Being absent from school on the day the President speaks?

[gopiscrap]

My wife teaches third grade..she ahs recieved 4 calls (class of 27) from low mentality Fox watching parents who are telling her that they will not send their children to school on Tuesday (the day of his speech) should she:

[noamnety]

1. I'm sure vindictive teachers

flunking kids at the start of the year regardless of the work they do or what they learn - to get back at their parents, no less - is a reaction Obama would applaud.

:sarcasm:

I know your wife is probably a great teacher, I'm trying to trust that the poll options are just something you came up with, not anything an actual teacher had input into.

[gopiscrap]

6. My wife actually would never

flunk a kid because of a parents politicalbelief system..neither would I..we were curious as to what the opposite reaction would be..however my wife is of a mind to issue an unexcused absence if that is the reason for being absent from school that day!

[noamnety]

11. Doesn't she have to follow school policy on that?

Our main office excuses absences, not the teachers, and as long as a parent calls in, it's excused. The school doesn't get into arguing with then over whether it's valid or not. (We don't go around checking if their stomach ache hurt 7 or above on a scale of 1-10, etc.)

I think if they have an absence that's extended they might have to bring a doctor's note, that's about it.

I'd suggest that if your wife cares about their education and thinks the day in school is valuable, she should advocate for a way for them to attend school rather than giving them two choices - watch the speech or lose an entire day of education. As a teacher myself, I'd rather have any student attend class for 80% of the day than not at all, so they aren't falling behind. When a large percent of the class is absent, I often feel like I can't push through important material because I'll just have to repeat it the next day - it impacts the education for everyone, not just the absent kids.

Maybe she can make arrangements for the kids who are opting out, and call back those parents to let them know the opt out kids will have teacher supervision and an appropriate educational activity of their own (not just babysitting time). The parents would probably appreciate that the teacher was willing to work with them and listened to their concerns. More importantly, it better serves the children, which is her ultimate responsibility.

[gopiscrap]

33. Right now the district has not made that a reason for being absent

therefore it could be unexcused

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. Treat it like any other unexcusable absence.

[cherokeeprogressive]

7. Exactly.

[gopiscrap]

8. That's pretty much what she is planning to do

however she's got conservative parents threatening her not to do that!

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

9. Changed your mind, eh?

How convenient.

[cherokeeprogressive]

13. I changed my mind not one bit.

How did they treat unexcused absences when YOU were in school? At mine, they were not the issue. I was the fucking champion of cutting school. I knew how to spread them out between different classes, so that no one really noticed. I went when I chose to. I was always there on test days though, and cut some awesome test scores. Good enough to graduate with better than a 3.3 GPA.

If you think that a child should be punished because of the actions of their parents, you're one screwed up individual.

Mark it down as absent, and put an asterisk next to it if you feel the need. Then make a little legend at the bottom of the attendence sheet stating that Little Susie or Fat Johnny must have racist parents because they were absent the day The President of the United States gave a rah-rah speech. Ridicule them at every turn. Make sure the kids who WERE there ridicule them as well. That's the way to do it alright.

Fuck 'em for what their parents think. I get ya.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

26. I meant about the speech itself.

The other day you were channeling these crazy racist nutjobs.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=6449865

[cherokeeprogressive]

27. Sometimes I agree with you, other times you really make me laugh.

Channeling racist nutjobs, crazy or not, was not what I was attempting to do. At some point, someone has to try and bridge this divide that you seem to delight in fostering. Someone has to reach out to those on the other side of the aisle, whom I refuse to classify in a general way as "crazy racist nutjobs", and try to bring them out of the darkness, back to the side of light. It seems to be the politically astute thing to do, and would instantly allow him and those who speak for him to get off of the defensive, and back onto the message that ADULTS of voting age need to hear.

It's obvious to me that with the numbers in hand, looking at the disparity of seats in the Senate and House, we have/had a mandate. But, it seems, that mandate isn't enough for us to carry the day. Whether or not it's due to a lack of leadership on our side of the aisle I can't say. But I know that it's seeming more and more each day that getting re-elected is more important than stepping up to the plate and voting their conscience. If it were me, I'd give up my seat willingly if in the history books I could be counted as one of those who made good things happen. With more of them on OUR side, we can/will be capable of so much more.

Tell me what's so wrong with trying to placate those who are so adamantly against any kind of change by throwing them a bone once in a while? Would it hurt to give them the text of the speech that President Obama is going to make, so as to make their objections seem nothing more than silly? Would it hurt to do something that would make them drop their objections like a hot potato? Because I'll guarantee you this: If it were obvious that President Obama was going to give a rah-rah speech to the children in public schools that was absolutely devoid of political content, they'd have nary a leg to stand on.

Maybe you missed the part of my post you linked to where I said I'd wholeheartedly support a "Welcome Back to School" speech to schoolchildren EVERY YEAR when they went back to school, were it not politically motivated and intended to do nothing more than tell them what we as adults expect of them on their way to becoming productive citizens.

I have two questions for you. First, President Obama is going to be addressing students who range in age from five to 18+. Do you think it possible that he'll be able to reach into the collective mind of every age group using the same words to address all of them? Second, what odds do you give that during his speech he'll speak the term "health care" or "labor union"? 1 to 1, 10 to 1, 50 to 1, 100 to 1, or 1000 to 1?

[1Hippiechick]

32. Agreed - keep it black and white (some irony here), according to the system's rules re absences.

[Swamp Rat]

3. Pop quiz, worth 11% of final grade.

:D

[PADemD]

16. Good One, Swampy! n/t

[WillowTree]

19. Right. Penalize the kid for the parent's decision. That'll teach 'em.

[Swamp Rat]

21. HAA!! HAA!!1

[waiting for hope]

4. Sorry - none of those answers would be

taken seriously by any school board as appropriate behavior from the teacher, expect the first. It should be taken as an absence and that would be all to it. No need to punish the child for having short sighted parents.

[sam sarrha]

5. cut all day for a 1/2 hr speach..? just go stand in the hall or go play on the swings

[me b zola]

10. Other

The next day of school I would teach the children about the busing boycotts of the 1970's. How white parents were so afraid of black children attending their school they kept their children out one day in protest. Now, 30 years later, most of those parents would be too ashamed to admit what they did and that they had acted out of racism and fear.

Yup, I may alter my entire social studies course for the year.

[Hoopla Phil]

12. She should follow the school police as for any other absence. N/T

[krabigirl]

14. Give the kids an unexcused absence.

[rucky]

15. It counts as an absence & they have to make up any assignments.

Just like any other day they'd miss.

[skier_]

25. Such as watching the speech

and if not, failing.

[cherokeeprogressive]

28. So you as a teacher would somehow justify failing a student in a quarter, semester, or year long

class due to their having missed a single day of school, and then in the future failing to watch a recording of a television broadcast shown on the day(s)they missed?

If you did that to my kid, I'd so far up your principal's nose that he'd never be able to look you in the eye again without seeing me first. I'd sue him, and your school district's Superintendant. Then I'd sue your district's school board. I'd sue you too. In the end, it would be financially impossible for your district to keep you in the classroom simply because of the legal fees I'd subject it to. I'd dominate every meeting of your district's school board, to the point of being asked to leave, then I'd be back the next month.

Fuck with my kid's future over a missed television broadcast? I think not. As a former teacher, I know the lawyers, I know the law, and I know how much administrators such as principals, superintendants, and school board members hate to be questioned in a legal sense, not to mention how much they hate to be made to look bad in the public arena.

[EndersDame]

17. I can just hear cartman say "but mom... I dont wanna be a socialist can I stay home today?"

I wonder if some crafty kids are going to try to use a socialist excuse

[NYC_SKP]

18. Discuss with entire class the following day. Read text of address to kids.

Technically the prevention is from letting kids watch the POTUS, not hearing what he had to say.

:patriot:

[TexasObserver]

20. let it go

The kids are not involved in the decision making in this, and should not be made to feel any discomfort because of it. If parents want to keep their kids out, so be it. Let peer pressure do its thing.

[moriah]

22. Friend of mine posted on his Facebook that he's keeping his kid at home that day...

I wrote:

"Your choice, and as I don't have kids I'm not affected by this, but I am afraid a lot of people are overreacting to a "stay in school, school is cool" message. Now, if he starts preaching about health care on the webcast, I'll eat these words."

I don't think I'll be eating my words.

[donheld]

23. Do not punish the children for the stupidity of their parents

They'll suffer enough at home. She might, the next day, summarize what the President said.

[BlooInBloo]

24. (shrug) Tell all the kids where to go on youtube to see it the day before. Problem solved.

[armyowalgreens]

29. Who honestly gives that much of a shit? Are we really going to fuck with the kids now?

Just fucking let it go.

[Taitertots]

30. PIZZA PARTY for all the children who sit through the speech

Don't be an ass to the children of idiots. Be a god to the children of saints.

[proud2BlibKansan]

31. T r u a n c y

Too late to edit. But in a post about education, spelling matters :)