No Privacy Rights for Teens in Cabell & Jackson Co.

Well my remark was made maybe not entirely objectively.

Maybe we should not hold volunteers who are working with children to the same standards we hold the professionals.

So let us think about it and discuss it.

Perhaps we should hold teachers to MUCH higher standards then we currently are.

Maybe so.

And let volunteer anti-education activists free reign to roam the halls of the schools without any drug test or background check.

That would be real smart.

Educators already have to run the gauntlet so to speak.

Your anti-education zealots do not.

Run the gauntlet? That's a laugh and a half.

Who are anti-education zealots? Anybody who wants to inject a little accountability for teachers into the system? Folks like me who want to abolish compulsory attenance laws?

I have already said I don't have a problem with background checks for volunteers. I object to invasive violations of privacy like drug testing for them and for students and I explained why already.

School employees should be tested as a condition of their employment. I've already explained why I feel that way.

Well if school employees should be tested then the so-called "volunteers" should be tested imo.

Is there a difference between a right wing zealot and an anti-education zealot?

shermangeneral wrote:

Aaron wrote:Do you have a problem with ALL teachers being tested Sherm?

Yes.

Dont you?

Sherm's wife is a teacher (school employee), ....ya know.



.

Yeah, I know. Which is why anyone who questions teachers in any way, shape, or form, no matter how deservedly it is, is an anti-education zealot.

Aaron wrote:Is there a difference between a right wing zealot and an anti-education zealot?

Well aaron "anti-education zealot" is a phrase I coined describing people who make it pretty much their life's work to be a thorn in the side of the education system.

They do tend to be rightwingers but I suppose a leftie could get obsessed with disrupting the system as well.

And how does one 'disrupt' they system thus becoming a thorn in the side?

Just out of curiousity.

Well aaron every time we engage in a dialogue it turns into an inquisition.

And when I finally decide not to participate in an inquisition directed at me you get huffy and start making demands.

So let's just let it drop now.

No harm, no foul ok.

Why don't you just say anyone who attacks teacher’s Sherm is a thorn in the side and is disrupting the education system and the best thing parents can do is leave the poor underpaid, overworked teachers alone and not pick on them.

Just like the inquisition you're speaking of is nothing more then me expecting you to answer my questions when you make the bullshit statements you do.

Hell, at least have the courage to be honest.

Sherm wrote:Well Steph what about the volunteer parents working with students.?

They are much more likely to be druggies dont you think?

Sherm wrote:And let volunteer anti-education activists free reign to roam the halls of the schools without any drug test or background check.

That would be real smart.

Educators already have to run the gauntlet so to speak.

Your anti-education zealots do not.

Sherm wrote:Well if school employees should be tested then the so-called "volunteers" should be tested imo.

Sherm,

You hurl invectives everytime you disagree with anybody about issues you hold dear. The above are 3 such examples.

I believe all school district employees should be tested. I stated my reasons.

I have a son in college, a daughter being courted by colleges all over the country, and a 6 y/o who reads far better at this point in his life than any of his siblings. I have spent untold hours volunteering in and for public schools, trying to make them a better place for students. Most recently I spent about 11 hours of the 4th of July in the rain hawking something called "Taco's In a Bag" and "Sweet Tea" to raise money for a band trailer.

Like me, Aaron spends much of his free time voluteering for his childrens' schools. He has at least one son in college, could it be two now, Aaron? I get confused.

People like Aaron and I make major contributions to our public schools. We raise money for books and field trips and school supplies and playground equipment. We are a much needed extra pair of hands when 5 y/o's are coloring Easter eggs and the people who make sure there is juice and cookies for the kids when their is a special occasion.

There is one individual in my daughter's high school who is a pathetic excuse for a teacher. This past year his entire class failed a test not once, but twice. He had to give it THREE times. He routinely marks things as incorrect, taking off points. My daughter now makes him explain every wrong answer she gets. She went from failing his class the first semester she had him to a "B" in the last class she had with him. He has told her, "Katherine, you ask too many questions".

He is the teacher for a class she NEEDS to take her senior year. She is stuck with him. We will be back to having to look stuff up for explanations and answers because he does not teach. He has been there for a very, very long time. Several of the other parents have told me they had him when they were in high school. "I'm 42 and he was a terrible teacher then."

Competent teachers have nothing to fear from me and the changes I'd like to see made. The changes I'd like to see made would reward good teachers, provide mentoring to struggling teachers, and purge the system of the losers.

We are anti-education zealots and more likely to be druggies, and so-called volunteers, that's what you are implying. Don't whine when we respond with increasingly harsh terms. You're the one who started it.

One is in college and two are still in high school. My oldest, 20, is working and wants to drive a truck. I respect his decision even if I don't agree with it.

I do have a question for you Sherm?

When your children were in school, how much time did you volunteer and what for?

I've been a homeroom dad, rode the bus on field trips, (Cass was horrible) volunteered with Junior Achievement for 5 years (they still call every year), set in the lunch room as an extra person, raised I don't know how much money (Breakfast with Santa was the funniest-basket bingo sucks) and been there every step of the way for 15 years now. I've got 3 more years and then I'll take it easy. That's when I'll seek out a position as a middle school coach.

With all of that, I'm sure my 'resume' pales compared to Stephanie’s though.

But instead of acknowledging volunteers like us, you want to imply that we need drug tested and that we roam the halls. And you know what; I don't have a problem with that. I would gladly comply just as soon as mandatory testing is instituted for teachers.

Saying all of that, I'll go back to my question and add another.

How much time did you volunteer in the school system and at what levels?

And If people like me, my ex-wife (she dedicated as much time as I did during the grade school years) and Stephanie didn't volunteer, who would do the stuff we do?

Well do you agree the volunteers who work with kids should be drug tested too?

Or just the teachers?

I addressed you question Sherm. Quit trying to deflect the attention from mine.

How much time did you volunteer and at what level?

If people like me and Stephanie don’t volunteer, who is supposed to do what we do?

P.S. It’s only an inquisition because you refuse to answer simple questions.

There is one individual in my daughter's high school who is a pathetic excuse for a teacher. This past year his entire class failed a test not once, but twice. He had to give it THREE times. He routinely marks things as incorrect, taking off points. My daughter now makes him explain every wrong answer she gets. She went from failing his class the first semester she had him to a "B" in the last class she had with him. He has told her, "Katherine, you ask too many questions".

He is the teacher for a class she NEEDS to take her senior year. She is stuck with him. We will be back to having to look stuff up for explanations and answers because he does not teach. He has been there for a very, very long time. Several of the other parents have told me they had him when they were in high school. "I'm 42 and he was a terrible teacher then."

And so would drug testing help him be a better teacher?

ziggy wrote:

There is one individual in my daughter's high school who is a pathetic excuse for a teacher. This past year his entire class failed a test not once, but twice. He had to give it THREE times. He routinely marks things as incorrect, taking off points. My daughter now makes him explain every wrong answer she gets. She went from failing his class the first semester she had him to a "B" in the last class she had with him. He has told her, "Katherine, you ask too many questions".

He is the teacher for a class she NEEDS to take her senior year. She is stuck with him. We will be back to having to look stuff up for explanations and answers because he does not teach. He has been there for a very, very long time. Several of the other parents have told me they had him when they were in high school. "I'm 42 and he was a terrible teacher then."

And so would drug testing help him be a better teacher?

Unfortunately we will never know as this gentleman and others like him will not be required to undergo drug testing. Not in WV where the teachers unions tell the legislature what to do when it comes to education.

ziggy wrote:

There is one individual in my daughter's high school who is a pathetic excuse for a teacher. This past year his entire class failed a test not once, but twice. He had to give it THREE times. He routinely marks things as incorrect, taking off points. My daughter now makes him explain every wrong answer she gets. She went from failing his class the first semester she had him to a "B" in the last class she had with him. He has told her, "Katherine, you ask too many questions".

He is the teacher for a class she NEEDS to take her senior year. She is stuck with him. We will be back to having to look stuff up for explanations and answers because he does not teach. He has been there for a very, very long time. Several of the other parents have told me they had him when they were in high school. "I'm 42 and he was a terrible teacher then."

And so would drug testing help him be a better teacher?

I don't know. I don't know if drugs are the problem with this teacher. I do know that drug testing would be one component in holding teachers accountable for their job performance and each little step towards accountability is an important one.

I would like to point out that I don't think service to the community via schools is a competition. I'm sure Aaron has done what he could when he could the entire time his children have been in public school. I happen to have had children in public school longer....since 1987, that's 21 years.

I'll submit to drug testing as soon as all school district employees do. Simply testing teachers isn't good enough...I want administrators and janitors and lunch ladies tested too.

I wasn't making it a competition Stephanie. I know you've served on a county board (or the equivalent) in RI and I know your children are older then mine. That is the only reason I said you've likely done more them me. Your age is the only reason and nothing else.

The difference between me and you is that I've got three more years of involvement. You have a little longer.



So Sherm, both Steph and I have addressed your question.

When are you going to answer mine?

I don't know that we'll ever send him to public school. I mean, we may.....but I don't know. I think once he gets to the point of learning things I know we can't teach (Math is the big trouble area) we might pay for correspondance schools or co-op or something. Or maybe his big sister will still be in the area and willing to help out. Also, in this state you can elect to sign your child up for individual classes in public school. I might do that.

btw....

You'd better start demonstrating a bit more respect for your elders.

lol

You can sign them up for specific classes? I did not know that.

And for the record, I'm still waiting on Sherm's answer to the questions I posed.