I’m going to blog about some things that don’t have anything
to do with the Neshaminy School District for a while … after this. I just wanted to informally throw out a few
thoughts I had concerning the recent accusations of harassment that a teacher
has leveled at fellow teachers and ultimately the union.
First, there is no excuse for the things that this teacher
alleges were done to him and others.
These actions are wrong … and in some cases criminal.
Second, we don’t know who is behind all of them, and so we should
refrain from passing judgment. Let’s
leave that to the authorities.
Third, the leadership of the Union should be taking actions
to prevent this sort of thing from happening.
Maybe they have been. I don’t
know. They certainly should have been
though, because it is hardly a surprise that something like this might
happen. This dispute has gone on a long
time. It has also gotten very
nasty. Teachers have had to deal with
this nastiness in their everyday lives. Teachers
have not gotten raises in a while. They
have just been out on strike, getting no pay.
There are a lot of teachers, and they are not all going to agree on
everything. This is a combination of
factors that make conflicts between teachers inevitable. Inevitable and natural. Inevitable and natural things aren’t signs of
collapse or evidence that the teacher’s position is wrong, but they are things should
be anticipated and dealt with.
Fourth, we have a very poisonous atmosphere on our
hands. That these sorts of things are
happening shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone outside of the union leadership
either. Those of us that have declared
war on one side or the other, hurling insults and personal attacks around willy
nilly, should recognize this as a product of their actions. Foster
hate and fear and anger, and you get people who act out.
Hopefully this will be a call for saner heads to
prevail. Unfortunately, it seems to be
causing folks to dig in.
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