Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
Back in February, Professor Turley wrote a blog post titled Teacher Suspended for Writing Critical Comments on Her Personal Blog. Many people who commented on the post sided with Natalie Munroe, the teacher who had been suspended. I did not. I thought the school administration did the right thing after I read some of the critical comments Munroe made about her students and comments she said she’d like to be able to note on her students’ report cards.
Munroe’s blog comments about her students include the following:
• “I hear the trash company is hiring.”
• “I called out sick a couple of days just to avoid your son.”
• “Rude, beligerent [sic], argumentative f**k.”
• “Just as bad as his sibling. Don’t you know how to raise kids?”
• “Asked too many questions and took too long to ask them. The bell means it’s time to leave!”
• A complete and utter jerk in all ways. Although academically ok, your child has no other redeeming qualities.
• Lazy asshole.
• Two words come to mind: brown AND nose.
• Weirdest kid I’ve ever met.
From the Philadelphia Inquirer: In one sketch posted on the blog, an image of a bus tagged “Short Bus” appears under the slogan, “I don’t care if you lick windows, take the special bus or occasionally pee on yourself, you hang in there Sunshine, you’re … special.”
People who felt Munroe had done nothing wrong may be happy to find out that she has been reinstated to her old job. According to her attorney Steven L. Rover, she will be allowed to return to her Central Bucks East High School classroom this fall. She would teach the same classes at the same school. Rovner said, “I personally believe that her talents as a teacher would best be utilized in a different school within the district, however, this is not an option. She is taking a few days to digest this development in what has become an important national first amendment, employment, and education case.”
Having worked as a public school educator for more than thirty years, I can’t imagine that many students would want to have Munroe for a teacher. I would doubt that many parents would want their children in any of her classes. I know that I wouldn’t want my child to have her for a teacher.
I guess we’ll have to wait to see whether Ms. Munroe decides to return to her teaching position at Central Bucks east High School when classes resume in a few weeks.
I welcome comments on this story. I’d like to know what people think.
FYI
From the ACLU: Free Speech Rights of Public School Teachers
Where are we going & why are we in this handbasket (Natalie Munroe’s new blog)
SOURCES
Teacher Suspended for Blog Posts About Students (NBC Philadelphia)
CB East Teacher Removed After Blogging About Students (Doylestown Patch)
Natalie Munroe Suspended: Worst Insults the Teacher Made About Her Students (AOL News)
Central Bucks East teacher returning after blog dispute (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Natalie Munroe, Pennsylvania Teacher, Reinstated After Disparaging Students On Blog (Huffington Post)
Bucks teacher: Students are ‘rude, disengaged, lazy whiners’ (Philadelphia Inquirer)
My wife teaches EBD kids in an elementary school. I know when teachers get together they often exchange stories of kids & parents and warn each other of problems that are coming into their class room next year. While it is usually the parents that come in for the harshest comments the students get it too.
Comments like this teachers are not all that unusual. Part of it is the frustration that comes from busting you butt trying everything you can think of to reach kids who just don’t give a crap. Just blowing off steam caused by the friction from people who believe education is critical grinding against those who don’t. I have never heard unkind things about the students who are struggling to learn, just those that refuse to.
Many of these teachers are doing a great job, particularly under the conditions (35+ kids in a room designed for 25) and deserve to vent anonymously like this one did.
drf–Some of them I believe will get it. In her interview Munroe said she stood by what she said (and her right to privacy, I assume–no school named, no students–what an outrage to be dug up and exposed), and hopes that all of the uproar will bring about a conversation. I don’t know the school and am not going to look it up, but what I hear from students coming in to the campus where I work is that in h. s. they were tested via scantron for all liberal arts courses. I wonder why? Could it be that many of their teachers without MAs–people who have never done research of their own–can teach only with a text and the accompanying answer sheets? Do they have sufficient content from their own training? I could go on and on. This is a three-way street (if I may): administrators, parents (maybe helicopter) AND their kids, and teachers. I am using a lot of space here– but ok–one of my friends from a very wealthy community when hearing from me that I grade on progress was shocked and thrilled. I have not pursued this point. I know what I mean by it–consistently applied rigor–but I don’t know if my friend meant an easy ride. The work goes to the students, no exceptions. But I do break things in parts and build up to more complex exercises. This is college. Hey, I am doing remedial work, which is fine because the kids are worth it. But what a sad state of affairs.
I wonder if any of the kids or their parents learned anything from her comments? I assume they didn’t. They were all too busy being outraged that no one remembered that some of what she said was true.
All this failing forward is going to come back to haunt us.
Some of her students admitted in interviews that what she said was true but that she shouldn’t have said them. I took that to mean the comments she made about low productivity, drug talk, etc. I think she will be okay and yes she will have a tough time but I have to tell you something, it’s miserable out here–high school, college, you name it–only the science students are working and the administrators are downgrading the humanities to a bit of “global exposure.” She will move on if she’s smart. She can always apologize and have remorse. After all, that’s what this culture expects. If she stays in teaching, she has to move to a place that advances the liberal arts, and that will be hard to find.
you could be right pete. I think she has a tough school year ahead if she continues in that line of work.
i expect her future students will make her regret getting her job back.
I agree with rafflaw–things will sort themselves out. She sounds like Bill Maher or Joan Rivers. Maybe that’s what she should be doing.
“I’d say she has quite an attitude problem herself.”(Elaine)
One definitely picks that up from her blog.
Elaine,
Great story by the way! If Munroe was blogging on school computers on school time and not on her own laptop or blackberry on lunch break, then the school might have had an argument on that issue, but it doesn’t seem to be what they dealt with. I am guessing that her comments may have meant while she was on school grounds. If the school didn’t go through the proper disciplinary procedure, as per the contract, for misuse of school computers and doing private messages on school time, my guess is that the they didn’t want to deal with the contractual procedure, or that there was nothing there.
She is stupid, but if a person on the job, can’t say what he or she thinks while on her own time(?) without lying or identifying her targets, then we wouldn’t have a First Amendment anymore. As I suggested earlier, I think the situation will take care of itself. If not, the Board may still have the contractual procedures to proceed on if there are no time limit issues and if she did use school computers on school time.
The Moar You Know,
I spoke out often–sometimes in staff meetings and sometimes at school committee meetings. I spoke to parents when I was concerned about their children’s behavior or lack of effort. There are adult ways of addressing problems in education. Bitching about one’s students and using foul language when writing about them on a blog does not speak well of Munroe’s professionalism. She critcized the attitude of many of her students. I’d say she has quite an attitude problem herself.
I don’t know enough. I read some of the youtube comments and it seems that there might have been a class thing going on. From what I have heard (from wealthy parents and a relative who teaches), the students have a sense of entitlement that cannot be managed well because the parents are always interfering to get what they want. In my experience, it was the admin that did nothing for the students, but this was in a NYC public school, and I never went back after a semester of depression watching students get nothing. My guess is that this will be a temporary fix and that she will leave the school once she knows what to do next–like write a book.
Elaine,
Exactly. By not having an outcome to the investigation; by opting to go with the previously approved maternity leave, the Board has given her no real cause for action and completely aced out any Union involvement … mythological or otherwise. Her Union lawyer said he thought she should be in another building but he had no input because the Board chose a far more intelligent legal maneuver.
I suspect her decision will hinge on how badly she needs the paycheck.
Justice is served.
My wife’s a teacher, I have a credential but do not teach, and we both read Ms. Munroe’s blog. I think Ms. Munroe used poor judgment insofar as she should have taken far greater steps to protect her identity.
However, as far as I can tell, the majority of people who were offended took offense because the comments hit way too close to home. In short, she said nothing that wasn’t true, and she said nothing that most teachers don’t think. I wish that teachers had the ability to be lot more vocal about the shortcomings of the system that they have to work under, the shortcomings of their students, and most importantly, the shortcomings of the parents of these students. Until that happens and teachers can speak freely without reprisal, we cannot have an honest discussion on how to fix the educational system in this country.
Blouise,
I think the school system has put the ball in Munroe’s court. It is probably a smart move on the administrators’ part. Now there is no reason for Munroe to sue the school system. Munroe has to be aware of what she’ll probably face should she return to the school where she taught. It will be interesting to see what she does.
AY,
What are you talking about … Unions? Her Union didn’t commit the indiscretions, the School Board wouldn’t even talk to her Union lawyer … the Board suspended her pending the outcome of their investigation but changed that suspension to the already agreed upon maternity leave and brought her back under the maternity leave guidelines … those decisions were theirs, not the Unions’ … unless, of course, you don’t believe “Maternity Leave” should be part of a contract between teachers and their school district.
Elaine,
Thanks for the follow-up.
One gets the idea from reading her blog that this woman isn’t going to back down one iota. She may no longer post her true thoughts regarding her students but that is the only thing that will change.
rafflaw,
Munroe had actually posted at least while at school.
Natalie Munroe Suspended: Worst Insults the Teacher Made About Her Students
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/10/natalie-munroe-suspended-the-worst-insults-the-teacher-made-abo/
Excerpt:
In January Munroe wrote a long post describing the comments she wished she could enter on her students’ evaluations, noting at the outset that she was “being a renegade” and blogging at work.
Elaine,
while I think her comments were disgusting, she has the right to say them. She did not identify herself and did not name the children, so I can understand why the school board reinstated her. If I recall, it was not done on school time or using school property either. I do think she will have a hard time staying at that school so that may be why the District reinstated her in hopes that she quits on her own.
while i agree with freedom of speech, her comments went way too far.. If she has that much apathy for her students, she should not be a teacher.. Each student has different needs and needs a different approach and while I know from raising children that they can drive a saint to sin, that is why you shouldn’t become a teacher if you don’t have the patience to handle them….
Elaine M.,
This is still my opinion….She should never be allowed to be near children again…But hey….That is why unions get critized….and in this case…. Justifiably so…