Those who can, do.
Those who can't, teach.
Let's do.
Posted on 03/01/2007 8:43:58 PM PST by Doginator
Guest columnist: Teacher shouldn't promote cruel race on school time
By MARGERY GLICKMAN guest columnist March 1, 2007
When teachers waste children's time and Florida tax dollars promoting their personal agendas, everyone loses. This practice is especially outrageous when teachers endorse activities that wouldn't be legal in the state. That's what happens when Florida teachers promote the Iditarod, an Alaskan dog sled race that begins Saturday. Because the Iditarod has a well-documented history of dog deaths, illnesses and injuries, the race couldn't be legally held in Florida.
The race would violate our animal-cruelty law, which prohibits overworking animals. Promoting the Iditarod, as Kim Slade does at Thompson Elementary School in Indian River County, also violates Florida's Humane Education Law that requires teachers to teach kindness towards animals. Slade, a math and science teacher, was named the 2007 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail. To obtain this position, she agreed to promote the race for a year and promised to spend at least 3 1/2 weeks in Alaska this February and March. That's approximately when she was there in 2006. Slade is again in Alaska while the FCATs are administered.
How much did Slade's students learn in 2006 when she was focused on completing the requirements necessary to be named the 2007 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail? The 2006 math and science FCAT results for her school showed that 54 percent of students in grades three and five weren't proficient in math, and 75 percent of fifth-graders weren't proficient in science. With terrible scores like these, Slade should be helping her students learn instead of jetting off to Alaska or promoting the Iditarod.
Before allowing Slade to hype the Iditarod, her school district should have checked the facts. Surely, if officials knew the grim reality, they wouldn't be paying Slade to portray animal abusers as heroes.
Here's the truth. In the Iditarod, dogs race 1,150 miles, the approximate distance between Vero Beach and Madison, Wis., over a grueling terrain in eight to 16 days. What happens to the dogs during the Iditarod includes death, paralysis, penile frostbite, bleeding ulcers, bloody diarrhea, lung damage, ruptured discs, viral diseases, pneumonia, torn muscles and tendons and sprains. There is no accounting of how many dogs die in training or after each Iditarod.
At least 130 dogs have died in the race. Many dogs that died in the Iditarod had undiagnosed stomach ulcers. Dogs died from blood loss due to ulcers, while others regurgitated and then inhaled their own acidic stomach contents, which caused them to choke to death. According to the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 61 percent of the dogs that finish the Iditarod have ulcers, versus zero percent pre-race.
On average, 52 percent of the dogs that start the race don't make it across the finish line. According to a report published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 81 percent of the dogs that finish the race have lung damage. Iditarod personnel encourage mushers to race diseased dogs. Instead of removing sick dogs from the race, veterinarians frequently give them massive doses of antibiotics to keep them running. Mushers often breeze through checkpoints in less than 5 minutes, making it impossible for vets to give the dogs physical exams or even the briefest visual checks.
The Iditarod, with its dismal report card, has no place being hyped in Florida's schools.
Glickman, a retired teacher, is the director of the Sled Dog Action Coalition. She lives in Miami.
OPPOSING VIEW? WE TRIED, BUT ...
Kim Slade, through the Indian River County School District, and the director for Iditarod and in charge of the Wells Fargo Teacher on the Trail program, declined an offer to write an opposing view.
I'm the Wolf Den leader for my pack right now, and will be the Cubmaster starting at the end of May. The current Cubmaster was an Army Major and I was an Air Force crew chief, so at the Blue & Gold on Tuesday night we had an informal "change of command ceremony"--I handed him an appreciation plaque, saluted and said "I relieve you sir." It got a laugh from the military types in the audience.
That's cool. I'm Wolf leader too
It's stupid teachers who waste tax money promoting animal abuse. I've seen the Iditarod and I know about its horrors. Why should my money go to helping indoctrinate kids that the Iditarod is great when it's horrible?
I bet other communities have teachers who are wasting time and money promoting the Iditarod. I applaud Margery Glickman for having the courage to tell people the truth about what's going on in the schools. Read the material on the Sled Dog Action Coalition website: http://www.helpsleddogs.org. It's a real eye-opener.
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Are you not gone yet????
God!
Shadup already!
You joined to post THAT?
Two IATZ's and no zot yet?
This story is a real dog, written by someone who doesn't know dog!
Good grief. Trolls. Who can understand them?
What are you?
There, fixed for you.
Now go get yourself fixed and go away.
Pretty vague. Hasn't this race been around for decades?
From http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/parents/fl/1522 (April 2005)RE: Thompson School
"I had the pleasure of visiting this school and I thought the teachers were extremely qualified and were helpful in making my decision to send my son to this school. The technology in this school was unbelievable. The students seemed willing and ready to learn."
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