This week is the first back at school for most Ohio kids. For the younger kids, it’s a time for mixed emotions. If they’re like my son, they are sad that summer’s over, but also excited to see their friends again and start a new year.
One thing children should not be subject to is divisive political campaigns in the classroom. There will be time enough in their adult futures for such matters, and school should be a place of learning, not partisanship.
Fortunately, most school systems agree, and have rules against political activity during school hours. The Toledo Public Schools certainly have a rule like that.
…an employee will not:
misrepresent the District, but take adequate precautions to distinguish between his/her personal and institutional views;
interfere with a colleague’s exercise of political and citizenships rights and responsibilities or
use instructional privileges, District resources or working time to promote political candidates or partisan political activities.
But when it comes to union politics, apparently the rules don’t matter to the OEA. Check out this photo in the Toledo Blade from yesterday’s first day of school.
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| Toledo Blade |
A fourth grade teacher is sporting a “No on SB5” button in the classroom. I wonder how many other teachers are doing the same thing in an effort to indoctrinate children. Think I’m taking it too seriously? Think the word “indoctrinate” is over the line? Not so. Remember our article from May, where we highlighted an Ohio Education Association newsletter that encouraged teachers to promote unionism to children?
They come right out and say, “it’s essential that they not only become teacher unionists, but teachers of unionism. We need to create a generation of students who support teachers and the movements of teachers for their rights.”
Really, OEA? What about creating a generation of students that isn’t failing math, reading and science?
Speaking of math, the OEA believes that even mathematics should have their progressive views included in the lesson. Math! They encourage Ohio teachers to teach “Radical Math”. I wish I was making this up, but I’m not.
They actually lament that the math textbooks out there…I can’t even believe I’m typing this…aren’t political enough!!
Disturbing stuff. I can imagine the teacher in the photograph, (I’ll omit her name, you can read the Blade article for that), can’t wait for students to ask “Teacher, what’s that button with the crossed-out 5 mean?” Then, she can talk about how the bad guys hate teachers and we need your Mommy and Daddy to vote to save the teachers!
Think that’s bad enough? Wait until you read the accompanying article, and you’ll discover one huge example of irony. The article is about Robinson Elementary School, and how it is Toledo’s worst performing school. The district is pulling out all the stops and enlisting some unconventional methods to turn Robinson around.
The district picked Mr. Bronaugh from Sherman Elementary to lead the new Robinson and fourth-grade teacher Natalie Sexton was chosen as the building’s teacher representative.
And that’s it.
Breaking district procedure, TPS left the hiring of staff to Mr. Bronaugh and Ms. Sexton, who could ignore seniority rules and pick the teachers they wanted. The only rule was that no more than 50 percent of the staff could be from the last incarnation of Robinson.
In the interest of performance and what’s best for the kids, they are being allowed to pick the staff they want from around the district, while ignoring seniority rules. Say, isn’t making decisions based on merit, and not seniority, one of the reasonable reforms contained in Senate Bill 5?
This November, vote YES on Issue 2!
