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STUPIDITY VIRUS STRIKES IN ROCHESTER June 15, 2004 Get this latest dispatch from the government schools from the Associated Press last Friday� * * * QUOTE * * * An elementary school teacher was placed on paid leave for washing a boy's mouth out with soap after he shouted an obscenity at a classmate. Lori Thomas, 48, who has taught for six years at inner-city School 22 (in Rochester, NY), said she was stunned when a 10-year-old boy directed �a vile, very nasty sexual reference� at a third-grade girl in March. Thomas said she didn't want the boy, who had frequently been sent home for unruly behavior, to earn another one-week suspension. She took the boy to the nurse's office, she said, �put a drop of soap on his lower lip, washed it out immediately and told him I never wanted to hear filth like that coming out of his mouth again.� "Old-fashioned ways work,� she said unapologetically. The boy behaved for the remainder of the day and didn't complain to his foster mother, Thomas said. The boy's brother told district officials what had happened, she said. Thomas was suspended indefinitely. . . . More than 40 relatives of children in Thomas' class have asked for her to be reinstated. * * * UNQUOTE * * * The operative sentences here would appear to be, �a drop of soap on his lower lip� and �the boy behaved for the remainder of the day.� Sounds like �proportional� and �effective� to us. On Monday, the school district announced its decision on the incident: �The case involving Lori Thomas, a teacher at School No. 22, was reviewed by the Rochester City School District�s Human Resources Department and Office of Law,� said the official press release. �That review concluded that she was in violation of the state regulation prohibiting the use of corporal punishment as well as in violation of the District�s Code of Conduct, which also prohibits corporal punishment. Thomas will not be terminated but is being disciplined. She will not be returning to the classroom for the remainder of the school year.� Joanne Giuffrida, Chief Human Resources Officer for the District, said in the statement: �In addition to providing academic guidance, teachers are also responsible for providing guidance in the social/emotional development of their students. This means fostering a positive self-image and self-confidence among students, and that is a role we expect all teachers to uphold.� What a load of bunk. Thomas responded to the decision by telling the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle on Tuesday, �The terms they have given me, I'm not going to accept. I'm going to meet with the union, but I don't know what I can do yet." The story includes Guiffrida claiming she was told by witnesses that the kid had his mouth �pried� open and had the soap �pumped� into his mouth from a dispenser. "He was spitting, choking and crying," Giuffrida says she was told by witnesses. "That's not what happened at all," Thomas responded. �The boy never shed a tear." Let�s see. Knowing how kids and bureaucrats have a tendency to, well, lie, my money�s on the teacher�s version here. But even if she DID �pry� his mouth open and �pump� soap into his mouth, which I sincerely doubt, so what? These little out-of-control butt-wipes could use a little �old-fashioned� discipline. You and I NEVER would have gotten away with the stuff these hellions get away with these days. Does anyone else out there remember what a NUN would have done 30 years ago in a similar circumstance? Or what DAD would have done, on top of what the Sister Mary did, when he got home from work? The school board needs to reverse this decision by the district�s bureaucrats and lawyers. No teacher should have to put up with this crap in his or her classroom. Parents can�t watch their kids 24 hours a day, and thank goodness there are still some common-sense caring teachers out there who refuse to put up with unacceptable behavior while kids are in their charge. Ms. Thomas should have been given a Gold Star, not a suspension. BRUSHFIRE ALERT: Shirley Thompson is the President of the Rochester City School District. Perhaps she and her colleagues will do the right thing and come to Ms. Thomas� defense and reverse this disciplinary action. Perhaps you can POLITELY encourage President Thompson to do just that. Perhaps I could give you President Thompson�s email address� [EMAIL PROTECTED] Chuck Muth President Citizen Outreach
