Teacher Abuse is REAL AND RAMPANT, But More and More of Us Are Standing Up!

Karen is an AWESOME trailblazer that is fighting to bring teacher abuse to the forefront of our nation’s mind.  She and I met several years ago during another advocacy challenge that I was involved in regarding students with special needs…I know, don’t I ever get enough?!  Well, the bottom line is that as long as there are those administrators and educators that have no problem doing the WRONG thing regarding our children, I will never grow tired of doing the RIGHT thing!  I know, cain’t help it, it’s the warrior princess in me!  Our children deserve people that will fight for them with all that they have.  Our teachers deserve that too.    Here is an article about her organization, which I have been a part of for a while.  Feel free to click on the link on the sidebar and join.  Read the stories of the hell that our fellow educators are going through JUST to do what they love for the children that they love.  Many of us sacrifice all that we have for our children.  Karen has fought for years and the stories on the site, www.endteacherabuse.org, motivate me to keep fighting.  The hope is that if you put up a good enough fight, win or loose, these political bullies will think twice about mistreating someone else.  Also, when other parents and educators see you standing and fighting for our children (REMEMBER THEM?), they become empowered and encouraged to do the same, then we increase our numbers, which is our real power that “they” are scared of.  You know how bullies act, as long as you are alone, they think that you are weak and do all that they can to take advantage.  When there is a group, the bully not only thinks twice, but can be beat down himself, never to return again!  

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ABUSED TEACHERS SPEAK OUT ON NEWLY LAUNCHED WEB SITE

http://ednews.org/articles/982/1/ABUSED-TEACHERS-SPEAK-OUT-ON-NEWLY-LAUNCHED-WEB-SITE/Page1.html

By Ed News

Published on 01/13/2006

National Association for the Prevention of Teacher Abuse (NAPTA) Hundreds of teachers, concerned parents and taxpayers have come together as whistleblowers to stop what they consider to be the fundamental reason reform is not happening in our schools – teacher abuse. This step marks the first time that teachers have come together to speak out on what they consider to be the most powerful method of maintaining a corrupt educational system.

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ABUSED TEACHERS SPEAK OUT ON NEWLY LAUNCHED WEB SITE

National Association for the Prevention of Teacher Abuse (NAPTA)Hundreds of teachers, concerned parents and taxpayers have come together as whistleblowers to stop what they consider to be the fundamental reason reform is not happening in our schools – teacher abuse. This step marks the first time that teachers have come together to speak out on what they consider to be the most powerful method of maintaining a corrupt educational system.After years of preparation and organization, the National Association for the Prevention of Teacher Abuse (NAPTA) has formed to expose the reason for malfeasance in the nation’s schools. Its members also believe that teacher abuse is the reason behind the country’s teacher shortage, low morale and under qualified professionals.Teachers have experienced harassment of unimaginable proportions forcing them to stop their work and to disrupt the proper functioning of the educational system. In the face of personal and professional risk, these teachers have spoken out and have been retaliated against for doing so. To make the public aware of this practice, why it exists, and how it results in a dysfunctional system, teachers from around the country today have launched a web site, EndTeacherAbuse.org. The site is designed to pull back the curtains of deceit behind which educational administrations operate so that real reform can begin. The web site includes allegations of teacher abuse written by this group of brave teachers who found the courage to come forth with their stories that include:*a teacher in California who was bullied by his administrators after he attempted to advocate on behalf of his minority students by informing his superiors that the school was not complying with federal laws, which the district continued to ignore. The teacher was forced to file a charge with the U.S. Office of Civil Rights on the students’ behalf and was retaliated against so harshly by the administration that he is currently on disability diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.* an award-winning teacher from Idaho who was terminated because he wrote a letter to the local newspaper about improving academic issues at his school. It was forwarded to his administration, which abruptly terminated him on trumped-up charges of “dominating staff meetings” and for his classroom ball coming back with “blacktop smudges” after recess. Following a dismissal hearing, which he lost, the record of this termination hearing mysteriously disappeared, depriving him of the opportunity for a due process appeal. He has been forced to withdraw retirement money early in order for he and his family to survive.*a special education teacher from Illinois, who alerted her district to noncompliance of special education laws, which they ignored. She then filed a charge with the U.S. Office of Civil Rights and was terminated from her teaching position on false charges of child abuse after having more than a dozen years of excellent evaluations.*a teacher from Louisiana who was transferred from a gifted class to supervising detention students because she spoke to a reporter and made a statement that she felt it was the public’s right to know how the board had spent over a million dollars to buy out a contract of a superintendent. She was subsequently terminated on trumped-up charges.The backlash teachers suffer from administrative officials for standing up for their students and parents amounts to abuse, and it has teachers terrified about speaking out about the problems within the educational system. Instead, it allows sugarcoated information to be filtered through public relations jargon and excuses that are bolstered by administrative officials as well as union leaders who cover up administrations’ downright corruption, according to NAPTA representatives. Karen Horwitz, a teacher who says she suffered abuse in Chicago’s north suburbs and took her case to federal court, is the cofounder and president of NAPTA. “The public believes our dysfunctional education system merely needs reform, when it needs major overhauling and even legal interventions,” Horwitz said. ”With the same social protection afforded motherhood and apple pie, with tax dollars guaranteed to flow, and with the advantage of being the only institution other than prisons in which people forcibly participate, our schools function unethically as fiefdoms exempt from scrutiny, accountability and honesty, silencing teachers so that they can carry out business as usual. Many of them are closer to organized crime; they are not about our children.” Darlene Goodman of Belen, New Mexico is also a cofounder of NAPTA.NAPTA invites the public to visit its web site to learn what has happened to teachers throughout the country and why educational reform fails despite the increase in governmental funds. These teachers want to put an end to the needless bullying by administrative officials around the country who use their power and authority to achieve selfish goals. The abuse of teachers in the workplace leaves them feeling helpless and psychologically raped and needs to be brought out in the open, investigated and stopped, Goodman said. In the face of personal and professional risk, these teachers have spoken out and have been retaliated against for doing so.These teachers have courageously chosen to make their stories public in an effort to force accountability in the schools and to build the future of this country, its children, through educational honesty and a moral voice. Their intent is to expose that much of what the public hears from the education establishment is untrue; terrorized and brainwashed teachers are no more reliable than hostage victims, who know their fate should they reveal the truth, Horwitz said. For further information, please contact NAPTA President, Karen Horwitz at 847-256-7201.