I saw a shocking video this morning of a person who called herself a “teacher.” She was from California ( her name is Alissa Pirro) and was teaching over a Zoom call. The discussion going on was about new support groups for Black, Hispanic and Asian students. The student in the video had the nerve to ask this question: “Why isn’t there a White student union?” The teacher, who was a white female, lost it. She started screeching at the student about “white privilege” and “how dare he ask for that.”
The student mentioned talking to his parents and at some point said they would be coming to talk to her. This is a paraphrase of what she said: ” I know very little about anything else in the world but teaching, but if you parent wants to come talk to me about the job I am doing in distance learning and what I am not doing to educate you tell them to come at me. I am so sick to my stomach of parents trying to tell me how to do my job.” This while she was dressed like she had just crawled out of bed, was hungover, or did an all nighter.
I was so disgusted when I saw this. I followed up to see what has happened to Ms. Pirro. Apparently, the San Mateo District as “suspended” her pending investigation. They sent the typical message to parents, “we don’t support this kind of behavior and we were upset” as well as other placating nonsense. I’m sure the union will rush to her defense with some kind of excuse such as mental distress, pressure, emotional duress, etc. I think they might do better just saying she was drunk while on the call and will be going to rehab. I will be surprised if the system fires her.
But, here’s my real point. GET YOUR KIDS OUT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IF YOU CAN.
It’s not even the fact that she screamed such nonsense at this student. Yes, that was horrible but there is something more disturbing.
This young woman admitted that she knows “very little about anything.” That admission ought to scare the crap out of any parent. She is an alleged “English Teacher” which is so much more troubling to me since I was an English Teacher. And she admits her total lack of knowledge of anything except teaching.
There is more to teaching English than just writing and grammar. It’s about getting kids to read GREAT literature that has meaning, depth, importance. It is about knowing content and how to teach it. Imagine that you are the poor kid who has this person as his teacher. He is getting cheated every day. And, I’m sure that he has had other such teachers during his time in the school system. So, he has been cheated for many days, maybe years. Is it any wonder our kids are graduating without any real knowledge or ability to think critically?
The only thing he and others might be learning is racism, division, and political activism. Sad and frightening.
What is also sad is this woman has no heart for what she is doing. She obviously hates kids, hates her job, and hates her life. Teaching is an occupation you HAVE to have a passion for. You go into teaching because of wanting to work with kids, not despite the fact that you have to. Yet, more and more we are seeing teachers go into teaching without that passion. It’s clear she has no knowledge of teaching either. And I would “come at” her over that.
I worked with new teachers for a while as a consultant. Usually, there were those who knew content but had no strategies for teaching or vice versa. Rarely did I see anyone make it past the first month who had neither. If any teacher we had in our system EVER acted like this shrew, he/she would not have lasted a day. I can name only two teachers who were anywhere near as unhinged as this woman. One quit on his second day, leaving a note and nothing else. The other went out with a bang after telling the Superintendent of schools that she should, and I quote, “kick my ass.” He said that while pointing his ass in her direction. He was special.
When I graduated college in the 70’s, what we were taught about teaching was miniscule. But, we did know content. And, at the very least, we knew what we were teaching even if we didn’t know HOW to teach. We learned the teaching part from the best of our colleagues and yes, trial and error. One thing we certainly knew how to do was to treat people professionally.
Things have changed. I’m not sure why. Perhaps the colleges are so focused on “social justice” crap, they just gave up teaching their students how to be a professional educator.
Again, get your kids out of public schools. If you can, home teach. Some parents tell me they don’t think they have enough knowledge to teach the subjects. Yes, you do. For at least the first five to seven years, you can teach your child the content. What you don’t know you can learn or even find a friend or relative to teach. I taught several students who had been home taught previous to coming to me in high school. They were knowledgeable, self directed, hard working and respectful. Many of them went on to get college scholarships. And their parents were not experts in content.
There are so many online resources if you just search “homeschool programs” or “homeschool resources.” You can find programs that will cost you as little as $30 a month. I know parents who use these programs and are thrilled with them.
I can’t tell you how dire I think the education picture is in the United States. The fake Covid Pandemic measures have accelerate the slide toward “social justice” distortions and the implementation of Critical Race Theory. With students on Zoom calls for class, parents may be able to see what is going on with teachers, which is a plus. However, public officials, using Covid as an excuse, can hide what they are doing because most public meetings are only accessible via computers. This limits the amount of input parents and community members can give. It also allows school boards to avoid talking to constituents face to face. They ram things through with little or no input.
I don’t condemn all teachers. Every one that I know would agree that Allison Pirro needs to be fired immediately. They are good, dedicated people. Unfortunately, the administrations and the unions tie their hands.
You HAVE to get involved, one way or the other. Your children and this country are at stake.
*A personal note. My hairdresser, a young woman I absolutely admire and respect, is going to homeschool her children. We talk all the time about education. She has done this before, but is even more committed to it now. I applaud her dedication!!!
**Miss PIrro has since “apologized” for her loutish, abusive behavior. However, many other students have brought to light that this is not unusual behavior for her. She is obviously unbalanced mentally and should not be around children at all, much less be teaching them. The school district has not announced her ultimate fate.
See the story and the video here: https://nypost.com/2021/04/13/california-teacher-suspended-for-berating-students/
