Woman Is Fired From Christian School For Having Premarital Sex With Her Husband

[filkertom]

'Cause she's a fornicator. I'm not kidding. Newlywed Jarretta Hamilton, an elementary school teacher in her late 30s at Southland Christian School in Florida, went to her supervisors last year to be congratulated on her pregnancy and request maternity leave. But things took an unexpected turn when administrators asked just when, exactly, did

Comments

[tigertoy]

In the America I grew up believing in, which to my sorrow I increasingly understand never existed and certainly doesn't today, public schools existed to make sure the next generation was ready to participate in the democratic process so that that America could continue. They had two imperatives: to make sure that everyone grew up with enough of a common experience that they identified as being the same society, and to teach them to actually *think* for themselves, specifically about the decisions of who they'd vote for. Religious schools actively work against both of those imperatives: they divide people, and they actively teach people to just do what they're told rather than to think about why they do it.

In point of fact, teaching kids to recognize what really happens in the world around them and make mostly good decisions for themselves is really hard. Most of our schools are doing a lousy job of it. But I still believe that it's better to start out trying to do the right thing, even when you're corrupt and incompetent, is better than starting out trying to do the wrong thing. (That's why I generally prefer Democrats to Republicans.) And it also doesn't follow that just because the schools are bad, children or society would be better off without them. First, most parents would not be able to do even as good a job of educating their kids as their failing schools (not least because they don't even know the things their kids are supposed to learn themselves). Second, and more fundamentally, even if every kid had a parent who had the ability, inclination, and economic freedom to home school them, such families would be dangerously isolated from each other.

Far too much to say to fit into comments. We should get together and talk.

Next they'll have lions in Wrigley Field.

The Lions at Wrigley Field? Don't be silly. Wrigley wouldn't work as a football stadium. *g,d,r*

[tcgtrf]

You going to be at Duck? I'll be free to wave my arms around and holler other than during the day on Saturday.

After seeing Khan University in action--proving to me that one individual, properly motivated, can do more than ten thousand overpaid teachers--I've come to the conclusion that the Prussian educational model that we fell prey to in the 1840s is not only obsolete, but dangerous for the 21st Century.

Even WBBM is now agreeing with me that attending *college* is no longer a profitable game plan.

We'll talk.

Tom T

[tigertoy]

I'll be at Duck but I won't have a lot of time available.

Our educational system today is a disaster, and a lot of its foundations are questionable. But we need a solution for our society, not just for the most assertive, dedicated, competent parents. Allowing the better parents to opt out appears better for their kids in the short run, but in the long run means we're all screwed.

Teachers are not overpaid. It's the most important job in society, and the ones who manage to do a good job in spite of all the roadblocks thrown in their way utterly deserve to swap salaries with professional sports players and top business executives. A lot of teachers are terrible and shouldn't be teaching. You might argue that those teachers are "overpaid" if they get paid $1 a year. But by and large, they aren't the ones who leave teaching because they aren't happy with their pay. They're in teaching because the best people don't go into teaching in the first place, because other career paths are more important, *as measured by the salaries they command*.

[erinwrites]

They're in teaching because the best people don't go into teaching in the first place, because other career paths are more important, *as measured by the salaries they command*.

I submit that there are those among us who went into teaching because we *wanted* to, knowing full well we could make more money doing something else.