Teachers' union fights Fallon school newspaper article that criticizes teacher

Interesting article about an incident close to my neck of the woods:



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One wonders if the same thing would have happened had an administrator been the target of the piece.

If so, then I don't really see what grounds the union has to muzzle the paper, unless FERPA is somehow being violated.

I tried finding the student article online, and I have been unsuccessful.

but the online paper doesn't have anything more recent than November.

I will be surprised if it gets put online.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/student-newspaper-in-northern-nevada-embroiled-in-first-amendment-case-82877442.html

There is a PDF copy of the article on here. The article is not set to be published till tomorrow

Surely these kids realize that not ALL audition tapes can be submitted.

I guess the parents didn't understand it.

Reading the article, which shouldn't be published, the only thing the teacher COULD have done was write a note saying not everybody's audition tape would be submitted.

LOL

to me.

I wonder if it was ever confirmed that ANY tapes were actually submitted? And if they were, did any students get accepted?

It's just mean. And in this time of FTE cuts, it could ruin someone's career forever. Plus it probably opens the paper up to libel. Yeah, yeah, I know, libel is hard to prove, but lawsuits are expensive even WHEN you win.

After reading the student paper article linked in a previous post, all there really was in this case was a seeming miscommunication and no note having been sent to the parents the students would be prescreened for the audition. I think perhaps the teacher assumed the parents would know, but supposedly a parent group wants an "investigation," which of course the union is upset because this teacher being accused of some kind of "misconduct" which doesn't appear there is any such thing. And worse still, her "due process" rights--never mind my own very vocal opinion about that--were being violated because of the publicity.

The principal and other administrators were wrong to allow the paper to go with this; this isn't a First Amendment issue really. A teacher has the right to due process, and yes, an article like this can do great harm to a teacher's career. The district might actually be on the hook legally.

Where was that UNR instructor, by the way, when my name and the name of the counselor were published all over the United States beginning with a "REAL" newspaper, the Reno Gazette-Journal, and later spread by Associated Press, which saw fit to print our names, but the not the name of the parent, in that phony lawsuit? Talk about libel and wrecking reputations. The reporter had NO justification for what she did.

I've seen cases like that which drag the accused's name through the mud, but no correction when the whole thing is found to be bogus. When someone's life career is on the line, there should be more consideration given to that. But, I don't see that any time soon. It still sells papers, and that - apparently - is all that matters.

There needs to be state legislation to outlaw the practice of disclosure of names in these cases where teachers are defendants in civil suits. It's especially critical in the age of the internet, when names are easily searchable. My name is all over the place in connection with that suit, and employers can simply fail to hire on that basis alone.

Sadly, it's probably as unlikely as the name.

High school journalism class to print article despite grievance
Stephanie Carroll
Lahotan Valley News
Fallon, Nev.

January 26, 2010

". . . Honor Choir audition practices after parents discovered evidence that CCHS music teacher Kathy Archey failed to submit an unknown number of student audition tapes to Susan Benefield, region head of the Nevada Music Educators Association Honor/All State Choir program.

Parents Carl and Susan Robertson discovered their son Spencer's tape was never submitted when they attempted to appeal the rejection decision. Spencer was allowed to audition in person along with another student, Dallin Nelsen.

“She (Susan Benefield) said there is no reason why these two boys should not be in the Honor Choir, and in fact, they both had a very good chance to make All State,” Carl said.

Susan said Benefield told them about the tapes at the audition, and there was reason to believe Archey has pulled students' tapes before.

Ms. Benefield suspects this practice of withholding audition tapes has been going on for years,” Carl said. “She explained that every year when they have received audition tapes from Ms. Archey, there have always been missing numbers in the sequence,”

Benefield also told the Robertsons that Archey claimed Spencer and Carl were informed and agreed (***so we know she's not exactly - er - truthful. . . ) that Spencer needed more coaching. Susan said Archey has a right to pull tapes if she believes the student is not ready; however, Archey is supposed to inform those students. (*** although Spencer "received an in-class score of 50 out of 50 for the Honor Choir audition assignment, calling into question the label of being unprepared.)

“It was pretty devastating for him,” Susan said of her son. “For us as parents — why? We cannot understand it.”

Ross said the district has taken the appropriate disciplinary actions by contract, but she could not comment on specific details.