POLL: Clark County Today asks if educators who publicly express this type of a bias toward students and members of the community should be allowed to work in public schools?
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Not a fan cancel culture. However, the moment they say anything in the classroom that support these vile comments then they should be fired. Teachers are civil servant there to educate. If they preach there views instead of teach the curriculum then they can just quit or be replaced
They should not be allowed to be on the school board either. No student should know what their teachers personal opinion is on healthcare, gender, politics or religion. Teachers need to make kids feel safe, not divided. Just teach.
People should be free, on their own time, to express what ever misguided thoughts they may have. It is vile to wish someone’s passing but many people do many vile things, and educators should be hired and fired based on their performance with students. Our education system has tended to lose focus on that single most important performance measure. We tend to focus on the noise of the day who could blame an educator for getting caught up in the bias of the day. We however do not hire them for their opinions we hire them to teach, I hope the above people are good at it, and keep their classroom focused on the subject they teach! I am certain Evergreen and Battleground don’t have courses on those topics!
I disagree. Only because when a “public” employee espouses such views not in general, but directly towards those charged to protect and teach, that crosses a line. Let’s not forget that teachers are mandated reporters, meaning they are also expected to look out for their students and when they articulate that they are okay with their death and advocate to also block access to their healthcare… way too far.
Do I think the words are a little harsh? Yes. Do I think they’re wrong? No. People, including school directors, are tired of having to work around selfish “adults”. They’re expected to care for peoples children and their education, but are met with parents who won’t meet them halfway. Public school is a privilege, not a right. And if they’re not willing to abide by society and public standards. Put your kid in private school.
As long as my tax dollars go towards public school funds, it is absolutely a right my children have to attend.
How is public school a privilege and not a right? In the United States, school is a right for any kid in the district they live in…..
You are one sick puppy… well raised in the public school totalitarian fashion of the day.
Public schools are funded by our tax dollars. It’s not a privilege it’s our American right to send our children to a public schools. A lot of us parent s volunteer our time to help in the classrooms when we’re not working. People like you, are the problem! We do not send our kids to “public school” for them to be brainwashed by theirs teachers ideology, we send them their to get an education.
Who’s brainwashing? Too much far right news networks lady.
Not everything is about politics unless you are an extreme leftist
Skyler: Public school is paid for by taxpayers, including the parents. Thus, schools are NOT a privilege, but ARE a RIGHT. Ultimately, the taxpayers elect a school board that is supposed to reflect the interest of those who pay for the schools (including parents and non-parent tax payers). Unfortunately, between the teacher unions who extract dues from teachers (in many cases with minimal oversight from union members) and a voter lack-of-knowledge about candidates for school board, we end up with union dominated boards that do NOT work in the best interest of taxpayers, parents, or students.
There is so much wrong with all of this I don’t even know where to begin but I’ll try my best! First of all, people actually defending this and saying send your child to private school, fine I’d love to pull my 3 kids. I’ve done once and I can do it again. However, I want the 10 grand the school gets per kid and I GET TO DECIDE where that money goes. I get the choice of where my tax dollars go. You all want to turn public school into a political game, where actual learning of reading, writing and arithmetic takes a back seat to your political agenda. Let it be so. But you don’t get the funding. You all that are agreeing with this need to take a deep look into your soul. Absolutely disgusting to wish death on anyone. Can’t believe this is where we send our children to be in the trust of sick people like this.
We need to disclose who these teachers are and call them out for what they do. It is a glimpse into their twisted angry minds. Don’t let your children be indoctrinated by these cancel culture puppets. Let’s take our schools and communities back.
So we fight the cancel culture puppets by….. cancelling them?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irony
The Cyborg doesn’t get it. He’s a mindless robot.
Would it make a difference on your vote if it were your child’s teacher? This teacher taught my daughter. She teaches in an elementary school. I have pulled my children from the district because there is more and more like this and political agendas that are allowed and encouraged to be shared with students. Not okay.
When a cop kills an unarmed suspect we get to hear about how “most cops are good people, just one bad apple”. When a few teachers express their opinions, as repugnant as they are, it’s “teachers are terrible”. There are over 2,100 teachers in the ESD and BGSD combined, have some perspective.
Jack – unfortunately, there are too many employees of BGSD that share the same opinion as the “educator” and are not afraid to tell everyone.
Have you polled them all? There are 700+ teachers in BGSD, how many do you know personally? I don’t even see how the BGSD comment is considered on the same level as the ESD comments, to be honest. It says “this is public school if you don’t like it, do your own thing.” I mean there are going to be non-bible reading, nonwhite, non-heterosexual individuals in a public school setting… it’s unavoidable as much as some would prefer to avoid it. And are the quotation marks around “educator” meant to signify that nonwhite, nonheterosexual, nonChristian people can’t be educators? BGSD is a unique place to work from what I understand. The homogenous communities in North Clark County differ greatly from the more diverse communities in the southern part of the district… is the supposed anti-cancel culture audience of CCT saying that a teacher should be fired for having opinions? I get the pearl clutching over the ESD comments, though I believe private conversations should be allowed to occur. The BGSD comments are a big nothingburger as far as I can tell… we regularly see worse comments against teachers right here on Clark County Today. If teachers can’t have opinions on their communities, what about doctors? Mechanics? Accountants? Keep in mind none of this occurred in the classroom. Should a high school science teacher that advocates for creationism outside of work hours also be fired? Or an American History teacher that implies that racism exists? Or a teacher that advocates for their LGBTQ+ students? Are teachers ever allowed to be private citizens? All this nonsense about indoctrination is laughable. Students spend a very limited amount of time with specific teachers… if that overcomes what they learn at home that’s more of a reflection on what they learn (or don’t) at home. And that’s assuming that teachers are out to indoctrinate children, which I wholeheartedly disagree with. I was taught that the civil war was about states’ rights, that Mark Twain was evil because he used naughty words in his writing, and that racism ended with the Civil Rights movement. Maybe I was indoctrinated. Teachers are people that care about kids and education… why else would they put up with all the negative crap that people that have never taught a day in their life toss at them?
If you support those 2100+educators then you not only owe exposing the “Bad Apples” to the public but also to their fellow workers.
Wow, obviously they should not be expecting children to feel the same way about the things they are talking about. These teachers are discriminating against innocent children. Appalling.
I can only imagine how frustrating it must be for a teacher to risk their life going into the classroom to teach our children, when their students’ families refuse to be vaccinated. Even more scary if the teacher has vulnerable family members who can’t be vaccinated or have poor response to vaccines.
If this teacher expresses their frustration out of the classroom, it’s fine.
Ahh. Must be a wonderful thing to feel morally superior.
That’s what this all boils down to.
“I think this way so I am a good person and you don’t so you’re a bad person”
Well, these bad people don’t care about you’re opinion and most certainly wouldn’t wish death upon you for it.
Maybe someday these “good” people’s dreams will come true and the world will be filled with robots who are programmed to think in such a way.
Oh wait…we’re pretty close aren’t we?
Freedom of choice should not be based on topic. You protect you and yours, I protect me and mine.
Aren’t the people that are calling for teachers to be fired for having personal opinions the one’s that are claiming moral superiority? “You’re opinion is wrong, you should be fired.”
Oh Jack ….I don’t think you get the gravitas of the situation. We are talking about our children here not a Starbucks barista posting on Facebook about personal opinions but people who are interacting and influencing our children on a daily basis, their teachers . Do you see the significance now of keeping your opinions to yourself when a teacher ?
Actually I don’t. As I said, I get the pearl clutching over the ESD comments. But the BGSD comments were clearly about some parents. I agree teachers have to accept, teach, and protect all students. Do teachers have to accept and support everything parents say and do? Since teachers aren’t allowed to have opinions, are they allowed to vote? They might vote for the wrong person, you know. Can they volunteer? If they volunteer somewhere that supports the LGBTQ+ community many community members will be upset. Can they help students apply for scholarships? If they help a girl apply for a college scholarship that could get them in trouble. Can they march for causes they believe in? Can they go to a nonChristian church? Where does it end?
I could be a parent that believes we should have creationism only “science”, no human biology whatsoever, no books with naughty words or real life situations, no giving my daughter any ideas about college, and America has never done anything wrong history and I make sure everyone knows how I feel. A teacher can’t be frustrated by that? Even if a teacher thinks I’m an a**hole, I believe they can still teach my kid to multiply fractions. Talk to your kids, I’ve tried it and it works. If something comes up that troubles you, talk to your kid’s teacher… I’ve also tried this and it works. Living in the world means interacting with people that look, act, and think differently than you. Many parents aren’t comfortable with that and that is their right. But stop with telling me that a teacher that gets frustrated with some parents isn’t qualified to teach.
Jack, I’m of an age where I went through school and college and only had the vaguest inkling about the political/social opinions of my teachers and professors. (In college I was engaged in getting a business degree, which tended to have minimal politics associated with it.) Once upon a time, teachers and professors prided themselves on introducing ideas and allowing classes to debate them, etc. For the most part the teachers did not attempt to “tilt” the arguments nor downgrade students based on their opinions.
Note: in 9th grade English (1960, in CA), our class was assigned to write a paper pro or con “capital punishment”. Nearly everyone in the class was “against” the proposition. After the papers were turned in, we were to hold a “debate” in class, with two students, one on each side of the question.(The rest of the class would “score” the debate.) Since there were an insufficient number of “pro” students, I was arbitrarily assigned to make the “pro” argument. I won the debate. My “con” paper was then downgraded “because you didn’t adequately rebut the (successful) arguments I made during the debate.” (I felt seriously maligned by that teacher as my paper was no worse than any of the others who got better grades.)
CCToday is MISREPRESENTING facts. It was NOT said in a classroom – this opinion was expressed to adults during personal, off-duty time. CCToday is using screenshots that the far right group called Washougal Moms aired first, on their telegram account, used for a toxic doxxing & bullying of a Camas family. Isn’t now CCToday effectively doing the same? Besides my first sentence, here are a few more facts:
(1) All of us, including teachers can express our opinions borne of understandable pandemic frustrations at these community hurting covid deniers, who have been refusing to do their part through this whole pandemic. We have all now lost family & friends to covid. Now, starting to see our kids getting sick is over-flowing our trauma, coming out in sharply worded opinions,
(2) That teachers are also parents & need to be able to discuss what effects them as parents too.
(3) Nobody is their job 24/7, should be allowed to be private individuals and on their private FB page.
(4) Far right CCToday’s blog writers have often shown a vendetta against public school teachers in general. So, this highly inappropriate piece is no surprise. After all :::
(5) CCToday’s, far right politicians who write the blogs, incessantly complain about teacher pay, gripe about their right to collective bargaining as needed AND YET – they, as far right, also expect teachers to take bullets in school shootings (vs discussing gun control) and all through the pandemic, they have expected teachers & their families to be fine with them dying in a pandemic – as they sit there denying covid, against pandemic safety protocols, bullying districts to ignore public health mandates. And now, upon all these burdens far right CCToday also want teachers to be in their job-role 24/7 today and deny them the right to express opinions in their off-duty times with other adults and friends.
Show me where we indicated the comments were made in the classroom and I will correct that immediately. We absolutely are not representing that. We even provided the screen grab that shows the comments were made on social media. … Editor Ken Vance
Well you see the comments don’t you? This was clearly said in a private capacity. Yet many on here are speaking like this is something these teachers are preaching to the kids they teach. You definitely haven’t clarified anything. The teachers opinions have nothing to do with what they are required to teach. Why don’t you disclose where you got the screenshots as well for full transparency. If it’s true it came from a Far right parents group, I’d like to know that. I’m pretty sure you’ll just continue with articles that divide people even more. That’s the interesting stuff that gets the clicks correct?
I feel sorry for Denny Waters, the new Superintendent of BGSD. On the job only 6 weeks and has to deal with this. I wonder what the odds are now for the November levy to pass, especially after the “educator’s” comment on social media?
To be fair, what are the odds of a BGSD levy ever passing? I’ve only lived in Clark County for 15 or so years, but the BGSD community reminds me a lot of my Eastern Washington childhood home… you can’t force a community to value students, education, or teachers.
This is a coaching opportunity to me.
while their post is thoughtless, it’s an opinion and they are allowed to have that opinion however classless it is to share it publicly. However, if they treat a child or parent differently as a result of their opinions after being coached, that to me is a clear answer that public service just may not be the best fit for them. Let’s be honest- being an educator and possibly bringing this illness home is scary and scared people do and say stupid things. This is a human moment. Let’s be humans about this and coach with empathy before we move to extremes.
Can anyone explain how wanting people to die is an opinion that should be handled gently? I mean come on! Wishing death in anyone is just not ok and is grounds for dismissal.
When you start wishing death on a group of people that is no longer “just and opinion”.
It is their right to make these comments. As it is my right to disagree. I don’t think the employees that made these statements would or could simply “hide” their bias in a school classroom. Nor, could they separate their personal views from their workplace. That is obvious. Look at the atmosphere our children are subjected to each day in public classrooms around the country. It seems that they represent “Education and Indoctrination” in a general sense and as a whole. This is what has become of public education. Taxpayers have a decision to make. Taxpayers should have the right to pull their portion of Education Funding when they elect to have their children educated by a different source, home schooling, private etc. For an individual to declare they have the right to demand or bully anyone with regard to a vaccine, demonstrates a lack of basic respect. We have personal freedoms that really are not up for discussion. It’s really such a loss. Education has been watered down for decades. My teachers, during my high school years which was 48 years ago, the 70’s. They certainly had their opinions regarding government, politics, civics, history. However, I never felt shamed or strong armed by them to think their way. We were taught to think critically and how to debate or discuss issues with mutual respect of each other intact. I never lost a friend or family member because I didn’t think the way they did. But now, this happens everyday. We have lost our compass. There was a saying high school kids had back in the day, “Question Authority” and as our future plays out before us, I think I will adopt an old philosophy.
Yes everything was better when we were kids. We could torment kids in special education, or that were poor, or that were a different color and no adults would step in. We could harass our female classmates and it was just “boys being boys”. There was no knowledge or expectation for teachers to acknowledge or assist a student’s mental health. And worst of all, when we did do something that crossed the line parent accepted that their student wasn’t perfect and didn’t blame everyone other than the student. Yeah the good old days. Now get off my lawn.
Well written and I agree 😊
This isn’t “bias”, it’s selfish hatred. Frightening that they’re influencing children at all.
It is long past the time when public funding of education should be “attached” to the students. Whose parents may then select whatever school (public, charter, or private/religious) in whatever location they choose to select. The primary “problem” of public schools is that they operate without the discipline of competition (since everyone pays taxes to support them). Having owned a small business, I can assure you that competition and the possibility of going out of business can focus the mind to find ways to “satisfy the customer.” Schools have the luxury of delivering deficient services with insignificant competition to create a culture of quality meanwhile parents often feel overwhelmed in trying to “fight the system” as it exists. (There’s also a tendency to “deplore schools in general” but (assume) that “my” school/teacher(s) are somehow an exception.)
How have we allowed our educational system to prescribe to this culture? How did we permit it to reach this level? I remember the names of all my teachers and gave them the respect I was taught by my parents. WE MUST ELIMINATE TENURE within the educational system and terminate teachers that are espousing this garbage to our youth. Damn the union! Let them Strike! Let them Sue! These children are the future of our great country. It is time we the people stop assuming that these people will do what’s best for our children. Run for a position on the School Board. MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!.