What's Wrong With This Picture?

April 1, 2008 by dave

There were two articles today that caught my attention. They were both about recent incidents that happened at schools.

First, we have this Tampa Tribune story about a child who had her crutches taken away by the school nurse.

The girl initially hurt her knee while kicking a ball Feb. 3, her mother said. The injury seemed minor until the next day, when Amber complained to McKee about the pain. Elalem said when she picked Amber up from school, she spoke to McKee about taking Amber to Tampa General Hospital, where Elalem works as a registered nurse.

Amber was diagnosed with a strained ligament; the teenager's knee was placed in a brace called an immobilizer, and she received crutches, with instructions not to put weight on the knee, Elalem said.

On Feb. 6, when Amber returned to school, McKee phoned Patricia Elalem asking for a doctor's note for the crutches, Elalem said. Elalem said she didn't know the note was required but phoned the hospital to have a doctor fax a note to the school.

The school fax machine wasn't working, so McKee never received the note, Parnell said.

That morning, McKee took away Amber's crutches, Parnell said.

"She didn't give her access to the elevator. So Amber was forced to walk up and down the stairs until about 1:30 p.m., when she couldn't take the pain anymore," he said.

Elalem said her daughter called her, saying, "I can't walk. Come and get me."

On the way home, Amber said, "You know, the nurse took my crutches this morning and made me walk all day," Elalem recalled.

"I got home, took her immobilizer off, and her kneecap was on the side of her leg," Elalem said.

Amber tried physical therapy for a few days but needed knee surgery, her mother said. She had a reaction to the pain medication and was admitted to the hospital for three days. She now is taking medication and watching her diet because she has developed symptoms of an ulcer, her mother said.

"It's been a nightmare. It hasn't stopped," she said.

Second, we have this Pasadena Star-News story about a substitute teacher who is in trouble for "physically and verbally abusing a student."

Schools officials are investigating an incident in which a substitute teacher allegedly reprimanded a student inappropriately, authorities said.

Police were called to South Pasadena Middle School Wednesday following a report that a teacher had assaulted a child, said Corporal Craig Cooper of the South Pasadena Police Department.

After investigating, police closed the case, determining no abuse had taken place, Cooper said.

The teacher "used the tip of her finger and patted (the student) on the forehead," Cooper said. "She was all, `Come on, you, you can do better than that."'

Schools officials, who also made a complaint to Los Angeles County child services representatives, are continuing to look into the case, South Pasadena Unified School District Superintendent Brian Bristol said.

"There was a substitute teacher that engaged in conduct that we consider to be physically and verbally assaultive," Bristol said, declining to confirm details about the alleged forehead-tapping.

The incident was reported by students to other teachers, who told school administrators.

The substitute teacher, who was set to teach another class, was removed from her classroom, Bristol said.

"She made a poor choice and we do not tolerate that. Such conduct is unacceptable," Bristol said of the teacher, adding that she will not be allowed to teach in the district again.

To me, these two stories are great examples of what's wrong with public education. In the first story, we have the school nurse who prevents a student from using crutches because her mother didn't satisfy the bureaucracy's requirement of a doctor's note. Of course the fact that the fax machine was broken and that the fax sent by the doctor was never received by the school just makes it worse. Why didn't the school nurse call the parent back and ask about the note? Not only did the nurse cause physical pain on that day, but by further damaging the student's knee, the pain continues.

What "normal" human being would have taken the crutches away? To me, this is a case of the bureaucracy-loving nurse making a completely illogical choice of maintaining the "rules" at the expense of a student's well-being. She should be fired.

In the second story, we have a substitute teacher patting a student on the head and telling them that they could "do better than that." All of the sudden the school district is calling the police alleging physical and emotional abuse and blackballing the substitute from ever teaching in the district, and probably anywhere else for that matter, ever again.

What "normal" human being would consider the pat on the head and encouraging words as abuse? To me, this is a case of the bureaucracy-loving administration making a completely illogical choice of maintaining the "rules" at the expense of a substitute teacher's well-being. The administrators involved should be fired.

When a bureaucracy grows to the point where common sense goes out the window, we have a huge problem. Maintaining and supporting the bureaucracy in many cases has become the point of public education instead of educating students. No wonder education reform is difficult. Common sense is no longer common in public schools. Instead we establish rules that are enforced for the rules' sake and despite the impact on the innocent students or teachers.

I think we can do better. Common sense needs to be restored at all levels of public education before real improvement is going to be possible.

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