Incompetent teacher

I joined the chat boards on teachers.net. This is a discussion board that has administrators as well as teachers. One post that caught my attention was about a principal who has an issue with a tenure first grade teacher. The principal posted this blog on 10/04/09. The problem with this teacher is she is incompetent. She does not teach the students anything. When the students move on to the second grade, the second grade teacher complains how the students don’t know anything. The principal attempted to transfer the teacher to another grade but the teacher threatened to sue, and the district sided with her. The reason the district sided with her is because the teacher is handicapped. The principal says that whenever something does not go her way she pulls the handicap card. The principal was in a bind, so I asked her if the parents are aware of the situation. I found out they are not so I suggested she attempt, without anyone knowing, maybe through a third party she can have the parents complain to the district. I don’t know any parents who knowing the situation will stand for it. Hearing this situation really made me see how some teachers don’t know how much influence they have in whether a student learns to the best of their ability. The early grades for students are meant to build the foundation for their future school career. This makes me want to do my all to help students as much as I can. I think people forget after a while to just act professional. If someone is that unhappy then they should just quit, because if you’re not happy with something then maybe it’s time for a change. I never want to be as arrogant as this teacher. Through respondents I also found out some information and other ways of going about it. One contributor was able to offer insight on how documenting everything is very important so that later on she can’t claim harassment because I figure that is the basis of that first grade teachers law suits. As a principal it would be a good idea for her to protect herself by having a record of everything. This was a very interesting blog because as good as the teachers union is in protecting teachers, sometimes it can work negatively also.