The LuLac Edition #3211, May 15th, 2016
WHY TRUMP WON’T RELEASE HIS TAX RETURNS
Donald Trump (Photo: Fredrick Brown).
Here’s my theory on why Donald Trump will not release his tax returns. I might be wrong but here goes. Trump won’t release them because they will reveal that his wealth is cash poor. If that happens, his vast business empire will suffer. This has to be the reason. Trump has thumped his chest on his ability to make deals, attract women, raise his children, even reference his manhood which is something we really didn’t need to hear about. Trump the boastful bully would love to tell people how rich he really is. But he won’t.And can't.
If he does, it will reveal a dent in the armor that he most cares about, his wealth. Or the perception of it.
BAD TEACHER
(Photo: Bad Teacher logo).
The other day in a “13 Questions” e mail a reader asked me when I might stop LuLac. I replied there is a time for everything but what I didn’t say is that LuLac and other blogs could go on forever given the stuff that is in the news on all levels. We here in LuLac land never disappoint with stories of corruption, laziness and stupidity. One was on the front page of The Citizen’s Voice this morning by reporter Michael Buffer. To recap, a mother in the Wyoming Area School District who has a child with learning disabilities approached the district about help for her daughter. That was in 2014. My mantra about education is that no matter how much money we throw at education (and my Conservative/Libertarian buddy L.A. Tarone says the same thing) education in this state as it stands now will never be fixed until parents get involved. In this case Holly Miller did exactly that. Got involved in the Education of her child. And the response was horrible and shameful.
A so called Educator, Amy Kosco responded to an e mail from the Principal of the school, her boss, when he asked Kosco and other teachers for help “ regarding testing strategies for the girl.” Kosco’s response? The Voice reported Kosco compared making accommodations for a special-needs student to appeasing Adolf Hitler and suggested it “would be nice if we spent this much extra time” on students who are “going to amount to something.” Wow! Not a little judgmental here are we?
Plus bringing old ‘Dolph, who has been dead now for 70 years is stunning to me. But it gives you an insight into the level of historical reference Amy Kosco (did you get that name?) brings to the educational table. Hitler was invading countries and Neville Chamberlain thought by appeasing him he could bring peace. I’m the king of bad analogies but I have to hand this one to Amy Kosco. This was breathtaking in its incredible insensitivity. Ms. Miller’s daughter is not sending people to death camps. She just wants her due as a citizen of the Wyoming Area School District.
An EDUCATION.
So the comment was ugly and stupid. No one is immune from making them but let’s dig deeper into this. Let examine “would be nice if we spent this much extra time” on students who are “going to amount to something.”
A teacher teaches EVERYBODY in a PUBLIC SCHOOL. IT IS THEIR JOB which they are paid handsomely to do. Does Amy Kosco want to pick and choose? Just give me the brightest, best looking, stylish, smartest, strongest, competent people to teach so I won’t be hassled and need to make that extra effort. So that I can have the strongest class.
Mmmmmm. Someone else in history said and did something similar, right? Discarding the weakest, dispatching the vile to death camps and picking the best looking and strongest?
Maybe that analogy to old ‘Dolph” was not so far off the mark.
Kosco then sent an e mail to her boss implying that he shared the same views. "The situation is a nightmare for you as well, and I’m preaching to the choir, but I needed to vent. I’m just so FRUSTRATED.”.
“Preaching to the choir?” What did she mean by that? It is the role of the administration to direct, not comment. Were there supporting comments before that enabled Kosco to fire away those comments with no fear of retribution?
You know what? If Kosco is FRUSTRATED by this I can only imagine how she could deal with trying to feed and take care of special needs kids full time as parents do every day of their lives. The same parents who by the way ask teachers for help because they think the Educational system is there to help THEIR kid too. Now I'm sure there are parents who might try to game the system but I can't imagine that many.
District Superintendent Janet Serino told Buffer The district does not condone the views expressed in the emails from Kosco and has addressed that matter, Serino said, adding the process involved the district solicitor and president of the teachers union. We had done something about it when it was brought to my attention last October”.
Yep I bet they did and I bet the Union protected Amy Kosco because that’s what they do.
Also included in this story was a quote from Maura McInerney, a senior attorney for the Education Law Center, said "teachers sometimes don’t understand legal mandates regarding students with disabilities and don’t know how to deal with students with special needs.
“Teachers and administrators may not have a full understanding of a disability and how it manifests itself”.
Bullshit. If they don’t know how to deal with Special Needs kids, if they don’t have an understanding about how a disability manifests itself, and if they get FRUSTRATED by doing their job, then maybe they should just do this.
QUIT.
Not that he didn't deserved anything but what he got, but old ‘Dolph didn’t get any pension.
I'm sure this teacher will.
posted by David Yonki @ 7:08 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
I totally understand Kosco's attitude. It's May and burnout season started in April for those teachers without "special needs". We don't know how many experiences the teacher had with "special needs" students "gaming the system" of hiding behind the category. There is a HUGE difference with one parent dealing with one special needs child 16 hours a weekday and one teacher managing many students during the school day. You can't imagine the frustration involved with trying to document progress with each child one one, or two, or more are torpedoing your efforts with the class. PLUS you are being evaluated on the progress or lack thereof. The autistic child has the right to remain in a public classroom until the age of 21! Some are provided an aide each day, every day. The special needs programs are crushingly expensive to maintain and rarely funded sufficiently. The ROI is very difficult to measure. It is easier to measure it as state childcare for the working mother. I would not be surprised if the mother is expecting a Cadillac plan for her child. These parents come to school as well versed in their "rights" as any activist. Imagine what a parent conference night could become. I know many teachers who "break" under the strain, it sounds like Amy is near the cliff since most special needs teachers would rather make their tongue bleed than use the Hitler metaphor. I totally understand her plight. Next time she should voice this stuff to her principal, face to face, so he can evaluate her mental health at the time.
Yonki lays heavy handed judgment upon the teacher with only knowing info reported.
The biggest error this teacher made was venting in an email on a public schools server. It is public info and easily obtainable.
We all must understand that Yonki is all powerful and he determines what is going on in every person's life.
Sadly, this young mother fits a category Yonki has advocated for sterilization in the past.
More than likely there is plenty of blame on both sides, and both sides are probably doing plenty right. But Yonki has become very black and white. If his recommendations were followed through in the past this child would not be here, and the mother would be barren and on the street.
Yonki ...
"There but for the grace of God go I". Having a "special needs" child is one heartbreaking, lifelong responsibility a parent has to deal with. Even more heartbreaking is having to observe and hear the comments and feelings of ... some ... of these instructors. Walk a mile in the shoes of a special needs parent, IF you could handle it.
But Yonki has become very black and white. If his recommendations were followed through in the past this child would not be here, and the mother would be barren and on the street.
IN RESPONSE
Almost right. I advocate cutting off welfare benefits at 3 children, same father.
Miller's daughter would be walking around.
Thanks for your feedback, it makes people think..including me.
Do we know what creates a special needs child and why the special needs population seems to be increasing so much?
Yonk!!!!
I thought you wuz a liberal!
Jesus you defend Israel to the hilt and want to limit welfare to the moms and chillunds.
Your boy Teddy Kennedy would be so pissed!!!
While I am appalled at this teacher's wording, perhaps it is time to have a conversation about mainstreaming of special education students.
When these students were in their own classrooms, they received the needed attention without bring disruption to other students.
Today, the schools, probably for financial reasons, are putting more and more special needs students in regular classroom, giving need for more aids as well as therapeutic support staff to give them attention.
What this leads to is disruption of the classroom, and all students are left suffering.
Additionally, these parents, who rightfully are very concerned about their children, often either forget, or are so self-centered, that they don't care about the disruption their child(ren) maybe causing others.
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