There has been a school shooting in Littleton, Colorado. Again. This new event has taken place just blocks from Columbine High School.
At Columbine, a brave teacher gave his life to save students. Now another teacher saved students by tackling a gunman.
Two weeks ago, the Orange County, California, Department of Education sent a trainer to my school's faculty meeting. The subject? How teachers can be on the look-out for students preparing to commit acts of violence.
Links are below and if folks can post more information links, all the better. I have to go do my job.
http://www.ocde.k12.ca.us/...
Somebody is scared enough of what may be coming that all staffs are being trained.
http://news.yahoo.com/...
This has the story of the Littleton shooting. There are videos available there but, due to on-line school security, I cannot embed them.
http://news.yahoo.com/...
I note that this was also in the news: the faculty of a high school was fired because the students were underperforming. The whole faculty, which assumes that not even one teacher was effective. Secretary of Education Duncan applauded the decision.
The talk at my school yesterday was about how many teachers will receive RIF notices by March 15, which is the cut-off date. If school districts can't guarentee a teacher a job for the next school year, the district must inform the teacher by that date. It happens every year. Thousands statewide in California are set adrift. The young and the new are the first cut. On the other hand, "new" is a relative term. Last year's cuts went as deep as teachers with seven years of experience, including the District's intermediate school Teacher of the Year.
What's my point? It's time for society to take a good, hard look at what the job "teacher" is.