Florida teachers are worried new policies could get them fired — or even criminally charged

CW4 Jay Ossiander - My daughter is a teacher. My sister was a teacher. My Mother-law and Father-in-law were teachers. My best buddy is a school principal. They don't see the difficulty. If a teacher has some question about the course syllabus and the details... they ask. If something is a potential lightning rod, don't touch it until you get guidance.

You don’t see the “difficulty” because you’ve never actually stepped foot in front of a classroom. I’ve had parents complain that they heard I praised students in a particular class for good work and didn’t praise their student in a different class who didn’t. I’ve had parents complain about their child failing a course to the principal even though I sent emails and called multiple times to warn the parents who never responded. . I can give you multiple examples of parents making uninformed complaints to school administrators and the teacher having to explain the situation because the parents either didn’t check the teacher’s website or the school website. In reality most parents couldn’t be bothered because they just want someplace to drop their kid off while they go to work. There are parents who tell me I must have lost their child’s missing classwork/homework. When I state that perhaps their child isn’t being honest they say they believe their child over the teacher. The course syllabus are usually based on education standards approved by the state, because of the internet every teacher I know posts the syllabus/classwork/homework/ on their website and what assignments are missing. The parents can access this information 24/7.

Maj John Bell - Yep, I'm pretty familiar with parents who think that a teacher can make up for parents who don't value education and won't force their kids to face the consequences of piss poor scholastic effort. I'm related to more than a few of those parents. Teachers shouldn't have to make up for crappy parents.

That isn't the issue we were discussing. We're discussing teachers that are supposedly afraid to teach because the law is too confusing, or guidance is unclear. I'll rely on the experience of the teachers I know. I'm unimpressed by hyperbolic headlines from journalists with agendas.

Ooops hit the wrong reply button. CW4 Jay Ossiander

Maj John Bell - it’s exactly what was being discussed, teachers have to walk around on egg shells for fear some parent will misunderstand a lesson plan and immediately contact school administration without finding out the facts either out of laziness or misguided fear of an agenda that doesn’t exist. In addition you have administrators who don’t want to contradict parents. It’s the watering down and dumbing down of education out of fear people will lose their jobs.
I’m not interested in the opinion of someone with no hands on experience, get back to me when you’ve spent time in the classroom trenches.