The video begins with Julio asking his teacher not to call him 'special.'
This upsets the teacher causing him to respond with: 'What? Oh my God, f****** god...What does the title on the front of that school say? 'Special education.'
It is obvious that the teacher is at fault and needs to be reprimanded for his actions. The issue here is the disciplinary action that is to be taken against the teacher. It should not be hard to fire a teacher that is caught red handed bullying and threatening a special needs student. The districts school board voted to punish the teacher but the superintendent did not specify in what way. The teacher has been placed on paid administrative leave from the school, and may continue to be on the districts payroll for the next five years, even if he is fired. The reason for this, is that "New Jersey’s teacher tenure law requires school districts to follow a series of complicated, expensive and time-consuming steps before they are allowed to fire veteran teachers" (Velderman). It only takes 3 years to become a tenured teacher in New Jersey, yet it takes almost twice as long to get rid of someone while they remain on the payroll. New Jersey's teacher tenure laws contain obvious flaws and are losing the school money through the long expensive process it takes to fire someone.
More information on the issue can be found at the following sources:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2062352/Special-needs-student-secretly-video-tapes-TEACHER-bullying-class.html#ixzz1du1iE55l
http://www.theweekly.com/news/2011/November/21/NJ_Teachers.html
What is your opinion on the whole incident? What disciplinary action do you think should be taken against the teacher? What do you think about New Jersey's teacher tenure laws and how they are affecting the school systems? Do you think something should be done to fix and reform the tenure laws?
I am very outraged by this incident involving a special needs student. It is entirely unfair for the teacher to conduct a classroom in such an exasperated and fear-inducing manner. To treat a “special needs” student with such lack of common respect and dignity owed to all human beings is sickening. To make any student feel inferior intellectually, let alone a “special needs” student, is in no way on the job description for teachers. Moreover, I believe that such blatant disrespect for human dignity displayed by a teacher in any school district should be terminated immediately, no exceptions. With that being said, I think that New Jersey’s Tenure laws are negatively affecting the school system. Such a negative presence within the education system should not be supported financially for any period of time after any such incident. Something needs to be done right away to fix and reform the tenure laws because leaving them as they stand currently has shown to be negative in all regards. This teacher needs to be fired right away and not allowed back in the classroom as any type of teacher.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the whole incident regarding the special needs student and the teacher should not be tolerated whatsoever. If student vs. student bullying is frowned upon and disciplinary action is taken for students, then the same result should be taken for the teacher. They should be instantly terminated from the school system. Plus, aren't teachers supposed to be looked at as role models? If New Jersey cannot put in the effort to follow the rules and laws because they are too complicated, expensive and time-consuming, then clearly the laws need to be changed in some way. If a punishment is not given to this teacher for wrongfully making fun of and threatening a special needs child, then teachers are going to believe they can get away with even more things. These teachers will think that any action they do in the classroom will not harm their careers, because the tenure laws are not being enforced.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous two posts about this situation. I actually heard about it on the news and was shocked. Bullying issues have been a major focus point in the news lately; however, it is always student-to-student. It is especially upsetting that this is going on between a special needs student and a teacher. Didn't this teacher go to school to become a special education teacher and apply for this job? Did she not know what she was getting herself into? What I did not hear on the news was the disciplinary action taken towards the teacher. A paid leave of absence? That is simply ridiculous. What does that say to other teachers? Harrassing a student is okay? Yes, it is New Jersey's "system" but I believe they could have found a way around this. Perhaps it will be the incident that changes the New Jersey school system's policies. If not, I do not want to imagine what sort of things teachers are going to get away with in the mean time. Hopefully there are not any other teachers that find it acceptable to bully their students. However, if there are then they too may get a paid leave of absence. By firing this teacher, it shows that bullying a student is unacceptable. I feel bad for the student and the student's family.
ReplyDeleteI heard about this issue as well when this situation first happened, and I was appalled. The teacher should have been fired then and there. It is more than a violation of teaching, it strikes me as a hate crime. Students have enough to worry about with other kids; teachers are suppose to make them feel safe. Plain and simple, if a teacher violates the conduct that they are supposed to have in the classroom, they should not be allowed to teach. This teacher should be stripped of his teaching license, never mind the New Jersey tenure. Policymakers need to reevaluate that legislation, and even if it will take some time to go into effect, they need to make an exception for this teacher's awful actions.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I've heard about this incident. I cannot believe a teacher would bully a student special needs or not. Also I don't know why know one would believe him. It was obvious something was bothering him. I think the teacher should be flat out fired with no pay. Bullying today is a crime and should be addressed in a court. He should not be continued to be paid he should have to live with his consequences. If a student bullies another student they end up in a lot of trouble and possibly kicked out of school. I don't think he should be able to teach again.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of this incident until now and I think it is ridiculous. The teacher was clearly caught bullying a special needs student, and cursing at him. The teacher should be disciplined of course, probably fired. If the teacher is going to mock his special needs students, then he obviously shouldn't be working with them because he clearly doesn't care about them or their feelings. I think that New Jersey's teacher tenure laws are poorly affecting the school systems. There is no reason that the teachers being disciplined should be paid for their wrongdoings. That isn't teaching them anything because they are getting rewarded and getting a vacation for doing something terrible.
ReplyDeleteThe New Jersey tenure laws are something that has been controversial since I was little. I remember my parents always joking about how I should become a teacher for the sole reason that there is ultimate security. In all honesty, I thought the tenure laws were the same for every state, not just New Jersey. This case raises one of the biggest problems that I've been raised on since I was a kid: nothing can happen to you even if you are a bad teacher. The advantage with becoming a teacher in New Jersey is that after you serve for three years and gain tenure, you can do pretty much anything without consequence. So, you need to be a good teacher for three years, and then you can slack and be remain completely safe in your job. Not only does this raise dangers like verbal abuse, but it also puts normal teaching at risk. Teachers with tenure cannot be fired. So, why should they even worry about being a good teacher? They just need to show up and pretend to teach and nothing bad can happen. It would be like a student automatically getting an A just for showing up to class, and no longer having to do any work. That student may start off excited to do work. He might try hard. Now look five years down the road of doing the same thing, and he no longer feels motivated, since he does not need to do work to get an A. The teachers no longer need to try. They still get paid, receive raises, everything, regardless of deserving it or not.
ReplyDeleteThis is unfortunately a large issue with New Jersey schools. Personally, I like the idea of tenure, but it needs to work a different way. Bad teachers deserve to be fired. I am not sure how it should be done. Some sort of evaluation done every three years might work well. But the system currently in effect gives teachers too much security, and needs drastic changes.
To students everywhere, teachers are supposed to be viewed as respectable and protective authority figures. In this case, however, the teacher caused the student in question to be uncomfortable and upset. Thus, he ultimately embarrasses and emotionally damages the child. The teacher did not act in a morally appropriate way when dealing with the student, and in consequence, the teacher should be fired. If a teacher is rude to a student, puts them down, or harasses them, they are in no position to be paid to “teach” these kids; the negative actions outweigh any good the teacher might do. The tenure laws that allow this teacher to continue to be paid are unbelievable. The people of America pay taxes that help pay for the education of children everywhere. If the job is hindered by the poor treatment of students, there is no doubt that a teacher should be fired. The state of New Jersey is doing itself an injustice by allowing such people to continue getting paid; why should the people of the state pay someone to emotionally damage children? This injustice, in turn, makes the New Jersey school system appear less respectable. I believe the tenure laws should be revised. Any morally wrong or emotionally destructive behavior should be means for an exception to the tenure rules.
ReplyDeleteTeachers are supposed to be adults that children look up to and feel protected by. If one student is bullying another, they should feel comfortable talking to the teacher. Yet, in this case, the teacher is the one doing the harassment which teaches other students that it's "ok". I have five special needs cousins and if this ever happened to one of them, I would be furious. It shouldn't matter that this teacher has tenure, he should still be fired. I think the tenure laws should be altered due to cases like this.
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