CAIR bringing case against MCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeff cleaned up a bunch of insults and useless comments. How about trying for more substantive commentary?

The teacher was placed on administrative leave. That type of consequence is usually when there is a complaint regarding teacher interaction with a student(s) which needs investigation. If it really was only about the email signature, the consequence seems disproportionate.

But the report also says she was wearing a variety of pins and t-shirts that were overtly in support of Palestine. At the start of this conflict MCPS sent a fair amount of communications reminding staff that our community has people directly affected on both sides of the conflict. While we have the right to have our opinions, the first duty for teachers it to ensure that our classrooms are a welcoming place for all students. Our classrooms need to be neutral space and teachers need to maintain positive relationships with students.

As a teacher, even though I support her position, I am appalled that she was so insensitive to her MS students’ needs by dressing in what was effectively a threatening manner towards a subset of her students. Adults may be able to manage nuances of this situation, middle school students cannot. She was the adult in power in that room. Every Jewish kid felt unsafe. This isn’t about the email signature. There was more than that going on.

If you want to gripe about MCPS, complain that they didn’t have a good process in place to more clearly manage and communicate about the situation to the teacher at the time she was placed on leave. Complain that the investigation is taking too long. Complain that the principal didn’t address the concern with the teacher long before it escalated to whatever level of parent complaints triggered the administrative leave. Whatever the fault of MCPS in this case may be, it’s not differential treatment regarding email signatures.

Did MCPS release a statement to the parents of the kids at the school when they put the teacher on administrative leave?

I hate to tell you, but wearing pins or clothing that supports Palestine does not equate to Jews being unsafe. If I wear a keffiyeh or a pin that says “free Palestine” it doesn’t mean I dislike Jews or they should be scared of me. I feel like we are living in a world with a complete absence of critical thinking and nuance. And to respond to the above claim about “from the river to the sea,” it is NOT a unified call for the destruction of Israel. It is about a liberated free Palestine where everyone in the region has equal rights, but people want to continue to weaponize our slogans, our language etc. Glad CAIR is on it.

This. The far right has lacked critical thinking for quite some time but the far left is quickly catching up. Both moderate e Dems and moderate Republicans (are there any left?) need to start telling the lunatics in their party to sit down and shut up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeff cleaned up a bunch of insults and useless comments. How about trying for more substantive commentary?

The teacher was placed on administrative leave. That type of consequence is usually when there is a complaint regarding teacher interaction with a student(s) which needs investigation. If it really was only about the email signature, the consequence seems disproportionate.

But the report also says she was wearing a variety of pins and t-shirts that were overtly in support of Palestine. At the start of this conflict MCPS sent a fair amount of communications reminding staff that our community has people directly affected on both sides of the conflict. While we have the right to have our opinions, the first duty for teachers it to ensure that our classrooms are a welcoming place for all students. Our classrooms need to be neutral space and teachers need to maintain positive relationships with students.

As a teacher, even though I support her position, I am appalled that she was so insensitive to her MS students’ needs by dressing in what was effectively a threatening manner towards a subset of her students. Adults may be able to manage nuances of this situation, middle school students cannot. She was the adult in power in that room. Every Jewish kid felt unsafe. This isn’t about the email signature. There was more than that going on.

If you want to gripe about MCPS, complain that they didn’t have a good process in place to more clearly manage and communicate about the situation to the teacher at the time she was placed on leave. Complain that the investigation is taking too long. Complain that the principal didn’t address the concern with the teacher long before it escalated to whatever level of parent complaints triggered the administrative leave. Whatever the fault of MCPS in this case may be, it’s not differential treatment regarding email signatures.

Did MCPS release a statement to the parents of the kids at the school when they put the teacher on administrative leave?

I hate to tell you, but wearing pins or clothing that supports Palestine does not equate to Jews being unsafe. If I wear a keffiyeh or a pin that says “free Palestine” it doesn’t mean I dislike Jews or they should be scared of me. I feel like we are living in a world with a complete absence of critical thinking and nuance. And to respond to the above claim about “from the river to the sea,” it is NOT a unified call for the destruction of Israel. It is about a liberated free Palestine where everyone in the region has equal rights, but people want to continue to weaponize our slogans, our language etc. Glad CAIR is on it.

No, we see the subtext and pretext behind what is being said.--THIS actually is critical thinking and applying nuance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeff cleaned up a bunch of insults and useless comments. How about trying for more substantive commentary?

The teacher was placed on administrative leave. That type of consequence is usually when there is a complaint regarding teacher interaction with a student(s) which needs investigation. If it really was only about the email signature, the consequence seems disproportionate.

But the report also says she was wearing a variety of pins and t-shirts that were overtly in support of Palestine. At the start of this conflict MCPS sent a fair amount of communications reminding staff that our community has people directly affected on both sides of the conflict. While we have the right to have our opinions, the first duty for teachers it to ensure that our classrooms are a welcoming place for all students. Our classrooms need to be neutral space and teachers need to maintain positive relationships with students.

As a teacher, even though I support her position, I am appalled that she was so insensitive to her MS students’ needs by dressing in what was effectively a threatening manner towards a subset of her students. Adults may be able to manage nuances of this situation, middle school students cannot. She was the adult in power in that room. Every Jewish kid felt unsafe. This isn’t about the email signature. There was more than that going on.

If you want to gripe about MCPS, complain that they didn’t have a good process in place to more clearly manage and communicate about the situation to the teacher at the time she was placed on leave. Complain that the investigation is taking too long. Complain that the principal didn’t address the concern with the teacher long before it escalated to whatever level of parent complaints triggered the administrative leave. Whatever the fault of MCPS in this case may be, it’s not differential treatment regarding email signatures.

Did MCPS release a statement to the parents of the kids at the school when they put the teacher on administrative leave?

I hate to tell you, but wearing pins or clothing that supports Palestine does not equate to Jews being unsafe. If I wear a keffiyeh or a pin that says “free Palestine” it doesn’t mean I dislike Jews or they should be scared of me. I feel like we are living in a world with a complete absence of critical thinking and nuance. And to respond to the above claim about “from the river to the sea,” it is NOT a unified call for the destruction of Israel. It is about a liberated free Palestine where everyone in the region has equal rights, but people want to continue to weaponize our slogans, our language etc. Glad CAIR is on it.

We are also lacking in critical reading skills.

I did not say that that wearing pins or clothing supporting Palestine equated to Jews being unsafe. I said that in the context of a classroom where the teacher has power, wearing such items daily and clearly intending to make her position known, would make Jewish students FEEL unsafe.

These are 11-13 year old children who are still at the stage where they think and believe the way their parents do. They don’t have the brain development yet for abstract reasoning or experience to understand situations with the complex history this has. Preteens are highly irrational, emotionally fueled, black-and-white thinkers. In their minds this is an Us versus Them situation. From the Jewish perspective of millennia of persecution, this is the next fight for survival. So, yes, the kids are actually emotionally unsafe in that teacher’s classroom, and that it the real problem here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have no case. We’re specifically told not to write anything political in our signatures. He violated the code of conduct.

And they're alleging that that code of conduct was not enforced when other employees put political quotes in their signatures, which could give her a case.

This. Here's the complaint- https://www.cair.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ElHagganEEOC.pdf MCPS had no problem with Black Lives Matter in signature blocks. It seems like a selective enforcement of rules based on a disfavored political opinion

it’s a call for the destruction of Israel .

No it isn’t. That is your interpretation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeff cleaned up a bunch of insults and useless comments. How about trying for more substantive commentary?

The teacher was placed on administrative leave. That type of consequence is usually when there is a complaint regarding teacher interaction with a student(s) which needs investigation. If it really was only about the email signature, the consequence seems disproportionate.

But the report also says she was wearing a variety of pins and t-shirts that were overtly in support of Palestine. At the start of this conflict MCPS sent a fair amount of communications reminding staff that our community has people directly affected on both sides of the conflict. While we have the right to have our opinions, the first duty for teachers it to ensure that our classrooms are a welcoming place for all students. Our classrooms need to be neutral space and teachers need to maintain positive relationships with students.

As a teacher, even though I support her position, I am appalled that she was so insensitive to her MS students’ needs by dressing in what was effectively a threatening manner towards a subset of her students. Adults may be able to manage nuances of this situation, middle school students cannot. She was the adult in power in that room. Every Jewish kid felt unsafe. This isn’t about the email signature. There was more than that going on.

If you want to gripe about MCPS, complain that they didn’t have a good process in place to more clearly manage and communicate about the situation to the teacher at the time she was placed on leave. Complain that the investigation is taking too long. Complain that the principal didn’t address the concern with the teacher long before it escalated to whatever level of parent complaints triggered the administrative leave. Whatever the fault of MCPS in this case may be, it’s not differential treatment regarding email signatures.

Did MCPS release a statement to the parents of the kids at the school when they put the teacher on administrative leave?

I hate to tell you, but wearing pins or clothing that supports Palestine does not equate to Jews being unsafe. If I wear a keffiyeh or a pin that says “free Palestine” it doesn’t mean I dislike Jews or they should be scared of me. I feel like we are living in a world with a complete absence of critical thinking and nuance. And to respond to the above claim about “from the river to the sea,” it is NOT a unified call for the destruction of Israel. It is about a liberated free Palestine where everyone in the region has equal rights, but people want to continue to weaponize our slogans, our language etc. Glad CAIR is on it.

We are also lacking in critical reading skills.

I did not say that that wearing pins or clothing supporting Palestine equated to Jews being unsafe. I said that in the context of a classroom where the teacher has power, wearing such items daily and clearly intending to make her position known, would make Jewish students FEEL unsafe.

These are 11-13 year old children who are still at the stage where they think and believe the way their parents do. They don’t have the brain development yet for abstract reasoning or experience to understand situations with the complex history this has. Preteens are highly irrational, emotionally fueled, black-and-white thinkers. In their minds this is an Us versus Them situation. From the Jewish perspective of millennia of persecution, this is the next fight for survival. So, yes, the kids are actually emotionally unsafe in that teacher’s classroom, and that it the real problem here.

Why would they feel unsafe? Stop looking for problems where they don’t exist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeff cleaned up a bunch of insults and useless comments. How about trying for more substantive commentary?

The teacher was placed on administrative leave. That type of consequence is usually when there is a complaint regarding teacher interaction with a student(s) which needs investigation. If it really was only about the email signature, the consequence seems disproportionate.

But the report also says she was wearing a variety of pins and t-shirts that were overtly in support of Palestine. At the start of this conflict MCPS sent a fair amount of communications reminding staff that our community has people directly affected on both sides of the conflict. While we have the right to have our opinions, the first duty for teachers it to ensure that our classrooms are a welcoming place for all students. Our classrooms need to be neutral space and teachers need to maintain positive relationships with students.

As a teacher, even though I support her position, I am appalled that she was so insensitive to her MS students’ needs by dressing in what was effectively a threatening manner towards a subset of her students. Adults may be able to manage nuances of this situation, middle school students cannot. She was the adult in power in that room. Every Jewish kid felt unsafe. This isn’t about the email signature. There was more than that going on.

If you want to gripe about MCPS, complain that they didn’t have a good process in place to more clearly manage and communicate about the situation to the teacher at the time she was placed on leave. Complain that the investigation is taking too long. Complain that the principal didn’t address the concern with the teacher long before it escalated to whatever level of parent complaints triggered the administrative leave. Whatever the fault of MCPS in this case may be, it’s not differential treatment regarding email signatures.

Did MCPS release a statement to the parents of the kids at the school when they put the teacher on administrative leave?

I hate to tell you, but wearing pins or clothing that supports Palestine does not equate to Jews being unsafe. If I wear a keffiyeh or a pin that says “free Palestine” it doesn’t mean I dislike Jews or they should be scared of me. I feel like we are living in a world with a complete absence of critical thinking and nuance. And to respond to the above claim about “from the river to the sea,” it is NOT a unified call for the destruction of Israel. It is about a liberated free Palestine where everyone in the region has equal rights, but people want to continue to weaponize our slogans, our language etc. Glad CAIR is on it.

Absolutely false. You are either uninformed or are parroting the current whitewashing. "From the River to the Sea" is the call for a Palestinian state to be formed on the land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, i.e. the destruction of Israel. That is the position of Hamas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeff cleaned up a bunch of insults and useless comments. How about trying for more substantive commentary?

The teacher was placed on administrative leave. That type of consequence is usually when there is a complaint regarding teacher interaction with a student(s) which needs investigation. If it really was only about the email signature, the consequence seems disproportionate.

But the report also says she was wearing a variety of pins and t-shirts that were overtly in support of Palestine. At the start of this conflict MCPS sent a fair amount of communications reminding staff that our community has people directly affected on both sides of the conflict. While we have the right to have our opinions, the first duty for teachers it to ensure that our classrooms are a welcoming place for all students. Our classrooms need to be neutral space and teachers need to maintain positive relationships with students.

As a teacher, even though I support her position, I am appalled that she was so insensitive to her MS students’ needs by dressing in what was effectively a threatening manner towards a subset of her students. Adults may be able to manage nuances of this situation, middle school students cannot. She was the adult in power in that room. Every Jewish kid felt unsafe. This isn’t about the email signature. There was more than that going on.

If you want to gripe about MCPS, complain that they didn’t have a good process in place to more clearly manage and communicate about the situation to the teacher at the time she was placed on leave. Complain that the investigation is taking too long. Complain that the principal didn’t address the concern with the teacher long before it escalated to whatever level of parent complaints triggered the administrative leave. Whatever the fault of MCPS in this case may be, it’s not differential treatment regarding email signatures.

Did MCPS release a statement to the parents of the kids at the school when they put the teacher on administrative leave?

I hate to tell you, but wearing pins or clothing that supports Palestine does not equate to Jews being unsafe. If I wear a keffiyeh or a pin that says “free Palestine” it doesn’t mean I dislike Jews or they should be scared of me. I feel like we are living in a world with a complete absence of critical thinking and nuance. And to respond to the above claim about “from the river to the sea,” it is NOT a unified call for the destruction of Israel. It is about a liberated free Palestine where everyone in the region has equal rights, but people want to continue to weaponize our slogans, our language etc. Glad CAIR is on it.

We are also lacking in critical reading skills.

I did not say that that wearing pins or clothing supporting Palestine equated to Jews being unsafe. I said that in the context of a classroom where the teacher has power, wearing such items daily and clearly intending to make her position known, would make Jewish students FEEL unsafe.

These are 11-13 year old children who are still at the stage where they think and believe the way their parents do. They don’t have the brain development yet for abstract reasoning or experience to understand situations with the complex history this has. Preteens are highly irrational, emotionally fueled, black-and-white thinkers. In their minds this is an Us versus Them situation. From the Jewish perspective of millennia of persecution, this is the next fight for survival. So, yes, the kids are actually emotionally unsafe in that teacher’s classroom, and that it the real problem here.

Thank you for centering the children here. I can tell you’re a good teacher who understands kids’ needs, especially preteens. I agree fully.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have no case. We’re specifically told not to write anything political in our signatures. He violated the code of conduct.

And they're alleging that that code of conduct was not enforced when other employees put political quotes in their signatures, which could give her a case.

This. Here's the complaint- https://www.cair.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ElHagganEEOC.pdf MCPS had no problem with Black Lives Matter in signature blocks. It seems like a selective enforcement of rules based on a disfavored political opinion

it’s a call for the destruction of Israel .

No it isn’t. That is your interpretation

It is the position of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeff cleaned up a bunch of insults and useless comments. How about trying for more substantive commentary?

The teacher was placed on administrative leave. That type of consequence is usually when there is a complaint regarding teacher interaction with a student(s) which needs investigation. If it really was only about the email signature, the consequence seems disproportionate.

But the report also says she was wearing a variety of pins and t-shirts that were overtly in support of Palestine. At the start of this conflict MCPS sent a fair amount of communications reminding staff that our community has people directly affected on both sides of the conflict. While we have the right to have our opinions, the first duty for teachers it to ensure that our classrooms are a welcoming place for all students. Our classrooms need to be neutral space and teachers need to maintain positive relationships with students.

As a teacher, even though I support her position, I am appalled that she was so insensitive to her MS students’ needs by dressing in what was effectively a threatening manner towards a subset of her students. Adults may be able to manage nuances of this situation, middle school students cannot. She was the adult in power in that room. Every Jewish kid felt unsafe. This isn’t about the email signature. There was more than that going on.

If you want to gripe about MCPS, complain that they didn’t have a good process in place to more clearly manage and communicate about the situation to the teacher at the time she was placed on leave. Complain that the investigation is taking too long. Complain that the principal didn’t address the concern with the teacher long before it escalated to whatever level of parent complaints triggered the administrative leave. Whatever the fault of MCPS in this case may be, it’s not differential treatment regarding email signatures.

Did MCPS release a statement to the parents of the kids at the school when they put the teacher on administrative leave?

I hate to tell you, but wearing pins or clothing that supports Palestine does not equate to Jews being unsafe. If I wear a keffiyeh or a pin that says “free Palestine” it doesn’t mean I dislike Jews or they should be scared of me. I feel like we are living in a world with a complete absence of critical thinking and nuance. And to respond to the above claim about “from the river to the sea,” it is NOT a unified call for the destruction of Israel. It is about a liberated free Palestine where everyone in the region has equal rights, but people want to continue to weaponize our slogans, our language etc. Glad CAIR is on it.

We are also lacking in critical reading skills.

I did not say that that wearing pins or clothing supporting Palestine equated to Jews being unsafe. I said that in the context of a classroom where the teacher has power, wearing such items daily and clearly intending to make her position known, would make Jewish students FEEL unsafe.

These are 11-13 year old children who are still at the stage where they think and believe the way their parents do. They don’t have the brain development yet for abstract reasoning or experience to understand situations with the complex history this has. Preteens are highly irrational, emotionally fueled, black-and-white thinkers. In their minds this is an Us versus Them situation. From the Jewish perspective of millennia of persecution, this is the next fight for survival. So, yes, the kids are actually emotionally unsafe in that teacher’s classroom, and that it the real problem here.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have no case. We’re specifically told not to write anything political in our signatures. He violated the code of conduct.

And they're alleging that that code of conduct was not enforced when other employees put political quotes in their signatures, which could give her a case.

This. Here's the complaint- https://www.cair.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ElHagganEEOC.pdf MCPS had no problem with Black Lives Matter in signature blocks. It seems like a selective enforcement of rules based on a disfavored political opinion

it’s a call for the destruction of Israel .

No it isn’t. That is your interpretation

It is the position of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

No it is not. Only according to supporters of Israel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have no case. We’re specifically told not to write anything political in our signatures. He violated the code of conduct.

And they're alleging that that code of conduct was not enforced when other employees put political quotes in their signatures, which could give her a case.

This. Here's the complaint- https://www.cair.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ElHagganEEOC.pdf MCPS had no problem with Black Lives Matter in signature blocks. It seems like a selective enforcement of rules based on a disfavored political opinion

it’s a call for the destruction of Israel .

No it isn’t. That is your interpretation

It is the position of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

No it is not. Only according to supporters of Israel.

It’s literally in the Hamas charter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have no case. We’re specifically told not to write anything political in our signatures. He violated the code of conduct.

And they're alleging that that code of conduct was not enforced when other employees put political quotes in their signatures, which could give her a case.

This. Here's the complaint- https://www.cair.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ElHagganEEOC.pdf MCPS had no problem with Black Lives Matter in signature blocks. It seems like a selective enforcement of rules based on a disfavored political opinion

it’s a call for the destruction of Israel .

Well that’s debatable. Many Palestinians claim its a call for equality and fairness throughout the state of Israel.

It’s not debatable, that’s what it means regardless of ignorance by those who use it. Probably not of legal concern, but BLM is a positive reference for a particular group, it calls for support, the other calls for a destruction of a people.

You can’t just hijack a phrase and tell
people, no it doesn’t mean what you say, it means what I say. You don’t get to do that. Also, Isreal is calling for the destruction of Gaza and now says there can be no two state solution. So in fact being Pro Israeli is supporting terrorism and makes Muslim children feel unsafe in school. See how interpretation can be turned around?

You're not nearly as clever as you think you are, nor are you informed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have no case. We’re specifically told not to write anything political in our signatures. He violated the code of conduct.

And they're alleging that that code of conduct was not enforced when other employees put political quotes in their signatures, which could give her a case.

This. Here's the complaint- https://www.cair.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ElHagganEEOC.pdf MCPS had no problem with Black Lives Matter in signature blocks. It seems like a selective enforcement of rules based on a disfavored political opinion

it’s a call for the destruction of Israel .

Well that’s debatable. Many Palestinians claim its a call for equality and fairness throughout the state of Israel.

It’s not debatable, that’s what it means regardless of ignorance by those who use it. Probably not of legal concern, but BLM is a positive reference for a particular group, it calls for support, the other calls for a destruction of a people.

You can’t just hijack a phrase and tell
people, no it doesn’t mean what you say, it means what I say. You don’t get to do that. Also, Isreal is calling for the destruction of Gaza and now says there can be no two state solution. So in fact being Pro Israeli is supporting terrorism and makes Muslim children feel unsafe in school. See how interpretation can be turned around?

+1000. I am Palestinian and I am literally telling people to stop hijacking the phrase and people who aren’t Palestinian love to gaslight and tell us what our phrases mean or don’t mean. Personally I don’t use the phrase because it has been completely hijacked and it’s not the battle I’m going to fight when there are other more important things, but it’s become out of control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeff cleaned up a bunch of insults and useless comments. How about trying for more substantive commentary?

The teacher was placed on administrative leave. That type of consequence is usually when there is a complaint regarding teacher interaction with a student(s) which needs investigation. If it really was only about the email signature, the consequence seems disproportionate.

But the report also says she was wearing a variety of pins and t-shirts that were overtly in support of Palestine. At the start of this conflict MCPS sent a fair amount of communications reminding staff that our community has people directly affected on both sides of the conflict. While we have the right to have our opinions, the first duty for teachers it to ensure that our classrooms are a welcoming place for all students. Our classrooms need to be neutral space and teachers need to maintain positive relationships with students.

As a teacher, even though I support her position, I am appalled that she was so insensitive to her MS students’ needs by dressing in what was effectively a threatening manner towards a subset of her students. Adults may be able to manage nuances of this situation, middle school students cannot. She was the adult in power in that room. Every Jewish kid felt unsafe. This isn’t about the email signature. There was more than that going on.

If you want to gripe about MCPS, complain that they didn’t have a good process in place to more clearly manage and communicate about the situation to the teacher at the time she was placed on leave. Complain that the investigation is taking too long. Complain that the principal didn’t address the concern with the teacher long before it escalated to whatever level of parent complaints triggered the administrative leave. Whatever the fault of MCPS in this case may be, it’s not differential treatment regarding email signatures.

Did MCPS release a statement to the parents of the kids at the school when they put the teacher on administrative leave?

I hate to tell you, but wearing pins or clothing that supports Palestine does not equate to Jews being unsafe. If I wear a keffiyeh or a pin that says “free Palestine” it doesn’t mean I dislike Jews or they should be scared of me. I feel like we are living in a world with a complete absence of critical thinking and nuance. And to respond to the above claim about “from the river to the sea,” it is NOT a unified call for the destruction of Israel. It is about a liberated free Palestine where everyone in the region has equal rights, but people want to continue to weaponize our slogans, our language etc. Glad CAIR is on it.

We are also lacking in critical reading skills.

I did not say that that wearing pins or clothing supporting Palestine equated to Jews being unsafe. I said that in the context of a classroom where the teacher has power, wearing such items daily and clearly intending to make her position known, would make Jewish students FEEL unsafe.

These are 11-13 year old children who are still at the stage where they think and believe the way their parents do. They don’t have the brain development yet for abstract reasoning or experience to understand situations with the complex history this has. Preteens are highly irrational, emotionally fueled, black-and-white thinkers. In their minds this is an Us versus Them situation. From the Jewish perspective of millennia of persecution, this is the next fight for survival. So, yes, the kids are actually emotionally unsafe in that teacher’s classroom, and that it the real problem here.

No, you lack critical thinking skills. Do you know the children who are literally unsafe? The children of Gaza. Go watch a few videos. The middle school kids of MCPS aren’t unsafe because one of their teachers visibly supports Palestine. It’s actually disgusting how privileged and fragile some of y’all are. What a disgrace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeff cleaned up a bunch of insults and useless comments. How about trying for more substantive commentary?

The teacher was placed on administrative leave. That type of consequence is usually when there is a complaint regarding teacher interaction with a student(s) which needs investigation. If it really was only about the email signature, the consequence seems disproportionate.

But the report also says she was wearing a variety of pins and t-shirts that were overtly in support of Palestine. At the start of this conflict MCPS sent a fair amount of communications reminding staff that our community has people directly affected on both sides of the conflict. While we have the right to have our opinions, the first duty for teachers it to ensure that our classrooms are a welcoming place for all students. Our classrooms need to be neutral space and teachers need to maintain positive relationships with students.

As a teacher, even though I support her position, I am appalled that she was so insensitive to her MS students’ needs by dressing in what was effectively a threatening manner towards a subset of her students. Adults may be able to manage nuances of this situation, middle school students cannot. She was the adult in power in that room. Every Jewish kid felt unsafe. This isn’t about the email signature. There was more than that going on.

If you want to gripe about MCPS, complain that they didn’t have a good process in place to more clearly manage and communicate about the situation to the teacher at the time she was placed on leave. Complain that the investigation is taking too long. Complain that the principal didn’t address the concern with the teacher long before it escalated to whatever level of parent complaints triggered the administrative leave. Whatever the fault of MCPS in this case may be, it’s not differential treatment regarding email signatures.

Did MCPS release a statement to the parents of the kids at the school when they put the teacher on administrative leave?

I hate to tell you, but wearing pins or clothing that supports Palestine does not equate to Jews being unsafe. If I wear a keffiyeh or a pin that says “free Palestine” it doesn’t mean I dislike Jews or they should be scared of me. I feel like we are living in a world with a complete absence of critical thinking and nuance. And to respond to the above claim about “from the river to the sea,” it is NOT a unified call for the destruction of Israel. It is about a liberated free Palestine where everyone in the region has equal rights, but people want to continue to weaponize our slogans, our language etc. Glad CAIR is on it.

We are also lacking in critical reading skills. :roll:

I did not say that that wearing pins or clothing supporting Palestine equated to Jews being unsafe. I said that in the context of a classroom where the teacher has power, wearing such items daily and clearly intending to make her position known, would make Jewish students FEEL unsafe.

These are 11-13 year old children who are still at the stage where they think and believe the way their parents do. They don’t have the brain development yet for abstract reasoning or experience to understand situations with the complex history this has. Preteens are highly irrational, emotionally fueled, black-and-white thinkers. In their minds this is an Us versus Them situation. From the Jewish perspective of millennia of persecution, this is the next fight for survival. So, yes, the kids are actually emotionally unsafe in that teacher’s classroom, and that it the real problem here.

No, you lack critical thinking skills. Do you know the children who are literally unsafe? The children of Gaza. Go watch a few videos. The middle school kids of MCPS aren’t unsafe because one of their teachers visibly supports Palestine. It’s actually disgusting how privileged and fragile some of y’all are. What a disgrace.

The disgrace here is that you cannot distinguish between “critical thinking skills” and “critical reading skills”, nor do you understand the nuance of emotionally unsafe in the context of a classroom. You clearly aren’t a middle school teacher.

This discussion is about why a specific teacher is on administrative leave. If you don’t understand how preteens think and feel, head over to the teen forum to discover how much of a mystery that is to many adults. Do you really think a child is going to ask for help from an adult who they think hates them? Do you think a kid can focus on a math lesson while thinking about family harmed or in danger in this war? Do you think a preteen can NOT think about the conflict when the are supposed to be paying attention to someone who is deliberately diverting attention to the conflict by being covered in symbols of “the other side”? This is what emotionally unsafe means. A Jewish child would walk into that class, mentally shut down, and count the minutes until they can leave. A teachers job is to create a place welcoming to all children. This teacher wasn’t doing that and I think that’s the real reason she’s on leave.