Jenna Bush not morally fit to teach kids at Harlem!

Heard this on Fox News, of all places! Tried to find a link and could only come up with these two:

Jenna Bush not morally fit to teach kids at Harlem!


New York, July 24 (ANI): Artists and Activists United for Peace, a black and Latino public-action group, have voiced their dissent over the US president George Bush's daughter Jenna teaching in a school at Harlem.

"We don't think she is of a high enough moral character to teach school, considering her past adventures," organizer John Penley was quoted by The New York Daily News as saying.

"Her taking this job is keeping a black person from getting the job. We think she and her sister should enlist in the military," he added.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/040724/139/2f4l6.html

and http://www.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=43809&cat=World

She do her six months of pious penitence, then waltz into a six figure glam job at some foundation or right wing think tank and prepare to marry well.

So she partied it up a bit, this makes you unqualified and morally bankrupt? Ridiculous.

rich...maybe they think it's just a little too photo opish.

... so she drank and partied while she was a college student...

AND???

But I still like the line about enlisting in the military... It seems like it would be the appropriate thing to do. Forget working on Daddy's campaign... go fight Daddy's war... then see how much you want him to win reelection.

I believe she majored in English, but I've never heard that she has taken education courses. Having a mother who was briefly a teacher doesn't cut it. My sister is a grade school principal, but that doesn't qualify me to do her job.

how to stick dey tongues out. :evilgrin:

good one!

Don't know what it is in NY but she WILL have to meet the qualifications of NCLB. Meaning, all teachers must meet the designation of "highly qualified" as a part of their licensing. If she took education classes, she should have taken a test to certify her in this area.

On the other matter, a Bush in a poor school? Should be funny.

wouldn't have gotten out of high school without Dadddy Dearest.

Screw her (as if you'd want to). :P

They are allowed to substitute previous experience being stupid rightwing assholes in exchange for actual education or experience.

I'll probably run into her when I teach in NYC :puke:

I'd say Jenna would last about 6 hours in Harlem. It takes dedication to teach, especially in a poor school.

As for morals, I personally believe it is important that teachers have a clean record. And I walked my talk-graduated with high honors from college, NO smoking, NO drugs, NO alcohol. Others may differ from my opinion, and that's fine. Just wanted you to know I'm not hypocritical, unlike the majority of the GOP.

and not a day went by when I didn't down a few a drafts and, every now and then, toke on a little bad-ass weed. So those of us with more libertine outlooks simply can't understand where you are coming from. It doesn't ring true to those of us who try to live life to fullest. Please don't equate my love of live to being a "hypocritical GOP." Nothing could be further from the truth.

SO you're saying that a teacher who quaffs a glass or two of a nice, oaky Chardonnay after a hard day in the classroom is a unqualified to teach?

It is by right wing standards that they go by. Is a drunken slut morally fit to teach your children? How about a gay man?

I'm not pure, but then I'm 35. :)

As to Jenna - personally, I'm under no illusions about how hard this year is going to be, and I'm a liberal committed to universal education. Six hours sounds about right.

Enlisting in the miltary: What better way for the Bu$h twins to show their support for their father's policies?

They could teach Iraqi children in Falluja that had their limbs amputated because of war injuries how to effectively beg for food.

Aren't there any schools in Tx. that need teachers?

Besides, how best to counteract those uppity New York lib'ruls than to send a good patriotic American into their midst?

have gotten many of my teachers fired had I known that. I had heard it was hard to find teachers in most of our inner cities. Maybe I got the wrong info. I do believe she just graduated with a teaching degree. It isn't the kid's fault that their parent is given to lying, arrogance and smirking et al.

I shake my head in wonder.

...instead of hanging in the teacher's lounge during downtime I suppose we can count on finding her in the good ol' Lenox Lounge (Lenox between 124th & 125th) pounding down Cold Ducks and muttering into her drink..."whenzh John Shaft gonna walkhz in heah? I got a casezh that needsh crackin'. "


Bleeeeaaaargh!

Maybe they can teach her a thing or two.

Hmmmmmmmmm...

Mudoch and her father don't want her to learn. Like how regular people live and what regular people's problems are.

Maybe that's why she wants to teach there, for a little bit.

Imho, Artists and Activists United for Peace are being shortsighted in their statement.

Musical to read someone speak the truth so eloquently!

Maybe she'll learn something even though it's probably more likely the whole thing will be a meaningless symbolic getsure to make the Bushes seem like they give a shit when they really don't. Then again perhaps she is well intentioned. Just because her dad is an idiot doesn't mean she is necessarily a bad person. Look at Ron Reagan. So she drank underage in college? Big deal. She got a ticket and daddy paid it. Start purging teachers who partied in college and you'll be looking at a serious teacher shortage pretty quickly.

I can understand resentment people in Harlem would feel about their children being used as props for an administration that doesn't give two shits about them, but why not just say that instead of asserting that Jenna Bush is morally unfit to teach in their community? Based on what? Underage drinking? That's a ridiculous standard and it trivializes legitimate greivances.

Good God, to teach in Harlem should be more than a "whim." It could be a tough assingment for any teacher, (as would be teaching cross culturally in general) but especially for one whose life experiences have been so very different than the kids she would be teaching. I certainly think many 22 year olds could handle it, but only those who had achieved significant maturity and could identify true motivation behind their plan. She certainly hasn't done anything (at least as far as we know) that signals the kind of maturity that should be required to ensure these kids get a good teacher. Her stupid little tongue gesture on national media coverage-- the 22 year old daughter of the pResident and grandaughter of a second-- certainly doesn't add any evid3ence in her favor.

fifth and sixth for 14 years and first for 11, with a year of third, fourth and second.

Teaching is hard work and I don't see a certification here. She's just another dumb ass going out to do something she isn't qualified for. Teaching is damned hard and doing it well with a cross section of kids, especially kids that are behind, makes it very, very hard.
I would HATE to her have for the inconvenience of someone with body guards, for the fact that telling her she's messing up with my kid
might get me jailed and because she's a retarded acting dumb ass.

God. Give me a break from people who want to "teach".

though the students deserve a teacher who can understand them, it'd be a great place for her to get an education.

to teach kids, especially in minority places which are one of the areas most hurt because of his policies.

I think she would learn more and might convince her that her Dad's ideas are all wrong.
Let her teach.

There you go, DU. Something for your Fall line at Cafe Press.

she should go to fight in daddy's war before my son should have to..

Plus the kids would never respect her or her family! On the other hand, when the kids start to ask her why her whole family were criminals, it would be nice to hear the answer she gives.

I hope nobody really thinks she's going to be a teacher in Harlem year in and year out like a real and dedicated teacher. She just ain't built that way. There'll be a ready-made excuse for the press when she high-tails it out of there after less than a full semester 'teaching'. Kids deserve better than her, anyway.

I only count 4 years of college...what happened to her student-teaching year and certification? If this is a Charter School, perhaps they dont have to be fully qualified?

What has she done from high school through college to prepare herself to teach minority kids/ghetto kids? Perhaps she mingled with her uncle Jeb's minority kids?

Most importantly, why isnt she teaching in Texas?

"Her taking this job is keeping a black person from getting the job. We think she and her sister should enlist in the military," - too true!

like to talk to you.

I have seen a bunch of her pieces on iTunes and have been planning on picking up some of her stuff when some loots are free. I am familiar with her though. What's up?

If she has a degree in education and she's been hired to teach there, than she's qualified. I really hope that occasional college drunkeness does not disqualify one from holding a job someday.

Of course she supports Dubya, he's her dad. Do you expect her not to?

You know, we were all offended when the conservatives picked on Chelsea Clinton or Amy Carter. I think that we should back off the twins-we are better than that. There is plenty of ammo out there to use against Bush without resorting to picking on his 22 year old daughters.

This thread is based on objections from the community she wishes to educate--not DU'ers. Some comments here might be a bit rude.

Jenna has a chance to prove herself. Will she be working full time as a teacher? Buying supplies with her own money & working evenings & weekends--as so many teachers do? Possibly working on her Master's to improve her qualifications? What about the union?

Will she finish the academic year? Then, will she continue as a teacher at that school? She could return to Texas--lots of teachers are needed here, even if Houston is not as much fun as NYC.

Let's see what she can do.

I'm not a fan but I, too, think it is unfair to blast her because of who her father is.

When she was arrested for underage drinking, I wasn't angry with her -- I was angry at hypocritical Republicans. My son got an MIP the night after Jenna did in Austin -- is he now morally unfit? (He's currently serving his country as a Marine, by the way.)

Jenna went to the same high school as my oldest daughter. It is a fully integrated high school -- whites, African Americans, and Latinos -- reflecting the proportion of races in Austin. Now, that doesn't mean she didn't isolate herself from people of color but I don't know that she did, either. It may have been a political decision by her parents to send her there (the mostly-white private school she attended ended at 8th grade, though they added a high school soon two years later -- my son was a member of the first graduating class in 2002), but how much say do most young people have in the school they attend? In fact, how do we know that going to Austin High wasn't Jenna and Barbara's decision over the objections of their parents?

I'm a teacher and I've never done a day of student teaching. I was certified without taking one education class in college. I was in an alternative certification program -- I took my education classes outside of a university during my first year of teaching. Alternative certification programs are becoming more common to fill hard-to-fill teaching positions such as special education, inner city schools, math, and science. An internet friend of mine, who is an attorney, just moved from Boston to NYC to teach in Harlem as part of such a program and she will earn a master's degree at the same time. I have no idea if Jenna is certified but I assume the Harlem school administration is not going to hire her if they do not believe she meets their qualifications.

Finally, I can imagine the criticism Jenna would face if she did not support her father's campaign. Most 22-year-olds are just beginning to make sense of their upbringing and their education. Has Jenna chosen her political views? Do we know what they are? Do we really care?

Granted, she could be a racist, immoral spoiled brat. Then again, she could be an honest, well-intentioned young lady who has made some mistakes. I don't feel like I have enough information to judge and I don't believe it is fair to judge her on anything other than her own actions, not those of her father or her father's administration. I wish her well in Harlem.

... who spout off the most disgusting insults about Jenna (and Barbara), yet who would have apoplexy if the same words were directed at the Kerry girls or Edwards children.

Leave them alone! Let them teach, or party it up, or stick their tongues out or drink themselves sick!

Who the hell cares???!!!

The linked-to article is from Saturday, July 24, and therefore doesn't qualify for posting in the Latest Breaking News Forum.

Please continue discussion in the GD forum.

Thanks!

DU Moderator

Then why doesn't she start at home and teach her father to READ SOMETHING on occasion, and develop some CRITICAL THINKING and DECISION MAKING ability?

Now that would be something worth doing...

LET HER teach in Harlem. I'd love to see her both before and after THAT teaching experience.

I've taught in some horrific schools and nothing changes you faster.

Yeah, let her. Besides a little partying doesn't stop all the other teachers from getting jobs. Elementary Ed majors where I went to school were some of the biggest partiers on campus. Natural career choice!

I bet she'd be better at it than teaching.

I do not think people should point to her past as a reason for her not being fit to teach in Harlem. Everybody has a past and everyone has made mistakes that they are ashamed of. She made a few mistakes, which she paid for. It does not matter whether anyone thinks the punishments she was given were to light, she did however, pay for her crimes. Now we must leave her past in the past and give her a chance to live her life. In addition, her race should not be used. We need to get past race in this country. It should not matter whether a person who teaches in Harlem is black or white-the region needs good teachers. My only concern is that she not teach in Harlem just to get her father elected. If she wants to teach in Harlem because of a desire to make the world a better place then I am fine with her decision. If she is only doing it to get her father elected she should walk away from the job.

Jenna presents a security risk to all the children in the building. I would hope her moral behavior comes second to that.