Update on my child's right-wing Govt teacher: now she is encouraging Republican students to

[PA Democrat]

register as a Democrat so they can vote in the PA Democratic primary and "have their votes count for something." She even brought voter registration forms to class.

To provide some background, the teacher is biased and inflammatory in her teaching. I had posted several weeks ago about a writing assignment "Republicans think; Democrats feel."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=2828836

[elehhhhna]

1. Get thee to the Principal's office, stat., Then the school board.

Encouraging students to do unethical things is not cool.

[PA Democrat]

4. Sadly, the principal and school board would most likely approve.

Rick Santorum was an invited speaker here during his last Senatorial campaign. Also, my son has asked me not to intervene, but I am hoping to find at least one liberal member of the school board to speak to. I have feelers out right now.

[woodsprite]

2. Can you report her for bringing the voter regs to school?

Seems that would be something the school may not want to promote.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. I think it is illegal for a teacher to espouse partisan views

in the classroom. Discuss it with the school board immediately.

[Junkdrawer]

5. Hatch Act. She could be fired....

I been doing some homework...

http://www.osc.gov/ha_state.htm

[dflprincess]

9. Apparently teachers aren't covered by it:

http://www.osc.gov/ha_state.htm

"The Hatch Act applies to executive branch state and local employees who are principally employed in connection with programs financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States or a federal agency. Employees who work for educational or research institutions which are supported in whole or in part by a State or political subdivision of the State are not covered by the provisions of the Hatch Act."

Which I should have guessed as a number of teachers are in the Minnesota Legislature and the Hatch Act prohibits running in a partisan election.

[PA Democrat]

11. That was my interpretation as well.

[MonkeyFunk]

10. I don't think the Hatch Act applies to teachers

it applies to federal employees and some state and local employees who are paid primarily by federal funds.

[Junkdrawer]

12. Yes and no...

WARREN COUNTY—Can a teacher engage in partisan political activity on school grounds during school hours?

While it has been held that teachers can engage in political campaigns or political acts off-campus outside of school hours, the courts have recognized that public funds should not be used for political activity and that would include partisan activity while on the public payroll.

The Johnsburg Central School District is supported by federal, state and local public funding.

....



http://www.northcountrygazette.org/news/2007/08/03/petition_pages/

[Frances]

6. Have you reported this teacher to the principal and the Board

of Education?

You should get as much documentation as possible. For example, your child should have taken one of the voter registration forms from the teacher as proof that the teacher brought it to class. Put a note on the registration form saying that the teacher wanted Republicans to register as Dems. Did the teacher pass out a sheet of paper with the writing assignment on it? If so, take that to the principal. Document as thoroughly as you can what the teacher is doing.

Even if the principal and Board are all Republicans, if you can document what the teacher is doing, you can make a good case for having the teacher at least be more subtle in her bias.

[ginnyinWI]

7. failing any actions by the administration--

call the local newspaper and give them the story. Could help--most newspapers are a little more liberal than their constituents.

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

8. This is *really* common...

Its nothing new I knew some pretty right wing people in Blue areas of NY who were life long registered democrats because, from their point of view, they might as well have some say in who will be running the state.

[Cabcere]

13. sigh.

Here's the thing: my AP Gov't teacher was a flaming liberal, about as far left as you can get, and he pretty much told us that on the first day of class. However, he never once tried to force his views on the class - he told us what his thoughts were on some of the issues, but always made it perfectly clear that his opinion was just that, and he wanted us to know where he was coming from, not blindly agree with him. He encouraged us to think for ourselves, and never criticized anyone on either side of the political spectrum for their beliefs. At that point in my life, I was considerably more conservative than I am now (I've always been a Democrat, but events of the past few years have pushed me further to the left), and even though he was much more liberal than I was on many issues and I disagreed with many of his views, I respected him and the way he encouraged thoughtful debate on many controversial topics.

Now, I went to high school in an extremely conservative area, and nearly all the kids in my class had Republican parents - I'd say the class was split 50-50 between liberal and conservative students, though. One of the things that I really enjoyed about that class (and found most challenging) was that once in a while, we'd have a debate where the liberal kids had to argue for the conservative side, and vice versa. It was a very interesting experience, and as I recall it generated some pretty intense discussions, although it never escalated into name-calling or anything like that.

The weird thing is, I think even if I went back to that class now, with my present views, and he had performed a complete political 180 and was a hard-core Republican...I think I would still love that class. I guess it's a matter of personality or teaching style or something like that - even though my AP Gov't teacher was very passionate about his beliefs and made them known to us, he never used his views as a bludgeon, you know what I mean? I think it's OK for a teacher to admit his or her bias - after all, they are human beings and are bound to have opinions one way or the other - but I think that trying to teach students that X party is right and Y party is wrong isn't doing anyone any favors. I'm pretty sure I'd be just as upset if I heard that a teacher was requiring kids to write about why the war in Iraq is wrong or whatever - even though *I* feel strongly about that issue, I don't think it's right to impose that opinion on students, or punish them if they disagree. That kind of behavior seems to me to be very limiting and short-sighted - not to mention really inappropriate for an educator. :shrug:

[PA Democrat]

16. My son hates the class. Hates the teacher.

Discussions are frequently racist, nasty and insulting. I think that respectful debate is great. That's NOT what occurs in this class. Politics has become so divisive in this country, and when I hear that a classroom is run as a mini version of Crossfire I get incredibly discouraged.

[Cabcere]

18. That's definitely not cool.

:hug: I'm sorry to hear that it's that bad. :( I think it might be the times we live in - I graduated from high school in 2004, and although there were a lot of major issues going on back then, I don't think it was nearly as nasty then as it is now. (Of course, I have also become much more politically aware since then, so it could just be me.) :shrug:

The fact that the discussions are often racist hits rather close to home for me - when I came home for spring break, I was shocked to hear from my little brother that one of the teachers at my former high school called a student the n-word at least seven times before getting fired for it. :wow: What's worse is that she was apparently able to get another teaching job in the next county! :puke: Honestly, I can't believe some of the awful crap that is going on. It's just surreal to me, you know? :crazy:

Best wishes to you and your son. :hug:

[nels25]

27. It is nothing new

in my 8th grade history class a young teacher stated he had participated in anti-war demonstrations in DC the summer before including helping to deface the Washington monument, AND HE WAS PROUD OF IT!!

It was things like that (and a protracted amount of my adult life in the military) that turned me into a conservative (I have long since learned the error of my ways).

So it is not like this is a new thing, in my college history courses one of my professors talked about history professors at the turn of the last century finally refused to go the traditional route of my country right or wrong in regards to preparing propaganda for the Government circa WW1.

I thing that politics should stay out of the classroom but it is hard to accomplish, one side or the other is always pushing for an edge.

GO Democrat party and GO DU.:shrug:

[Winterblues]

14. What is wrong with Republicans voting for a Democrat?

I suspect you are a very strong advocate for your candidate and feel Republicans would vote for the other person to sabatage your person. Get Real.....

[Cabcere]

15. If I may...I don't think that, specifically, is the issue - rather, the teacher's

explicit advocation of this is the problem. :shrug: (At least, that's my take on it - OP, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.) :hi: Peace.

[PA Democrat]

17. I was an Edwards supporter. The intent of Republicans voting in the closed Democratic primary

is to create more divisiveness within the Democratic party. Rush Limbaugh used his radio show to encourage Texas Republicans to do exactly what this teacher is advocating.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/03/rush-limbaugh-urges-texas_n_89674.html

[Winterblues]

20. How can there be more divisiveness?

There are two candidates that are fairly equal in support. Republicans hate both. They would hate for either a woman or a black to be President.If there are things that the public needs to hear about either that are legitimate concerns I hope they get out early instead of late. I don't see how more people voting leads to more divisiveness..:shrug:

[PA Democrat]

28. Really? You can't see the advantage to McCain of having the Democratic race go all the way to the

convention? Of having the Obama and Clinton campaigns spend more money on the primaries, while McCain builds his fund for the general election? You can't see the advantage to McCain of having the Democratic party become split over an extended and increasingly rancorous primary battle?

You don't see why Rush Limbaugh was encouraging Republicans in Texas to switch parties to vote for Hillary?

[verges]

19. In a primary?

It's not a good idea. In the GE, it's a good thing. Primaries are to determine who will represent the parties in the GE. Why should a Republican be able to decide who represents the Democrats? Conversely, why should a Democrat have a say in who represents the Republicans in the GE? In the GE, we are all deciding who is representing all (or most) Americans. Then it is perfectly acceptable (even desireable) for Republicans to vote for Democrats.

[WinkyDink]

24. Reading comprehension must not be your thing.

[housewolf]

21. Call your local newspaper

see if you can find someone who will cover the story.

Write letters to the editor. Send lots of them, see if you can get other parents to write LOTE also.

Oh, and then try running for the schoolboard yourself, and then try to get your friends to do the same.

[RPM]

22. WHAT DISTRICT?

There is a superintendent that needs a phone call or 100.

[WinkyDink]

23. Time to go above heads straight to a public school board meeting! Newspapers cover these!

[dancingme]

25. Call or email Keith Olbermann

He would love that story

[SoCalDem]

26. Call the school board and the democrtic party office

She's perpetrating fraud and asking them to "tamper" with an election