Let's say your child has to write a letter to bush for school.

It's a major grade.

Your child's teacher has just spent the day talking about how glorious bush is, how wonderful he is, how much she loves him.

She told your child's class that Fox News is serious news, they tell the truth, the others are just a joke (said with a straight face, no less).

Your child mentioned to the teacher that they were unhappy with bush's slow response during the hurricane.

Teacher asks your child where they heard that. Child says "the radio" and the teacher says, with a sneer "probably public radio, they're all a bunch of liberals."

Teacher tells class that bush personally reads every letter he gets and that she has a personally written and signed letter from him.

Teacher makes the class watch a video of bush talking about how he decorated the Oval Office.

Your child tries to hold down their lunch.

They come home and tell you they are worried--they have nothing to say to this "president" and are uncomfortable with the idea of writing him.

You say "but you COULD ask questions, that's not disrespectful!"

Child says "I bet HE thinks so!"

You can't argue with that. But, you say, he won't read them anyway.

Child is still uncomfortable, no idea what to say that is....nice.

What would you do?

(Oh and what really gets me is that every reich winger I know would be up in arms if a liberal teacher shared their political point of view in the classroom, but a bushite teacher does it and how much you wanna bet that's perfectly ok with them?)

and sent to the principal, the school board, and the local newspaper.

What this idiot is doing is wrong, no matter what the viewpoint is. This isn't education, this is propaganda.

I'd be raising "Holy Hell" to the Board, the Principle, the Newspapers, the TV News Crews, anyone that I could think of. That is TOTAL partisan politics and should not be allowed to happen. NO WAY, NO HOW!!

Every school has a policy code. It is supposed to be available to the public. Go through the code, probably the ethics part. Then make a note of all violations. Then get some other parents involved, if you can.
You, as a non-school employee do not have to go through the chain of command. therefore, go to the superintendent and give him the list of policy violations. Next, demand that action is immediately taken, and the assignment be changed, to allow for alternative viewpoints. Then, demand to know the requirements needed to get a particular grade. That way, you have documentation (protection) in the case of discrimination in the grading. That teacher can then be held accountable as needed. If these steps are not taken by the end of the next school day, tell them the ACLU will come in and do an investigation (They will, if you follow these steps . I did it my school with a reich-wing teacher, and it worked.) Contact the ACLU beforehand anyway, and tell them what you will do. They will probably give you a complaint form to fill out. . . just in case. The ACLU knows the laws, etc., so they will do all that for you. O.K., this isn't much, but it'll get you a good start. Go get 'em!

I'm an administrator and I would not advise this at all. The complaint process usually DOES have a "chain of command" and if you jump right to the superintendent, you'll just be asked if you talked with the principal or the teacher. Further, there may not be a policy dealing with any of this - we don't have one. Finally, the superintendent will have no knowledge of the assignment or any details surrounding it, so won't be able to answer any questions about it. And to threaten the ACLU is just silly - we hear that practically every day, and all this would do is force the district to circle its wagons. None of this is necessary.

What is it you WANT to happen? Don't you just want your kid to be treated fairly? So what's wrong with talking to the teacher? I'd call him/her on the phone, tell him that my child was in class and is confused about the assignment - is the essay really restricted to only positive opinions of the president? Or can a dissenting opinion be expressed without harming the grade? "Because I'm SURE you wouldn't want to be implying that to oppose the president's policies is somehow unworthy of a good grade - right?"

Have your child write his essay as he wants - turn it in and wait for the grade. Compare his writing to other assignments he's turned in. Is it comparable? If so, you've accomplished what you wanted. If not, you've done your due diligence, and then you can take a next step.

Jumping right to the supt. is always a big mistake.

I'm in education myself. I didn't think that was advisable. I follow the "chain of command" and have NEVER had to go higher than the principal.

I will read her email response, then ask for a conference. Hopefully all will go well at the conference. If it does not, then a second conference with teacher and principal will be in order.

I am a member of ACLU, so of course that's in the back pocket, but first I want to make sure *I've* covered all my bases and that action such as that is necessary.

It's usually not.

every principal or administrator is unique as well. It might not be advisable as a first resort, but it might be shortly thereafter. Keep your options open, and document EVERYTHING.

People can play games, and being "treated fairly" can be a little ambiguous when it comes to proving it. The ACLU will give the correct advice immediately, in black and white, and much quicker than going through the chain of command. As to what I want to happen? Well, to me, this teacher crossed the line, and a pat on the back isn't good enough for me. Maybe an outside observer could look at this a wee bit more objectively than somebody in-house. You know, the way things are these days, people have to act. Even though it may not be the case with you, I don't have much trust for superintendents these days. My students have absolutely NO IDEA what my political leanings are, and it should be the same for everyone. No exceptions. Also, acting in a timely manner and handing down the appropriate consequences will send a message to any other teacher who wants to try this crap. You sound quite patient. Fire this teacher? No, but at the very least, it should be put in her file forever, amen. Every teacher is different, and to go to the teacher just seems wishy-washy to me. You know how repuglicans are these days, force feed the propaganda, and anyone who pushes back pays for it. It's been like that for almost five years now, know what I mean?

The ACLU isn't going to just take your story at face value, either. They have to get the other side of the story, too. (I've been in on enough expulsion hearings to know that a one-sided story always sounds completely legitimate). Then they have to weigh the "right" versus the "remedy." Is it really an issue for them to be involved in - was the right that was violated so fundamental, the remedy so elusive that it requires their help? Or is it something the parent should deal with directly? They can't spend all their time tilting at windmills, and they'll expect the aggrieved party to have done their work prior to calling in the big guns.

Maybe it sounds wishy-washy to go to the teacher first, but in my opinion (and that's all that it is), I think it's a little immature to jump straight to some perceived "big boy" without doing some of the dirty work yourself. Confrontation is messy, but it's part of life. And once you do it, you'll have your bases covered if you have to go further.

parent checked with me first to find out if their child had the whole story, part of the story, or parts of it misunderstood. I could also maybe learn something useful to know about the student and/or their family that would help me as a teacher in the future.

A lot of stuff is cleared up by just asking simple questions directly and that's what I intend to do first.

with an additional

Document Document Document

:)

This teacher's certification should be removed. The teacher KNOWS this is propaganda - either her church or her political party is encouraging this kind of political indoctrination.

Raise a stink.

Ask for a meeting, but do it in writing, copying the superintendent.

Go to the media after exhausting your options at school.

http://www.tasb.org/policy/

Aren't you in Plano or Frisco or somewhere north Dallas? The Texas Association of School Boards has policies written up and a lot of districts have them on their web sites.

....the teacher was actually (smart enough to be) ANTI-*, and the assignment was to write * a later saying how much you HATE him??

There are children in that classroom who (and whose parents) do not hate him, what would they say?

I think deliberately determining the point of view of the letter is wrong. Also, I think teachers should stay as politically nuetral as they can in the classroom, so that all their students feel comfortable and feel as if they can speak up.

Said child in that scenario learned today to never say anything on this topic at all around her. Not a good thing, from a teacher's point of view.

and the principal, and I would tell that teacher in no uncertain terms that partisan political opinions have no place in the classroom. And I would ask what her reaction would be if her child reported to her that a "liberal" teacher had criticized Bush in the classroom.

And I would also emphasize to both the teacher and the principal that your family does not share her views; that your child is entitled to his opinion; and that there must be no negative consequences of any kind to your child for expressing that opinion. And that you will continue to pay very, very close attention to this issue, and you will be back if it happens again. Every damn time.

The teacher and principal should even be put on notice that the concerned parent will take the issue to higher authorities if the expressed concern goes unheeded.

tell the teacher - tactfully - your child is not going to write that letter to Mr. Bush.

Choose another "person of importance". Also suggest that she allow other students a CHOICE!

I think it should be a choice on who to write to and than each kid can address the envelope theirself and send it all together. That would be a nice idea. Maybe choose someone in public service whether a president (current or former), governor, mayor, state represenitive, senator etc. I'm sure some kids might even want to write Kerry. ;)

Ask the pricipal why this teacher feels a need to feed crap to the children, is it because the rest of the nation can no longer buy the shit...

I would not let this stand...

This will also cover your ass if your child writes a good letter, and this RW whack fails him/her, you have a record to fall back on.

The letter to Bush is not the problem, though I think a more appropriate assignment would allow the student to choose the recipient. But for the blatently political commentary the teacher is over the line. If the teacher won't stop it then you need to go higher up the chain.

information about the assignment.

I'll be asking to have a conference with her, as well. Just asked my child how likely she is to speak up on any political topic in Mrs. So-and-So's classroom now and she said "not very likely."

rePuklicon teaching (in this case a child) the people of the USA NOT to speak!!

Could have been a State Senator all the way up to President. Or in Chimp's case.. all the way down to President.

influence from the teacher OR from his/her parents.

Since I don't believe in filling a child's mind with hate, I believe they would write a respectful, but not fawning letter, but, again, it is up to them.

I would also talk to the principal about my concerns with the teacher.

A child is (naturally) influenced by the people who raise him or her. That is somewhat different from being force-fed a teacher's political views to the point that the child feels intimidated about expressing an opinion that differs from the teacher's.

Ideally, a teacher would make a value-neutral assignment (and by that I mean that the assignment would appear not to favor a particular viewpoint, regardless of the teacher's own views). And a good teacher would be able to give a good grade to a good argument made for the side she doesn't support.

This teacher is obvious in her adoration of Bush, and even a child can pick up on that (and one has). It is not measured.

If a child writes a letter that is strongly critical of Bush, that is different from a letter "filled with hate." Even children have the capacity to deplore venality, corruption, selfishness, greed, and abuse of power, though they may not have the sophistication of an adult when they do so.

The bottom line is that a child who does not admire Bush perceives that the teacher would not welcome her (his?) opinions. That should not be the case in any good teacher's classroom.

nowhere was I addressing criticism. The child should be free to address any criticism (or praise for that matter) that they freely choose to. I hope I would raise a child to not "play" to what the teacher or the parent wants them to write.

I didn't see that in the OP, though. As I understand it, the child felt that he couldn't write his thoughts for this teacher, because he does not favor Bush. If there was a mention of writing "hate" into the letter, I missed it.

on what some responses would be. I agree...nothing about hate in the OP. Thanks for pointing that out.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Dear Mr. President:

What kind of chain saw do you have? Did you buy it new or used? Does in overheat in that hot Texas weather? What do you do with the stuff you cut with it? I like chainsaws.

Your subject,

business for years.

Goggled to verify.

Its kinda fun when you really get into it and it works because freepers have no irony gene.

1. Go over the top.
Example: Mr. President I know those Iraqis are giving you a really hard time, even though our soldiers have liberated them and fixed their water and electricity problems. Mr. President, since they are killing our soldiers, why don't you use some nuclear bombs on them. God would let the good ones live and kill all the terrorists (heck its only a couple of hundred bad ones creating all the problems and God wouldn't let the good ones die). I know you have thousands of nuclear weapons. God wouldn't have given them to you if he didn't think you might need to use a few hundred of them. Pray about that.

2. Exaggerated praise.
Example:
Mr. Bush, I know that President Washington was our Founding Father and that Abraham Lincoln freed a few million slaves. But you have freed tens of millions of sometimes ungrateful Muslims and now they have a chance to become born again Christians!! Am I wrong to say that you are the greatest leader the world has ever known? Would it be disrespectful to the memory of those other leaders to think that? I know that God works through you and maybe you should consider jailing American liberals who say bad things about you. You have a lot on your mind right now and don't need all those naysayers making it even harder!!

and so forth.


Mine do it and they get B's and some A's with quizzical comments from the freeperteachers......They don't get it!!!

And its FUN!!!!

but in this case, I am ALL for it.

Great letters.

Give them some ideas.

Mine are asked from time to time at school to do some bush worshipping spiel for homework. They get upset and want don't know what to do. I give them suggestions, but the work is all theirs. Theirs are better than mine anyway!

do what this teacher did to my students. I just don't get it. I live in a very red area and I don't know ANY teachers who make their students sing the praises of the current prez.

This is for real? Your child's teacher REALLY did this? Have a friendly little chat with the woman.

a few days ago. I can't find it right now, but this is a perfect example of the double standard.

My son's 5th grade teacher asked the class to write a paper on what it would be like to go to lunch with President George Bush. He felt sick to his stomach, but found the courage later in that day to approach the teacher and told her: "I'm sorry Mrs. "C", but George Bush is not someone I would ever want to have lunch with. She replied: "Why not Colin?" and his reply was short and sweet. "He's not someone I respect". She then asked him who of the former presidents would he have lunch with, and being the good liberal Democrat boy that I raised, he said without a moment's hesitation....President Clinton. She gave him an A on that paper. Even though she is the wife of one of our Republican congressmen here in Texas, I think she appreciated his honesty and courage to tell her the truth. Maybe the truth will serve your son well too. If not, then call a conference with the teacher and the principal.

And yes I agree. Maybe have the boy in on the conference as well and let him tell his view of the whole ordeal. But no matter who it is making someone write a letter (especially a gushing letter of someone you don't like) is not fair. If I was a teacher I would have the kids choose a public servant who they would like to write to. Whether it be Ted Kennedy or Jimmy Carter or even Tom DeLay or George Bush. As long as they chose who to write to and what they wrote. Hmm I think I had to do a letter like that once...I remember something about it but it's not too clear. Oh well. :shrug:

Applause for your son, who showed great integrity and courage for a young boy.

And applause for the teacher, who showed respect for him and did not abuse her position.

Why would this come up at all?

Why is there a atmosphere of the political nature (that is so obviously slanted) being preached in a class room?

what grade is this? what class? and why this assignment? Why are they not writing to a historical president of questions they would of asked?
Why are they not writing to their local congress men and women addressing things that concern them? Wouldn't these be better assignments more worthy of a sincere response?

Excuse me, but the dip-shit who doesn't even read a newspaper? This teacher believes he reads every letter? LOL.. I got a bridge for sale, if he believes that.

Really this sounds like brainwashing 101. The instructor is entitled to hold his political views but they should be checked at the door and not put on to display to the classroom.

Sounds like said teacher should be looking for a pundits radio job vs teaching.

much better and much more instructionally sound, anyway.

I'll be talking to her. She's young and I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt (right now) that she doesn't realize how inappropriate it is to inject her (authority figure) political views into the classroom.

My child had a teacher last year who wouldn't tell the kids who she voted for because she didn't want to make any of them feel like they couldn't say anything during the mock debate and election. Now THAT'S classy.

Your right, the former teacher had it right.


If it were my child, I'd ask for another assignment, perhaps like the local congress or even a Senator, something that would lessen the heated debate of political affiliations(since they were so discussed in the classroom. fox news!!!)

Yup much bigger then I am, that just boiled my blood.

And this isn't the first time you've had to contend with this teacher? You wrote something a month so back too about another stunt that was pulled at the school, didn't you?

If you're a young new teacher wouldn't you not want to do something like that? Wouldn't you risk your reptuation as a teacher?

I ask them who they think I should vote for. I like to think that makes them think about the issues and what a big responsibility voting is.

about his bicycle riding. . .kids love to ride bikes. And then ask him if he falls off his bike very often....maybe recommend some good band-aids.

As for the teacher, I grew up during the very contentious Nixon-Kennedy and then Goldwater-Johnson campaigns..and I NEVER knew..EVER...what a teacher's political opinion or affiliation was until I was in high school. It is just not part of education.

letter to the President. Your child should write what is in his/her heart: what message would he/she like to send to President Bush?

Make sure all the punctuation and spelling are correct. And make sure your child eloquently expresses exactly what he'd like to say to *.

Then schedule meetings with the teacher, principal, and school board members.

I do think writing a letter is a good idea just not the route this person is wanting to go. The kids should be able to decide who they would want to write to and what they would want to say. I know I would be pissed off as well if any teacher made me do that or talked politics such as this teacher when it had nothing to do with what was going on. Now if I was a student this teacher would have to let me gush about John Kennedy or there should be no politics at all.

I imagine it would be easy to find out what the system is for responding to letters, and to learn if an autopen is used. That would be helpful information in a conversation with the principal.

Don't say outright what in idiot Bush is. Simply have your child write a number of inquiries about Bush's failures, where he does not uphold his word (easy enough) and when he seems to be disconnected from reality (every damn moment).

Do NOT insinuate anything about Bush or his evil administration, or the teacher would likely grade it unfairly.

Take a third party position, try to stand on the outside looking in.

I hope this helps.

Teachers can be fools as well.

My Dear Mr. Bush,
I must applaud the clarity of mind you have given me.

Even before you took office you concerned yourself with Osama binladen, unlike then president Bill Clinton trying to kill OBL, you made fun of those missles as trying to hit a camel in the butt. Very funny, and wildly astute.

You work hard. Only days into your presidency when you were presented the Gramm-Ruddman report you acted immediately to have your Vice President look at it, which he did immediately following the events of 9/11/01. You have a noteworthy work ethic.

Nothing shows the depth of this ethic as much as your Presidential Daily Briefing in which you sought to study historical information. Imagine, a man with so much to do, takes time to study, a day at a time, a page at a time, history. I am so in awe of your diligence.

That sad day when planes flew into our nation's greatness, you spent time with children, and did not alarm them. How compassionate! Minutes, tens of minutes, there you sat, as if nothing had happened, as if people were safe, not falling a hundred floors to their deaths with scared onlookers watching their world crumble, no, not you, you kept those children safe and secure. I find it hard to fathom someone with your level of compassion.

There is so much more I could add. But, I mustn't waste any more of the time it takes to read this. Let me just say that your greatness is measureless.

with all due sincerity,
Fes

Ask them if they would let a liberal teacher have the students write a gushing letter to Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter for the holiday's for a major grade and show video's of them doing speeches or something. Would they like it? How old is your kid? And I would ask the teacher if she loves freedom of speech and if she said "yes" let your kid bring in "OutFoxed" and show that to them.

(Francis Bellamy flag salute)

So he will not be a problem. If the teacher does not respond well to our talk, then I will involve the principal, as is appropriate. I have no doubt the principal will give her some tips as to how to avoid this problem in the future. ;-)

This teacher is going over the line in more than one way.

She's made it apparent that Bush is to be admired. What are the odds that a child writing a letter coming from a different viewpoint could do well on this assignment?

She's also deluded if she thinks Bush personally reads and responds to letters. A little more maturity is desirable in a teacher.

She seems to devote too much class time and attention to praising Bush. Time for a reality check. Her comments and assignments wouldn't (and shouldn't) be SOP in a public school no matter who is the president.

I would argue with that. My child was not abused. Just exposed to some very inappropriate "teaching" methods.

The teacher cannot grade based on political preferences -- only on how well the child completed the assignment.

And if this is a public school someone should file a complaint against the teacher. School is not for proselytizing.

You didn't mention how old the kid in question is but if that were my kid in that position someone would get an ass reaming.

I would not stand for that.

when he lost to Carter. We were supposed to send our condolences on his losing the WH.

We were NOT required to send letters of congratulations to Carter.

AND we had a mock election in our class....I think I was the only one who voted for Carter.

And YES this was in a heavily republican area.

I remember telling my parents about it and how their reaction was somewhere between disgust and resignation (in other words, it didn't surprise them). I'm sure they didn't want to rock the boat with the school administration....I was the only face of melanin in a classroom of white in the mid 70s.

PS-Now that I think about it, I bet those book reports I did on JFK pissed off a lot of teachers!

to complain.

This is NOT right. And they know it.

Critical thinking skills haven't been a priority in public schools for quite a while (I wonder if they ever were) so it wouldn't surprise me if that teacher is wholly unaware of the inappropriateness of this assignment.

critical thinking skills are a very important part of our curriculum.

I'm sure you're one of the better teachers but the system was broke when I was a kid and leave no child behind has made it much worse.

if they aren't good critical thinkers.

I'm amazed (and awed) at the restraint you've shown in this case. You're a delightfully assertive, take-no-bullshit kind of woman, and part of me is sitting here in disbelief that you haven't already burned up the principal's and superintendent's phone lines.

Are you cutting her a little slack because of the age/experience issue? Don't let her get away with that shit (and I know you won't).

What a nauseating assignment.

I certainly don't think my child would make this up out of whole cloth (and it doesn't surprise me in the least that this particular teacher would do this), but I know from being a teacher myself that sometimes things get misinterpreted, misunderstood, misheard.

Besides, I'm doing that ol' "giving her enough rope" trick. ;-) All I said in the email was I'd like more information about the assignment.

Regardless of her response, I do think a conference is in order, just to talk about all of this face to face. I think she might be laboring under the delusion that:

a) everyone here loves bush and

b) what she did/said was not inappropriate in any way.

Both of those delusions are based in ignorace, so some gentle schooling might be in order.

I can assure you that if this happens again AFTER our chat, she will wish she had never propagandized to her class.

Can't wait to hear how this one turns out. :-)

You're fired.

That is all.

Billy

that Senor Bush is not liked or respected in our house. Let my child write to the Dali Lama, an imaginary letter to MLK or Rosa Parks or a leader our family actually respects, like John Kerry or Howard Dean or John Conyers.

And then I would really rip the teacher about Fox (not news).

... that is beyond the scope of their understanding is wrong. As wrong, if not more so, as forcing any beliefs on those that are to immature to be able to make up their own minds.

Someone, starting with the teacher, would catch hell for it.

They are teaching them early that you must participate in "group think" and that someone in power (in this case the teacher) will tell them what to think.

complain if it would help.
my school district is pretty churchy -and in a blue county.
my child's kindergarten teacher told the class about 'god created the earth' and crap like that. it would have went nowhere so i just told him she was full of it and many adults are.

best thing he could have learned it turns out. thanks *

My good friend was teaching ninth grade science in a district in which she had to discuss not only the Big Bang theory, but also "other creation theories."

Well. It didn't specify which ones and she thought it was pretty silly to be discussing what amounted to folklore in a science classroom, but she did it.

She taught them about the Big Bang theory. Then she proceeded to teach them about thirty-seven different creation theories from different cultures and times.

Finally, after a few days of this, the kids asked "is this SCIENCE?"

And she smiled and said "exactly" then got back to actually teaching science. She made sure to point out to them that the district curriculum told her to teach other creation theories besides the Big Bang one and the kids thought that was "stupid."

I love it.

i like the way your friend thinks.

before the election, the whole * is God/Faux News is the only real news crap. After raising hell with the teacher, the prinicipal, and the superintendent there is now a "no politics" rule.

I'd have words with the administration if I were you. You're absolutely right that the same people who advocate that kind of stuff would be outraged if it was a liberal teacher with liberal views.

And not a very enjoyable one, either.

I'd tell the teacher that I appreciated the lesson she was giving the kids on how Goebbels brainwashed the German people in the 30's, but didn't she think it was time to end the charade of calling Hitler Bush?

I'd also inform them that my child would not be writing a letter to Il Douche because that sounded like some Personailty Cult worship exercise.

This teacher obviously is NOT from New Orleans... :mad: I would attend the class while my child read the letter to the whole class, and I'd warn her (and the principle) before the class that I will hold her personally and legally liable for ANY infringement of my child's First Amendment rights or unfair grading. I would tell the children in the class (via the letter) to think for themselves and explain how teachers are sometimes completely wrong or misinformed or seriously misguided.

OR, write a completely sarcastic letter that leaves the teacher speechless and confused: "Dear President Bush, I love you because you are just like Jesus" or "Dear Bush, I want to cancel elections and make you King of America" or "Dear Bush, why aren't we executing all the liberals in America?" or "Dear Bush, why don't we just kill all the Arabs with nuclear bombs and just take all the oil?" :)

Then again Bouncy Ball, I have no children, so just ignore my ideas since they are too far out. :D

I'd take that reprobate out behind the woodshed for a long afternoon session.

to be...........

for real

a couple weeks ago. write a nice letter to bush. he wrote

please stop the war. then wrote the song of green acres

I mean, sure, if she continues to do stuff like this, I will continue to raise a stink and she probably WOULD end up getting fired, but by the principal.

But for this one time, no. I will talk to her. If this was done purely out of ignorance of what she was doing, she will soon understand. If it WAS calculated and mean-spirited, then I will be going higher up the ladder.

my daughter, however, talking to the teacher calmly is definitely the first step, IMO.

If that doesn't get results, go to the county and state departments of education and your local media.

Just imagine if a liberal teacher had said such things about Clinton during the Lewinski scandal -- or even about Bush now, and imagine the backlash from conservatives against the teacher.

This teacher deserves a reprimand at the very least, and quite possibly firing if there is a pattern of this sort of thing.

to your plight and ask the teacher to read them over.

Now that is an interesting angle!

The point is, there is a president, and he is the leader of the country. And I would not like to teach a child that the president should be disrespected. There must be many thoughts in your kid's head and they can be expressed to the president.

She might like animals, or certain types of events, and she could express that. Or she might have questions about Washington, or dealing with the affairs of the nation.

If the assignment is clearly described, there should be lots of non-controversial ways of approaching it. That's why you're smart to get the teacher to spell it out. Studying the question will yeild the answer.

If the assignment is to praise the glorious president then you can head her off at the pass. I always told my students, "The answer is in the question."

--IMM

:banghead:

Here's an idea.

Tell the President what democracy means to you. Tell him what it means, as a young American, to be free. While you're at it...why not throw in what patriotism means to you?

You could also tell him what is worrying you. What you hope the President of the US is thinking about. What you hope he cares about. What will happen to the earth if we don't take better care of it...

IMO, it's a way to personalize the assignment without giving up what you believe in.

This teacher should be disciplined. Unfrickinbelievable.

Good luck!:hi:

Peace.

than I would be. Your strategy satisfies the assignment requirements without sacrificing a personal point of view.

be removed immediately.

It's bad enough that the teacher's indoctrinating the kids with that crazy political crap. What's worse is the kids are rightly afraid that if they express what they really think and know to Bush that the teacher will give them a failing grade.

What they are doing is unacceptable. While having a civics course and having students write to the president is a fine idea, forcing her opinions on them is most definitely NOT! And if you live somewhere mostly conservative, just point out in the complaint how many would react if a teacher did the same thing for Clinton.

That being said, I would encourage my child to write a letter. I would encourage them to express their true concerns and feelings in it. To do otherwise would be deceitful and harmful to themselves. But the letter should be written with clear respect for the office. As you point out, it would probably be best if they asked questions, expressing their concerns, but avoiding being accusatory.

Be sure to proof read it and help them through revisions.

If the letter is well written, polite and thoughtful it should be well graded. If not, compare it to letters that got better grades. While I would hope the teacher would grade it fairly, if not, then you add it to the complaint you lodged against them to the school board. At this point, I would also submit the letter to the editor of all your local and most popular regional papers, including a copy of your child's letter.

But that is what I would do. What you do is between you and your child. You need to decide up front if you are ready for this fight, should it become one.

Good luck!

Inquiring minds want to stay abreast.

Being a rare, previously assumed extinct species, I'd want to see the teacher close up. A professional observation, so to speak. Having worked in public ed for 23 years now and not yet encountered such a species, I'd have to see for myself.

Then I'd put phone calls in to the Superintendent and the president of the School Board. I'd make appointments to discuss my concern. If that discussion didn't result in removal of that teacher, I'd call the ACLU and get some legal action started.

I told her to write whatever she wants I don't care what grade she gets on the paper.
So she wrote.
Dear Mr. Bush,
Why do you like killing people so much?

Teacher didn't like it ,but who cares.

I know that sounds mercenary, but as a former English teacher, I sometimes hyped up an assignment just to get the kids thinking. They always love to prove a teacher wrong. I never went that far, and I'm not sure the teacher is doing it deliberately, but I'd wait and see.

Have your child write a real letter saying exactly what she wants to say, and see how the teacher reacts. If she grades it down or says anything negative, then you have your proof for the principal. The principals I worked with always wanted proof.