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kpete

(71,994 posts)
Thu Apr 2, 2015, 09:31 AM Apr 2015

GA Teacher to Class: Obama is no Christian & If you voted for Obama, you’re not a Christian either

WED APR 01, 2015 AT 10:50 PM PDT

The 4/1/2015 front page story of the Dublin, GA Courier-Herald newspaper is about the following open letter, which speaks for itself. It is, unfortunately, not an April Fool's joke. A front page image is currently at http://www.courier-herald.com .

The text was reproduced in an entry on the Laurens County GA Democratc Party's Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/... The permalink for the entry is https://www.facebook.com/...

(By the way, this is the same county in which David Hooks - successful white businessman - was shot multiple times and killed last September during a fruitless no-knock drug raid on his home, based on a "tip" by the meth-head who had been caught after burglarizing him. At least the state Attorney General, in February, assigned a non-local prosecutor in that case. Local law enforcement has refused to comment or answer questions, and all are still on the job, as far as I know.)

The letter explaining what happened is below the fold.


http://www.courier-herald.com/

Dear Editor,

On Tuesday, March 24, 2014, the Courier Herald published a front page article about a parent’s presentation at the Dublin School Board meeting that took place on March 23, 2015. At that meeting the father read a letter he had written to Dr. Ledbetter, Superintendent of Dublin City Schools.

The letter clearly expressed the parent’s concern about an incident that occurred in his 13-year-old son’s elective class and his ensuing efforts to bring resolution to the matter. The father’s cause for worry was not so much what was said about the President of the United States but that it was said by the teacher in his child’s classroom and that she called into question the Christianity of anyone who does not think as she does.

In an effort to ensure that the public has the facts, we present the following chronological order of events thus far.

1. The teacher made several negative comments about the President, including that he is not a Christian as he claims to be. She said that any parent who supports him is not a Christian. She challenged her students to prove their Christianity.
2. The child shared with his parents what she said.
3. The parents, in an effort to settle the problem, requested an immediate parent-teacher conference. However, the conference took place several days later than the parents had wished.
4. Present at the conference were the parents, the teacher, a representative from the school and the teacher’s husband, who is a member of the Dublin School Board.
5. The parents were expecting that the teacher would hear their concerns, acknowledge the inappropriateness of her behavior in the classroom setting and show remorse for her conduct.
6. She did none of the above. Instead, she presented to the parents a packet of several pages from a website that expressed her views on religion and politics. She was supported in this by her husband.
7. The parents’ concern was exacerbated by the teacher’s unwillingness to even consider the possibility that her classroom conduct was not conducive to a healthy learning environment. They left the conference more determined than ever to pursue the matter further.
8. The father next wrote a letter to Dr. Ledbetter expressing his concerns and read the letter at the Board meeting on March 23, 2015. The parents were then assured by Dr. Ledbetter and the School Board Chairman, Mr. Sheffield, that they would have a response within 10 business days. Several Board members expressed their appreciation that the parent persevered to bring the matter to their attention.

Some quotes from the father’s letter best describe his thoughts:
“Our concerns about our son…seem to be ignored.” “Shouldn't teachers be careful about the manner and timeliness in which they express their beliefs?” "The teacher claims to be a Christian. This is an admirable stance. Unfortunately, she also freely expresses her mind about who she thinks is or is not.”

The parents feel that their child was verbally sucker punched by his teacher and was not given the opportunity to defend himself.

They take their parental responsibilities very seriously and do not give up those responsibilities to anyone at any time. They believe that certain subjects, including religion, politics and sex, are best taught in the home by the parents.

This teacher has betrayed her profession. She has broken the trust from teacher to student and from teacher to parent. The harm that she has done goes beyond her classroom. It is incalculable. At the very least she has tainted the learning experience and caused divisiveness among her students, the school faculty, staff and the community.

Her husband should be held accountable for his abuse of power stemming from his participation in the parent-teacher conference.

He had no right to be there. His presence did nothing to enhance the process. In fact, his presence further eroded his wife’s credibility as a teacher.

The NAACP calls upon the Dublin School Board to do the right thing; to hold the teacher to the highest standards of professionalism. We call for the Dublin School Board to take all necessary actions to ensure that, as the father stated in his letter, the matter is…“addressed in a way that discourages any similar incident in the future”.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said “The time is always right to do what is right.“

The bottom line is to do what is right for all of our children. Let us not enable such harmful acts to continue by ignoring them. We cannot allow such behavior to occur with impunity. We are all accountable.

Sincerely,
Patricia Manson
— Dublin Laurens
NAACP

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/02/1375031/-GA-Teacher-to-Class-Obama-No-Christian-Questions-Childrens-Christianity
8 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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GA Teacher to Class: Obama is no Christian & If you voted for Obama, you’re not a Christian either (Original Post) kpete Apr 2015 OP
They're Emboldened and Encouraged To Overreach ProfessorGAC Apr 2015 #1
I agree. Enthusiast Apr 2015 #3
That's pretty awful behavior - that teacher should be fired el_bryanto Apr 2015 #2
I guess someone this stupid... Orsino Apr 2015 #4
Scott Walker will know what to do HassleCat Apr 2015 #5
School boards are elected. surrealAmerican Apr 2015 #6
There's one brainwashed teacher who has no business brainwashing kids. Cha Apr 2015 #7
Nancy Price Perry...... msanthrope Apr 2015 #8

ProfessorGAC

(65,057 posts)
1. They're Emboldened and Encouraged To Overreach
Thu Apr 2, 2015, 09:36 AM
Apr 2015

This woman needs to be suspended for at least a week without pay.

No place in a public school for this kind of classroom behavior.

Orsino

(37,428 posts)
4. I guess someone this stupid...
Thu Apr 2, 2015, 10:29 AM
Apr 2015

...is still able to tie her shoelaces, chew her food, and teach to the NCLB-mandated tests.

This is how far our ecucational system has fallen.

 

HassleCat

(6,409 posts)
5. Scott Walker will know what to do
Thu Apr 2, 2015, 10:41 AM
Apr 2015

See! Scott Walker is right about teachers' unions. If it weren't for the union, I'm sure the school board would get rid of this backward hillbilly. Except for those members who are her cousins, which would be about half of them. And the members who go to her church, which would be the other half. Seriously, some local school boards are so loaded with fundamentalists, they might as well hold their meetings at the Pentecostal Temple of Eternal Fire and Damnation.

surrealAmerican

(11,361 posts)
6. School boards are elected.
Thu Apr 2, 2015, 10:53 AM
Apr 2015

Those parents now have not only an urgent reason to vote in local elections, but a hell of a good reason to field their own candidates.

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