@Terry

Yes he should!

The teacher is a pos. How could you be mean to an autistic person let alone a child. In my experience they are the most innocent individuals in the world. Full of joy and not a bad bone in their body. At times I think we are the ones that are mentally challenged.

This is just appalling behavior by a special needs teacher. Thank God this Dad had the foresight to wire the child up to see what was happening. This could have gone on endlessly, seriously damaging that little boy.

This whole thing is almost unbelievable. All involved should be fired. Autistic children have it more difficult than "normal" kids to begin with and to treat them (or any other child) in this manner is unconscionable. As far as Seymour Bhutts' comment regarding children being the most innocent . . . . and not having a bad bone in their body, I've seen first graders that were already mean and vindictive. Not sure if this was taught behavior or possibly some people are just born bad.

Not only father of the year, we could take lessons from this guy in our "sue-happy" society. He has a true reason, and the NEED for the money (autistic care is not inexpensive), chooses not to, chooses to take the treatment of his son to prevent this from happening to someone else. "Not for money, for dignity". We sue in this country EVERYDAY for petty crap, just for the money. Here's a guy who probably needs the money and instead pays it forward to prevent it instead.

My heart is breaking for the pain this child suffered at the hands of these monsters. Thank you to the dad for following his instincts that something was wrong.

pjam09 - They were fired. This is not about unions no matter how much you wanna try to strawman that argument. This is about those teachers never being able to work again in NJ as teachers.

Nanny cam here we come! wire up the classrooms. Heck you can see your kids in preschool, look at your car at the airport, why not our older kids in school? got something to hide teachers???

I know that there are security cameras at many schools. I'm all for it. We pay your salary. We should be able to monitor how you teach.

I have no idea what consequences these teachers will experience but in CA it would be paid vacation time!

Re: the "nanny cam" comment. I agree, then parents can see how disrespectful, rude, and belligerent their children can be.

I'm a teacher, and I totally agree; they have surveillance cameras everywhere, and if teachers know they're being taped, they will modify their behavior without question. For my part, I would love to have tapes of particularly successful units where magic happened for one reason or another, often because I found a way to communicate a concept and the kids caught on, and I mourn the loss of those moments.

It's bad enough that students bully other students, but now the teachers are bullying them as well. I am a former public school teacher, so I understand the stresses that come with teaching. However, if you, as an adult, find it appropriate and necessary to make fun of children, especially special needs children, then how sad and pathetic of an individual are you? The teachers involved have no business in the public school system. They have no business doing ANY kind of work that requires ANY kind of contact with other people. They aren't even fit to be the county dog-catcher. Find some job for them were they sit isolated in a dim cubicle all day and punch numbers into a computer, or something like that. That way they won't have the opportunity to spew their toxic venom onto any other living being.

Ive mentioned this before. Video Cameras are needed in the classrooms. There are no privacy concerns and both Students and Teaches can be monitored for behavior that is not acceptable.

Firing those teachers and revoking their licenses is insufficient.

They need to be charged with battery ~ causing someone to fear harm ~ and jailed.

I agree. What these "teachers" did was akin to assault and battery and they should be charged and prosecuted.

Thank God this dad had the presence of mind to wire his child to find out what was really going on. I wonder how many other children in similar situations are being abused by their teachers, coaches and others who should be trustworthy.

I'm afraid abuse like this will continue until we start making these people accountable for their reprehensible behavior.

Reminds me of a Talking Heads lyric:

"Never for money, always for love...."

GM-1841306

pjam09 - They were fired. This is not about unions no matter how much you wanna try to strawman that argument. This is about those teachers never being able to work again in NJ as teachers.

@GM-1841306

Actually they weren't fired. Only one aide was fired. The teacher and other aide "no longer work in the district." According to Chaifetz's website, they were merely transferred. We don't know if it's a union issue or not; an explanation has not been made public.

@GM, read the article before making yourself look stupid. Only Jodi was fired. The rest of the staff were reassigned to ruin other children's lives.

Bluelake, I wouldn't use police, they sometimes can be the biggest of union backed bullies.

Wait a minute.....

Ask any "teacher" on the picket line just before the beginning of the school year why they are there. They will say "It is for the children".

Yeah, right. They are there for themselves.....higher wages, less work time, more vacations, less class size, etc.

Here we go again broadly label every worker for or memeber of "X" in the same bucket. Yes, the teacher and aide depicted are beyond dispicable AND a lot more than fired / transferred (insulting if true) should come to bear. However, broadly brushing all teachers / educators with the same brush is complete hogwash and I can only hope that ldo knows it. There are plenty of teachers out there who are NOT working in education for the money, benefits, etc. (because the wages and benefits suck).

I'll close with I too was gratified in the father's position regarding a lawsuit - if anyone doubts he's doing his best by his son...

Not all teachers are like this. There are always a handful at every school that is like this though. This is why all classrooms and hallways need video cameras.

It protects the schools from dozen of types of lawsuits and parents that claim their child is an Angel.

It lowers the chances that students and teachers will act inappropriately.

I would pay $10 a month for access to a live video feed of my daughters classes.

@ Ido - - you are daft! What higher wages, what less work time??? I left teaching long ago because of wages far below the effort I was putting into the job. Less work time?? Most teachers I knew then and now worked like dogs putting in plenty of extra time to keep up with the administrative details that cannot be done on the job. The effective pay, as a result, is just a few measly bucks an hour.

And of course non union people never use company time and equipment to post or shop on the Internet during work hours. Lets wire up everybody, then we'll see which pot is calling out the kettles.

ldo

Wait a minute.....

Ask any "teacher" on the picket line just before the beginning of the school year why they are there. They will say "It is for the children".

Yeah, right. They are there for themselves.....higher wages, less work time, more vacations, less class size, etc.

Just because there are a few bad apples does not mean they are all bad. And I have never heard a Teacher ask for less work time, and more vacations... where the hell did you get that? But they do ask for higher wages and less class size... I'm not going to explain to you why, because if you can not figure that out, then you are truly lost!

I don't understand why MSNBC put "bullying" in quotes. As if there was any doubt about it at all.

@Seymour Bhutts

The teacher is a pos. How could you be mean to an autistic person let alone a child.

Some people are just a-holes and when you have a job wherw there are no reprecussions for your actions there is no incentive to modify their behavior when at work. Notice that the response from the school was that those involved did not work THERE anymore. They didn't say anyone was fired because, frankly, they can't be fired without clearing dozens of hurrdles all of which are congested with red tape. Next time you hear someone bitching about teacher unions remember THIS story because it is teacher unions that allow for this to happen. I wonder how many times someone would have fired these people if they could have and how many more children will be impacted by them in the future.

I agree that video cameras would help in a lot of situations. I also feel teachers should be held more accountable.

No, they should not all be lumped together which is why the unions are all wrong for this type of work. It would be great if teachers were not just guaranteed a certain wage, but if they had to earn it. If they had to show that they deserved it. Instead of fighting the government for higher wages they can put that energy toward teaching and the higher wage of the better teacher will be offset by the lower wage of the worse teacher.

Wow Harold, so you are saying that there is no value to the life a disabled child? That those parents should not have the right to reproduce? Should we then get tested to make sure that if we breed our children would meet a certain IQ score? Maybe we should just drown the ones that don't come out the way we want them?

I hate to admit this...I wouldn't be able to hold back from punching someone who spoke to a child like that, especially a special needs child.

Unbelievable. Just unbelievable.

Seems Harold's ideas aren't all that new -- in fact, i read that Goebbels had a lot of the same ideas in the 1930s and 40s...

LIVE Video and audio in ALL special education classrooms. Parents/staff would need a password to log on. Cheap/Easy/Safe . Many of these children have no voice it is our job to protect them. Pass this law now.

Public schools were created by the industrial barons to ensure factory workers and sheeplike people.

FYI -- public schools were brought about in this nation as a result of the revolutionary war. The people of this nation lobbied for access to primary education for all.

Regardless, free public education was always the goal of the people of this nation, to equip our youth with the knowledge to move forward as upstanding members of society in a modern nation where everyone was equal. In old Europe, education meant the difference between poverty and position...our forefathers saw this and aimed to make an America where we were all equal, so we could eschew the European notion of castes.

I'm all too sad to find that your free American public education didn't impress upon you these historical facts.

If it weren't for this free education system, you probably wouldn't have seen the technological advances of the last century, which not coincidentally came about after the nation had access to elementary schools and was beginning the push for high schools.

I admire this Dad for what he's done! However, I wouldn't be suprised though if the teacher and their union files suit.....

Wow Harold, just wow. Glad you are more concerned about your tax dollars than the life of a human being.

I have tears rolling down my face. That poor, poor child. I am so happy that his father uncovered this terrible abuse. I just want to hug that boy and let him know he is loved.

The father is articulate and outstanding.

This has been the most moving story I've read in a long time. If there ever was a valid reason for a lawsuit, this is it! Time for a big shake-up.

Well, the good news is that this kid will have a trust fund, once all the lawsuits settle. Kudos to the dad. I'm not sure I would ever have thought to put a wire on my kid.

Harold, first let me inform you that autism and Down's Syndrome or not conditions that parents can know their children will have. For example, the likelihood of having a child with down's syndrome increases with age but even at age 39 it is less than 1%. The vast majority of cases are random occurrences and cannot be predicted. Second, even a short amount of time interacting with children with developmental disabilities will show you that these individuals, in fact, are "absolutely thrilled to be alive." I have spent a lot of time with many different children with Down's and they are some of the most joyful, happiest, and loving people you will meet, despite the difficulties they face. I suggest you spend some time getting to know some developmentally disabled kids before posting comments like that. Third, your talk of people "breeding" disabled children for tax kickbacks sniffs of paranoia, not to mention eugenics. I do hope you will reassess your idea that society needs to be rid of its weakest members so that you can have a few more dollars in the bank.

Dustin- The Industrial Revolution coincided with the Civil War and it was the factory barons who pushed for a populace that was educated just enough to do what they were told in a vertical hierarchy, to ask for permission to urinate, and to follow orders.

Doc- Take a look at the dollars spent on children who are unable to ever be productive members of society. If you want your labor to be taxed so that other people can reproduce children who have to be subsidized, then spend YOUR money to do the subsidizing.

As far as the profit incentive to have disabled children, it's huge. As long as we continue to spend the most taxpayer dollars not on gifted, non-disabled children, but on children born with severe developmental disabilities, we are doing eugenics...the kind of eugenics that results in a regression of our species.

Deal with it!

Did any of you actually read the article? Innocent? Beautiful nature? His nature was to flip the fark out and throw chairs around. This is the same thing that got a 6 year old taken off to jail, and after reading what the heck is going on here, I would be quick to agree with the teachers who called said police on the 6 year old girl. While I do admit that the teachers were being jerks by mocking him... if your kid has a "half-hour meltdown", maybe, just maybe, you should home school the kid.

I mean, the kid is 10 years old, this isn't Kindergarten anymore, this is when kids start to really develop their cliques and friendships and learning how to be functional human beings in society. But really? Throwing chairs and screaming and flipping the heck out? If he did that back in the 90s, they'd have though that boy was possessed!

Harold: Two questions for you, if I may:

1: Stephen Hawking - would you wish him to never be born? He has children, btw. Would you wish for him not to procreate?

2: Viewed from the standpoint of Stephen Hawking, Einstein, and others possessing extraordinary intelligence, you and those of your intellect would be viewed as "defective". Would you want them to determine if someone of such lower intellect (compared to themselves) could lead a "happy" life? From the perspective of higher intellect, Harold, it is you who is defective and of less value.

And finally, this:

The lack of empathy exhibited by people like yourself is far more costly to society than any care provided to a "disabled" person. It is such a lack of empathy that underpins greed and leads to the misery of millions for the benefit of a few psychopaths.

Harold, autism is not genetic. Get your facts straight.

I'd rather pay to support a disabled child than moms who have baby after baby to gain more welfare dollars.... who will never work to contribute to society and who make it look glamorous enough that their kids do the same thing.

I'd rather pay to support a disabled child than an alcoholic or a drug user

The disabled child contributes more than either of those classes will EVER contribute.

Genenut

Great comment.

My oldest brother was born disabled, having spina bifida and hydrocephalus. He lived to the age of 10 and brought so much joy to our big family. The lessons we learned from this tragic, yet inspirational event are mind boggling.

I just wish I had wired my children. Excellent idea! Parents do not have a clue what happens in a school system unless they drop by unannounced. More attention needs to be paid to the quality of person that teaches the children. Of course we don't teach anymore, we teach to the mandated standardized tests that determine the funding the districts will receive. Unions started as a good thing, but now our children are unprotected due to tenure and union rules. Until more parents take a stand like this dad, this will continue to happen. And to the ignorant man that thinks disabled people are draining his pockets, I wonder how he would feel if he were to become suddenly disabled. Would he want us to euthanize him??? Hitler is dead and his ideas SHOULD have died with him.

haroldhazelton is nothing but a troll people, ignore it and it will go away from boredom

That is to bad this father had to go to such measures to learn what was happening with his son. I sure hope those responsible never get to teach again.Bulling is not just a kid thing now is it.

Dustin- The Industrial Revolution coincided with the Civil War and it was the factory barons who pushed for a populace that was educated just enough to do what they were told in a vertical hierarchy, to ask for permission to urinate, and to follow orders.

The Industrial Revolution was a result of the Civil War, it did not coincide with it. If anything, it was spurned by the need for a war machine, which we narrowly got by without having during the Revolutionary War.

You need to read a history book without forming opinions before you get even half way through it.

This is the very reason why corporal punishment was outlawed in schools. Teachers are human being with all the same defects that every one else has, including poor judgement.

Don't get me wrong, I totally support our good ("good" being the operative word) teachers. I wouldn't have the patience to do that job no matter what it paid. However, just like any other profession, you have good, bad and indifferent. Video cameras would help to protect both the teachers and the children (think L.A. and sperm cookies).

@Harold --- wow, dude, it's hard to believe we learned nothing from the nazis. If they were in charge when Einstein was a child, he would have been killed. After all, he wouldn't even speak until he was around six years of age and was considered by teachers to be mentally defective!

Dude, you need Jesus.

Not all children are born disabled, but some become disabled through abuse, accident or neglect.

What of them?

Another quality educational experience brought to you by those so very qualified people of the NEA.

Harold - you are just as dispicable as those teachers, parents dont even know their child is autistic until after birth - usually around 1-2 years old you idiot.

your parents have failed you

This father is doing the right thing. But he should sue. The only way to get these people to listen is to hit them in the wallet. During the lawsuit, he can release the names of the teachers and staff that were part of this or even attempted to cover it up.

My own personal experience with "bully teachers" has taught me well back in a time when nobody cared at all.

Bullying starts with the staff.

Isn't it fascinating that when people think of "welfare" they immediately conjure images of single mothers popping out baby after baby to bask in the glamorous life that welfare provides?

Why, almost with lemming like efficiency, a vast majority of our society responds as one: Welfare Queens! Cadillacs! Drugs! Sexual Promiscuity! -- Outrage (as a matter of course) in the name of fiscal and personal responsibility.

Yet - and this is the curious thing - most of the above people find themselves stricken mute and uninterested when it comes to the inefficiencies of military contractors, irresponsible fiscal policies which grant companies tax breaks / incentives for outsourcing American jobs overseas (though to give them credit they are very much opposed to illegal aliens sneaking into an employment office in the middle of the night and, at gunpoint, stealing a job from a patriotic American employer)

Indeed - nary a peep nor murmur from this crowd over the subsidies to Cargill Flour Mills to grow corn - a highly profitable enterprise, I might add (for Cargill).

The aforementioned folks must surely find themselves exhausted from their outrages over Cadillac Welfare Queens - how else to explain the deafening silence from their quarter when it comes to subsidizing pharmaceutical research which reaps billions upon billions in profits for the pharmaceutical industry?

How very lucky for the 1% that a good portion of the American electorate is focused on poor people and immigrants, distracted whilst the 1% outsources American Jobs, replaces American Workers with illegal immigrants (do you really think an illegal immigrant "steals" a job from an employer? Remind me again who does the hiring?).

The 1% continues it's rape of working Americans -- who, to a large extent, are too drunk on racism and twisted religious dogma to realize the American dream has long since been killed, thanks to their own ignorance.

@jkatze - causing someone to fear harm is assault, not battery. Battery requires physical contact.

@Johnathan Ivan

Yet - and this is the curious thing - most of the above people find themselves stricken mute and uninterested when it comes to the inefficiencies of military contractors, irresponsible fiscal policies which grant companies tax breaks / incentives for outsourcing American jobs overseas (though to give them credit they are very much opposed to illegal aliens sneaking into an employment office in the middle of the night and, at gunpoint, stealing a job from a patriotic American employer)

Why on Earth would you find anything you've said to be "curious"? After all you are doing the EXACT SAME THING albeit in reverse. They bitch about the "welfare queens", grouping every one on welfare into a negative stereotype. You bitch about the "1%" lumping them all together under an equally preposterous negative stereotype. The VAST majority of the so-called "1%" are small business owners who do care about their employees and their communities but that means nothing to you. You just rant and rave like a lemming of another color. Do you understand the meaning of the word "hypocrite"?

@drainbramage

And of course non union people never use company time and equipment to post or shop on the Internet during work hours. Lets wire up everybody, then we'll see which pot is calling out the kettles.

The difference between the two, which somehow escapes you, is that when the non-union employee gets busted doing something they shouldn't YOU CAN FIRE THEM. The union employee just gets shifted somewhere else so they can fck with someone else.

Kudos for this father.

Harold, from a sterile and capitalistic point of view, you may have some valid points. However, LIFE is organic and its value can not be measured by mere dollars. There are priceless values in life and neither I nor you may be the judge of such value. The love I feel when hugging my child is most assuredly the same healing love this father feels for his autistic 10 year old when he hugs him and his son smiles back at him.

It appears that there are many on these boards who have short memories. Remember when the polititians started cutting funding for schools closing many of these special needs schools that cared for special needs children? The excuse at that time was that these special needs students need to be in the general school population and that there was no need for these special needs schools.

Remember recently when the polititians continued to cut funding to schools and started laying off teachers and increasing class sizes? LOL

Don't you think that something like what happened to that autistic child was going to happen?

Makes one wonder if that parent shouldn't be calling the Govenor of his State and his minions to stop cutting the education budget and stop laying off teachers?

Getting mad at or about these teachers solve nothing no matter how dispicable their behaviour. Instead of getting mad do something about the issue. Lobby the govenor. Lobby the various state polititians agreed with the T'repubcon govenor when he cut millions of dollars from the budget for schools and no doubt used that to offset the huge tax cut to the rich in his state.

1 teacher to 10 special needs students? There needs to be a higher ratio of teachers - especially who specialize in special needs children education- to student in these classrooms.

One other thing.... think that privatizing schools and doing away with the dept of education is going to solve these issues? All that will happen is that parents with children with special needs will have to additionally subsidize their child's care/education or they will have to home school their children because care and education of these special needs children is costly.

Peace.....

Not until the rise of the Teabagger movement was it acceptable to demonize teachers... too bad everything is now draped in anti-union rhetoric. The irony of course is that if unions do disappear say goodbye to the rights and protections many Teabaggers enjoy at their own workplace. Be careful what you wish for!

@TheOverlord

The irony of course is that if unions do disappear say goodbye to the rights and protections many Teabaggers enjoy at their own workplace. Be careful what you wish for!

Huh? What the hell are you talking about? How exactly would the end of unions result in the loss of rights and protections that are now guaranteed BY LAW? Do you think before you speak or just repeat whatever pro-union rhetoric you've been force fed?

Yes, that was a rhetorical question since you answered it in your first sentence. Anti-teacher & union sentiment goes all the way back to 1968 when teachers went on strike in NYC because school boards were going to be decentralized and turned over to the neighborhoods where the students came from. The people wanted control of their schools, the unions only wanted to deal with one central authority so they went on strike. So maybe before criticizing the rhetoric of others you should do a little fact checking on the things you've been told to say.

@HaroldHalzelton-

Are hard of Hearing/ Deaf people/ Blind people still human beings with a brain? Or are they just vegetables who hate themselves & their lives?? They are technically "disabled". So are you saying you want to ruin a rich & beautiful culture , wheter blind or deaf? The Deaf are technically "disabled". So therefore, you are saying that a culture (MANY) should be destroyed because, "THEY'RE NOT LIKE US HEARING/SEEING PEOPLE."

That's bull. As a hard of hearing person (Who, yes, has been harrased by teachers, students, & other adults at a young age), I find your comments offensive. If there is any children who are "Disabled" reading your comments, I know they're disheartened. I, as an adult, am disheartened.

I want to know why they are not up on charges for child abuse.

"My son didn't go to school, he went to prison and he learned to fight to survive."

That pretty much summed up my experience as an Classroom Aide who was fired defending a student who suffered with Muscular Distrophy that had been abused by the school staff. I only WISH this technology was available back then.

It is most unfortunate, but this kind of behavior is taking place in schools all across the nation.

This entire story reminds me of Pink Floyd.

"Wrong, Do it again!"
"If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you
have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?"
"You! Yes, you behind the bikesheds, stand still laddy!"

Why is it that every single thread on this site, no matter what the story is about, immediately becomes a rant against unions. Those of you you obviously watch wayyyy too much faux noise, thus have allowed your brains to turn to fox-jello, make everything into a way to demonize unions, especially unions of public employees. (Of course, that's because the 1%---and yes, there most certainly IS a 1% and they are NOT owners of mom-and-pop businesses---spends billions of dollars to propaganidize against the very few organizations and people that might spoil the party they are having turning this nation into a failed state.) The reason that labor organized into unions was because, historically, workers were nothing but slaves/serfs to be worked like dogs by the aristocracy and paid the least amount of money for the most amount of work, with no protection whatsoever. For starters, those 'teachers' have done things that should get them fired whether they work for a union or not. Abusing a child is a criminal offense and they should be prosecuted. Once that is done, they can be fired and their teaching certification taken away forever. That the district isn't doing so is a matter of their own cowardice. Don't blame the union. Blame the cowards and bullies that are responsible.

Wall_of_Separation

It's a rant about unions because the Union is protecting these people who should be in prison and awaiting trial for child abuse charges. Instead they are teaching other children in other schools and probably continuing their completely poor and inappropriate behavior. They cannot be fired because they are protected by the UNION CONTRACT.

If there was anything that could be used to put the Unions to a TORCH it would be this type of behavior and the fact that they are protected by said Union. You are the one obsessed with faux news. Don't pawn off your obsession to other people. Suck it up and deal with it.

Unions have long outlived their usefulness. States and the Federal government and work rules passed through out the last 100 years have replaced 95% of what unions were needed for. Now there are LAWS protecting workers from poor employer conduct, not the union contract. What the unions are left with is two things, bread and butter issues. Namely translated to PAY and BENEFITS. And protecting the indefensible. Translating to never being able to FIRE anyone for ANYTHING. Both of those items are bankrupting cities, counties, and states, in the public sector as well as giving the public the abjectly deplorable behavior that is demonstrated in the video linked above.

In their nostalgic utopian form, a union was suppose to represent skilled workers. Workers who were expected to apply a SKILLED trade with the UTMOST professionalism and diligence in their work. If they did not the union should remove those individuals. (Again I'm diving into lore, false lore at that) Today's unions fall far short of those 'ideas'.

Yes we have some great teachers . Then we have some teachers that just need to find a new profession. I have a child with special needs and when i was needing support from my other friends with special needs children they wanted to help but were reluctant for fear that it would put their children in harms way . See in the district we came from you cannot record while on campus unless you tell them and if you do it is fruit from the forbidden tree I was told By CPS .I feel for the protection of all place cameras rotate them . no one will ever know if the are being recorded . therefore they will do the right thing-in the first place. Our children are worth the money !!!!

@Wall_of_Separation

(Of course, that's because the 1%---and yes, there most certainly IS a 1% and they are NOT owners of mom-and-pop businesses---spends billions of dollars to propaganidize against the very few organizations and people that might spoil the party they are having turning this nation into a failed state.)

LOL! How ironic of you to accuse others of being brainwashed when you clearly are yourself. I have a guess but out of curiosity who exactly do you allow to do your thinking? Here are your evil 1%- http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/newsgraphics/2012/0115-one-percent-occupations/index.html

Not a whole lot of evil fat-cat types are now are there?

Teachers are the ball and chain of society, there particular abuse against some students has been endured relentlessly through out time no school immune..

Give them less power; they certainly do not deserve their pay grade..

When this sort of behavior is brought to light, the teacher(s) should, in addition to being fired, forfeit their teaching credentials. They should not be transferred elsewhere to begin their reign of terror in another location. I'd like to teach them a lesson, alright.

Tricia, I am willing to bet the reason this father can't sue is because he didn't inform those involved that he had his son wired. I believe you are correct, it is illegal to use the information in court. This father has taken the only legal recourse he can to see to it that his issues are addressed. Been there, done that. There is no fighting city hall.

Backcountry:

Why on Earth would you find anything you've said to be "curious"? After all you are doing the EXACT SAME THING albeit in reverse. They bitch about the "welfare queens", grouping every one on welfare into a negative stereotype. You bitch about the "1%" lumping them all together under an equally preposterous negative stereotype. The VAST majority of the so-called "1%" are small business owners who do care about their employees and their communities but that means nothing to you. You just rant and rave like a lemming of another color. Do you understand the meaning of the word "hypocrite"?

Do you understand what level of income is required to be in the 1%? Do you understand that the vast majority of "small business owners" are NOT in the 1%? You do understand that 1% is a small fraction, correct? And by the laws of math the majority of small business owners are NOT in the 1%?

Your counter-frothing does not negate the facts inherent in the laws of math:

A few salient facts (but don't let that stand in the way of your focus on Welfare Queens!):

In 2008, the average nonfarm sole proprietorship had revenues of only $58,256 and net income of only $11,696

The IRS figures show that,in 2008, the average revenue of a sole proprietorship ranged from $11,862 for unclassified establishments to $1,073,406 for coal mines, and average net income ranged from -$47,455 for coal mines to $117,685 for dentists’ offices.

With exceptions for specific situations (such as a fuel commodity), most "small businesses" are nowhere NEAR the $300k/ year cutoff for being in the 1%.

Try again.

Yet more of that nonsensical math for you:

According to compensation survey administrator PayScale in 2010, the average income of small business owners varies widely depending upon their level of experience. For example, small business owners with less than one year of experience in running an organization earn an annual salary ranging from $34,392 to $75,076. Those with more than 10 years experience, on the other hand, earn upwards of $105,757 per year.

Nope, still not in the 1%.

Now talk to me about those Welfare Queens and those poor small 1% business owners.

Look, I know it's difficult: You've been told your whole life if we could just get those lazy Cadillac Driving Welfare Queens living at the Ritz off the government dole, all would be well and everyone would be living in a gated community.

It's such a lovely carrot, so irresistible. But perhaps, instead of dining on propaganda driven misdirection, a more substantive meal of factual information might be in order?

Question: Did the Welfare Queens living at the Ritz outsource American jobs to India, China, S. America? Did the Welfare Queens eating filet mignon choose to hire that illegal alien, thereby depriving you of that oh-so-well paying job in the fields or cleaning someone's toilet?

Pity Joe The Plumber, who was on the cusp of that $300k/year 1% dividing line, but just couldn't make it past that $50k/ year mark, thanks to those pesky illegal immigrants.

Your ignorance keeps you in shackles, my friend. You do know why our jobs get shipped overseas to "Communist" China, right? You know who makes the decisions to outsource and/or hire non-American workers, don't you? You're aware that those "small business owners" in the 1% have seen their incomes consistently rise for the past 30 years, right -- despite all those Cadillac driving Welfare Queens?

Keep focusing on those Welfare Queens and lazy illegal immigrants stealing your job (amazing how they can be lazy and yet ambitious enough to steal a low paying job, isn't it?). It's worked so well for 30 years, another ten years of such focus will surely result in all of us becoming 1% "small" business owners.

Awesome Post Jonathan Ivan (#1.81), I especially liked the Joe the Plumber line. Good Stuff!

Reason #4 Katlynn is homeschooled. Because teachers are getting more cruel by the second. Oh and Good job Stuart. Get the greatest prize of all for being suck a good father.

How was the teacher just "moved"?

And that's what happens when I don't revise whatever I type. Such*

It's a rant about unions because the Union is protecting these people who should be in prison and awaiting trial for child abuse charges.

How is the union "protecting" these people? I don't see anywhere in the article where the union has even gotten involved in this situation as yet.

I am willing to bet the reason this father can't sue is because he didn't inform those involved that he had his son wired. I believe you are correct, it is illegal to use the information in court.

In the state of New Jersey, it is not necessary for both parties to know that a conversation is being recorded -- as long as one of the parties is aware of the recording, it is legal.

Harold- you are an emotional chamber pot. You are also dumb. Public school in England was started, largely, because of the abuses perpetrated on children during the industrial revolution. Yes, the greedy people at the top figured they could work children, longer for cheaper, and fire their parents who were paid more. Finally, some people decided to let the kids be kids and to be able to learn like the upper class kids. It had nothing to do with making "sheeple" it was to free the people they were trying to turn into basically slave labor from 5years old to the grave.

Also you POS, my disabled child died and there is not a day that goes by that I do not mourn her. I would gladly take on all the challenges of raising her just to get smile and a day back with her. So Piss off you filthy Nazi Loser!

@Johnathan Ivan

Do you understand what level of income is required to be in the 1%

Yeah, 350k per year. Just because most small business owners are not in the 1% does not mean most 1% are not small business owners. Aside from that A- I posted a link to the NYT that shows exacly who the 1% are and, as I mentioned above, not many evil fat-cat types. B-You've never heard me say a word about the "welfare queens" or bitch about anyone on any sort of assistance so what the hell are you talkng about? Typicial liberal BS, can't find somethig legitimate to cry about so you just make some sht up.

My point stands as you haven't even attempted to refute it. You whine and cry about conservatives and their false negative stereotyping of "welfare queens" (your term not mine) while at the same time you do the EXACT SAME THING about the so-called 1%. That's called hypocrisy and you are guilty of it. Ranting and raving about some half-assed assumptions regarding my veiws on welfare doesn't change that fact one bit.

@ErinNJ

How is the union "protecting" these people? I don't see anywhere in the article where the union has even gotten involved in this situation as yet.

Some things are every bit as certain as death and taxes, a union protecting a dues paying member regardless of the situation is one of them.- http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/26/11395270-autistic-boys-father-why-hasnt-teacher-been-fired-over-bullying?lite

My son went to a special school when he was little because he has CP (cerebral Palsy) I was head of parents council and thru fund raisers raised thousands of dollars for this school for the children, I also was able to monitor classrooms and what these teachers did to the students was unbelievable, they didn't care that I saw or heard, I wrote a letter to all parents and to all of the board members to make each and everyone aware of what was going on with their children, and with this I had numerous witnesses, some afraid to come forward. Well , I received a letter I was being sued for liable, had to go to a hearing with a lawyer and all board members were there to listen to all statements and you know what those teachers were all fired and replaced. I made my point and removed my son and sent him to a school where the teachers were very caring of my sons needs. So I applaud you Dad, you not only saved your son from the bullying but all his classmates as well. I hope these teachers and Aids never see a school room again.

Just because most small business owners are not in the 1% does not mean most 1% are not small business owners

yeah right, any LLC is considered a "small business" that includes casinos making $150+ mil a year

and that would be 350k per year in PROFIT/personal income for the individual owner not total revenues

ErinNJ,

The union rules are so convoluted and polluted that instead of the School District going through the 'administrative process' to remove these people it is easier to simply transfer them out of the district or into another school and pretend the issue went away.

That union contract is the only reason that all 4 of these individual were not immediately fired. As they would have been in any other non-union business by the end of the day. If you haven't noticed teachers are a dime a dozen with the layoffs that have been happening across the country. It would be much easier to find a gracious replacement for all of these individuals. Many students with education degrees are unemployed or under employed because they cannot even get into a school to teach. Others with 10-20 years experience and a mediocre or poor teaching record, or those that should have retired long ago are bunked down in their positions and are not leaving unless you drag them out through the door.

Do not act like a naive bystander that doesn't understand what is happening in our schools and why. I refuse to believe any individual is that ignorant today. But I have been surprised before.

If you haven't noticed teachers are a dime a dozen with the layoffs that have been happening across the country.

And in case YOU haven't notice, good teachers are hardly "a dime a dozen". And good teachers get laid off, too, with the recent budget cuts in so many districts.

Do not act like a naive bystander that doesn't understand what is happening in our schools and why. I refuse to believe any individual is that ignorant today. But I have been surprised before.

Don't presume to tell me how to act; you know nothing about me. As it happens, I have been working in education for 23 years -- and YOUR level of ignorance, thankfully, is rare.

It seems that some folks do not realize that there are "small businesses'' that are multimillion to multibillion dollar companies/corporations -international and otherwise- with some having over 60thousand employees around the world. But they are set up as small businesses for tax purposes. There are many of those types of ''small businesses'' who have headquarters in the USA.

When polititians talk about helping 'small businesses' they are not talking about helping the mom and pop shops etc. These real small businesses do not have or probably cannot afford to pay lobbiests and cannot afford to donate large amount of monies to these polititians either. The polititians are talking about helping those pretend 'small businesses' owned and operated by the top 1-10%ers. The real small businesses/mom and pop etc shops are are like the middle classes and the lower socioeconomic groups.... they are on their own... LOL

Peace.... think for yourself....

And good teachers get laid off, too, with the recent budget cuts in so many districts.

and THAT is one reason that union rules can really suck. I'm not entirely against the unions, but some of their rules are most definitely NOT in favor of kids or the taxpayer.

It seems that some folks do not realize that there are "small businesses'' that are multimillion to multibillion dollar companies/corporations -international and otherwise- with some having over 60thousand employees around the world. But they are set up as small businesses for tax purposes. There are many of those types of ''small businesses'' who have headquarters in the USA.

every LLC and LLP is classified as a "small business" under government rules

pricewaterhousecooper is a LLP with 150,000 employees, and is classified as a "small business"

Chrysler group LLC is classfied as a "small business"

American Casino and entertainment properties LLC (owns the stratosphere tower in Las Vegas) is a "small company"

Danwill, therein lies the problem. When these polititians talk about helping small businesses most people think they are talking about the small mom and pop shops and other businesses in their communities that folks start up and may even grow to say 20 employees or more employees. It is these mulitmillion and multibillion businesses that get the help and can really access the loopholes in the laws because they can afford those expensive accountants to help them do so.

During 2008 and 2009 the real small or rather 'micro' businesses were seeking funding and there was none to be had from the same banks that got bailed out. Many of their employees were laid off and eventually many storefront shops closed down. These big 'small' multimillion/multibillion dollar businesses need to pay their fair share of taxes too.

If it was not for the unions, wages - which have all but stagnated these past 30 odd years - would be worse in this country even as working conditions worsen and the standard of living falls. Having worked in places where there was a union and where there was none it is still better to have a union around because at least there is less liklihood of unfair pay ie where 2 employees doing the same job yet 1 employee getting less pay or raises just because that person may not be liked by the manager. Have seen unfair firing too in the non union companies and the only recourse the person has is to file a complaint with the eeoc or what ev that agency is called.

From what I have observed, unions just make sure the rules are followed and there is actual cause for firing the employee. But of course because some T'publicon polititians states that unions are bad blah blah blah and public employees are supposedly the new rich, then apparently the unions are supposedly bad and public employees and people who are in unions are the new rich and bad.

Peace......

If it was not for the unions, wages - which have all but stagnated these past 30 odd years - would be worse in this country even as working conditions worsen and the standard of living falls

I have long thought that public employee unions (as opposed to private employee unions) carried just a little too much sway in state government and could use a few teeth pulled. then along comes a nut like Scott Walker and goes about with a wholesale, bloody evisceration. (and BTW threw in a nice little bone for his primary backer, the Koch bros, in the form of allowing the sale of LOCAL utilities through no-bid contracts in the same bill that gutted the Unions)

I just wanted a little balance, not slaughter

Perhaps the level of sway depends on the State where one lives.

Perhaps the level of sway depends on the State where one lives.

very little doubt about it

I used to be in CA, I remembered some of the ads that the unions ran for something or another, one was a police union ad where the police union head called arnie a nazi right on the radio. funny thing was that the particular thing they wanted, I supported until that ad, which went too far.

the teachers union was running ads against the proposition to have teachers wait 5 years instead of two to make tenure, at which point it becomes nearly impossible to fire them for any reason. while most do an at least adequate job, and they should be compensated fairly well for what they do, there are some that do little more than babysit. and then they get assigned to "underperforming" schools to make matters even worse at those schools I supported that one, which lost.

the prison guard union usually got whatever they wanted no matter how ridiculous

I have seen many examples there, but in other states I've lived in they aren't nearly as bad. didn't know about Wisconsin for sure, but thought that maybe they weren't too different from CA public employee unions. but I would never have supported anything remotely resembling what that guy did there. like I said, a few teeth,to bring thing into balance, not evisceration

on the other hand, private unions are much smaller than they used to be, they are also still needed to keep the balance. a balance that has been tilting too far towards the execs. even private companies used to reward good work and loyalty with the same, but that is disappearing in far too many places these days. not gone, just becoming dishearteningly rare

Unions suck up taxpayer money and have way too many elite ..They are not worth the time anymore.

Unions suck up taxpayer money and have way too many elite ..They are not worth the time anymore

if you are talking about public employee unions, then I tend to agree (depending on the particular state)

if you are talking about the " get a job" (when there are no jobs to be had) elite, then you are an idiot

I see far too many of these brainless idiots that scream "GET A JOB" to people that have been job hunting for over a year

@ danwill..????What unions are screaming to get a job? I am talking about the fact that unions are sucking up dues from members and that there are way too many elite in the unions who do nothing but suck up money. Unions had their time, but they are now just as corrupt as all government. Actually , they always were, but they DID at least help change things for workers in the past.

I don't know if the word elite threw you off or what. I am no idiot. Perhaps you are?

..????What unions are screaming to get a job?

sorry. the ones screaming "get a job" would be the "elite" CEOs who lay off employees to simply to boost their own bonuses while the business is still profitable, and the ones screaming the same thing that consider that to be "working hard for their money"

I want to know why they are not up on charges for child abuse

This is MUCH more common than people think. My daughter dropped out of being a special ed teacher because of this sort of attitude among "teachers."

A great deal of this is happening because of what is happening with the education system. Over half the "educators" no longer teach children. Period. And classroom teachers have come to be regarded as lacking in ambition or initiative or just simply not bright enough to be administrators. As a result the brightest teachers simply quit. They don't want to be office rats, they want to be teachers. If they can't they don't want to continue the charade.

There is a two-track pay system in place. Classroom teachers make about half whgat administrators and non-teaching specialists make. Classrooms are overcrowded with students while administrative offices are overcrowded period.

Here in Tuscaloosa, the city laid off 19 teachers and dramatically increased class sized. When grades plummeted, they hired to administrators to "study" the problem. That is very typical. In a recent recruiting brochure that made a mistake in listing the names of the last nine Teachers of the Year. All had been fired before the brochure was printed. Didn't take that long to get mentioned on the recruiting website.

We need to institute a two-tiered educational system. Those who can, teach. And get the good pay and the good benefits where we cannot affird the pay. Administration positionbs would be reserved for those who could not teach. Of course, the pay would be lower and the benefits far less. Ask a classroom teacher about the idea.

I agree with you Chris. I would say that the problems you pointed out are prevalent outside just the educational system. This is a problem with both public and private systems. The emphasis of both value and pay are given to managerial staff, while those persons actually responsible for doing the jobs that need to be done are under valued and under paid.

Coming back to education, you'll notice while teachers are taking all the heat right now in the public forum that no one mentions class size any longer (because it involves significant financial investment in the schools). It's like handing a mechanic a pair of pliers and telling him to rebuild your engine and then getting pissed when the job isn't done right. When there are more than thirty kids in a class the teacher can't teach - they can barely baby sit sometimes. Until teachers are given the tool that they need (class sizes of under 25) then the various "teacher evaluations" that are talked about right now are just so much political bullsh*t.

Chris, I disagree a bit....my mom was a special needs (we called it special ed) teacher for over 20 years before she went on to be an administrator specializing in the special education program (it was a high school setting/high school district)...I think we need to encourage teachers to become administrators...this way they have had the experience of dealing with the students and will be better equipped to make the correct decisions in regards to the schools and the teachers.....my mom was not well liked, not because she did not do her job well...it was because she made everyone under her toe the line, do what was required by state to do for the students and she fought for the students....when people wanted to skirt responsibilities or treat others unfairly, she was there to put a stop to it....I agree teachers should get better pay, but I say that we need to encourage the great teachers to be great administrators to make room for the next round of great teachers.....

No all who can teach and administer; I had a brilliant and well liked high school math teacher who went on to become an atrocious and hated administrator.

I am not sure if it is all states or just Ohio, but they have taken teaching from the teachers. The children have to pass the Ohio Graduate Test(OGT) to receive a diploma, so all teaching is geared toward this test. I can't believe how many children can't read a clock now, because time is not important to the test. Just different aspects of education that I received when I was in school is not longer and issue because the State of Ohio Board of Education says it isn't. I mean come on the children are not going to be learning cursive writing any more. We need to get back where emphasis is placed back on the teachers teaching the subjects of science, math, reading and writing. Sorry about the rant, but I do feel better now.

WeAll...same here in Califoria. They are no l,onger teaching the kids, they are training them.

let's hope these people don't get hired in any other school district. disgusting!

Teaching To The Test is going on in Oregon, too. Thank the "No Child Left Behind," and the people who are making money off of the scripted lessons. For example, in kindergarten, in four months, only 6 letters of the alphabet are covered. There's a reading/comprehension testing that the elementary school kids are given, twice a month. The test is to read a short essay about owls or a camping trip, or how bees make hone. They never are allowed to read the whole thing, but are timed as to how many words they can read correctly in one minute, and then asked to explain what they just read in one minute or less. Never mind that there may be more information in the article, where they might learn something about what they are reading, something useful, or, George W. Bush and Bill and Melinda Gates forbid, interesting.

While the comments made on the tape are disturbing, I would like to know more FACTS about the situation. As a classroom elementary teacher for 30+ years, students with disabilities are often assigned to a para-professional who is NOT a licensed teacher. These para-professional "support" staff are spread thin and are often responsible for more than one student depending on the student's disability. Classroom sizes are increasing to 30+ students in many elementary schools across the nation. Before slapping a label on the "teacher", I want to know if the person on the tape recording was a teacher or a para-professional. There is a huge difference! I have witnessed para-professionals treat students within reasonable limits to help them learn. Many people think that para-professionals are certified teachers, and therefore, licensed teachers get a bad rap.

Secondly, as an elementary teacher, I have been bullied by parents, administrators and even students who "create" interesting stories about what happens in a classroom. I have been a victim of harassment by parents who have had their child carry a tape recorder to school. While they never found anything, the simple act of sending a tape recorder to school with a child to school is more disturbing!

Teachers have an incredibly difficult job and are being held responsible (and blamed) for things that are beyond their control. If the "blame game" can stop, and parents work cooperatively with teachers and administrators, our schools can become the hallmarks of successful institutions that they were meant to be.

To set the record straight and give equal time to both sides of this story, I encourage you to read the book, White Collar Chalk Crime written by Karen Horwitz. Then go to her website, NAPTA (National Association for the Prevention of Teacher Abuse". These stories will make your blood curdle, just as much as listening to the message taped recorded by the boy and his father.

I believe if we put cameras in every classroom, parents and administrators would see teachers across the nation dedicated to their profession. Often daily, working above and beyond the "call of duty" with large class sizes and students with an incredible range of abilities. The video from the classroom could stop the "creative stories" that students tell their parents to get their attention, and parents could witness how challenging it is to be a teacher. If a parent can walk in the shoes of a teacher for a day, I believe the "teacher bashing" across this country would stop! Remember the "Golden Rule" we all learned in Kindergarten?

I can't believe how many children can't read a clock now, because time is not important to the test.

I learned how to read a clock before I went to school. I do believe there needs to be some type of testing for children to go to the next level. It should be based on all curriculum, not just a few things. There are too many idiots out there that don't know a damn thing because their idiot teachers passed them to the next level when they should have failed and been held back. We are seeing the "dumbing down of America" as our education system gets worse and worse. The Department of Education should be eliminated because education has gone downhill since it was created. They are failing. Give the money saved to the states to use to improve their education systems.

P444. are you disputing the fact that these witches are on tape? Calling this little boy a bastard? Are you a mean teacher too? WTF?

P444,

I'm guessing that reading comprehension and logical deduction were not your strong suits in college, and are not your strong suits now.

If you listen to the tape, the video, read the article, read the website and pay ATTENTION, you'll get your details. The father clearly addresses when aides are talking and when the teacher is talking. He leaves one instance up for debate because he cannot clearly demonstrate who said it. However, he does note that in all instances the teacher is present in the room and clearly hears the comments, even to the point of laughing about the ones she didn't say afterward. Also while you may teach in a room size of 30+, this was a class of 10. TEN! With at least a teacher and three aides. That's giving you roughly a ratio of 2.5 pupils per adult in the room. If that cannot be handled then we obviously need to overhaul teaching credentialing at both the state and college level.

@P444

Listen to the tapes. For a year and a half Akain asked "May I see Dad after Mom"...he visited his mom every other weekend and needed reassurance that he would see his dad. He asked, "May I see" and the response was 'No' followed by ADULT laughter.

What facts are needed here? This is child abuse. What facts are needed when an ADULT is heard calling a child a Bastard?

Yes, I understand that in many school systems students abuse teachers...does that make what these adults did to a special needs student acceptable? Even things out for you? If so, and IF you're really a teacher, I would suggest you find another job...one that doesn't involve shaping the lives of children.

"no longer work in the district." See what happens when you read the article?

I see Lilly's point.

"no longer work in the district" does not mean the same as no longer working in another school. NJ has an extremely powerful teachers union and this wouldn't be the first case where someone is removed from one school district and somehow winds up working a few towns over.

"No longer work in the district" doesn't mean they weren't transferred to another.

Acccording to dad´s website, one aide was fired, but the teacher and other aide were moved to another school. (You can folow Taylor´s link above)

"No longer work in the district" struck me as very similar to the Cactholic Church's very responsible handling of abusive priests... just quietly move them to another district to continue their behavior. And move them again and again until they retire. I am no longer a Catholic and no longer in school. But it still makes me IRATE!

At least here is California, you cannot simply "move" to another district; you have to apply, be interviewed, checked out, etc.

charley - "No longer works in the district" doesn't clarify anything. "No longer working with children" would be more suitable for the type of behavior documented in the recordings.

Either way, these individuals are about the lowest forms of life. They could truly use something called empathy.

I don't know where "no longer working in the district" came up, but on Mr. Chaifetz's website it said 1 aide fired, the others transferred to other schools. Sounds like they were not even kicked out of the district. I agree that criminal charges should be filed in this case. It is assault when an adult speaks to a child that way, special needs or not. Yes many unions over-protect their members, anyone NOT in a union can see this, it seems that most union employees cannot.

Scott, on the Cherry Hill school district's website, it says that the teacher(s) in question no longer work in the district.

Please tell Stuart that he has my highest admiration.

I wish all parents would take the time to visit my room regardless of how their child is doing. All classrooms should have an open door policy and parents should always feel comfortable coming in to see what their child is doing.

I can't imagine anyone who has decided to work with a special needs child being so cruel.

I agree with Maritza, I would be honored to meet this man and shake his hand for being such a wonderful person. I have a friend that has a teenage boy who is mentally handicapped. I couldn't imagine seeing human being acting like that to a child like this. This makes me furious.... absolutely furious!!!!! My God.

I wish I had done this when my daughters 6th grade teacher was publicly humiliating her and acreaming at her when other kids were not in the room. As it was the school counselor and the principal asked what my daughter had done to provoke the behavior. My daughter has ADD the kind that makes a child spacey, not hyper. They protected the teacher and we moved. I went to the school often and called meetings and told them I thought they were despicable and the abuse stopped but the damage to my daughter still exists. Without actual proof of the bullying there isn't much you can do. I wish I had thought of wiring my daughter, and gotten that hag fired.

In all fairness, administrators cannot be walking into classrooms all day long.

They have a ton of paperwork and meetings. Running a school is very difficult. No I am not an administrator.

Especially in a special education classroom, where many of the students have attention deficit issues either as their main diagnosis or as a consequence/symptom of their larger issue, an administrator coming in and out of the room would destroy the learning environment totally. Yes there should be better monitoring of teacher conduct so that situations like these come to light without a parent having to go through the process of "busting" the teachers, but some thought needs to be put in to how you combine oversight with an effective learning environment.

Making excuses for teacher's unions is pretty pathetic, voiceontheleft. An "effective learning environment" is hardly a priority of the AEA. The US spends more per student than any other country in the world by nearly double, yet we get substandard results and occasionally, as in this case, truly toxic environments for our kids. It is clearly and unmistakeably time for us taxpayers to get rid of public sector unions, starting with the public teacher's unions, once and for all. Our kids are counting on us.

Sheikh - You speak in ignorance. It is not the teachers unions but idiotic, perpetual testing requirements (e.g., No Child Left Behind), excessive administrative demands on teachers, overcrowded classrooms with kids ranging in IQ from 70 to 170 and special needs kids that are being "mainstreamed" and require special attention, parents who all want "individual attention" for their precious little offspring. Add to that dilapidated buildings/classrooms in some areas--I challenge you to teach under those circumstances and get results.

I'm not sure about disbanding the union but I will second Sheikh with the comment about the money. For the amount spent, we shouldn't have the crowded rooms, run down schools, etc. I'm in CA and we're spending more than 10K per student. In my son's elementary school room of 30, this is about $300k. Let's say the teacher gets $100k, $50k for bldg maintenance and utilities and $100k for support staff. These are liberal estimates and remember there are about 25 other classrooms. Where's the other $50k per room going?

I don't know that it's the unions, the school board, the state, or whomever else but that's a lot of money out there. I would think that it's more a matter of poor fiscal management. For the amount we're spending, we should have world class schools and world class results but we don't.

Back to topic of article...both heartbreaking and satisfying. Hate to see anything happen to children but enjoy when those that were in the wrong get their comeuppance. Great job, dad!

What constitutes an effective learning environment voiceontheleft? Test scores? Comparability with other countries? Learning outcomes?

Our education system is getting a big fat F in all those categories, so what does that leave? Oh yeah, good citizens who are happy with the status quo and unquestioning corporate robots.

We are teaching our children 3 things

1. An attention span of ten minutes (look into your grade schools and ask your kids teacher about 'centers')

2. No accountability (the digital age has allowed plagerism to reach new levels, at least when it was pen to paper, you had to at least intreract with the copying and in the process learned something whereas nowadays copy and paste is just a few short clicks. not to mention the 'rights' a student has been given without any responsibility, ie i can cheat and get away with it)

3. Handouts (it is completely OK for students to waste their supplies and then asking the school to provide more)

As far as oversight by administartion, they are more concerned about how many students thay have in chairs then any type of learning environment, since school districts get funding based upon the number of students that are in their schools.

Eliminate compulsive attendence. When students/parents understand that education is a priveledge to be used to better an individual and not a handout/scapegoat to be blamed when life doesn't go your way

100k for the teacher? Try 35-45k, unless California is way out of the norm.

I want the teachers names!!! Anyone have that information? These people should not resurface in any school system. These "Teachers" lower then scum.

I will gladly teacher 30 kids for $100K where do i Sign up....that would be a $60k raise!!!!

K-12 teachers with years under their belt in CA make about $60-70k on average. I chose $100k to include that and all benefits. Again, just an estimate. Assuming that the teacher cost is $50k and the numbers get worse. I chose the high numbers to show that even with a really generous estimate, there is a ton of money unaccounted for.

explorer...California has the highest paid teachers in the nation, with the second most underperforming students. Go figure.

My comments about pay were only to illustrate that even assuming a high rate of pay, outrageous administrator salaries and exorbinant maintenance costs, there are still funds that are unaccounted for. I'm not saying teachers don't necessarily earn their money nor was I on some rant about public employee unions. My sole point was that we have so much money floating around that in my opinion the lack of money isn't the problem. It's the management of the money that doesn't square with me.

Looking into it further, in OC, CA, the average teacher salary is closer to $80k per year. For more reading on that and the declines in pay, you can read the local paper's analysis at

www dot ocregister dot com/articles/school-339746-year-pay.html

Does anyone really think these people will act like this when an administrator "drops in." Once they were told though, I don't understand why they aren't required to investigate this as a crime. Wreckless endangerment perhaps? What if this child went into a rage and threw a toy and hit another kid and hurt them? They need to be prosecuted. I can assure you if I sat on that jury they would be getting the maximum sentence allowed and no union in the world can stop that. I can fully understand a union taking up for its workers but I can't imagine any teacher's union is going to stand for behaviour like this.

Looking into it further, in OC, CA, the average teacher salary is closer to $80k per year

Before someone latches onto that and says "SEE?!! They make 80 grand a year! That's OUTRAGEOUS!!!" ... One should bear in mind what the cost of living is like in OC, CA. For example, In Kansas City, a person making 15 bucks an hour is barely able to keep their head above water, but if a person is making 15 bucks an hour just 70 miles down the highway in Sedalia Mo, they are sh!ttin' in high cotton. So, a teacher in the OC CA may make that lofty $80,000.00 a year, but what is the average rent/mortage, gas prices, grocery prices, etc around there? It might paint a completely different picture if you add in those figures.

Just a little important aspect that people tend to ignore or leave out either by intent of agenda or ignorance.

My cousin is a Special Ed teacher in NJ with about eight years in. she's make at best 50K with some additional for taking on overtime assignments. 100K???? That's a dream.

To teach SE it's not enough as the strain would be excessive. A parent dealing with one child is tough. Dealing with ten or more? I'll pass. Apparently, not everyone is cut out for that job as witnessed by this.

As far as a transfer, No way. You don't simply walk into another town. The union doesn't exist outside of your own school system and pulls zero weigh in another town.

WarBeast, as an OC native I can tell you that the cost of living here is very, very high even with somewhat depressed housing prices. I didn't leave out due to intent or ignorance. Just showing that teacher's can make more than what some think.

My post isn't so much about teacher pay though as it is about all the other money that doesn't go to teachers. Where does it go?

In defense of school administrators, I just collapsed on the couch about 30 minutes ago after a 12 hour day. That's a pretty typical work day for me. I get paid $65,000 a year, plus benefits. So much for overpaid.

As for putting people who can't teach in the front office, it's simply a stupid notion. To effectively run a school, you have to understand how to run classrooms effectively, and you need a good rapport with students and parents. Of course, not all great teachers make great administrators.

And yes, these teachers should be gone. I have a physically aggressive child (same age as this boy) in my school who has punched, hit, kicked, bitten, and attempted to stab both staff and other students. You stay calm, you get support from where you can, and you keep working toward a plan that keeps people safe and educates the kids. It sounds to me like the administrators in the district acted quickly when they realized the magnitude of the problem.

To sailoreric above....first you need to know how to write a sentence.

This kind of thing is unfortunately happening all over the country. Teachers of Autistic children need very specialized training. Often, perhaps due to district budgeting issues these children are just thrown into the special education "stew" and paired with children with other disibilities that have nothing in common with autism. Autism is in a class all it's own. If a teacher is not trained or prepared or "set up" (i.e. structured) for typical austic behaviors then yes....ONE autistic child can be overwhelming!

There ARE good classrooms in this country though that specialize in autistic children. These teachers know techniques that work with these kids like Applied Behavioral Analysis and non-verbal communication systems like P.E.C.S. (picture exchange communication system). This stuff seems very effective with non-verbal autistic kids.

It is a shame that this child got placed in the wrong classroom with people who had no idea how to work with him. I blame it on the district for not having an autism program in place!

Mike his classroom was an autism specific class with 10 boys with autism in it. This child was placed with the wrong teacher not the wrong classroom.

Third Wheel Man

It was never my intent to imply that you were leaving that information out for either reasons, and I apologize if I came off as saying as much. I understood your point, but I felt it necessary to add that notion about cost of living BEFORE someone else latched onto that 80 grand figure and used it to make a less than factual point. Again, I apologize if my post came of as judgmental of your own post. It wasn't my intention at all.

Cheers!

Administrators notify the credentialing office and their credentials are suspended. They shouldn't be able to get a job.

150 years ago they would have probably failed to recognize the problems that Akian suffers from and would have whipped him, or forced the parent to remove Akian from school.

Unfortunately there where laws that protected animals before there were laws that protected children against child abuse. The Children's Bureau wasn't established till early 1900's. And laws weren't passed till the mid 1960's through out every state. It's very sad when you have a "authority figure" such as a teacher torturing children because of their differences. My husband had a stroke and he was coughing due to scar tissue after having a trach in his throat for almost a year. Some of the employees that worked at the store we were shopping at that day made comments like " Who is that cough" and "get me some Lysol". I was so angry, and complained that caused one specific 50+ year old woman lose her job. It just shows that people with differences are actually the normal ones in this world. Because they look at you for who you are not what you are, god bless this father for taking a stand. I just wish the names of these witches could be posted all over their town and joining counties and label them at child abusers.

150 years ago the boy would have never seen the inside of a school.

He has a loving father who will take care of him until he could take care of himself, which is the point of self contained special ed. Lifeskills

Eliminate Compulsive Attendence

Akian would have never seen the inside of a school. There were a lot of children who could have been taught, but who weren't because the teacher or the principal, or someone said that the kid was an idiot and shouldn't go to school. Heck, there was a whole number of people in the states in the south that said that black kids shouldn't go to school, or learn how to read, and who didn't even bother sending their own kids to school, lest their own kids get "uppity."

Teachers as bullies were very common back 150 years ago--see "To Kill a Mockingbird," for one. Teachers being beaten up by bullies (while the parents and school board did nothing) were not uncommon. The fact based children's books "Farmer Boy" and "Strawberry Girl" both have teachers getting beaten to a pulp. In the first book, Wilder's Dad teaches the latest teacher (the previous one died from his beating) how to use a bull whip to defend himself against the bullies.

Theoretically, we have a world that evolves. Until very recently, and I understand that in some states it still is the law, corporal punishment of students was the norm. Until television was invented, we were moving away from violence as the solution to all problems, and becoming a world that attempted to solve its' problems peacefully. However, for reasons that mostly involve profit, ratings, and a general coarsening of discourse on every level, television, moveies, video games and even popular music has become more and more violent and about instant gratification since the days of it's inception. We are again descending into a magical thinking that says that people can be beaten into good behavior. We have lost our way as a nation in so many ways over the past 20-30 years, and a big one is the goal of our educational system. At one time we attempted to graduate well-rounded adults who knew something about the world, but more importantly, knew HOW TO LEARN. Today---and this is a conscious choice on the part of the powers-that-be who want a nation of sheep that will obey authority and keep their heads down---we no longer teach children to think, nor do we teach them to learn. We teach them how to pass tests, and we teach them how to be good little soldiers. All the posts above about the dangers of no longer truly educating, but only Teaching to the Test, are absolutely correct.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned much in posts that was the whole point of the story is the importance of a parent getting involved in his child's education. I agree with what this parent did, and I hope he is an encouragement to other parents. So many children come from homes where, for many reasons, the parents simply don't get engaged in their kids' education. They just push it all off on the teacher and expect him or her to perform miracles. A big part of this is what it takes for working people in this country to simply survive. Even the best of us spend so much time working that we don't have the time or energy to get involved in our kids' school.

They can fire them. The union will not protect a teacher that behaves like this. I am part of the union and have seen teachers fired.

I think the market for "wires" for kids will greatly expand after reading this article........

The tapes should then become evidence in both directions.

They have to have a hearing prior to termination.

Zapper , no kid who has autism was labeled with the R word unless they have that condition in addition to autism.

In addition use of the R word is extremely offensive and is no longer used today.

The only time I hear anyone mentioning the r-word is when it is directed at an idea or an object, not a person. "That idea is retarded." I don't see anything wrong with that. Aimed at a person? That's a problem.

Retarded is now a commonly offensive word that is used in our schools by teachers and students alike. Teachers don't like to be called out on it, and students are given a pass "because they don't know any better." Believe me, we've butted heads over this one for a while. It's not acceptable. Not too many years ago, it was a word that defined those who were mentally disabled (and I'm not sure that's the right term today, either). However, it is now used to be hurtful and offensive, not as a definition of someone's handicap or limitations. The word has been corrupted to mean stupid or jerk or any other offensive term. I'm sorry if I gave a wrong impression on my statement.

It's very sad when we must deal with those who have so little self esteem that the only they can build themselves up is to tear someone else down, even if it is someone who is physically and or mentally challenged.

sorry--left out a word--too late to catch--

It's very sad when we must deal with those who have so little self esteem that the only *way* they can build themselves up is to tear someone else down, even if it is someone who is physically and/or mentally challenged.

Words change. Can't stop it. Look of the history of the word 'courage'. When it first came out, it meant 'coward.'

Checkmate, the R word is offensive. to the disabled community it is on par with the N word. Don't use it.

As someone with a mental disability, I do not find the word "retarded" offensive.

Checkmate, the R word is offensive. to the disabled community it is on par with the N word. Don't use it.

Sorry, but I do and I will. I would never use it to refer to anyone who could be REMOTELY suspected of having an actual mental disability, but I'm not abandoning perfectly good English words because somebody gets their knickers in a twist.

Agreed, Jack. There is nothing wrong with the word. I would never use the term 'mentally retarded'; I would use 'mentally handicapped' if describing a person.

Many words can be used in a hurtful or degrading manner. Calling someone a "retard" is hurtful and humiliating. It insinuates, in this usage, that the person is stupid and unworthy to exist. The bullying person is saying it to be hurtful. To say that a very short person's growth is retarded, using the word in context, is not intended or used as an insult. Spraying a defoliant to retard the growth of weeds, again is using the word in a proper context.

The teachers and aides in this article were using their power and authority over a child, with enough challenges in life that he'll never need another, to hurt and intimidate. That should be a shame to follow them all the days of their lives.

Its very true and very real, in high school an algebra teacher called a fellow classmate a "retard" cause she didnt understand or get the answer right. Who the hell did he think he was? I wish I had the nerve to stand up and ask him why he was such a poor excuse for a man? I say put cameras in every classroom. I had an abusive teacher that had so many complaints that the principal sat in on the class, boy was she so sweet as pie. Do these ppl have any self respect? I guess they feel entitled because they were educated. Educated Idiots making lots of money and demanding more, but if a child needs some extra attention, they cry like babies. Do your damn job or get another profession. Do tax payers want to pay more for you to do less? Try doing more and stop telling us how hard your job is. Most of us work harder then you. We expect more then a babysitter. Teach!

Calling someone retard or retarded = very bad

I do not find it offensive to use the word retarded to describe a situation.

Agree and if they are parents themselves, CPS should take them away

No man stands taller than when he stoops to help a child. God bless you and the memory of Cookie.

the teachers didn't cause Akian's autism they just used it to bully and abuse him.

TamaraLH: autism and learning difficulties aren't caused by bullying or ignorant teachers. Nor are they 'emotionally unstable train wrecks'. A little reading about the subject might be a good idea.

You don't use autism to bully people. Autism is a target for bullies and sociopaths.

These women bully autistic kids that have no way to defend, or understand what is happening to them. Their life loses meaning and their existance is scarred with confusion and frustration.

Too many people think only about themselves today. These women are the perfect example. Sociopathic in behavior, angry with their lives, without reason or accountability. They are the scourge of ignorance in society today.

Without social responsibility, society becomes uncivilized.

There has been a definite increase in the prevelance of autism spectrum disorder and learning disabilities over the past several years. This Is due to several factors, including improved diagnostic measures and increased environmental toxins. Contrary to the common misconception, neither one is caused by teachers or teaching practices, although these same people may play a positive or detrimental role in the development of children with these diagnoses. And, YES! Abuse does result in emotional instability in many individuals, especially those with challenges in the areas of expressive language and social functionalilty.

Teachers (and all adults, for that matter) who abuse children by any means, including verbally, are not idiots to be ignored by society; they are criminals who should be prosecuted for abuse.

I congratulate mr. Chaifetz on the extraordinary sensitivity upon which he acted, as well as demonstrated by "wiring" his son to find out the truth. I appreciate the cleverness of not throwing accusations before securing evidence. Thank you for making the recordings publicly accessible, as it raises awareness to the injustice being perpetrated on innocent children by the very adults to whom their development is entrusted. You are an outstanding example of what every parent should be.

This is my perspective as a special education teacher

There is no amount of excuse... long days, full classrooms, stress.... whatever... that justifies cruel behavior to the children that one is supposed by be protecting. I'm tired of hearing "I work long hard days" as being an excuse for a reason to lash out. Sorry, but those of us that work those long days should be grateful for them.

This audio is from just one day... what has been going on each day of this child's school days? In a system where teachers are being paid to care for these kids... It's scary, disheartening and sickening.

I applaud Mr. Chaves for having the guts to put this out for the sake of his son.

Let's turn this around and give it a "retail" spin... when people can sue for coffee being too hot.. this would be seen in an entirely different light. In those cases, it's "customer rights". How would this spin out???

Obviously.. each child SHOULD be seen as more than a customer... they should be seen as a responsibility.. But in fact, they ARE the customer... that teacher is being paid to provide a service to the customer... that customer is that child. That may be a cold way to look at it. But again... let's put that spin on it...

In any other business in the US, if the provider treated a customer in those unbelievable deplorable methods, they'd be out the door, no questions asked.

I sofa king we tall ed.