It appears that teachers are having a difficult time keeping their political views out of classroom. Recently, an Alabama teacher was put on suspension for projecting an image of Obama with “You’re fired” after the election. Now, on the other side of the political spectrum, a Texas high school art teacher has been placed on administrative leave after video surfaced showing her “shooting” the image of President Donald Trump in a classroom while screaming, “Die!”
What is interesting is that the teacher at W.H. Adamson High School in Dallas brought this upon herself not just by using a classroom for the videotape but then posting it on her Instagram account. It was posted with the following caption: “Watching the #inauguration in my classroom like…#no #stop #denial #squirtgun #hypocrisy #powerless #saveusall #teachthembetter #atleastitsfriday.”
Voices can be heard in the background – but the school district would not say if students witnessed the teacher’s disturbing demonstration.
It was later removed but it was too late — which is itself the amazing thing about our current environment and technology. In the short time it was up, people had already copied the videotape and let it run on the Internet.
Dallas Independent School District stated:
“Today, we were made aware of a social media posting being circulated involving a teacher at W. H. Adamson High School. The teacher has been placed on administrative leave and the district has opened an investigation. This is a personnel matter and as such we cannot comment.”
I have previously written about the increasing monitoring and discipline of teachers for conduct in their private lives. These cases are different however. While the Texas teacher posted on her own social media site, she used a classroom and possibly exposed students to his deeply disturbing display. It is an appalling lesson for students to hate a president and even celebrate his assassination.
As I have previously discussed, my house is hosting over a dozen family and friends who came from around the country to join the protests today as part of the “Women’s March” in Washington. While neither my family or I joined them, I was disturbed by the level of hate and the lack of objectivity shown by some of the protesters on TV. There seems a feeling of some that they can discard notions of civility and maturity in denouncing President Trump and his Administration. I am not sure where this sense of impunity or license comes from. There is a rising level of hate and intolerance in this country that is captured by a teacher pretending to shoot a president in front of her students.
The question is what should be done with these two teachers. What do you think the appropriate response in both cases should be?
Meanwhile in both states educators can still paddle the hell out of kids and teenagers using boards.
Anyone remember the Michael Holloman case from Alabama where the kid was paddled as punishment for refusing to say the pledge and instead raising his fist in silent protest, and it had to make its way up to the 11th circuit before the kid got his justice?
How about various lawsuits against Alabama schools for unlawful use of force against kids?
I’d rather raise my kids in a Wisconsin homeless shelter attending Wisconsin schools than in a mansion in Alabama attending Alabama schools.
Andrea: Yep, all things Northern are lollipops and unicorns (never a scandal there) and those backward Sourherners are downright evil. Funny thing, we keep seeing all these yankee license plates moving southward attached to U-hauls and moving vans. Seems most folks won’t join you at the Wisconsin shelter unless they have to.
mespo, I grew up in New England and had the disdain for Southerners drilled into me. Then I moved to KC. Now, KC is more Midwest than South, but it has more southern than most people might think. Then, I had a sister who lived in Texas[Houston and Austin] and Atlanta, visiting her often. As I traveled for biz and pleasure, and now retired, I have been to all states but Oregon and Hawaii. I have now lived in 7 states in 3 time zones. I think you know I’m not a panderer. Southerners are my favorite people. Northeasterners, where I grew up, my least favorite. I defend Southerners as you just did w/ that pompous Cheesehead, all the time.
I know you do, but I like to get my licks in, too.
Mespo, a lot of people don’t understand how diverse the South is. I have lived in TN, SC, have relatives in GA and my sister lived in RIchmond. I left Charleston for NoVa and it was major culture shock – no one says “hello” or offers to be helpful. Then I went to NV – Las Vegas which was even more bizarre. I guess I’m not cut out for transient cities so I returned to Charleston and am quite happy. Though more and more damn Yankees are headed this way =)
At first I watched the antics of the loony left with amused contempt – after all, we won.
But now, I am starting to get angry. If they want a fight, they can have what they are asking for.
And so the rift deepens.
The teacher who displayed the “you’re fired” image showed creativity and made a point: Obama is out, Trump, the man who popularized the “you’re fired” line, is in. Most likely, the teacher intended to make a pro-Trump statement and for that s/he should have kept it out of the classroom, but she did make a point in a creative manner. Hers/his was a fairly minor infraction.
On the other hand, demonstrating the shooting of a president, even with a water pistol, evidences such a lack of judgment, perspective, and sense as to preclude the Texas teacher from ever being near children. Her reaction to things she doesn’t like is to shoot. What about the next time a student offends her? Does she want to shoot the student? What if instead of an image of Donald Trump, the image was that of one of her students who pissed her off. That lady is plain out nuts. Keep her away from our kids.
When you are told constantly that you’re special for no reason at all save your identity and find out not everyone agrees, well, that makes you mad. When you see someone elected who threatens that very dogma you’re furious. Since you’re furious and society has told you that you’re also oppressed you get to act out since that’s what happens in the movies and games you watch all the time. It’s really reaping what the Left sows. Contrary to what you read in the press, people don’t act out from a lack of self-esteem; they act act from an abundance of it. It’s really pretty simple.
mespo,
Wouldn’t it be great to see a movie made where a self-esteem injected snowflake goes off the rails and becomes “the” serial killer?
Sort of an anti-Dexter? I like it.
Payal Modi is going to be meeting with the Secret Service.
The agency is “aware” of the video posted to Instagram that shows school teacher Modi acting out an assassination of President Trump on Inauguration Day in class. The teacher is shown screaming, “Die!”, as she fires a water pistol at a projected image of Trump.
Payal Modi posted pictures of her at the White House.
How are those SAT and ACT scores? You know, the stuff actually related to teaching, education, etc., in your respective high schools?
As bam bam correctly points out that acts of the two teachers are not in any way comparable. The teacher showing an image of Obama with Trump’s well-known catch phrase from his fomer TV show, “You’re fired!,” is not making a death threat on Obama’s life, as the other teacher has clearly done in the video Darren shows above. At worst, all we can say about the teacher using the Obama/”You’re fired!” juxtaposition is that the teacher may have a bias favoring Trump. In contrast the teacher with the water gun pointing her weapon at Trump’s image and yelling “Die! Die!” is displaying more than mere bias against Trump.
But, I suppose in the perverse mind of depraved Leftist, these two acts are not only comparable, they are virtually identical.
But here in the small world of Planet Reality, where I belong (a part of an endangered species), there’s no comparison. One teacher is at worst demonstrating a political bias and the other is making a death threat. In my admitedly small world, and getting smaller every day, a death threat is something much more than mere bias. I realize that JT would counter with a “You’re splitting hairs!” to my argument, but that predictable response has no merit in my little world.
And as for “bias” in instructors, in my experience virtually ALL instructors demonstrate some sort of bias if their classes touch on current events, history, and other such topics. Their biases are so obvious that usually within one class I am able to discern the political predilections of the instructor. And on today’s college campuses and many high schools, the instructors are LOADED with Leftists and libtards who are certain to be anti-Trump. On a campus such as the University of California – Berkely, for example, you can be 100% certain that 100% of the instructors are Leftists/Libtards. They won’t hire ANY that aren’t.
Of course, JT and his ilk have no problem with that. In fact, they LOVE it.
In the school system where my kid goes a student can’t even point their hand in the shape of a gun and pretend to make a firing gesture without getting a referral.
Now if the teacher can show some connection to the content she’s teaching she may have a way out.
I’d like to see her lesson plans.
Where did she get that lesson plan? Murder, incorporated?
President Obama was fired? I thought his term ended.
And while I generally agree that “There seems a feeling of some that they can discard notions of civility and maturity in denouncing President Trump and his Administration,” let’s not forget about the cartoon-character who was elected via the College by a landslide!! of ~77,000 votes, who himself ran on a platform of abandoning that very civility and maturity.
It’s like complaining about a rigged election and then complaining that people complain that it was a rigged election.
Exactly.
Teachers somewhere along the line get the idea that they know stuff and that their job is to impart their knowledge to others. Unfortunately most of them don’t know very much and are not imparting knowledge so much as imparting their own perceptions, their own experiences, their own biases. Education administrators want to constrain that behavior. Administrators want to determine which perceptions are advanced and which should not be advanced. Nothing political should be advanced but everything is political from biting a cookie into the shape of a gun to estimating numbers of attendees from a photograph to distinguishing science from fantasy.
Doglover – teachers are paid to pass on their knowledge or the knowledge in the textbook assigned to them. And control their classroom.
Renegade – the Twinkies defense would be perfect for the one who shot the President. Although, she is an art teacher and could claim it was performance art.
Interesting how the progressives have progressed, no?
Stifle free speech by those not on their agenda, and when they lose control of the situation, all the “nice” behavior required of others becomes not required of themselves. Oh but wait, I can hear a PTSD defense…she was soooo traumatized by the election that she isn’t responsible.
She was SHOCKED, shocked I tell you.
And, ate too many Twinkies that morning.
Just duplicating what they saw the pres doing during the debates and campaign rallys.
Poorly stated. Those set the tone.
Yup.
I think its a good action against them.. classroom is a place where we learn love and respect other than hate speech and much more.. i am favour of action against them
Squeeks,
To your post above.
Me thinks you’ll love this. I did!
http://thefederalist.com/2017/01/23/donald-trump-first-president-turn-postmodernism/#disqus_thread
Keep Squeekin’
From the article:
The most important part of the article IMHO. My idea is that the sense of impunity comes from 40+ years of identity politics, and prissing around calling the other side “racists” “homophobes” and “misogynists” etc., all to the applause of an approving press. Democrats just bought into their own phony narrative, and now have all the religious-like confidence of a Holy-Rolling puritan taking an axe to a saloon 100 years ago.
That’s why to them, it’s not fascist-like to shut down the other side’s political rally. Or keep a conservative from speaking on a campus. Or chew people out on airplanes, or any of the myriad of other intolerant things they do. Liberalism has become a faith-based enterprise and whatever passes for God or a Higher Power is on their side!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
There is a very obvious, undeniable and distinct difference between the acts of the two teachers. No comparison, whatsoever. How can one even begin to equate displaying a photo of a former President–yes, a FORMER President–bearing the caption, YOU’RE FIRED, and filming a video, in a classroom, no less, in which a teacher actually aims a gun at the image of the current President and screams, DIE? Polar opposites. President Obama is gone. Out of office. Done. Toast. We, as a nation, have suffered through eight, long and excruciating years with him. His reign of terror has, finally, come to an end. The bottom line is that it is indisputable that there was nothing threatening or menacing which can be gleaned with regard to the act of the teacher who employed a very innocuous and wry sense of humor by posting a photo of Obama and declaring him to be fired. Bad taste? Inappropriate? Ehh. Maybe. A non-issue.
On the other hand, the Left has now morphed into a group of bat$hit crazy, vicious, homicidal maniacs, whose pantsuit-wearing Mao clone, Hillary, lost, and it is now downright fashionable and cool to actually threaten and encourage open threats against the very life and safety of the President and his family–think, Madonna, and her proud and public statement about blowing up the White House. The unthinkable has now become acceptable. The criminal has now morphed into a mere expression of defiance or political expression. What should happen to this teacher? Fire her and prosecute her, to the fullest extent under the existing law, for posing a threat to the life of the President via this broadcast. There was a time, not so long ago, when blatant threats, to the life and safety of the President, had significance and were not viewed with indifference. While those days seem to have vanished, in the meantime, I would place Annie Oakley in a small and windowless jail cell with Madonna for the next decade and pump Like a Virgin, full blast, into the enclosure, 24 hours a day. Sounds like justice to me, although some may claim that it is cruel and unusual punishment. They may have a point.
Excellent post and very true.
Fair is fair. I can live with that. What’s hard to stomach is the failure of public education.
Here is a video for your review.
If these allegations are proven I believe the most reasonable action against this teacher is Termination of her employment and a revocation of her Teaching Certificate.
I am not one to throw out calls for employment termination at the drop of the hat but this type of behavior is completely unacceptable and likely will warrant an investigation by the U.S. Secret Service. I suspect that there were students present at the time of the video and that certainly will be an aggravating fact if true.
The irony has been such that public schools, though I have no knowledge if this district has such rules, in general there is a zero-tolerance approach to students of such reported prevalence that even the biting of cookies to make a form of a pistol causes students to be suspended but here we have a teacher acting out an assassination of the president during an inaugural address. What is going on folks?
In my opinion this teacher has demonstrated clearly that she is unfit to educate youth by making such a display, making threats against the US President and showing this to students, especially within the realm of social media where every student in the school could access and see her actions gives the impression among the youth that this type of behavior is tolerable. After all, she used it in a teaching environment.
She should of course be afforded due process according to applicable law and her employment contract but I do not see her being successful in marshaling a sufficiently convincing defense to save her career. If she retains her teaching certification, and loses her job at this district she will be completely radioactive in the minds of prospective employers in the education service.