More teacher bashing from the GOP-controlled media.

[ColbertWatcher]

(trying to post this again...)


A couple days ago, I linked to an editorial from the LA Times that discussed the subject of "bad teachers."

The comment I posted along with an excerpt was this:

While the editorial appears to be even-handed, the LA Times has yet to publish an editorial about real problems facing education, such as superstitious beliefs disguised as science and privatization.

The following article shows that while individual articles may be even-handed, the overall reporting on education is not. I posted the first article not because I knew ahead of time that the LA Times was going to publish another article

Behold, yet another teacher-bashing article miraculously published by the GOP-controlled media!

From the Los Angeles Times
FAILURE GETS A PASS
L.A. Unified pays teachers not to teach
About 160 instructors and others get salaries for doing nothing while their job fitness is reviewed. They collect roughly $10 million a year, even as layoffs are considered because of a budget gap.
By Jason Song
May 6, 2009

(...)

Every school day, Kim's shift begins at 7:50 a.m., with 30 minutes for lunch, and ends when the bell at his old campus rings at 3:20 p.m. He is to take off all breaks, school vacations and holidays, per a district agreement with the teacher's union. At no time is he to be given any work by the district or show up at school.

He has never missed a paycheck.

In the jargon of the school district, Kim is being "housed" while his fitness to teach is under review. A special education teacher, he was removed from Grant High School in Van Nuys and assigned to a district office in 2002 after the school board voted to fire him for allegedly harassing teenage students and colleagues. In the meantime, the district has spent more than $2 million on him in salary and legal costs.

Last week, Kim was ordered to continue this daily routine at home. District officials said the offices for "housed" employees were becoming too crowded.

About 160 teachers and other staff sit idly in buildings scattered around the sprawling district, waiting for allegations of misconduct to be resolved.

(more at the link)

--Los Angeles Times

Apparently an accusation is a sign of failure and should result in an immediate firing.

I wonder if that's how things will be once public schools are fully privatized?

Still waiting for articles about superstitious beliefs disguised as science and privatization as part of the problem with education in America ... not stupid enough to hold my breath while I wait ...