BREAKING AP: Parents Protest Child's Spelling Bee Loss

[Dave Reynolds]

RENO, Nev. (AP) -- She spelled it right. The judge said it was wrong. And she's not getting a second chance. Eighth-grader Sara Beckman from Reno's O'Brien Middle School spelled "discernible" correctly during Tuesday's spelling bee at the University of Nevada, Reno. But the judge rang the bell anyway.

snip

Her mother Cindy calls herself a "momma bear with her bear claws out" and is ready to go to court

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SPELLING_BEE_MISCUE?SITE=NHPOR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[Kerrytravelers]

1. Unreal.

He says defending a lawsuit over a spelling bee isn't a good way to spend school district money.


Don't worry is Johnny and Jenny can't read... we have spelling bee lawsuits to defend! What the hell would they sue over? Can someone make this make sense, please?!?!?!?!?

[Dave Reynolds]

2. I was hoping someone could make sense of it,

I sure as hell cannot.

[Kerrytravelers]

3. I'm a teacher. I really don't appreciate whiny parents.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

4. I'm sure you have a lot...

My best friend is a teacher in a heavily Native American town. It's a nightmare. Their kids never do wrong or they beat the shit out of them. There is no middle ground. If they come to their parent teacher conference, they are rude and standoffish with her, even though she's a GREAT teacher and truly cares about her kids. But it's her first year as a teacher. Before she worked for an Indian Education program that was even more of a nightmare. I don't envy teachers. You good ones have it rough.
Duckie

[Kerrytravelers]

5. I found that the whininess run the gamet...public, private, any econ level

I have had some truly supportive parents... and some who I could not wait to send packing in June!

[rug]

17. You misspelled gamut,

[Kerrytravelers]

18. Lucky I'm not in a Spelling Bee.

[Heidi]

23. What difference does it make

that it's a "heavily Native American town"? :shrug:

[sandnsea]

20. You wouldn't have liked me then

I was in my kids' teachers asses all the time. Because when we're not, we're called uninvolved parents and our kids get shuffled to the back of the room. I still haven't decided whether I was most happy over my last kid graduating, or not having to deal with teachers who didn't like "whiny parents".

[Kerrytravelers]

21. Depends on what you're in my classroom for.

If you're there to help, I'd love you. If you're there to complain about how I'm so mean to your kid or I don't know what I'm doing, then you would have driven me crazy.

There are times to complain, but some people make a hobby out of it rather than to admit that their kid isn't perfect.


Edited for spelling error.

[sandnsea]

22. My daughter spelled the word right

Oh, how terribly whiny. :eyes:

That pretty much spelled out what you mean by acceptable "parental involvement".

[Kerrytravelers]

24. It seems to me that you have issues with teachers in general.

I don't know you. You don't know me. But have made it clear that you feel you have to keep teachers in line. It came across very hostile. If that was not your intention, then I misread you.

But, your response didn't answer what I stated. You merely made a quip at me.

If the parents want to go to the District Office and complain and question the fairness, that is one thing, but to sue? Work for a rules change, but sueing isn't always the answer. No wonder there is that reputation of "trial lawyers." Lawsuits are the first way people want to handle things anymore.

My point was: What was there to sue over? What were the claims? We all miss out on things in life, fair or not. We are a sue-happy country. Everyone sues for everything.

Edited to add: My first post was basically What is there to sue over?


Edited a second time to add:

I really hate flame wars with people. It's not my thing. But when I read the article, it seemed that the first thing the parents did was run to a lawyer versus sit down and try to work things out. I got this from the principal's quote. As a teacher, I always perfer parents coming to me first and talking versus running to the principal. Usually, things work out just fine.

Truce?

[sandnsea]

26. I responded to you

I responded to your comment about "whiny parents" in response to a parent advocating for their daughter. Very specific remarks from a very specific kind of teacher. You put yourself in that category, I didn't. The parents wouldn't have had much reason to run to a lawyer if they hadn't already tried to "work things out" because that was the basis of their complaint, they didn't "work things out" soon enough. These weren't "whiny parents" and don't put your problem with "whiny parents" on me.

[Kerrytravelers]

27. Ignore is my new friend.

:crazy:
Whew! Talk about putting personal issues on someone else!

[sandnsea]

28. But labeling parents

is perfectly acceptable for a teacher. What a riot. Ignore indeed.

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. Looks nice on the college applications... is there $$ to be had

from a scholarship or something?

[proud2BlibKansan]

29. Kind of a funny epilogue -

Look it up. Both spellings are correct. LOL

[Initech]

6. Damn... talk about sore losers!

:argh:

[tjwash]

7. What, no missing blonds this week?

[Dave Reynolds]

9. Nope,

and I think Greta Van Susteren has a copyright on Natalee Holloway.

[PassingFair]

10. The kid was ROBBED!

I'd be pissed if it was MY kid.

They should have another bee, or just a spell-off between her and the "winner".

It's only fair.

[Kerrytravelers]

13. Then you have to challenge it on the spot.

I'd be pissed, too. But, if I didn't challenge it when I was suppose to via the rules, then I could only be mad at myself.

[LisaL]

15. It's an old article. They now got what they wanted, which was

for the girl to go to some spelling bee championship.

[Kerrytravelers]

25. Was it settled out of court?

Hopefully.

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. While I think it's proper to challenge a bullshit ruling like that,

the fact that the soccer mom UberBitch feels the need to be "mama bear with claws out" bespeaks the fact that she is an empty, miserable, selfish bitch, and that her daughter is gonna need some serious therapy later in life, assuming that her obsessively controlling self-absorbed needy bitch mom ever lets her have her own life.

[Robb]

12. Don't beat around the bush

:D

[Redstone]

16. Know some yuppies, don't you?

Redstone

[sandnsea]

19. Complete miscall

I saw them on a news program. Sorry. More along the poor white trash line, since we're stereotyping today. People doing the best they can with very little whose kid has a chance to go to DC, which was taken away from her because the under-classes generally don't know the rules to things like Spelling Bees, have no advocates, and so do the polite underclass thing and think they can resolve unfair issues later. Or probably didn't even know she'd spelled the word right at the time and are too embarrassed to admit it now. I'm not sure I'd be sure enough of my own spelling to stand up to that on the spot, and I was an 8th grade spelling bee winner. Apparently the girl gets to move on to the next round, because she has a mama bear when she needs one, and good for all of them.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

14. Did she lose to Ben Roethlisberger?

I keeeed, I keeeed......

Seriously, spelling bee parents are SCARY. Don't make them angry, you wouldn't like them when they're angry.