This was emailed to me last night, from a citizens with obvious concerns. This citizens highlighted the first two on this page.
~~ ChrisAnn
OYSTER RIVER COOPERATIVE SCHOOL BOARD
Policy Code: GBC
Date of Adoption: September 1971
Page 4 of 6
CODE OF ETHICS: PROFESSIONAL (continued)
In fulfilling his/her obligation to the public, the educator --
1. Shall not misrepresent an institution or organization with which s/he is affiliated and shall take adequate precautions to distinguish between his/her personal and institutional or organizational views.
2. Shall not knowingly distort or misrepresent the facts concerning educational matters in direct and indirect public expressions.
3. Shall not interfere with a colleague's exercise or political and citizenship rights and responsibilities.
4. Shall not use institutional privileges for private gain or to promote political candidates or partisan political activities.
5. Shall accept no gratuities, gifts, or favors that might impair or appear to impair professional judgment nor offer any favor, service, or thing of value to obtain special advantage.
Thank you for posting this. It is good to see that despite the impact this must be having on the teachers at OR they continue to hold true to the code of ethics.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for bringing this to the attention of those who insinuate and/or outwardly allege that teachers had anything to do with planning the student protest yesterday.
Based on these 5 requirements, I would put the burden of proof on those who have made those accusations.
This document displays the restrictions these teachers are under, and it is good to know that they have done such a great job of holding to this Code of Ethics in difficult situation.
Terrill,
ReplyDeletenot to disclose the private communication or to argue against your comments, the concerned citizen highlighted the first two with the opposite opion of yourself.
~just to clarify~ I don't want the individual who asked me to post this to assume I implied different than their feelings on the matter.
I see. Thank you. It is a shame that the person feels this way. Of course there are clearly strong feelings on either side of these current issues.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I would certainly question that individual to clarify their accusation, and as I said previously, I would put the burden of proof on the individual who has questioned the integrity of the staff/faculty?
In order for an accusation like this to be made, then perpetuated in a public forum such as this, I would hope that there are specific examples to prove them.
Thank you for the clarification and I hope to see further clarification from the individual who expressed his/her concerns.
Terrill,
ReplyDeleteI can only assume they are taking the specific concerns to the SAU. I hope anyway, as far as them directly posting on the blog, not likely.
Unforunately, those of the 'minority' voice aren't crazy about being public. I sometimes wonder myself why I am doing this :)
I have heard things, about assignements in class to students regarding the school board. But as it's not my child and I don't want to discuss the parent's child, I won't comment further. I made the mistake of mentioning on Facebook to a friend, which was seen by another community member. I want to honor the lack of comfort my friend feels. That probably sounds dumb to some, but I am just trying to explain myself and to further highlight why I am so upset over this whole situation.
Before anybody jumps in half-cocked, keep in mind that accusing an educator of breaching ethics is very serious. Terrill is right in his post at 11:03am -- there is a major burden of proof required.
ReplyDeleteIf you *know* and have proof that a teacher violated ethics, you need to be on the phone with the school principal or superintendent right now! Otherwise, please consider very carefully what you say here.
Good point Brian, advice taken !!
ReplyDeleteOf course I wouldn't ask anybody to speak on someone else's behalf like that. There will certainly be people who choose to remain on the periphery for various reasons when an issue is as emotional as this.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad that somebody would throw out an accusation like this publicly, given the heightened emotions, and not stand behind it, but in some ways I do understand.
And I certainly feel you are making a wise choice not speaking on his/her behalf.
I also want to add, I feel for those teachers too. They are in a tough environment right now. Damned if they do and damned if they don't. I get that. What's the saying about the one bad apple and the barrel....anyway, just wanted to personally clarify that...'Jane' has inspired me to be 'clear'....so now I will probably go overboard.
ReplyDeleteNot that I am referencing any specific individual as a bad apple....oh boy, what a state we are all in :(
ReplyDeleteI spoke to my two high school kids and a couple of their friends about the teachers' involvement. I would be very concerned if they were involved in any way.
ReplyDeleteWhat they told me is that they have actually gone out of their way to stay out of the students' way on this and have not done anything in any way to assist the students. So for that, I am happy.
To be honest, this is exactly what I would expect from our professionals and they have delivered.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI feel the need to correct an inaccuracy that might be turning into fact. My journalism students and I were reading and critiquing the press coverage of yesterday's walkout. The Foster's article said that teachers and staff drove by, honking to show their support for the walkout. I asked my students if any of them had observed that. All of them said that hadn't happened. (In honesty, I did drive by myself, on a return trip from downtown where I was getting breakfast for one of my classes. But, I did not honk.) To my knowledge, this detail in the newspaper is completely inaccurate. My concern is that it will give the public the idea that: a - the faculty and staff were actively condoning the walk-out and b - we have time during the day to drive around honking our horns.
We faculty all know of the code of ethics we teach and work by. I visit the blog and post occassionally when I feel that a point of "fact" needs to be clarified, or when the community of teachers is being personally attacked.
I hope that what I say is taken into consideration, and not somehow used as fuel for the fire.
From a teacher...jkucera
ReplyDeleteHello,
Just a quick point of clarification in regards to the Foster's article. I was critiquing the press coverage of yesterday's walkout with my journalism classes today. The article says that faculty and staff were driving by the walkout honking horns to show their support. I asked students if any of them at the walkout had observed this. All of them said they hadn't. In talking with other faculty here it seems that this observation by the reporter is completely false. (For the sake of honesty - I did drive by the walkout on my way back from downtown where I was picking up breakfast for one of my classes. I did not honk.)
My concern is that this error in the press coverage will be interpreted to say that the faculty and staff here were: a - actively condoning the walkout and/or b - driving around honking their horns in support. Neither of which, to my knowledge are true.
I read the blog and post occassionally just to respond to facts and to provide a teacher's perspective. I hope that anything I say will be taken into consideration, and not used to add fuel to the fire.
To the moderator,
ReplyDeleteI applaud your move to eliminate anonymous postings on this forum. I would request you extend that decision to cover eliminating postings "speaking" for those still hide behind anonymity.
The postings at 10:52, 11:07, and 11:55 claim to represent and explain the opinion of another party who dares not speak for him/herself.
While the new issues raised in those postings are serious, divisive, and inflammatory; the source is hearsay and the manner is tattletale.
It only takes one bad apple to begin a nasty chain of false accusations.
Thank you in advance for your consideration of this request.
Deb
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePoint taken Deborah.
ReplyDeleteI sincerely wish all who have concerns would speak up. While I understand how scary it is when your kids are involved, it's important to speak clearly.
To also clarify, not every blogger can start a thread. That is a responsility allowed to me by this blog's creator. So, in that sense, past tradition has been for the thread to be started with or without the submitting persons identity included.
The last post is the most salient post ever on this site. Please note that the blog's creators deem who can and what will be posted as it is with any blog. What community members should be asking is what agenda do the posters have and what axe do they have to grind. The answers to those questions will better allow all of us to put into perspective the value of this blog.
ReplyDeleteChrisAnn,
ReplyDeleteThat seems to be the problem !
Anonymous posts by the public were taken down(thank
goodness)but for those of you with control can still
put up what ever you want, with no facts behind them.
Please be very careful.
The only concerns that many of us have is how disgruntled the individuals who have posting rights are about our school system. Even more interesting is that these same individuals are realatively newcomers to our community and as such could have selected a whole host of other school districts to live in. With the taxes so high as oft proclaimed have you considered moving elsewhere? It would appear that you would be much happier.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot more to a community than the tax rate and school district
ReplyDeleteIf orcitizen is refering to me, I actually find that amusing as [doing the math] I have spent 87.4% of my life in NH's amazing Seacoast. Born, raised, with deep familial ties. Generations.
ReplyDeleteSame generations that value public discussion of topics and issues. It's a NH tradition right along with making syrup!
Here's a fabulous recent editorial by NH's Senator J. Shaheen. Illustrates what I mean in an inspiring manner.
ReplyDeleteNot refering specifically to our community's issues, but about politics - debate - & civility.
http://fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110413/GJOPINION_0102/704139993/-1/FOSOPINION
I agree completely with orcitizen. Let's get those taxes up further and keep the riff-raff out. Actually it's working already!
ReplyDelete