Dallas Observer by Eric Nicholson
We learned a little bit more yesterday about Jeff Bliss, the Duncanville High School student whose blistering classroom rant against uninspired teachers seems to have struck a nerve. He’s 18, but he’s only a high school sophomore, having dropped out of school for a year. He’s new to, and not yet very good at, Twitter. His mom is proud.
We also learned something about Duncanville ISD, which has dealt with the situation in a surprisingly measured way. They initially released a statement reading, “We want our students and teachers to be engaged, but the method by which the student expressed his concern could have been handled in a more appropriate way.”
Superintendent Alfred Ray reiterated that sentiment in an interview with Fox 4.
“I would tell you that the conversation that Mr. Bliss had is a conversation we love our students to have with their teachers,” he said. “I think the setting and the tone could have very well been different. I think that Mr. Bliss probably understands that himself, but I tell you that our core beliefs value all of the individuals in our district and we value the input Jeff has as we would for every student in our district.”
And they acted accordingly. The district opted not to punish Bliss. His teacher on the other hand has been placed on paid administrative leave while the district investigates the circumstances that led up to Bliss’ diatribe, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Both decisions seem designed to let the Internet’s attention quietly drift away. They also seem pretty reasonable.
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2013/05/jeff_bliss_the_duncanville_tee.php
Having watched this video a number of times, I wouldn’t call Mr Bliss’s delivery a “Blistering Classroom Rant”. I thought he was very composed, clear, concise, matter of fact and just happened to hit “her” nerve, right on the head, by calling her methods as they are. Too bad she’s getting “paid” leave, but then again, I guess the district doesn’t want to get sued by the communist infiltrator.
Jeff Bliss should teach the class.
The teacher is a disempowered reflection of the failing Prussian education system whose sole purpose is to create loyal obedient plebes to maintain the status quo of society and is very much a mirror of the the mechanized industrial age that processes nature into material goods.
from wikipedia:
“The Prussian education system was a system of mandatory education dating to the early 19th century.
…
The Prussian system instituted compulsory attendance, specific training for teachers, national testing for all students (used to classify children for potential job training), national curriculum set for each grade and mandatory kindergarten.”
Mr. Bliss (interesting name) expresses the same frustration most of us have felt through at least some portion of the standardized schooling process, with certain teachers who seem to have become little more than prison guards and who drain us of a full life of rich experience and learning. I’d recommend looking into what John Taylor Gatto has to say about the purpose of schooling and education as well as Sir Ken Robinson.
The Purpose Of Schooling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeEWPbTad_Q
Education Is NOT the Same as Schooling
http://www.learnliberty.org/videos/education-not-same-schooling
AGAINST SCHOOL
http://www.cantrip.org/againstschool.html
There is so much out there, it is clear that this young man is expressing something much deeper to have touched so many with his words. I don’t wish to remove blame but unfortunately, the teacher is a product of this system as well.
I thought that kid was great. The pathetic disregard of this student BEGGING to be taught and then disregarded as if this “teacher” were in HER hood was disgusting. She is NOT a teacher, she is simply collecting her check.
Good for this kid…good for America.
My guess would be that if it have not gone viral that Jeff would have been punished for telling the truth,the teacher would have been found teacher of the year,and it would have been quietly swept under the rug.Great Job Jeff,especially for going BACK to school! Most schools are now government indoctrination centers to form minds of the youth into good little sheep or to be drugged into good little sheep.
I had the opportunity to thumb through a high school history text book a few years ago, and the memory still gives me the dry heaves. It was an incoherent collection of factoids with no background, nothing to make history the fascinating subject it is. That we don’t have thousands of Jeff Bliss confrontations every day says the students don’t know how badly they are being shortchanged. At least Mr. Bliss does.
The very fact that the manner of delivery made all the difference in the world. He took a stand and risked much, but it worked and yes many accomplishments come from going viral over the web. A good teacher’s chair should get dusty. When I taught third grade I had the students desks in small circles with mixture of the students that were gifted and/or smart mixed with some of the slower ones. I taught standing in the center of the room and would make use of the blackboard when needed. I had 42 students my first year and needed to devise ways of getting some help. In math those that were the first to finish were given the honor of helping the slower ones. They really liked that and felt it was an honor and the students being helped liked it too. I also gave free tutoring after school for anyone needing additional help.
A good teacher will find ways of stimulating his or her students, you never give a young student a subject for a composition ‘what I did on my summer vacation’ but rather tell me about the Bat Mobile please, what is it (Batman was very popular in the sixties too) I got a 100% return and some drew me a picture of it on the back of their paper. We were studying adjectives at the time and it was a good way for them to use them.
I can only imagine what a classroom today is like with the UN involved in the education process but I believe it is not the best and with disinterested teachers I am sure it needs fixing.
It would seem that americans of all ages are begining to wake up.I know this kids frustration as i had to deal with it with my kids.The school finally told me not to come back after many trips to complain about a substandard education my kids were getting.I found a better school and put them there even though i had to drive them myself.The kids were happier also.
Our school system is dumbed down to the point that everyone should be on an ‘equal level’, ensuring ‘diversity’ and ‘success’ for everyone. Our public school system has failed miserably since at least 1965.
jews print the school books
Because the teacher apparently told him to “Stop his bitching and leave,” I really feel she needs to be terminated. It’s not acceptable for students to use profanity, so she sets a terrible example. He was passionate enough to explain himself before leaving the class and she continues throughout the video to tell him to “just leave.” I wonder if this is what plays out in classrooms all across America? Students made to feel less than what they can be? No wonder the whole system is so dysfunctional. What a joke.
Way cool. Love it!