Teacher kicked out of school for teaching students who the President is

Source

Rita Bianco, Parent: "Children should know their president and their first lady!"

Parents expressing outrage after a teacher is kicked out of her public school for hanging a picture of President Bush next to pictures of other presidents in her classroom.

Shiba Pillai-Diaz, Teacher: "It happened on a small bulletin board near the American flag and also with a poster of the Declaration of Independence."

This is Crossroads South Middle School in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey. On Thursday, there was a back-to-school night for parents of students. Veteran English teacher Shiba Pillai-Diaz says she was shocked when three parents confronted her. The three, insisting the teacher either add John Kerry's photo to the montage of presidents or remove the Bush photo. When Pillai-Diaz refused, she says the school's vice-principal threatened her job which is an act that has parents here fuming.

Paula Sjolund, Parent: "She didn't do anything wrong, and I think that it should have stayed up there."

Pillai-Diaz ultimately removed the entire bulletin board and says School Principal Jim Warfel told her she disrupted the school with her "inflammatory politics". She says he then ordered her out of the building. While she says she is a Bush supporter in her personal life, Pillai-Diaz says she keeps politics out of the classroom.

Shiba Pillai-Diaz, Teacher: "There was no political intent, nor was there any political content in that photograph nor on the bulletin board."

School officials would not talk on camera but insist nobody here has been fired. To that, Ms. Pillai-Diaz asks what does it mean then when your boss asks you to hand over the keys and kicks you out of the building? She also says she is not sure if she'll be returning to school tomorrow.

Sad, sad, sad. So now we're only supposed to know the history parents see fit?

And if it was one of Clinton, she would have been promoted, welcome to the teachers union!

I may not like George W. Bush and his politics, but for better or for worse, he *is* the 43rd President of the United States, and he *is* in the list of Presidents. It's a HISTORY lesson, and it's depoliticized. Acting otherwise is burying one's head in the sand and doing a great disservice to the kids.

I find that wrong we live in this country and our children cannot even recognize who the leaders of this country are that is wrong. In second grade children learn about their political leader as part of people that work for the communities.

I though the pictures of presidents are hanged in public buildings and city buildings.

What I find even more retarded (and that's exactly what this is) is that the Prinipal called it 'inflammatory politics'. The guy is our president, like it or not. And Kerry is not the President, he's a candidate. I don't see Dukakis or Perot on any school walls.

That's pretty shocking. I mean, Bush is president after all. What are these parents thinking? Do they know who the president is right now?

Originally posted by Esoterica Sad, sad, sad. So now we're only supposed to know the history parents see fit?

This has been on the local TV news here in NYC. The full story is that the teacher didn't have any Democrat presidents in her in-classroom montage (only recent Republicans), and the open house parents had originally asked for pictures of Clinton and Carter be included, not Kerry (though they asked for Kerry when she refulsed Clinton). I'm not sure how this story evolved this way... but it would be strange for the teacher to exclude democrat presidents.

Ok, an english teacher who (Pillai Diaz said the only way school officials may have known she was a Republican is because she could not attend a meeting with teachers on the day she volunteered at the Republican National Convention in New York) wants to teach the kids who our President is? Maybe we're not hearing the whole story here.

Source: Home News Tribune - News That Hits Home In Central New Jersey

EDIT: Hey SO! Props from the Lower East Side! East 6th and 2nd Ave! Curry Row!

[edit on 4-10-2004 by curme]

Ah, that makes much more sense. I guess some people will do what they can to create controversial news stories.

Ok I see now just like Jamuhn said "that makes more sense now"

Well I guess she have some problems with her priorities after all.

As much as I dislike our president, his picture had every right to hang there. Whats up with this?
Kerry's only running for president

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord

This has been on the local TV news here in NYC. The full story is that the teacher didn't have any Democrat presidents in her in-classroom montage (only recent Republicans), and the open house parents had originally asked for pictures of Clinton and Carter be included, not Kerry (though they asked for Kerry when she refulsed Clinton).

I'm not sure how this story evolved this way... but it would be strange for the teacher to exclude democrat presidents.

Well, the link curme provided says she only had Bush up, not anyone else (unless I missed something).

I'll reserve judgement until I hear the whole story (since we have three conflicting accounts), but it still sounds like politics gone wrong.

Originally posted by Esoterica but it still sounds like politics gone wrong.

Hrm... I'm not sure when politics goes right! I think it was NY1 who actually interviewed the parents who wanted an alteration in her montage of presidents, the flag, and the Declaration of Independence. This just shows how easily a story like this can be altered to suite the priorities of whoever is telling the tale.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
This just shows how easily a story like this can be altered to suite the priorities of whoever is telling the tale.

Ain't that a fact. Now we can't even trust local news to give us the whole story...

At least in Detroit, everyone knows Kwame is dirty as hell, it's just an argument of whether you care or not

some may not like this, but the woman was on oreilly tonight talking about the incident. did anyone catch it? from what i understand, so take it as you wish, the bulletin was one of those "hey, you can decide, at discretion, what to put here so to fill up the room with stuff" kind of things. she decided to hang a number of presidential artifacts (stuff like lincoln's address, maybe the constitution, and certainly past presidents pictures), all in a presidential/political theme. for current times, she also hung an image of george and laura bush, i assume it's that one where they are standing next to each other and just about anybody can get. and that's the image she got in trouble for.

In that case, the teacher should lose her job. Perhaps Bush can get her a job.....

Originally posted by dgtempe
In that case, the teacher should lose her job. Perhaps Bush can get her a job.....

I still don't see this as being a 'firing' issue. She had a picture of the current president up on her wall with other historical 'artifacts'. Now, unless what SO is saying is true (that she had what was basically a Republican Shrine), I still don't see how this such a big problem.

Wow, I'm totally disgusted by that. Kerry isn't president yet. People need to learn what the hell they're talking about.

Well it will become a problem if she is displaying along with the president picture of other past presidents all Republican and none Democrats that will be the problem, now if you are going to do a motif on presidents or leaders in the room like we all are asked to do in the classrooms, it has to be equal and bias.

I had a board in my classroom my motif was Spanish countries in the Americas, and that is because I was a Spanish teacher, each teacher depending of their subject has to create a motif of their class with the curriculum activities and goals for the year this is a requirement now in the classroom so parents can come and look at it and see what their children are learning during the year.

[edit on 4-10-2004 by marg6043]

The teacher probably has an altar at home with images of Bush, Laura and Cheney..Makes the sign of the cross each time she passes by....
She's obviously a devoted Republican