<p>This article is crazy disturbing and I can't imagine being in this parent's place. Make sure you watch the video. The words in the article don't give the tone of the voices justice. How are these women still teaching?</p>
<p>It is horrible how this boy was treated. I don’t understand why they are allowed to keep their jobs. Special Ed teachers had a tough job, but this is unacceptable. I applaud this father for watching out for his son.</p>
<p>Isn’t NJ one of the states with all (too?)-powerful teacher unions? If Cherry Hill had a “rubber room” like NYC, this is probably where the teacher (and assistant) would have been sent. Full pay + bennies while they sit and do…whatever they want!</p>
<p>^^^ Yes, the teacher’s union is powerful and that’s why so many teachers loathe our governor .
Terrible story , but very important that it came out and why policies need to change with regard to tenure</p>
<p>I subbed many times in a school district with union teachers and union aides. I was often in classrooms with autistic children, from pre-k through high school. Never once did I see or hear anything less than professional. It was not the fault of unions that this behavior happened … it was the fault of the individuals who are absolutely not fit to be in a classroom. It was not the fault of the unions that this behavior was allowed happen and to thrive … where is the principal?? Where are the other teachers? My guess is that this is not the only thing wrong in this school.</p>
<p>My oldest son has Asperger’s. Throughout elementary school, he attended a private school that had very loving, understandable teachers. But he was ready to transition out of that close environment. He then went to our public middle school. My son is/was a gifted kid, but because the school system was worried about him and worried about his stress level and homework demands, they placed him in a remedial classroom. In that first year, his English teacher used to yell at the kids all the time. He knew what was coming when the teacher went to close the door. He’d tell me about this, and I figured he was “just being overly sensitive”. Now that I see this video, I realize he was telling the truth.</p>
<p>He also used to tell me about being bullied in the hallways. My suggestion was to talk to the teachers, but apparently that never made any difference. I’m certain now, with zero tolerance, that kind of and amount of bullying would never happen now. Sadly, my son didn’t have the benefit back then.</p>
<p>I have aspergers and that is just terrible. Does anyone care anymore? Some people shouldn’t teach, simple as that.</p>
<p>Limabeans, I was the opposite. The teachers at my school didn’t give a flying pig if i got good grades or not. I was placed in a “remedail” class and the teacher wasn’t that good. After i failed the sixth grade for the first time, we moved states and i went to a k-8th school with about 30 kids in it (might have well just have been private due to the number :)) and i finally got what i needed.</p>
<p>Teachers, especially those who teach large numbers (the school i failed at had about 35 kids per class), do not take the time and generally do anything just to get the class along. If that means shouting, so be it.</p>
<p>Its a shame such things happen.</p>
<p>My D was in the GT program at her elementary school–was admitted in 4th grade when they were shocked to learn that she consistently scored top 99%tile in nearly all standardized tests. After a few weeks there, she tearfully informed us & the principal that she had to withdraw from the class. When prodded she admitted to the principal it was because the “teacher” would scream and yell at the kids EVERY DAY and make them cry. She found it too emotionally draining and exhausting to be around that daily. To the principal’s credit, she did counsel that teacher and was eventually able to get her to transfer out of that school. That woman should NEVER have been allowed to be a teacher or be unsupervised around children but she had tenure. <sigh> That was why the prior principal made her the GT teacher so no group of kids would have to have her all day for the entire school year. Don’t know what happened to her but hope she got out of the education profession.</sigh></p>
<p>I think it is a huge red flag when a teacher can be abusive and no other adult in the building is aware of it (or if aware, does anything about it). No adult should ever be so isolated that no one else knows when things go terribly wrong. And if others know and do nothing … even worse. Tenure is not God … those who abuse their position can be fired, despite tenure … but someone in charge has to stand up to the teacher and document what is going on. If it takes a village, it CERTAINLY takes the other adults in the school.</p>
<p>I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who is a long term sub / aide in a classroom of pre-schoolers ( public school ) She has been struggling with the abuse of the teacher towards not only one , but many of the children. She said the woman is just a bully and she has been talking to the principal about it. While she has what she describes as pages of documentation , I can’t help but wonder why more isn’t being done about this.
And she also fears that her speaking up about it will put her job at risk</p>
<p>How incredibly sad that keeping a job is more important than the welfare of a child. What’s worse is that anyone has to be in that position in the first place.</p>
<p>There are more of these terrible incidents than we want to admit. I simply could not convince the principal of my son’s elementary school that, despite her insistance that bullying could not possibly exist in the wonderful supportive school that she led, my son had experiences that he interpreted as intimidating. And that was far less than what this child experienced.</p>
<p>the father here was doing a bit of drama-queening. but i didn’t hear the entire 6 hours, obviously. these ‘aides’ deal with a lot of behaviors, all day, everyday. for very little compensation. not a job i’d want at all. this snapshot of this kid’s day speaks to the importance of paying people adequately for the work they do. from what i understand, a lot of these aides aren’t even properly trained. they’re just basically thrown into the classroom on a sink-or-swim basis. that’s not fair to the employee, the children, or the parents.</p>
<p>" How incredibly sad that keeping a job is more important than the welfare of a child. What’s worse is that anyone has to be in that position in the first place. "</p>
<p>I’m not sure if that was in response to my post , but this isn’t the case with my friend. She is in direct contact with the principal and admin and trying to protect these children from the teacher.</p>
<p>My youngest had a horribly mean 1st grade teacher. We went thru hell that year and the principal and superintendant did NOTHING about the teacher that they knew had many complaints about. Clearly they protected her above the children for many years before she finally retired</p>
<p>Institutional inertia is responsible for a lot of this. The kids and their parents come and go every year, but the colleagues and supervisors remain the same. It’s a lot of trouble to try to pry a bad teacher out of a position, and people don’t like trouble at work unless the payoff is worth it to them personally. There is little incentive on the part of the adults in the school to do anything about situations that aren’t actually physically abusive.</p>
<p>I think teachers are generally very decent people and most of them are dedicated to helping children, but every single school in the nation has its bad apples. As a parent, you have to work the system, be willing to go down and throw your weight around (politely of course; otherwise it’s counterproductive) and make sure your kid doesn’t fall through the cracks.</p>
<p>I’d also like to agree with Calimami that many people in care giving positions of all types are underpaid, undertrained, and underappreciated. As long as that’s true, this kind of behavior will continue to occur in schools, daycare, group homes, nursing homes, etc.</p>
<p>This is appalling. I’ve known some “mean” teachers–my first grade teacher would qualify–but nothing this bad. On the other hand, from what I’ve been reading, the administration at the school fired the people in question as soon as they received a copy of the tape (before it went public). And the actual teacher was apparently not in the classroom for at least an hour, which may have covered the period when this stuff was being said. She was in some kind of conference. She is defending herself against the accusations for that reason.</p>
<p>I work in a suburban public elementary school and there is absolutely no way anyone would tolerate this sort of thing, not an aide, not a janitor, not a principal, and certainly not another teacher. Only our high-spectrum autistic children are in a separate classroom; even then they have instruction in all the arts/PE, etc. as appropriate for their skill set. Most all of the many special needs kids are with their peers, and when that starts at K it has the most amazing effect on all of them. No <em>child</em> at our schools would tolerate this – they would tell on the teacher themselves if they heard it. It is not a union issue – it is a personal issue.</p>
<p>I’d also like to agree with Calimami that many people in care giving positions of all types are underpaid, undertrained, and underappreciated. As long as that’s true, this kind of behavior will continue to occur in schools, daycare, group homes, nursing homes, etc. </p>
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<p>I agree. All the more reason for those who care to make sure the bad ones are weeded out.</p>