Charges of political bias and bullying have landed a North Carolina teacher in hot water. A clip from a Swedish documentary captures 5th grade teacher Diatha Harris talking to her class last May about the presidential election. She’s not shy about expressing her point of view (responding “Oh, Jesus!” when one her students says she supports John McCain). At one point she describes the conflict in Iraq as a “senseless war” and tells one of her students whose father is in Iraq that he could be there ”for another hundred years” if were elected.
Conservative bloggers picked up on the clip a few days ago, now the school system’s Superintendent has weighed in, saying he’s shocked by the video and promising an investigation. “While neutral discussion of the political process is appropriate,” says Dr. William Harrison, “at no time, particularly with elementary students, should a teacher infuse his/her political views into the discussion.”
The classroom conversation does seem to cross the line when Harris tells 5th grader Cathy Thompson, who supports McCain, “It’s a senseless war. And by the way, Cathy, the person you are picking for president said that our troops will stay in Iraq for another 100 years if they need to. So that means that your daddy could stay in the military for another hundred years.”
Lost in all the sturm und drang, however, is that the student herself and her parents are supporting the teacher. “She is usually messing around,” Cathy Thompson, tells the Asheville Citizen-Times. “When she said that, I knew she was messing around.” Her parents, Angela Moore and Army Staff Sgt. Robert Thompson, also said they weren’t mad at the teacher, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times. “Mrs. Harris is always active with the children like that,” Moore said. “I have sat in her class when my Cathy was a student, and she was very active with the children. She tries to get them involved with everything.” Robert Thompson said he thinks Harris is “getting a rough deal.”
A nationwide poll shows confidence in America’s public schools and the No Child Left Behind Act is declining. The survey by Education Next also shows Americans believe Democrats are the party “more likely to improve the nation’s schools.”
On NCLB: half of those surveyed support leaving it as is or renewing it with minimal changes; half think it needs a major overhaul or should be done away with. The survey also shows that Americans–especially African Americans and Hispanics–are more confident in their local police force than in their local schools.
In 2007, the EdNext poll found 57 percent of the public supported renewing NCLB as is or with minimal changes; today only 50 percent of the public do. Support has declined among African Americans, Hispanics, and whites.
Public school teachers are especially critical of NCLB with only 26 percent supporting renewal as is or with minimal changes; 33 percent suggest that Congress completely overhaul the act, and another 42 percent recommend that Congress not renew the act at all.
Only 20% of African Americans give public schools an A or a B. The percentage of Hispanics giving schools a D or F has doubled since last year’s poll, from 16 to 32 percent.
“The public has more faith in its local police force than it does in its local schools,” notes EdNext. ”This is especially pronounced among African Americans and Hispanics: Fifty-five percent of African Americans and 64 percent of Hispanics gave their police force an A or B, a significantly higher show of support than for public schools. ”
When asked whether students “who have been diagnosed with emotional and behavioral disabilities should be taught in regular classrooms with other students,” only 25 percent of teachers, and 28 percent of the public, favored the idea. The rest said they should be “taught in separate settings.”
37 percent of respondents support the idea of public school districts offering parents the option of sending their child to a single-sex school; 25 percent oppose the idea; and the remainder are undecided. Support is stronger among public school teachers–47 percent approve the idea.
More than two thirds of American parents say they would be willing to have their children take some of their high school courses over the Internet.
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