New teacher: You expect me NOT to pray?

E-mail forwarded to me | N/A | Unknown

[Texas Eagle]

21st CENTURY TEACHER APPLICANT

Let me see if I've got this right. You want me to go into that room with all those kids and fill their every waking moment with a love for learning. Not only that, I'm supposed to instill a sense of pride in their ethnicity, behaviorally modify disruptive behavior, observe for signs of abuse and T-shirt messages.

I am to fight the war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, check their backpacks for guns and raise their self-esteem. I'm to teach them patriotism, good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, how and where to register to vote, how to balance a checkbook and how to apply for a job.

I am to check their heads occasionally for lice, maintain a safe environment, recognize signs of potential antisocial behavior, offer advice, write letters of recommendation for student employment and scholarships, encourage respect for the cultural diversity of others, and, oh yeah, always make sure that I give the girls in my class 50 percent of my attention.

I'm required by my contract to be working on my own time summer and evenings at my own expense toward advance certification and a master's degree; and after school, I am to attend committee and faculty meetings and participate in staff development training to maintain my employment status.

I am to be a paragon of virtue larger than life, such that my very presence will awe my students into being obedient and respectful of authority. I am to pledge allegiance to supporting family values, a return to the basics, and to my current administration. I am to incorporate technology into the learning, and monitor all Web sites while providing a personal relationship with each student. I am to decide who might be potentially dangerous and/or liable to commit crimes in school or who is possibly being abused, and I can be sent to jail for not mentioning these suspicions.

I am to make sure all students pass the state and federally mandated testing and all classes, whether or not they attend school on a regular basis or complete any of the work assigned. Plus, I am expected to make sure that all of the students with handicaps are guaranteed a free and equal education, regardless of their mental or physical handicap.

I am to communicate frequently with each student's parent by letter, phone, newsletter and grade card. I'm to do all of this with just a piece of chalk, a computer, a few books, a bulletin board, a 45 minute more-or-less plan time and a big smile, all on a starting salary that qualifies my family for food stamps in many states. Is that all?

And you want me to do all of this and expect me NOT TO PRAY?

[Texas Eagle]

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[Dimensio]

I'm confused. Is the teacher asserting that there are people who are trying to prevent public school teachers from praying at all?

I'm not aware of any major organizations advocating such an agenda.

[PatrioticAmerican]

"I'm not aware of any major organizations advocating such an agenda. "

Welcome to the world. Turn off your TV and quit watching returns of Seinfeld and maybe you wouldn't ask such ignorant questions.

[PatrioticAmerican]

P.S. Excellent satire.

[Dimensio]

I don't watch Seinfeld. Point to an example of a major organization trying to prevent a teacher from praying. I'm not referring to leading a class in prayer, I'm referring to an attempt to prevent a teacher from praying under any circumstances.

[Jagdgewehr]

Actually, All I want the teacher to do is teach my kids reading, writing, math, and geography.

Mrs. Jagdgewehr and I will take care of the rest.

[Cindy]

There are three viable options to ensure that your child has a good education: Homeschool, a good Private School, or a combination of Homeschooling/Private School.

THE EDUCATION PAGE

[MacDorcha]

where was this teacher when i went through? i wouldnt have hated my highschool/middle school life nearly as much had i had a teacher that was willing to advocate morals and prayer. i would so recomend to you, as a teacher, to work at a respected private school.... pay tends to be better, more controlled environment, and it isnt public schools. glad to hear of a republican teacher out there.... dont know how to close this one

[Dimensio]

How do you know that the teacher didn't want to pray to Allah, whose Prophet was Mohammed (pbuh)?

[MacDorcha]

because the only prayer the dems want to oust is Christian prayer. if she was muslim, i promise the libbies in the system would let it slide if she proclaimed a jihad in the classroom. she feels oppressed and singled out as a teacher. that means she isnt the norm. the norm is liberal, and the VAST majority of those who pray AND are conservative are of course Christian or Jewish.... either way, she sounds American and a fundamental one at that. the msg was on our side. im on her side.

[RobbyS]

Try to get the NEA rep in your building to defend your right to read the Bible during study hall. Now, the Koran, that's another matter.

[RebelDawg]

How do you know that the teacher didn't want to pray to Allah, whose Prophet was Mohammed (pbuh)?

Oh get your head out of your ass already! Do you actually live under a rock?

Let's see the public schools teach diversity by reading from the Koran and dressing our children up like muslims, liberal colleges require that students read an edited version of the Koran? These very same schools suspend or expel christian children for writing/reading saying or doing anything related to the christian religion!

I think we've had enough of the half brained, numb nutz liberals like yourself. Either you're just playing ignorant or you are just plain stupid. Go back to the DU already!

[Texas Eagle]

I'm confused. Is the teacher asserting that there are people who are trying to prevent public school teachers from praying at all? I'm not aware of any major organizations advocating such an agenda.

You've never heard of the ACLU?

[Dimensio]

You seem to think that I'm advocating something. I'm not, and you're a presumptious twit for making that assumption. My question is serious. The article mentioned prayer, but it not mention prayer toward any specific god. I'm wondering why people responding positively to the article seem to assume that it would be the Christian God that the teacher speaks of, and I'm wondering what they would think of a teacher expressing similar sentiments to the Muslism's version of god.

As for expelling students for expressing Christian beliefs, you'll find such examples in very small numbers and I'm not aware of any case where a student whose rights were genuinely trampled did not prevail in the end, even if it required court action.

[Dimensio]

Can you cite a specific exmaple of the ACLU attempting to prevent a teacher from praying? (note, I'm referring to the opposition being to prayer itself, not an opposition to a teacher leading a class in prayer or something similar).

[Texas Eagle]

Oh, my. Are you new to this planet?

[RobbyS]

Why should a student's right have to be defended in the schools of a country where more than 80% of the people who, when they pray, pray to the Christian God? I invite yout to look at the back issues of the NEA Journal, and you will see that for years that NEA has been obsessed with the notion that Christian beliefs are essentially bigoted and that teachers have a positive duty to advocate the views of radical feminists and gays and, recently, Muslims.

[TruthConquers]

The best person to care for a child in this way AND be able to pray is .... a parent.


HOMESCHOOL!!!!!

[Dimensio]

No, I'm not. Can you cite a single case?

[Dimensio]

Why should a student's right have to be defended in the schools of a country where more than 80% of the people who, when they pray, pray to the Christian God?

It shouldn't have to be defended. Unfortunately, sometimes it is necessary. When it has been necessary for them to defend their expression of religious beliefs, they have won.