Update on child-abusing Obama teacher: Superintendent responds

The superintendent of the school where child-abusing Obama supporter Diatha Harris teaches has posted a statement on his district’s website. He is investigating. (Thanks to Pat at BelchSpeak, who first called attention to the appalling video of Harris bullying the daughter of a soldier for supporting John McCain).
CCS Headline News – Superintendent’s Response to YouTube
I was shocked when I saw the clip of an interaction between a Cumberland County Schools teacher and her students as posted on YouTube. While neutral discussion of the political process is appropriate, at no time, particularly with elementary students, should a teacher infuse his/her political views into the discussion. Most disconcerting was the military slant that made its way into this discussion. We are a military community, serving over 15,000 military students and their families. We value the sacrifices, not only of the military parents but also those of their families.
We believe that military children are our children, military spouses are many of our employees, and military service men and women are our heroes. We proudly serve our military children and have received national awards for our support of military families.
I was particularly disturbed to see the uncomfortable position in which our children were placed due to the inappropriate actions of one of our teachers. Please be assured that the actions exhibited in this video are not consistent with the vision of the CCS. Moreover, the actions of one teacher do not represent the 7000 employees in our organization.
Once the video was brought to my attention, I immediately launched an investigation. Personnel laws prevent me from releasing information regarding individual employees and personnel action taken. I can assure you that upon completion of the investigation, I will take appropriate action.
Dr. William Harrison
CCS’ Superintendent
Do the right thing, Dr. Harrison.
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- I Almost Feel Bad For This Woman, But the Uninformed Get What they Deserve « Trust, But Verify
- Without Objection: WO’s Daily Roundup
- Hot Air » Blog Archive » Superintendent: “Appropriate action” will be taken against teacher who lectured serviceman’s daughter
- Reason 142 to Homeschool: Obama Teachers Won’t Bully Kids Who Support McCain « Mcnorman’s Weblog
- UPDATE on “The Beast of Cumberland County” « Mark Epstein
- UPDATE: Analyzing Cumberland Superintendent William Harrison’s Response on Partisan Teacher and Bully — Education for the Aughts - American School Issues and Analysis
- Classroom Bullying in North Carolina II: The Superintendent Speaks « The Tizona Group
- The Colossus of Rhodey
- Teacher Bullies Child Over Presidential Pick: WTF « Dianej’s Weblog
- Teacher Bullies Child Over Presidential Pick: WTF « Dianej’s Weblog
- Michelle Malkin » Obama-pimping teacher: “I should not have said that”
- Obama Supporting Teacher Mocks and Intimidates Little Girl Who Dares Support McCain « BUUUUURRRRNING HOT
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It’s true that Tundra Tabloids broke this story, and has followed up with corrections to errors that appeared in their first report.
It should also be noted that Tundra Tabloids is apparently a strong backer of European neo-Fascist groups, a rather unpleasant association that I’m not at all comfortable with. Personally, I thank them for bringing this story to light, but I won’t be directing anyone to their site or associating with them in any way.
They have a very serious bug up their behinds about LGF. And apparently, they’re turning the vitriol hose in this direction as well. Rather typical of their ilk.
They’re bad people over there. Nice scoop; bad agenda.
How ignorant indeed. Of course, snotty condescension is the hallmark of leftists / Zero-bots.
To me the saddest thing is that child ending up on YouTube. She was obviously upset at the time and I can only imagine how she feels now if she’s aware that this is all over the internet.
In truth, I didn’t find the video to be as bad as I expected and neither did my husband who is involved in our school board.
We both agreed the teacher was very wrong for putting the child on the spot like she did and interjecting her obvious bias into what should have been a non-partisan discussion of politics. The teacher needs a severe reprimanding but it’s true that she will probably not be fired.
Political discussion and personal opinions should be allowed between students and teachers, in my opinion, but not in the classroom. In the classroom the discussion should be non-partisan and that includes student opinion to a degree. I say this as a parent with a headstrong child who has had no qualms with voicing his opinion (or wearing his Nobama shirts) at school during this election. I’m sure he’s irritated teachers and I’ve had to explain to him not to go overboard with his opinions as some teachers could feel put on the spot as well if voicing their political opinion, even outside of the classroom, made them uncomfortable. It would not and has not bothered me that a teacher voiced their opposing opinion to him, it’s a good lesson to him that we live in a country where this is our right, but within the classroom is another story. I do hope the woman is reprimanded and that the board pays attention to her classes for a long while.
I, personally, would pull my child out of that woman’s class for putting her on the spot like that and for not holding an unbiased classroom discussion.
Unfortunately this sort of thing goes on all the time, on all levels.
I got tired of my kids coming home telling me how all whites were slave owners, and that the Hawaiians had a great thing going until Capt. Cook discovered the Sandwich Isles and stole their land from them. (It doesn’t matter that you had to be royalty to own property)
At least the teachers don’t (yet) teach that the Pearl Harbor attack was America’s chickens coming home to roost.
The way to take back the educational system is to take your kids out of it. It is not easy and it is not inexpensive but we are talking about our kids and the future of this country.
We live on one income and we sacrifice. But, my kids are learning our values and not learning how to become goose-stepping, socialist morons mindlessly repeating the party line.
If we did it, you can do it too. Then, when the NEA demands $5,000,000 per student to educate the 12 kiddies left in “their” public schools you can tell them to get lost.
The truth is we don’t need them. We can do a better job without them. Protect your kids from these people!
Also – if you do feel like visiting the Tundra Tabloids site, beware; my browser slowed t a crawl on my first visit, before I found out about their Fascist background, and picked right up again after I left. I’m running Firefox under Linux, so I’m not concerned, but I’ve seen this sort of thing before and is usually implies a site that’s loading up your browser with spyware and who knows what else. If someone wants to go other there with a sniffer program, it might be interesting to report the results. But as I noted above, I’m not going to hand any more pings to their site.
What ever she thinks is “appropriate action” we shall see. Personnel laws prevent release of any further comments-I am conflicted on that. I know it is true. Here we have had a couple of real scumbags hang on for quite awhile as they dragged out the process and appeals.
But hoping for the best-the Beast be gone. It that were my child the issue would be settled differently.
I find it hilarious that y’all have such a hard time believing that a lib like me could possibly have a hard time among the rednecks and good old boys. It’s true, but I was a loudmouth (some things never change) so I probably deserved it more than this poor girl.
I’m still trying to figure out how a person gets hired as a teacher when they can’t speak english.
Fire her sorry ass.
TUNDRA TABLOIDS blog…
broke this story and has a vid of the superintendent…
great site!!!!!!!!!!just found out about it….will add it to my blog site….
She thought the coast was clear because it was foreign correspondents.
I think all these comments, and all comments everywhere, are simply racist.
I believe it.
Given the quality of your other comments here, you’ve hardly built up a stock of credibility.
For instance, I doubt that you’de be too forgiving of somebody who wrote of his “hard time among the niggers and spics”.
I hate to say this.
I really do….
There is only ONE thing that will get the deserved attention focused on this child abuser.
One little word to the parents….
LAWSUIT.
Hit them in the pocketbook.
Sadly it is the taxpayer that will foot this bill but the school board sure will respond to losing cash.
And the parents deserve it for the abuse their child suffered.
This would have been a wonderful opportunity for this teacher to use secret ballots then had a good debate on the two candidates. As it were, she was just inserting her opinions and chiding those who did not agree with her. She really didn’t want to hear what the opposition had to say; she was just grandstanding for the camera.
My compliments to the Superintendent. Well said, and without equivocation.
Personnel laws will also prevent this tool from being touched. Obama has an untouchable army of public sector employees that can claim union protection every time they get caught breaking rules/laws.
Good point, I hadn’t thought about that.
It’s a character thing. We have it, ya’ll don’t.
Please note the body language and look on the child’s face.
The only thing biach didn’t say was that her daddy would porbably die in Iraq.
One last thing this as*hat’s grammar leaves a lot to be desired.
Do the right thing Super, get her reassigned to a year long sabbatical sensitivity training assignment in Afganistan or Iraq.
WOW. I thought y’all wore “redneck” as a badge of honor.
Unbelievably, the parents only want it to go away. Apparently they do not want to pursue legal action.
“We” including Curious George Doll Nazi, right? And everyone who smeared Obama for his Muslim faith.
Unfortunately, though someone captured this incident on film this one time, we know this problem is systemic.
While massive attention is paid to keeping God out of schools by this same culture the teachers and administrators themselves are waist deep in the politics due to their unions.
This creates a conflict of interest bias that poisons the entire system.
History is especially taking a hit due to this environment. Wars and causes are not discussed, and capitalism, if taught at all is discussed as an evil.
Capitalism made this country great, not understanding history means we will be doomed to repeat the mistakes we have not learned.
In a couple of years her peers will resume the job of this teacher and make her feel alienated due to her “lonely beliefs”.
This is why parents have to jump in and fight these trends any way they can at the local level, in order to do so they need to arm themselves with information.
Parents need to do their homework and thus armed go fight for our children!
Bill Harris releases Video covering his statement
Surely you jest
Many places a Nobel Prize in Physics and a PhD wouldn’t allow you to teach – not “qualified.
BTW, RSS, did you hear your punk, Zero,,with his classless insult of Nancy Reagan during his press conference?-not to mention the endless minutes of stammering and ‘uhhms and ‘ahhhs’. Real winner ya got there, leftard.
Yes, that would be correct.
The “appropriate action” will be to dismiss this ugly whore, and send her packing without any compensation whatsoever. But she shouldn’t worry, because she’ll get all the “spread wealth” she will ever need from her daddy in Washington, DC.
Fo’shizzle, teachzilla needz somz chill pillzizzles. yo
Obama has proven nothing to anyone, to include his real faith and birth certificate in a court of law. Is he of his fathers faith? Most muslims are, or is he the new age black liberation theologist?
You have obviously never lived in an authoritarian state! That morons like you persist in calling Bush a Nazi reveals your absolute ignorance and stupidity and complete lack or understanding of the things you talk about.
If Bush had been a Nazi you and Obama would have been in a concentration camp instead of spouting off moronic comments freely on a conservative blog.
How utterly moronic can one person be? I suspect you will add to our understanding of that question on a daily basis!
Wry-chuss, aj!
AJ,
word
I am disappointed that the lefties here are sticking up for the dim-witted educrat propagandist. Disappointed, but hardly surprised.
Great comments guys. Had me rolling.
And WarEagle, as always BRAVO. You have a knack for putting things into perspective.
You know the deal. We can call ourselves that. You can’t.
At least those are the rules your side wrote.
Please see my previous post about them in this thread. Also, visit Little Green Footballs and ask Charles his opinion of them.
No, I don’t mean W. I mean the racist pig at the Palin rally who delighted in showing off his Curious George doll bearing the name “Obama.” Here he is.
Charles Johnson is a lefty. As such he has a rather expansive definition of the word “fascist”.
Why is he a “racist pig” for showing off a Curious George doll bearing the name “Obama”. Were all the moonbats who had Curious George dolls bearing the name “George Bush” also racist pigs? If not, why not?
Yes, I would say Obama has proven he is without character and the Curious George Doll bearing the “resemblence” of Obama is a non-issue…next.
Oh, all those evil right-wing hate mongers! He carried a doll to a political rally! It is like Hilter has come back to life. Millions must have died!
The next thing you know he will be out beating up old people in California or threatening to burn down churches. Oh, wait! Those were left-wing “peace activitsts!”
Demonstrating your ignorance must be a full time job for you but you gotta go with your strengths….
You never saw the left do anything like that! No siree! Their political rallies are marked by their extreme decorum and civility. President Bush was always referred to by them as “President Bush”.
We scrimped and saved to send our two daughters to private schools because we refused to have the public schools destroy their minds.
The public schools need to be closed, period. Public funding of K-12 education does not mean that the public has to own and operate the schools. contract the business and if the contractor doesn’t do the job they lose the contract.
God knows the left would do if we referred to the Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers as “Chimpy Odumbo”.
They trademarked the “Chimpy” name you see.
No, you have to have some place to keep the children of the welfare losers. These gang members and taggers need to be held off the streets during the day. Private schools won’t take them..
Public schools do serve us in keeping the riff raff away from us for 8 hours a day.
You cannot be serious. Let me put this clearly: racist white people have a long history of comparing black people to apes, and black people are incredibly offended by the comparison (as anyone knows), whereas Texas oil men are not.
Also, the very obvious difference between a West Hollywood punk hanging Sarah Palin in effigy and an admitted racist lynching Obama in effigy is that there is no history of spunky hockey moms being hanged, and spunky hockey moms do not as a group have horrible memories come up as a result of seeing spunky hockey moms hanged in effigy.
Everyone have a great weekend. Try to take a moment to thank God for living in one of the only countries in the history of the world that is great enough to elect a minority to its highest office, even if you do not share his political priorities.
So you’re saying Michelle Malkin is a redneck? Now I really have heard everything.
pfft, you’re irrelevant.
RedState, I think we can find a hundred examples of idiots in both camps. The trick anymore is to find the people on the other side with some degree of intelligence, dispassion, and intellectual honesty so you can actually have a substative discussion on an issue.
Really? Have you asked the Texas oilmen about that? Or is this just more liberal mind reading?
There is as much history of that as there is of upper crust Harvard grads with seats in the US Senate being hanged.
There is nothing great about electing a “minority” to political office. At least, so thought ML King.
If she can’t get a job teaching anymore, I’m sure she can find work as a leader in the Obama-Corps!
Between the teachers union, the ACLU, the NAACP, and possibly Al Sharpton getting involved in his usual cartoonish manner, she has no need to worry at all.
RedStateSkeptic knows everything. He can read minds. He knows what the guy with the doll was thinking. Leftists are “elite” because they are omniscient. He looked deep into the eyes of the guy with the monkey man and divined his should and his intent. If RSS says the guy is a racist then he must be. After all, the guy WAS white!
We are just “Wasilla Hillbillies.” It is an “elite thing” and we just don’t get it.
Yes, keep her away from children. Forever.
The truth is this teacher is black and therefore will not be treated the same as a white teacher. The superintendent, scared to death that the teacher will call racist if she is even talked to sternly will pull her into his office and kiss her A$$ for a while then send her on back to work. Probably will offer her a better job, one of her choice. Sad thing is she is not intelligent, i would take her on in any subject any day, confident i would whoop her in smarts. Sigh.
Uh, let’s see, England elected a woman to office in 1979. Israel and India elected women before that. Pakinstan elected a woman in the 90s. France elected a Hungarian as president recently. Germany once elected an Austrian but that didn’t work out so well for lots of people.
Skin color seems to be EVERYTHING to RSS. Leftists are like that.
I hope they fire her.
We need a example to all teachers and college professors that spewing their liberal agenda in the classroom wont be tolerated.
My wife was a conservative before she went to Pace University – Pro Bush & Patriotic – Caught a US Flag on her car.
She told me that before college she was a conservative or at least a moderate leaning conservative. After college she was a liberal. She noticied though that liberals were not israelis friendly (Shes jewish) when her teacher told the class they will get extra credit to attend a anti israel protest. But even after college she was anti Iraq war, Anti gun, anti conservative principles. It took me 2 years to show her the light. After debating with her, having her watch and notice the news… the changes and stances on liberal policy. I had to argue with her alot about honest how professors and newscasters have proven the wrongs of liberalism and its beliefs.
Please realize that not all teachers are of this ilk. I teach in a public school and do so because I want to be part of the fix. I agree that public education has deteriorated tremendously since my youth. I used to sit home and complain a lot about it. So, I became, what I hope, is part of the solution. (I was involved in adult ed, museum ed and higher ed). I teach reading to high school students – I really question how they get to me with their incredibly poor reading skills. The answer is IMHO Social Promotion.
I see kids who have XBox 360, PSP, and every other video game, but not one book. Being smart is too white or too something. They think that dropping out is ok.
Some teachers are pathetic, but some are magnificent and truly committed to doing their best and teaching our students. Yes the union is not what I would want.
I believe that parental involvement can go a long ways to improving public education. Join the PTA, go to their meetings, go to school board meetings, run for school board and do whatever it takes.
I am a conservative, but keep my politics out of the classroom and believe that every teacher should. When my students asked me how I voted, I replied – “I don’t vote and tell.” We discussed how a president is elected and what happens, etc. If I heard that ANY teacher in my school was discussing their political views or disparaging any student or their opinion, I would be first in line to complain. Not all of us are evil. Many of us are on the side of our students, their families and our country. My husband is retired military, my son spent 10 years in the Navy and much more.
Why are good people arguing with this troll-rss? He (she?) is a tired child and needs a nap. Temper tantrums should not be encouraged.
Trolls should stay under their bridges and not bother adults.
Nite nite troll.
–
That every man be armed–you too ladies.
In an interview late Thursday, Harris, 53, said somebody edited the video to make it appear she was an Obama partisan imposing her views on a child. In fact, Harris said, she made gestures after pupils voiced support for Obama.
“It has been doctored,” Harris said. “They didn’t show anything about Obama.”
In another sequence on the video, however, Harris sports an Obama button during a pep rally at the school.
I call BS.
Need to correct my previous post:
I meant liberal teachers. I know there are alot of good teachers out there. I bet your one of em … inthetrenches. Thank you for your service.
Watch: She’ll be the new head of the Department of Education under Obama’s administration.
lol. Yeah right.
Can you imagine her in every classroom… Conservatives are bad… liberals are good.
Gay marriage is great… man and woman are bad lol
“Yes We Can [belittle your children and make them feel embarrassed in front of their classmates]!”
“Get Your Filthy Paws Off Me You Damn Dirty Ape!”
Now THAT was a good movie!
Any other good quotes from that movie anyone can remember??
So, fire the teacher. She lacks good judgment, clearly.
FOX is about to show the video, O’Reilly is not there tonight. Laura Ingram is doing a piece on it.
One millionth of a drop in the bucket of a wildly liberal education system.
6.2 million: Number of all teachers in the United States…and that is only up to 12th grade! It doesn’t count all the socialist college professors!
Laura Ingraham addresses this story tonight on Fox News
When my two oldest children were in 1st grade and kindergarten, my husband was stationed in England. After some investigation into the base school, we elected to send them to the local parish (small British) school. While the school building itself was old, drafty, small (I think it was an old converted church) and they had to utilize pods for some classrooms, the educational experience was outstanding for my children.
You see, this school used the “PACE” program where the children did work from progressive workbooks at their own pace with the teacher and sometimes the help of an aide walked around the class and assisted the children in whatever level they were at. At the end of the first semester, both children progressed to the next grade.
Unfortunately, my mother was diagnosed with cancer, so we opted to move back to the states instead of staying in England so we could be closer if needed. It turned out to be a good move for the family as a whole because my mother passed away two years later, then my husband’s mother died the following year.
However, in regards to the children’s schooling, it was a complete disaster. We were stationed in Howard County, MD which was an “educational testing ground” for many of the changes made to school curriculum nationally. They would not move the children into more advanced grades because “the year age difference would be too traumatic” for our children. Instead, for TWO years our children were bored, disenfranchised and USED as tutors (usually for the lowest level children… some being the worst behaved as well). From there it was an uphill battle to keep them interested in school at all; it was THAT debilitating an experience for both of them.
If the U.S. school system were to utilize the “PACE” program, they wouldn’t have to teach at the lowest common denominator (which is one of the downfalls of our educational society) AND our children would probably be able to compete globally with other countries with higher-educated children/people. Some charter schools already use the PACE program successfully.
I remember a couple years in a row; at the beginning of the school year (after summer break) all three of my children (4 years apart in age difference) were relearning the same basic math in three different grades for the first couple months. It was ridiculous! Teachers and their unions pretty much control what is in textbooks AND the curriculum taught, so the PACE programs may be a threat to them if less teachers or even schools are needed. But that is only my opinion and experience! I’d be interested to know if others have experienced the same or something similar.
On November 7th, 2008 at 2:35 pm,
Given her widebody profile, may I suggest the pie-eating contest at the local county fair?
#171: Well, at least one of those public school teachers is my sister–a CA teacher who definitely is conservative and not pushing liberal lies onto kids.
JIPC, there was a time when British schools were much better than ours. I went to a British School for 3 years, since my Dad was stationed there. At the age of 8 and 9, I was, not only learning English, but French and Latin too. Your performance was not graded A-F, but how you placed among your peers. Being “top form boy” was a high honor, that I got in my final year, much to my parents’ delight. Uniforms were mandatory, and discipline was strict with a cane, though we Americans got away with much more than the Brits. School hours were 8-6. 8-12 was classroom, 12-1 lunch/walk, 1-3 sports, 3-4 walk back to school, 4-5 teatime, 5-6 study hall. Teachers were very good, that I remember. Coming back to the U.S., I was a grade ahead and had to sit through a year, redoing a lot of things. Math was particularly boring, since I knew it all already. Memorizing the Kings/Queens, in order, was mandatory in British schools then. Funny, I think I can still do it, out of memory.
If this “teacher” gets fired, it might elicit more tears out of “The Reverend Jesse Jackson’s” eyes. So sad!
Public Schools are Socialist Brainwashing Machines!!!!
HOMESCHOOL NOW!!!!
Unfortunately this leftist social programming of our children is being repeated millions of times a day in thousands of classrooms across the country. I have 6 children 17 to 10 yrs old, I speak with knowledge.
Politics is only one of the arenas, there is also the marginalization of males, Homosexual liberation and gay mariage, abortion, sex education, pro Muslim anti Christian bias (sharia), distortion of history and government, the list of the socialist agenda goes on and on and is deeply inbedded in our American educational system.
Fortunately we can choose to offset this agenda at the dinner table, at church, in our home at teachable moments, in the literature we read, in the movies and t.v. we watch. It is a difficult battle to wage, but I cannot and will not give up the fight.
Not sure this was brought up but Cumberland County is the home of Fayetteville and Fort Bragg, Home Of The Airborne. As in 82d Airborne Division and at least two Special Forces Groups. These are the very people taking the fight to Al Qaeda and the Taliban in both theaters of the war. Also home to Pope Air Force Base.
This teacher should be removed from the classroom. Nothing like browbeating a student.
“Please be assured that the actions exhibited in this video are not consistent with the vision of the CCS. Moreover, the actions of one teacher do not represent the 7000 employees in our organization.”
If that were the case and this vision were clearly articulated, this would not have happened in the first place. The only difference in this circumstance is that a camera caught it!
Perhaps the stats below are why this got the superintendents attention. He knows who butters his bread. Now he needs to articulate this vision to his teachers. Note, Cumberland County schools are not considered terrific. The military related students almost certainly bring up test scores and their families pay a lot of the property taxes supporting them.
Students Entering the Military 218
Military Connected Students 16,646
31.08%
Military Academy Appointments 4
Students awarded military scholarships to attend the university of their choice 76
lock and load
It’s like Mark Twain said, “Everyone complains about the weather, but no one does anything about it.”