Teacher suspended after

[Meemoo]

saying dog cleaner is smarter than students. Well honestly...sometimes I think this myself about kids...:eek: and adults as well..but would NEVER SAY it...especially if I was a teacher! Seems to me that comment about the kids should be applied to the TEACHER!



Teacher suspended after saying dog cleaner, smarter than students

Associated Press


ST. LOUIS - A St. Louis area teacher has been suspended with pay after being overheard remarking that her dog "is smarter and cleaner than most of the children we teach."

The Riverview Gardens High School teacher supposedly made the remark shortly before a school board meeting Tuesday night, after the teacher was told her dog she brought along could not be allowed inside.

Bobbi Small, a school board member, said she overheard the remark.

The teacher's name has not been released.

"We're supposed to be here as advocates for the children, making sure that they get the education that they need to succeed in life," Small told St. Louis' KSDK-TV on Thursday. "And if a teacher's making that comment and she's supposed to be teaching our children, then she can't have the best interest for our children."

Henry Williams, superintendent for St. Louis County's Riverview Gardens school district, has sent the teacher a letter placing her on administrative leave "because you're talking about students, irrespective of whether they are black or white."

"No teacher who teaches children should have that kind of attitude," Williams said. "Any teacher who has that attitude is totally unacceptable."

[Me&DappledDuo]

Wow. I really wonder about a person like that.

You should have to really, really, really love teaching to do it. I can't imagine someone becoming a teacher with an attitude like that- it's not like she's getting rich off of it!

And I'm an advocate of taking your dog with you- but to a BOARD MEETING?! That's a new one. :lol:

I would hope she's more than suspended- she needs to find a different line of work. While I know it's not right- so many kids have such crappy home lives that they NEED their teachers to love them. She should be awfully ashamed of herself. :(

[kpm_tex]

I wouldn't be too hard on the teacher for an off the cuff comment like that. I taught for 2 years after college at a middle school in Florida. It was a lower income area and a good number of the kids that went there came in wearing the same clothes day after day. It was a real awakening for me. Especially the head lice problem :eek: So, if some one had asked me then I would have had to say my dog was cleaner then a lot of those kids... and better behaved.

[quavec]

postions, you should really think carefully before speaking your thoughts. Politicians, celebrities and any one in the public eye or on a payroll funded by tax payers should think twice, three times before blurting out comments. Yes, it is good to say what you feel but pick your words and soap box carefully! You never know who is listening! I agree that she may have been correct in her statement but could have stated it in a much better way. And what is up with the suspended WITH pay? I always figure that is a good way to look for another job because you still have a paycheck coming in and time off to polish that resume!

[TessieMom]

Very true. There are a lot of times where I have thought things about students and their parents that I would not say out loud. I doubt that I would bring a dog to a meeting (I have brought one into a staff meeting in our department to keep from disturbing the rest of the building with barks and howls, but I would not go beyond that).