Teachers... WTF

Teachers shouldn’t talk about politics in class. Scratch that… they should talk, responsibly, about politics, but they shouldn’t talk about their politics in class.

Here’s the inciting incident. “President Obama,” my 10 year old tells me, “is going to be impeached because he does things that are unconstitutional. You know, like with health care and stuff.”

My wife and I, who are politically on separate planets, were joined together in bi-partisan fury. We’ve had issues with this teacher before. It’s not the school. We love the school. It’s a Montessori school with the mixed grade levels and the focus on responsibility and the test free environment. The school is great. This teacher though…aaaarrgghh!

It’s not her teaching. The lessons are fine. It’s her “personal wisdom” that she brings to the class. She’s a drama queen. She loves to talk, for example, about the awesome and destructive power of storms and tornados and lightning, and all of the horrible devastation that she’s seen. Great stuff, all things that will get a boy’s mind engaged. But that’s where she stops with it.

The woman has no balance. She tells one side of everything. As far as my son’s 10 year old mind is concerned, that’s what storms are… the end of the world! He came home from school a while ago insisting that no one can use the toilet during a storm because they’ll be struck by lightning on the rear end. Seriously.

I do give the woman some credit. She is severely Christian, and it’s difficult for her to not let that influence her teaching of history or evolution or other sciences. But she needs to understand that she’s one of the larger influences in my boy’s life. [That actually hurt to write. I’m rubbing my neck.] And with hot button issues like politics, a prepared, balanced argument where both sides are represented fairly, so that the students can make up their own minds, isn’t too much to ask. Especially from a teacher, who is there to teach, not to persuade. It’s sort of her responsibility. Oh, and the teacher’s opinion on the subject should be a mystery to the children. That sort of influence isn’t their job.

I confronted her in the woods during a field trip last week. I’m not sure how it went. I made my point. I made my point for about 20 minutes. Boy, did I make my point. But I’m not sure if it was really absorbed. She’s very proud. Not one to admit fault. It was very unsatisfying. We’ll have to wait and see.

Hopefully this is an isolated incident. On everything else we’ve been giving her a pass. We’ve taken to putting things into perspective at home. My son understands the fact that his teacher has a flare for drama and takes her personal “extras” with a grain of salt.

He knows that when you hear the tornado warnings on the news, it's actually not already too late.

The chances of being struck by lightening are pretty slim. Being struck while on the toilet… slimmer.

Rock and roll music isn’t at the heart of violence in America.

And change is a good thing, it doesn’t make life a stormy sea, with nothing to hold on to. (That was actually from an e-mail she sent out that had an “I am the teacher, I am the light” sort of a theme).

I feel better now.