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 ...
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.
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