Was The West Baltimore Teacher Correct?

This post was originally published on November 18, 2016
The latest update to this post was made 7 years ago.

Was The West Baltimore Teacher Correct?

A West Baltimore middle school teacher was fired for insulting and tossing out racial names at a disruptive student. The other students in the class soon involved themselves; they can be heard in the video. The teacher clearly was in distress and pushed over the edge. She used language that should never come out of anyone’s mouth. Her mental state caused her to make decisions that were just down right bad.

Teachers have a difficult job. Students are apathetic and parents want to blame their lazy students on the teacher. Teachers have no power to do anything. Absolutely no power and the students know this. Teachers are supposed to take verbal and sometimes physical abuse from kids and keep their cool. Come on, teachers are only human!

Should the teacher be reprimanded for using that language? YES.  Fired? probably not, without proper mental evaluation. If she wasn’t under any stress then yes, she deserved to be fired. If she was under stress, then get her the help she needs.

What Happened?

First, a student used their phone to video in the class without consent. In the video the other students can be heard adding their own insults and keeping the disruption going in support of the initial disruptive student. She has no power and has lost control of the class. The students know this. There are no consequences for the students and they are always in the right. They know this.

The school failed the teacher, not the students. The teacher should have been supported. They should have found out what caused her mental outburst and helped her, not fired her. Now she is alone with no help. This will cause undue stress on her. But, let’s protect the very abrasive students who provoked the teacher.

Teachers Do Try

Teachers try to teach and do their job, but hit roadblocks by parents, students and sometimes their own administration. Parents and students take advantage of the school system. Administrations are often too scared to stand up to them and take back control of education.

Schools will continue to fail teachers until administrations take back control. Parents need to let the people who have the degree do their job. I loved it when I had a mom who had not finished high school and was working as a dancer tell me how I should be running my class. Yeah, OK, thanks? I had a supportive administration and that made all the difference!

What Will Happen If Things Do Not Change?

Teachers are going to be leaving the profession in droves if this lack of support continues. There is a need for qualified teachers now. Why should someone spend time getting their degree just to undergo verbal and physical abuse from parents AND students? Sign me up, NOT!  So the next time you hear of a teacher having an outburst, find out all the facts first. And yes, the school in West Baltimore did fail that teacher.

What Do You Think?

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Tags: #teacher #westbaltimore #baltimoreteacher #disruptive #students #administration #school