Misery Index

CCS Headline News - Superintendent's Response to YouTube

I was shocked when I saw the clip of an interaction between a Cumberland County Schools teacher and her students as posted on YouTube.  While neutral discussion of the political process is appropriate, at no time, particularly with elementary students, should a teacher infuse his/her political views into the discussion.  Most disconcerting was the military slant that made its way into this discussion.  We are a military community, serving over 15,000 military students and their families.  We value the sacrifices, not only of the military parents but also those of their families.

We believe that military children are our children, military spouses are many of our employees, and military service men and women are our heroes.  We proudly serve our military children and have received national awards for our support of military families.

I was particularly disturbed to see the uncomfortable position in which our children were placed due to the inappropriate actions of one of our teachers.  Please be assured that the actions exhibited in this video are not consistent with the vision of the CCS.  Moreover, the actions of one teacher do not represent the 7000 employees in our organization.

Once the video was brought to my attention, I immediately launched an investigation.  Personnel laws prevent me from releasing information regarding individual employees and personnel action taken.  I can assure you that upon completion of the investigation, I will take appropriate action.

Dr. William Harrison
CCS' Superintendent

Let us just hope that sensitivity training with a slap on the wrist isn't what Harrison is planning for Harris.  This monster of a woman should be terminated, and her teaching certification revoked based upon abusive behavior.

What also disturbs me with her video, is the way she speaks.  First she does not speak proper English, and no I am not talking about her accent.  Remember my family is from the south since the early 1700s.  She does not speak clearly, she uses slang words, and does not use proper formations of sentences.  This "class" is not about learning education, it is about learning to "conform" through intimidation, ridicule, belittling, alienation and abuse.  Education is not about forcing a child to change what they believe, it is about encouraging a child to form an educated opinion about something.

Secondly, it disturbs me for a teacher to use words such as "lord" and "Jesus" in a school environment.  School is not a church, and this is defined by Federal Law.  If you wish to use the defense of she is a Christian woman, well, her actions show anything but being a Christian woman.

But what disturbs me most of all is not Harris' actions, its the lack of reaction in the news.  Searching via Yahoo or Google results in very very few hits on this topic, mostly by bloggers, but no news hits.

I am interested in seeing how the teachers' union reacts also.

Personally this is what I would be saying to Harris:

"Woah Woman, oh woman, don't treat me so mean,
You're the meanest old woman that I've ever seen.

Hit the road Diatha and don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more....."