Posted on 04/10/2008 4:26:59 AM PDT by wintertime
The trouble began, Jolita Berry said, when she asked a girl in one of her art classes at Reginald F. Lewis High School to sit down.
The student did not obey, coming closer to confront the teacher. "She said she's gonna bang me," Berry said. "I said, 'Back up, you're in my space. If you hit me, I'm gonna defend myself.'"
But Berry, who is 30 and started her job teaching art at the Northeast Baltimore school in December, did not defend herself. The girl caught the teacher off guard as other students cheered her on and screamed, "Hit her!"
"She just started beating on me relentlessly," Berry said, recalling the Friday morning incident that left her with a sore shoulder and a broken blood vessel in her eye.
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
I seriously mean this! It would be better for a child to be illiterate and innumerate than ever to be subjected to that enviroment!
The school in this article is one of them.
Is this the wonderful “socialization” that homeschoolers are missing?
the schools of today are the streets of tomorrow.
When an animal attacks you, STK. Then go and hunt down the animal’s parents and ensure they can never breed again. This would be true Darwinism.
This country is lost. Only drastic action will save us.
Suspend that young lady and tell her she may apply at McDonalds and make it her career.
What, no mugshots?
Only drastic action will save us.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Obviously, there must be good kids in this school. Why aren’t we rescuing the decent kids?
If legislators will not act, if they are dominated by the NEA, then why aren’t we acting privately to rescue the good kids?
One thing is for certain.
Churches are NOT going to step forward to rescue these kids. There are too many NEA teachers, and people directly and indirectly sucking a living from the government school industrial complex for any minister to act. Few ministers will bite the hand that puts money in the collection plate.
What, no mugshots?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The newspaper has a mug shot of the poor teacher.
My homeschooled nieces are LIGHT YEARS ahead of their peers in academics, life skills, and most of all, socialization. They haven’t missed a thing they shouldn’t miss.
Feral.
Suspension? SUSPENSION? Are you crazy? This is assault and battery. It’s jail time and expulsion, Dearie!
You obviously have no understanding of how these schools work. There will be a board of inquiry, the teacher will be brought up on charges, and will have to spend many, many hours and dollars defending herself. To top it off, she will most likely be harassed by the girl’s parents for abusing their daughter.
Similar things have happened to my sister who teaches in a school system outside Wash DC (never this bad, but close).
That would be discrimination.
Why did I know the Teacher was Black and I’ll bet the Attacker was as well. Sorry, but those are the Politically Incorrect and Politically Inconvenient facts about what is happening in our schools and many other parts of our Society today.
No reason for a child to be illiterate. They can be taught at home. Amazing how we behaved in school and had respect for the teachers and today they challenge a position of authority like this. Where are the parents? To me...if you are raised properly and taught the right and wrong of things and are taught to be respectful to others you wouldn’t even THINK of behaving in this manner. The schools talk about putting more and more and more $$$ into the schools. For what?
Go to class, sit your butt down in your desk, pay attention, learn and then move onto the next class. What is so hard about that? Sad state of affairs we live in now in this country. So many parents have failed their children. This kind of teaching and learning about right and wrong begins early in the home. It HAS to...otherwise we see what happens. If a child is not taught these values before he/she steps those little feet out the door to kindergarten...he/she will never learn them. Chaos. Pure chaos. However, as far as the teacher goes...I would sue the living hell out of the kids parents. The teacher does not have to be subject to that kind of mad behaviors. No way. No how.
vaudine
You are exactly right... BTW, the article is serious Mega Hurl material.
“She (Berry) said the principal told her she’d provoked the attack by telling the student she would defend herself.”
“...the principal did not remove the student from the school immediately. As she left the school Friday to go to a medical clinic, Berry said, she had to pass by the girl, bragging to her friends about what she’d done.”
Why is this happening? NCLB, of course...
“...city school administrators aren’t reporting violent incidents or doing enough to punish children who are violent, for fear their schools will be labeled “persistently dangerous” under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.”
“(Baltimore Schools CEO Andres) Alonso has encouraged principals to look at alternatives to suspension for nonviolent offenses, but urged zero tolerance for violence.”
“Some educators say his directive has been misinterpreted, with principals discouraging all suspensions.”
“Alonso responded that night that he’d be happy to meet with (Baltimore Teachers Union president Marietta) English and anyone else about school violence, but he said he wanted specifics about incidents that are not being reported, not generalized allegations.”
So... They won’t suspend violent thugs that infest these ghetto schools because they’d lose that precious fed money (that they use to line their pockets with).
The community is taking care of that on it's own. Eventually, these kids will not just be beating up Teachers, they'll be Drive-by shooting each other.
No, this offender will soon be on the taxpayers dole, or in prison. Either way, we the taxpayer will be the only ones taking responsibility for her. (Hopefully she won't breed any time soon.)
Similar things have happened to my sister who teaches in a school system outside Wash DC (never this bad, but close).
Another factor are "community activists" who will do anything to protect their own power. A nifty example of this can be seen in the movie "Stand By Me" in that woman who conspires to not only have Joe Clark fired, but arrested.
This is the case with the Kansas City, MO public school district. The school district lost their state accreditation a number of years ago and still hasn't re-achieved it. When the state threatened to take over the district, some "community activists" threatened to "riot in the streets."
Mark
And let us figure out how such schools got so bad...
No discipline (courts and weak-kneed administrators won’t let that happen).
State funding formulas that rely on “average daily attendance” - so if you suspend or expel students, it is a direct loss of funding (at least here in Arkansas).
Courts that have rule that “certain” students cannot be expelled or suspended over 10 days because it “deprives” them of “services”.
Parents who encourage such behavior - either actively or passively by not being involved in their children’s lives and not disciplining at home.
Schools that are run as a “one-size-fits-all” mentality by the government.
Teachers who’s hands are tied. If they send unruly students to the office, they get reprimanded for not handling it in their class. If they don’t sent them, then it gets out of hand such as in this case.
The animal who attacked the teacher should not only be PERMANENTLY out of the school setting, but should get to cool her jets in prison for a few years. Further, if the students who incited the action can be identified, they too should be removed from the school.
But I am certain that if any real action comes against those students, some group or organization will file a lawsuit to block it because of their “circumstances” or “special needs”.
A similar attack took place at a school here in Arkansas last year. The female teacher was assaulted and actually ended up with some pretty serious injuries (including requiring back surgery and she has yet to completely recover - and likely won’t).
The student attacker didn’t even miss any significant time from school. The school would not turn it over to law enforcement (even though such cases are mandatory in Arkansas). To top it off - this teacher (with a good record as a teacher) as even obstructed from getting her medical bills paid by her superintendent. I knew about the case soon after it happened. The rest of the world found out just a couple of months ago when her husband (who was the band director at the same school), out of frustration and lack of action, went to the superintendent’s home with a gun.
Teachers in a large number of schools are treated much like fodder, while students get free reign. Many (all?) states are facing a growing teacher shortage. Any wonder why? And if you are teacher who actually challenges students to learn and to think - you are first on the list to harass or cut.
Is it any wonder our schools are in the shape they are in?
Baltimore City school....shocking.
Balto ping.
OMG; It’s partly the teacher’s fault according to the principal !!! “Defending yourself” is a “trigger word”.
The trouble began, Jolita Berry said, when she asked a girl in one of her art classes at Reginald F. Lewis High School to sit down.
Well golly, su-prize su-prize.
The Reginald F. Lewis High School has a rating of 2 out of ten from greatschools.net. And the parents and alum rate it as 1 out of five.
Quote, "As a fomer Alummni of this school I would not recommend this school for any student.And.... "no stars: administration has a long way to go. Law programs is very under developed. Is not a safe school. signed New parent of a 9th grader"
In English - a Hell Hole.
(the ethnic makeup of this school can be found at the link. but take a guess, just for the heck of it)
I must assume that teacher did go to college and graduate. That took real middle class effort, discipline, and an evident love of learning.
I applaud people of all races who have the determination to be responsible and self-sufficient.
I am assuming, from the article, that the teacher was not a substitute but a regularly employed teacher.
I am very sorry this happened to her.
By the way, my sister-in-law was pushed down the stairs by a bunch of her 6th grade students. (This was inner Philly.) The students were charged and convicted in court. ( Thankfully, other teachers were witnesses.) The mini-thugs were then given a slap on the wrist and transfered to another government school where they could terrorize other unsuspecting teachers and students.
Ah yes Baltimore schools so much has changed since I left in 59.
We homeschool our 8 kids and we are no geniuses, yet we have found that it is easier to teach a child to read than to teach him/her to do the dishes correctly.
Part of the huge problem in this country is that of the Christian churches being hijacked by Leftist indoctrination.
They have taken ‘help the poor’ to mean: support socialism.
They have taken ‘judge not that ye be not judged’ to be: moral relativism is God's way; there is no right and wrong, everything goes.
They have taken the concept of faith and sympathy and repentance to mean: if it is something makes you ‘feel’ it is good and right.
Too many Christians have bought into soft Leftism by a wrangling of Biblical text. Most see the public schools and teachers sympathetically, not as the enemy of religion (Christianity, that is, non-Christian religions are fine exercises of diversity) in general that is probably the majority of government-run schools.
I would normally have thought that too but I think most White Teachers have been chased out of these schools. The ones who remain probably just let the kids go crazy in fear of being attacked.
It sounds like students and teachers in that school need to sit down and have a dialog. /sarcasm
Its not just the school- it’s the whole angry Jerry Springer/Jeremiah Wright anti social attitude that defines Baltimore City’s project dwellers. I guess you havent read about the beatings of bus passengers by wilding middle schoolers.
Obviously there must be good kids in this horrible school. There must be kids with decent parents.
Why? Why? Why?...As CHRISTIANS, why arent’ we rescuing these decent children? ( Yes, I am shouting. I am exasperated!) If the legislatures aren't willing to do what is right, then as CHRISTIANS we should be doing it privately! ( With or without the help of our churches!)
By the way, I am not holding my breath waiting for churches to do what is right. There are too many government teachers sitting in the pews, and ministers are not likely to bite the hand that puts money in the collection plate.
But,,,with or without the help of churches, as Christians we should be rescuing our children.
Both English and Berry told 11 News that some school principals are afraid to discipline students so they don’t give their schools a bad mark. Berry said she was shocked by the response she received from the school’s principal after her attack.
“On one hand, she told me that she is sorry that his happened to me,” Berry said. “But then she turned right around and told me that telling a student that I was going to defend myself was a trigger word. I triggered them.”
http://www.wbaltv.com/news/15832101/detail.html
“Young LADY” is generous.
“McDonalds”? I wouldn’t want her spitting on my sandwich.
Let her pick strawberries or something similar.
By Wednesday, the head of the Baltimore Teachers Union and Mayor Sheila Dixon were pointing to the incident in calling for the city school system to dedicate more resources to reducing classroom violence.
Agree but how does one go about rescuing the children? Everthing today is about money. Follow the trail of the money and you will find the root of all evil.
But, but - how will the children get that 'socializing' experience? (That's what I was asked over and over when I put my daughter into a Christian school. People spit out that mantra like robots.)
Gov't Indoctrination Camps, aka, schools, have turned into Lord of the Flies enclaves.
There will be no “next Civil War.” At the first loud confrontation, the police will issue tickets for disorderly conduct. At the first threat of a shot, charges of terroristic threats. At the first shot, confiscation of firearms. If people still want to fight after that, the govt will start taking away benefits and that should do it.
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“Why is this happening? NCLB, of course...”
Actually, NO. NCLB might have made a big difference in this case, Because it mandates accountability by adults who run the schools, and highlights the incompetents by taking students and eventually control of the schools away from them.
However, the City of Baltimore and Legislature of the State of Maryland, 2 years ago, subverted NCLB, which would have required a federal takeover of Baltimore’s perpetually an habitually dysfunctional and failing schools-
Why weren’t these failing Baltimore schools turned over to competent federally monitored administrators to try and undo the damage?
Because a certain uber liberal Mayor of Baltimore named Martin O Malley was positioning to run for Goevrnor and having “his” city schools taken over by the Feds would have looked BAD on his resume.
So the kids of Baltimore continue to suffer under apathy and dysfunction and incompetence and tolerance of sociopathy - and we all pay the price.
But hey, Martin O’Malley is now the Governor of Maryland and says he has a plan to fix the schools if we just pay more taxes and become more sensitive to diversity.
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