LTE today and yesterday.
Someone needs to respond to this one:
http://concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060222/REPOSITORY/602220318/1029/OPINION03

He, of course, wants more laws.

(I would respond but I just submitted one earlier today)

[ravelkinbow]

I was just in the paper yesturday.  Anyone watch wmur last night?  They did the story but missed the point entirely!   

[lildog]

Anyone watch wmur last night?  They did the story but missed the point entirely!   

Can you sum up their coverage of what they thought the point was?

[ravelkinbow]

They showed some of the websites, very briefly and asked if it was an appropriate place to make their points.  Then  shifted the whole thing to teachers who have just stopped posting or taking down there sites.  They failed to mention all the sites with political statements on them or the legality of them being that they are the property of the school system.   Basically the teachers have taken ownership of the website and classrooms and no one seems to be bothered by that. 

I will say I was glad to see the amount of letters today condeming the teachers for their actions.

By the way I supplied the same info to the Concord Monitor and they didn't touch the story.  So I am glad that at least wmur gave them alittle more bad press all be it could have been done a lot better.

[local energy]

Suggestion  ---- publish so all can see ---- the school budget figure ---- the number of pupils in the system -- - then the cost per pupil ---  the averaged teacher's salary in the system ---- the average salary of a resident of the town --- the number of working people without health coverage of any kind --- the number of people who have health coverage as good as the teachers want.............................The only way to fix the school problem is to say no and mean no to raises - no to mediocrity - no to smaller classes more aids -no to unreasonable special ed - no to all extras - yes to core curriculum of reading writing  math and science --- chris

[Tunga]

No to smaller classes?

30 kids in one class room. Thats retarded.

[ravelkinbow]

This is the e-mail I recieved from the teacher after two days of waiting for a response to my e-mail when my letter went unanswered.  We are going to have an interesting meeting tomorrow I am sure, with the 15min she has agreed too.

Dear Mrs. Coffey,

I'm sorry to hear that you are feeling disappointed at my lack of response
to your letter.  The message that came across to me in your letter is that
you wanted to voice your discontent with the situation.  You didn't
include anything in the letter that expressed your wish for a reply.  I
didn't really feel that there was much I could say to you without seeming
defensive.  Respectfully, the part that I think you have missed is that
what happened in my classroom also happened in nearly every other
classroom in the district.  It was voted on by the Concord Education
Association (which consists of more than 400 dedicated teachers) to remove
all items from our classrooms that the district does not provide for us,
but that we purchase with our own money.  In my case and in the case of
most teachers, that is thousands of dollars worth of books and other
materials.  We are not obligated to supplement what little the district
provides for us in materials and books with our own money, but we do
because we truly care about kids and creating comfortable environments
that they can thrive in.  Be removing items from my own classroom, I was
acting on actions voted on unanimously by our members, and it was not a
decision I made on my own.  We didn't feel that it would be fair to the
kids to have the items taken out from under their noses without telling
them that there was a sound reason.  The analogy I'm thinking of would be
parents deciding to move to a new town, but not telling their kids until
the U-haul is loaded.  The reason Jesse came home talking about this
happening in my room is because rather than explaining the reason to each
group of kids, we decided to do it with our homerooms.  Also, I tactfully
explained why I was removing things, which prompted a lot of questions
from the kids (most of them were already involved with the issue from
their parents discussing it at home).

Please be assured that all of my students are still receiving quality
instruction in my classroom despite the issues that the district is
facing.  I hate doing what we have to do every bit as much as you do, and
I share with you every sentiment that you expressed in your letter.  If
you would still like to meet regarding this issue, we would be happy to
meet with you during the school day between 12:15-1:00.  Please let me
know if you'd like to schedule a time.

 
"Never be afraid to try something new.  Remember, it was amateurs that
built the Ark, professionals that built the Titanic."  Unknown

Tamy Anderson
Cluster 6-4
Math and Social Studies