My sons 7th grade teacher didnt show Obama's Back To School Speech

[BadDog40]

When my 12 year old got home from school today I asked him if he saw Obama's speech, he said no, he didnt know anything about it. I emailed the principal asking him who's decision this was and why. He responded back immediately that 'This was left up to individual teachers to show the speech in their
classrooms. We have TVs in all classrooms.' I then called the school and got the teacher on the phone and asked her why she made that decision and without a word she hung up on me!

Should I push this issue? I really doubt there is much I can do without embarrassing my kid or completely taking him out of school but do I really want my kid being taught by a nutjob? I didnt get a chance to tell her my name or my sons name so at this point I'm anonymous to her. Any thoughts?

[WillParkinson]

1. Yes, definitely...

You have the right to know why the teacher made the decision she did.

On edit: I'd also call the principal back and let him know of the situation. What the teacher did is wrong and beyond rude.

[LiberalFighter]

2. I would at least inform the principal of her rude response.

[davidinalameda]

3. I'd get the principal on the phone again

and ask for a meeting with the teacher

I'd want to know why she didn't show the speech

[Cha]

7. Definetly..especially since she

hung up on the OP.

[davidinalameda]

14. hanging up on a parent is just something a teacher does not do

[iamthebandfanman]

25. exactly..

and you dont even have to be forceful or mean about it when calling to say what happened...

just repeat the conversation and what happened

then ask if thered be a reason shed do such a thing..

you know, be as polite as possible ..

then id ask if this was going to effect my child ;)

[Brickbat]

43. The teacher didn't know the caller was a parent.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. I'd follow up on it.

[baldguy]

5. Yes. The teacher has no business bringing her politics into the classroom.

[BadDog40]

6. This was in Longmont, Colorado BTW

[FoxNewsSucks]

8. You absolutely should, for 2 reasons

First, because it's bullshit that a presidential speech to encourage students was banned from her classroom. Even if she hates Obama (obviously) she should have aired the speech, then led a discussion of it. Think she'd have banned any of the lying criminal Bush bastard's lie-filled speeches?

Second, because I can guarantee that the principal is hearing from every single one of the crazy tea Baggers whose unfortunate children were "forced to sit through the indoctrination". All of them. Do you really want the school's administration hearing objections ONLY from the far right loons?

There needs to be more objection from those who oppose that kind of political censorship.

BTW, hanging up on you shows that she does know she was wrong, and that she is a coward.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

9. Absolutely!! Then tell the principle that she hung up on you! You are the mother. You deserve

an explanation!!!!!

[WorseBeforeBetter]

10. You managed to get the teacher on the phone? Hmm.

Did you know about the speech in advance? If so, I'm surprised you didn't mention it to your son. In this case it might have been a good idea to have been pro-active with the school, making sure the speech would be shown, or that your son could join in another classroom that was showing it.

[keopeli]

16. Why are you attacking the OP? It's not a mother's job to make sure...

...teachers do the right thing before they happen, especially since this is the beginning of the school year. The question was what to do now, not what should have been done differently.

I also don't understand the comment, "You got the teacher on the phone? hmm"

[WorseBeforeBetter]

18. Why do you assume the OPer is a "mother"?

The profile says "male."

Attack? LOL Hardly. I'm not buying the OP, especially when it claims that a principal, on a busy school day, has time to respond to an e-mail "immediately." And considering the bullshit that went on last year when Obama addressed school kids, you'd think parents, particularly Democratic parents, might be a little more on top of it this year.

And speaking of the OPer, where is he? Last seen about 6 minutes after his initial post...

[BadDog40]

20. I really dont know what to say to people like you

Its this kind of stuff that kept me away from this place so long. But just to humor you, this took place AFTER school, do ya get it?

[WorseBeforeBetter]

23. Ah, welcome back.

So, others have offered advice to you, what do you plan on doing? Be sure to post a follow-up; I imagine folks are curious.

[jillan]

11. Yes - you should definitely bug her about this. Ask her if she showed Bush when he addressed the

students, and if so, ask her what right she has to impose her partisanship on 7th graders?

[Iwillnevergiveup]

12. It's the old

2 wrongs don't make a right.

The teacher was waaaaay out of line. Perhaps schedule an appointment with her to ask about the (no) speech showing and then drop by the principal's office to report both of your encounters. Maybe ask what the school policy was in case the teacher tries to hide behind that.

Whatta bumber!

[Tesha]

13. Call the Principal and discuss...

1) The main issue (not showing the speech), *AND*

2) The fact that the teacher, without a word, hung up on you.

That second point shows exceptionally bad judgement
on the part of the teacher.

If you don't get satisfaction from the teacher,
escalate to the Superintendent of Schools. If that
fails, escalate to the School Board/Board of Edu-
cation.

Tesha

[Raine1967]

15. call the principle back and tell him that

the teacher hung up on you.

Then ask the principal who is going to be held responsible for not answering a taxpayers question.

[rpannier]

17. I'd call the principal about being hung-up on

Beyond that, they left it up to the teacher.
If it was a Social Studies teacher, I'd pursue it more.
If she teaches English or Math, she can always claim it's not appropriate to the subject matter
As an earlier poster mentioned -- Did she show DUMB-ya's?
If she didn't -- then she's consistent

[woo me with science]

34. +1 Good answer. nt

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

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[Hansel]

29. That's quite the assumption.

Wouldn't it be better to ask the OP what they said before jumping to this conclusion?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

30. Obviously, because she's a dirty liberal, and if X is a liberal, and Y is a flaw of character...

Then X has Y, and if you disagree with that you hate America, Jesus, and Apple Pie, and love Obama, which is saying the same thing with other words!!!!111(biblepi/3)11!!!

[Rebubula]

33. Agreed.

There is more to this story than we are hearing....as always.

I simply cannot see a time where a teacher will hang up on a parent for just asking a question. I suspect the call began in an accusatory tone.

However, if all that occurred is accurate - then a meeting with the teacher and the Principal is warranted

[renate]

21. I would guess that if you went to the principal...

... and said that, because your son is going to be in this teacher's classroom for an entire school year, you'd rather remain anonymous at least until he talked to her about it and got her side of the story, the principal would understand.

If anonymity isn't possible, it may not be worth pursuing. We all have to deal with right wing nutjobs from time to time and as long as she's a fair teacher in other ways (doesn't bring her politics into the classroom at any other time, etc), it's not the worst thing in the world. After all, she was given the choice of whether to show it or not. By choosing not to, she was exercising an option she'd been freely given.

In fact... hmmm. If the principal was the one who gave teachers that choice, maybe taking your concerns to an assistant principal might be better. (Somebody needs to tell her it's not okay to just hang up on a parent.)

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

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[boppers]

24. Welcome to DU!

Interesting visual, cowboy.

[iamthebandfanman]

26. id definitely speak to the principle again (and heres what id do)

just tell him/her what happened and that youre concerned any kind of misunderstanding between the two of you might have a negative impact on your child thats in the classroom.

tell him/her youd like to speak to her again with him/her around to find out what you did to upset her.

;)

be as polite as possible , thats the main thing

[jberryhill]

27. I guess it could depend on the teacher's lesson plan

There could be a reason having nothing to do with politics.

There's certainly no obligation for any particular teacher to use their limited time with a class to basically give them a free period. She might just be really dedicated to teaching Spanish class instead of having a speech about working hard in school. Maybe she thinks her students are already sufficiently motivated.

[Mimosa]

28. I think there's something creepy about showing President's speeches in class

I went to both parochial and public schools in the mid 50s through the 1960s.Never once was there a reason for a sitting president's speech to be broadcast at the beginning of the school year.

I imagine in China the kiddies had to listen to a back to school address by Dear Leader during the Cultural Revolution. And I'm fairly certain in dictatorships the schools are made to focus on 'El Presidente'.

But I don't think it works in America.

If you doubt me, who the heck would have wanted their kids subjected to a mandatory speech by President Nixon or President Reagan?

[Lilyeye]

36. Daddy Bush did a back to school speech and there was no outrage.

[jberryhill]

38. I can see that point

On the other hand, so little is done to engage children as citizens.

So, I can see where it is important for school kids to know "you are an important part of this country, and worth the president's time and attention"; and I can also understand the concern about "Dear Leader" optics.

[cry baby]

31. yes absolutely! please report back to us what the principal said. nt

[ensho]

32. PUSH!

don't let the teacher get away with poor teaching.

make the principal get a spine.

[woo me with science]

35. I would call about being hung up on.

I don't have a problem with teacher discretion about using class time for a "welcome back to school" speech in the seventh grade.

To me that is very different from advertising an opt-out when, say, a whole elementary school is watching, as though the President is going to say something dangerous or controversial.

[Lilyeye]

37. That teacher was rude and unprofessional.

She should not get away with hanging up on you.

[Brickbat]

39. Not showing the speech means the teacher is a nutjob?

Huh.

[Uzybone]

41. hanging up on a parent without an answer shows she is a nutjob

or is that more good teaching?

[Brickbat]

42. If I were a teacher who, at the end of the day, got a phone call from someone who didn't identify

himself as the father of a student, or even introduced himself at all, and who asked immediately asked me why I didn't interrupt my class time to show a speech, I just might hang up on him, too.

[Uzybone]

45. then you'd be a shitty teacher

I'd expect better service from my satellite company call center.

[Brickbat]

46. So...not putting up with an anonymous, blaming phone call = bad customer service = shitty teacher.

Got it.

[otohara]

40. Grrrrrr....I'd Raise Hell

How dare she hang up on you -

[lynne]

44. Think I'd call her back first - benefit of the doubt and all that -

- just in case it wasn't an intentional hang-up. Did she accidentally hit a wrong button on the phone? Was the school phone system having problems? Since she didn't know who you were she had no way to call you back if the hang-up was accidental or a technical issue.

I'd give her a chance to explain the disconnect and proceed from there. However, my son's school system didn't show it to any of the schools last year due to the timing as it was conflicting with the class rotation schedules. Don't know about this year as he has since graduated but sometimes there's a valid reason.

[budkin]

47. Call the principal back right away

[southernyankeebelle]

48. I would have demanded an apologe from the teacher who hung up. My

husband had that happen to him and he called to ask to speak to the principal and they transferred him to the counselors office. She got on the phone and tried to talk with him and boy he told her to transfer him back to the principal's office or he would come down in person to see the principal. Needless to say the principal got on the phone and my husband told her that our son's teacher hung up on him and he didn't feel it was right and he excepted an apology. The teacher was an old woman who should have retired a long time ago. She liked her booze. She was older than dirt and they kept her because daddy was important at one time in the town. She was awful. There was only 2 weeks left of school and I pulled him out of her class. The other teachers were very embrassed by her. She was fine if you were a favorite or an "a" student. She couldn't deal with kids who had learning problems.