One Morning, In a Wisconsin Classroom

[Odysseus]

Scene 1: INT, Day. A classroom in a high school in Madison, WI. The teacher is at her desk as the bell rings. The class is empty except for one student.


TEACHER
Uh, where is everyone?

STUDENT
They're out.

TEACHER
I can see that. Where are they?

STUDENT
I believe that they are sick.

TEACHER
Everyone? Do you expect me to believe that every student in this class is out sick at the same time?

STUDENT
Well, you expected us to believe that every teacher in the school was out sick at the same time.

TEACHER
Well, that was different!

STUDENT
What was different about it? Weren't you actually sick?

TEACHER
(Winks at student)
Sure I was.

STUDENT
Well, so are they.

TEACHER
I'll expect to see doctors' notes.

STUDENT
(Reaches into bag and pulls out a stack of paper)
No problem.

TEACHER
(Reading through stack)
But, these are all the same! They're signed by the same doctor and they all say that the "patient" has a 24-hour bug. Who is this doctor, anyway?

STUDENT
Beats me. But here's a picture of him from the news. Is that you standing next to him?

TEACHER
Uh, yeah. Where'd you get this?

STUDENT
It's a YouTube screen capture. It was taken last week, when you were out "sick." Come to think of it, isn't he the same doctor who signed your sick note?

TEACHER
Uh... yeah, but...

STUDENT
So, he's obviously a real doctor, right? I mean, you wouldn't bring in a fraudulent note, would you?

TEACHER
No!

STUDENT
Then those are just as legitimate as your note.

TEACHER
Uh, ... (Angry) Don't put this back on me! I want to know where my class is.

STUDENT
They're the same place that they were last week, when you were out "sick".

TEACHER
And where was that?

STUDENT
Don't you know? We're your students. Where were we when you took a couple of weeks off to protest?

TEACHER
How should I know?

STUDENT
Isn't it your job to know where we were during school hours?

TEACHER
What I was doing was important!

STUDENT
More important than being here and teaching?

TEACHER
Yes!

STUDENT
Well then, who's to say that what they're doing isn't more important than being here? After all, if you're paid to be here, and can't be bothered, why should they show up?

TEACHER
I was fighting for my rights!

STUDENT
What rights are those?

TEACHER
The right to collective bargaining.

STUDENT
For what?

TEACHER
What do you mean, for what?

STUDENT
What are you bargaining for?

TEACHER
Well, everything. My contract. Our pay, our benefits, our pensions...

STUDENT
And what do you do for that pay, benefits and pensions?

TEACHER
I teach school.

STUDENT
You mean, like you did last week?

TEACHER
No! I was out last week and you know it!

STUDENT
So, your right to dictate how much you get paid is more important than our right to learn?

TEACHER
I didn't say that!

STUDENT
You didn't have to.

TEACHER
I expect everyone to be back in this classroom tomorrow morning, or there'll be big trouble!

STUDENT
Oh? How does that work? Aren't our sick notes in order? What are you going to do?

TEACHER
I'll mark you all absent!

STUDENT
Okay. Then we'll take our sick notes to the principal and you can explain to him why the doctor who signed your note as well as ours is a liar.

TEACHER
(Sputtering)
But that's different!

STUDENT
Why?

TEACHER
Because I was... I mean, it... Because I was out because of my job.

STUDENT
Really? You're a professional picketer?

TEACHER
No! I'm a teacher!

STUDENT
And what lesson were you teaching us last week?

CLOSE on TEACHER and fade to black...

[Apache]

Nice...:D

[Articulate_Ape]

Awesome!

[Odysseus]

Thanks.

I have to admit that the sight of teachers getting fake doctors' notes so that they could play hookie carried a certain irony for me. What lesson do they think the kids will take away from this? That it's okay to blatantly lie for your convenience?

[fettpett]

I thought it was brilliant :D I sure has hell hope that this happens somewhere

[enslaved1]

I thought it was brilliant :D I sure has hell hope that this happens somewhere

Are any of the students these teachers have actually learning the logic skills it would take to come up with this entertaining and enlightening action?

I think the bit is hilarious, and would love to see it actually produced and blasted across the airwaves/interwebs. I've also survived public education, have a mother who retired from teaching this year, and a wife who is a special ed teacher, as well as two kids presently in public school with one ED child who is in an online school now after being further screwed up by several years in the system. Between all of those, I have become very familiar with much of what is wrong in the public system, and that complete lack of teaching logic skills is a major part of that.

[Odysseus]

Are any of the students these teachers have actually learning the logic skills it would take to come up with this entertaining and enlightening action?

I think the bit is hilarious, and would love to see it actually produced and blasted across the airwaves/interwebs. I've also survived public education, have a mother who retired from teaching this year, and a wife who is a special ed teacher, as well as two kids presently in public school with one ED child who is in an online school now after being further screwed up by several years in the system. Between all of those, I have become very familiar with much of what is wrong in the public system, and that complete lack of teaching logic skills is a major part of that.

I'm sure that there are a few. But it only takes one.

[fettpett]

Yep, One wrote this letter today, Vicki Mckenna posted it on her facebook page


Senior at Madison Memorial High School

Dear Mr. Dahmen, Dr. Nerad:


I would like to inform you on behalf of many students whom I have communicated with to say, We are concerned with the many days which the teachers have not been in school and the students have been restricted from attending school.

I am fully aware how the teachers feel but, what about the STUDENTS?

It is not fair to us the we might have to make up lost instructional days. Us students did not have a CHOICE on whether or not we could attend school this past week?

How is it our FAULT that we were not in school for four days?

Students should not have to make up school because the majority of teachers REFUSED to show up and do their JOB. I feel like the teachers have been SELFISH and have not taken into consideration how the students FEEL.

I know that I do not want or see why I have to make up any missed school time on behalf of the teachers and I do not plan to. I was ready to attend school but the teachers chose not to be present and you decided to not open up our school.

Thank you for taking the time to read my words, You should take into consideration about how we are affected and how we feel about making up school.

Thank You,



***** ****

P.S. I decided to write this because the students were shut out of school again on Monday February 21, 2011. I am in school to be taught not talked to regarding what teachers have done. I know what they and you have done, you have kept me and other students from attending school.

Any excuse will be valid just like theirs, RIGHT?

[NJCardFan]

Thanks.

I have to admit that the sight of teachers getting fake doctors' notes so that they could play hookie carried a certain irony for me. What lesson do they think the kids will take away from this? That it's okay to blatantly lie for your convenience?

Teachers are liberals and to liberals, lying is a food group.

[AmPat]

What these "teachers" are doing is called malingering in the army.

I am separating a Soldier for this very thing. He decides to abuse the sick call medical procedure whenever he wants to avoid work. The doctors usually give him a quarters restriction. I send all his referrals now to one doctor to verify his numerous maladies.

He is within a month of having all the time he needs away from work.:cool:

[Odysseus]

Teachers are liberals and to liberals, lying is a food group.
Exactly. It's not just that they are lying about being sick, it's that they are blatantly thumbing their noses at the people who pay them by taking fake sick slips on national television.

What these "teachers" are doing is called malingering in the army.

I am separating a Soldier for this very thing. He decides to abuse the sick call medical procedure whenever he wants to avoid work. The doctors usually give him a quarters restriction. I send all his referrals now to one doctor to verify his numerous maladies.

He is within a month of having all the time he needs away from work.:cool:

Agreed. And those who are stupid enough to do it in front of TV cameras should be fired as an example to the others. Plus, the governor ought to have the medical licensing board review the sick notes and identify the doctors who are attempting to defraud the public. BTW, those teachers have union health plans. Are the doctors charging for those notes? If so, they are guilty of fraud.

[enslaved1]

I put this up on Facebook, and got into a big argument with my wife over how the teachers need the collective bargaining because they are getting screwed in the paycheck department. She pulled up salary figures for WI that listed some teachers getting less than $20K a year, also recalling similar figures from when we were looking at moving where ever she could get a teaching job. I countered that the unions weren't helping those poor souls out, and that it wasn't salary that was busting the budget, but the retirement and healthcare packages. Further stirring the pot, I tweeted this (http://cnsnews.com/news/article/two-thirds-wisconsin-public-school-8th-g), which she countered with finding different tests that said students were reading just fine. An entertaining evening in the house, and a fine example of why I usually vent about politics here :D

[fettpett]

I put this up on Facebook, and got into a big argument with my wife over how the teachers need the collective bargaining because they are getting screwed in the paycheck department. She pulled up salary figures for WI that listed some teachers getting less than $20K a year, also recalling similar figures from when we were looking at moving where ever she could get a teaching job. I countered that the unions weren't helping those poor souls out, and that it wasn't salary that was busting the budget, but the retirement and healthcare packages. Further stirring the pot, I tweeted this (http://cnsnews.com/news/article/two-thirds-wisconsin-public-school-8th-g), which she countered with finding different tests that said students were reading just fine. An entertaining evening in the house, and a fine example of why I usually vent about politics here :D

yep, and thats why the Packers gave $5,000 to a school in GB for a reading mentoring and tutoring program because students are THREE YEARS behind

[Odysseus]

I put this up on Facebook, and got into a big argument with my wife over how the teachers need the collective bargaining because they are getting screwed in the paycheck department. She pulled up salary figures for WI that listed some teachers getting less than $20K a year, also recalling similar figures from when we were looking at moving where ever she could get a teaching job. I countered that the unions weren't helping those poor souls out, and that it wasn't salary that was busting the budget, but the retirement and healthcare packages. Further stirring the pot, I tweeted this (http://cnsnews.com/news/article/two-thirds-wisconsin-public-school-8th-g), which she countered with finding different tests that said students were reading just fine. An entertaining evening in the house, and a fine example of why I usually vent about politics here :D
Collective bargaining for public employee unions means that the negotiations are being conducted between elected officials (who are vulnerable to the pressures of union political activities) and the unions. The only people not represented are the actual people who pay the salaries and benefits of the union employees: The taxpayers. A public employee union that uses mandatory dues in order to manipulate the political process is acting completely unethically. If any other type of corporation used its money to manipulate elections the way that unions do, they'd be crucified in the media (another group of corporations that are somehow "purer" than the taxpayers).

yep, and thats why the Packers gave $5,000 to a school in GB for a reading mentoring and tutoring program because students are THREE YEARS behind
Any private sector industry that had the record of the public schools would have been out of business decades ago.