FREEP The Maine Dept of Education

Here's the Commissioner of the Education Department:

COMMISSIONER: J. Duke Albanese duke.albanese@maine.gov 207-624- 6620

I notice their Public Relations spot is vacant.

Emailed the story along with others to Hume and he did the story last night. The story seems buried otherwise.

BTTT

Email Governor Baldacci here.

I emailed the Commish, and reminded him that calling students' parents "immoral" was both a hate crime and a matter of teaching religion in a public school. Hey, morality IS a matter of religion, isn't it? I asked that the teachers be fired.

I emailed the Gov ....

Dear Governor......
I was little girl during WWII, living in St. Louis, Mo near the corner of a
busy intersection where the busses and streetcars carried
servicemen/women on furlough, to and from the trains. Soldiers,
sailors, airmen, marines - of all rank - hundreds of them daily - walked past
our front steps. My little sister and I, when outdoors, would stand at
attention and salute as they passed. The salutes were returned... from
the young men and women (WACS & WAVES) we considered to be our
protectors. Those were proud moments, respectful moments, moments
mixed in with meat and sugar rations that a little girl doesn't forget.

I still see, in my minds eye, these brave dufflebag laden warriors
strolling past my front steps. Would you believe, at that young age, I
could tell by the expression on their faces if their furloughs were at
an end, or just beginning? And would you believe, I still get choked up
at the singing of the National Anthem at my grandson's basketball
games? I do. Denying our 'protectors' their right to vote - (2000) because
political operatives attempt to manipulate the outcome of an election -
was one of the most evil things I could imagine. But what some teachers
are doing to the children of military parents is even worse! You can do
something, if you choose, about the way those children are treated.

Grandma in Michigan

Children of Maine Guard unit taunted by teachers

By Robert Stacy McCain

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

February 27, 2003

EXCERPT

Members of the Maine National Guard, called up to prepare for an attack on Iraq, have asserted that their children are being harassed at school by teachers who oppose the war. Top Stories

• Guard members say their children are "coming home upset, depressed, crying," said Maj. Peter Rogers, a spokesman for the Maine National Guard. "This was based on some incidents that were happening in school, both in the classroom and on the playground."

In an e-mail sent to the parents of one child who had complained of harassment at school, National Guard officials said they had "over 30 complaints that name schools and individual principals, teachers and guidance counselors."

It was still not clear yesterday whether the state will discipline any of the named teachers or schools over the incidents.

"In Maine, local superintendents make local policy for local schools," said Tammy Morrill, assistant to J. Duke Albanese, state commissioner of education.

A "fact-gathering" process about the incidents is under way, Maj. Rogers said. The incidents involved students in elementary and middle schools, some as young as 7 years old, he said.

"What we're hearing is that some of the educators are talking about the possible war in Iraq being unethical and that those who would fight it are unethical," Maj. Rogers said.

The state commissioner of education has urged school officials to be more "sensitive" to military children.

"Recently it has been brought to our attention that some school personnel ... may have been less than sensitive to children of military families regarding our continued strained relations with Iraq," Mr. Albanese wrote in a letter sent Tuesday to all superintendents and principals in Maine.

"In some cases, parents — who are about to be deployed — have observed added stress and anxiety among their children who perceive a staff member or their peers as being insensitive to their beliefs and the potential danger to loved ones," Mr. Albanese wrote.

The commissioner said that, while supporting "the right to discuss controversial issues," he wanted "to remind school personnel ... that the families of military personnel need our sensitivity."

Other incidents, according to Mr. Albanese, involved a child who had requested to leave school early for a military-related activity and a student who was teased on a school bus because he has a parent in the military. Teachers across the country have tried to find proper ways to teach children about the war on terrorism. Last year, the National Education Association was criticized for posting a link to an online lesson plan for the September 11 anniversary recommending that teachers discuss "historical instances of American intolerance" so that America could avoid "repeating terrible mistakes."

STORY WASHINGTON TIMES

Following email received as a reply to my email to Maine governor:

"Maine State Governor John Baldacci spoke with reporters this afternoon and among the issues discussed were the national rumors that school teachers in Maine are being insensitive to the young school children of father's or mother's that have gone off to serve in the National Guard."

"The Governor was very clear that he is disappointed with the actions of a few insensitive school personnel. Since this story broke on Tuesday, he has been consulting daily with the Commissioner of Education and General Tinkham. On Tuesday an advisory was issued to the Superintendents and Principals of all Maine schools advising of these isolated incidents and reminding everyone that the emotional and physical safety of all Maine students is first and foremost on all our minds, particularly those who are directly affected by military service to our nation. The Governor noted there have been no further reports of any incidents since this memo went out."

"At the press conference, the Governor noted his disappointment with the actions of an isolated few, and that Maine people stand together as one in support of our nation's troops, of our National Guard, and the families of these brave men and women."

Lennie Mullen
Director of Constituent Services
Governor John E. Baldacci's Office
1 State House Station Augusta, ME 04333
(207) 287-3531

Rush covered this today. Very strongly! He said he'd keep an eye on it.

We should email our local conservative talkshow hosts.

the Governor noted his disappointment with the actions of an isolated few

That sounds like a confirmation to me.

On Tuesday an advisory was issued to the Superintendents and Principals of all Maine schools advising of these isolated incidents and reminding everyone that the emotional and physical safety of all Maine students is first and foremost on all our minds, particularly those who are directly affected by military service to our nation.

This from the self same educators who piously opined that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in classrooms after 9/11 might be too traumatic for little Muhammad's fragile ego. ID the traitors and send them to Gitmo where they'll fit in better.

Thanks for the update.

The WND article is stating it is now 600 kids, not just a handful like they are trying to make out! This was posted with the Wash Times article on this.

This is the mental equivalent of the anti-war protestors spitting, throwing urine and feces on our Military when they returned from Viet Nam.

Many of these children are just 7 & 8 years old!

These teachers couldn't get at the parents of the children to degrade so they mentally abused the children of the military men and women just doing their job.

This is MENTAL CHILD ABUSE

my email was sent this morning.

Rush reported Main's children's child abuse!

"The WND article is stating it is now 600 kids.."

Saturday, March 1, 2003

Schools here not harassing
Chief says no anti-war sentiments in classes

By DAN McGILLVRAY, Staff Writer

Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

AUGUSTA — CNN cable broadcasts this week that implied students of Maine National Guard soldiers in Augusta have been harassed are inaccurate, Superintendent Cornelia Brown said Friday.

"I think it's guilt by association. I think people assume (Augusta) is where the (parental) complaints originated," she said.

Because the CNN footage was filmed in Augusta and showed Buker Middle School and the State House dome in the background, Brown said viewers throughout the country may believe teachers here are guilty of taunting students.

An article in Thursday's Washington Times newspaper also put Maine and Camp Keyes —the Guard's statewide headquarters — in the spotlight. Talk show hosts and local television stations also have been airing news that claims some students in Maine have been subjected to harassing remarks by teachers because their parents have been deployed for military service in a possible war with Iraq.

Brown said no students or parents in Augusta have complained to School Department administrators about any incidents that involve inappropriate remarks by teachers because of the Guard's deployment. Units of the Guard in Bangor and Sanford this week reported to Fort Dix, N.J., for training.

Yet the CNN broadcast, which included comments by Principal Peter Washburn of Farrington Elementary School, has prompted telephone calls and electronic mail to the superintendent's office.

"We are very supportive of the students and are very sensitive to their needs. Our staff is very professional and care about the kids," said Brown.

No students or teachers at Buker, which is directly across from the Augusta State Armory, were interviewed and the CNN reporter never spoke with Brown. The footage that aired on the cable news show contained Washburn's remarks that had been shot a day earlier by WMTW-TV, a news station in Auburn and Portland.

One e-mail that Brown released Friday was titled "Harassment of Military Children."

"If what I'm reading and hearing from news media concerning the harassment of children and military families in your school system is true — HOW DISGUSTING!! I have close friends in the military and I am tremendously offended by your supposedly 'professional' employees. As a retired public school teacher, I find this a disgrace to my profession!" wrote the sender.

Brown's office has also been receiving telephone calls from Massachusetts, Texas and elsewhere since the CNN broadcast on Thursday. She believes the news crew chose Augusta as the setting for the story because the State House and Camp Keyes are in the city.

But the superintendent is worried that viewers of the news show are incorrectly linking the Augusta School Department with the charges of student harassment

"I'm most concerned about it," she said.

In the Washington Times article, Maj. Peter Rogers, the Guard's spokesman at Camp Keyes, was quoted as saying that children of Guard members were "coming home upset, depressed, crying. This was based on some incidents that were happening in school, both in the classroom and on the playground."

The article, which national radio talk show hosts alerted their listeners to on Thursday, appeared to also prompt CNN to report on the complaints.

Rogers said parents in the Guard reported the school incidents at family-assistance meetings. He has declined to identify the schools that the children of those Guard soldiers attend.

Washburn, who also is a lieutenant colonel in the Maine Air National Guard, said he has spoken with teachers at Farrington.

"I said to just be really, really careful with what you say. I said the teachers' room is the place to debate politics, not the classroom," he said. Washburn said his interview with WMTW-TV — which aired Wednesday night — went well, was objective and drew positive comments for parents and teachers the next day.

But the CNN broadcast on Thursday portrayed Augusta badly, he said.

"I think we're getting whacked on this deal," said Washburn. The segment was misleading, especially for viewers in other parts of the country, he said.

The father of a Farrington student has been deployed by the Guard, Washburn said.

People from outside Maine have also voiced their opinion on the Guard issue, apparently from reading the Washington Times, wire service stories, Internet news sites and from listening to talk shows and watching the CNN news shows.

Letters received Friday by the Kennebec Journal were from Mississippi, Louisiana and California.

"Your sons and daughters are overseas protecting your nation, and your teachers are terrorizing their children in their own schools," wrote David Clark of New Orleans. Billy Philley of Southaven, Miss., wrote, "It was with great disgust that I heard this morning about several incidents with some Maine teachers ... A teacher's opinion, however, does not belong in the classroom."

Another writer from outside Maine said he was "livid at the cowardice exhibited by Maine 'teachers' that attack children in classrooms because their parents have the audacity to be willing to die (in the Armed Services)."

Rogers has said the reported incidents are isolated and involve few students.

J. Duke Albanese, outgoing commissioner of the Department of Education, earlier this week in a letter to school administrators throughout the state urged them to be "sensitive" to the children of men and women in the Guard. He said that some parents "have observed added stress and anxiety" in their children because of the Guard's deployment as tensions mount between the United States and Iraq.

Dan McGillvray — 621-5642

dmcgillvray@centralmaine.com

WND has been known to sensationalize! No..never..:)

http://www.centralmaine.com/news/stories/030301brown_a1.shtml Source for story above.

More Maine News:

Saturday, March 1, 2003

Teachers talk back to critics
Guard hubbub persists

By ELBERT AULL, Staff Writer
AUGUSTA — Maine Army National Guard officials said Friday they've heard no complaints about students with military parents being harassed by teachers since the Department of Education commissioner issued a statement abhorring such treatment earlier this week.

"Hopefully," said Public Affairs Director Maj. Peter Rogers, "this issue has been put to bed."

According to Maine's school officials, however, the issue is far from being asleep.

Some educators said they are angry about the way Maine's teachers have been castigated as unpatriotic by conservative talk-show hosts since the incident made national news Thursday.

Other public school officials said they were shocked by the thought of teachers criticizing students because of their parents' military affiliation.

Some of them question the validity of the Guard's allegations.

"It seems an awful lot is being made of this without any specifics," said School Administrative District 11 Superintendent Jack Mara. "Usually, (superintendents) hear about these things very quickly, and I haven't heard of anything specific ... To me, that's suspicious."

The Maine Army National Guard said Thursday it has received a dozen reports of teachers making offensive anti-war comments to elementary and middle school students after Guard members were called to active duty.

The incidents were reported at family assistance meetings in Portland, Bangor and Augusta. Guard officials went public with the complaints a day after Education Commissioner J. Duke Albanese sent a memorandum to superintendents and principals across the state, urging them to be more sensitive to children of military families.

Rogers said the Guard will not release the names of the teachers accused of making inappropriate statements to students because it does not want children caught in the middle of a political debate among adults.

He said although the Guard has not talked to any of the teachers accused, family members have provided enough information for him to conclude that the incidents were "pretty extreme.

"These aren't rumors that haven't been looked into," he said. "They are facts."

Rogers said the families involved have told him they prefer to handle the situation on their own.

"(The National Guard is) not interested in pointing fingers and getting anyone in to trouble," he said. "We wanted the (harassment) stopped, and it looks like that has happened."

Keith Harvie, spokesman for the Maine Education Association, said some of the incidents resulting in complaints did not involve direct student-teacher interaction.

Harvie said he's heard that some of the complaints have originated from debates between students in social studies classes.

"What I'm hearing anecdotally," he said, "is that there are a variety of complaints about fellow students."

Mara said from Gardiner that the reason teachers receive the blame for offensive or out-of-control debates in their classroom — rather than the students instigating them — is that educators "have a responsibility to to make sure classroom debate is appropriate, and that kids are respectful of each other's opinions."

He said that even if some of the allegations are true, teachers throughout the state should not be held accountable for the actions of a few.

"It's kind of unfair to see (teachers) characterized in a way that may not be accurate," he said. "It's very easy to jump on a bandwagon that might not be well-founded."

School Administrative District 47 Superintendent James Morse said he had a conversation Friday with a teacher who was "astounded" that negative comments about military personnel were made by a Maine educator.

"It is not even within the realm of our imagination," he said.

Morse said he thinks it's unfair that Maine's teachers have been characterized as "unpatriotic" since the incident made national news this week.

"If a small, small minority of teachers are saying anything inappropriate, it hardly represents the whole set of teachers," Morse said. "This is one of the most patriotic states in the union.

"Rush (Limbaugh) doesn't know what he's talking about when he's talking about Maine."

Morse, whose son is a lieutenant in the Army, said he has not received any complaints about teachers "taking pot shots" at children of military families or National Guard members.

Any complaint would result in an investigation into the context in which the alleged inflammatory statement was made, he said.

Other superintendents agreed.

"I would have to conduct an investigation and sit down with the teacher and have them explain the context of the statement," Mara said.

Most superintendents said although they're upset about the storm of criticism that has followed the allegations, they don't think the Guard meant to criticize the state's teachers when it publicized the complaints.

"I was pleased to see a high-ranking Guard member say on the news that this was not indicative of teachers in this state," said Waterville Superintendent of Schools Eric L. Haley.

Rogers said the Guard never meant to call the level of patriotism of Maine's educators into question when it originally voiced its concerns.

"We have nothing but respect for the teachers," he said. "We have many Guard members in the education field."

uf shirtNlbert Aull-623-3811 ext. 433

eaull@centralmaine.com

http://www.centralmaine.com/news/stories/030301teachers.shtml
However, the number of students is not the issue. The issue is that it never should be happening in the first place and now Augusta seems to be pointing in the Portland area. However my guess is the Guard does not want it snowballing which it easily could all of the country and effect the morale of those that are deployed.

My friend's 10 year old daughter is being told by her government school teacher here in California that the war with Iraq is only for OIL.

The little girl came home to her Mom and told her that and her mother set her straight and called the school to tell them that the teacher is out of line and to stop the leftist indoctrination.

This is not teaching this is propaganda.

What the teachers did at the Maine school, is practicing terrorism on innocent children. They all should be fired.

This is an American and moral outrage!
Consider all these ignorant people in Maine FReeped!
I wrote each at length!