Thursday, February 04, 2010

Badmouth Your School, No Honor Society For You

If the particulars in this story are accurate, I continue to be amazed at how petty and thin-skinned some teachers can be:

"I was frustrated that I was going to graduate from a D school," Fuentes told the Tampa Tribune, frustrated by his school's low scores on standardized tests. "It wasn't anything malicious. It was just a joke taken the wrong way."

Three months ago, the 18-year-old senior started a Facebook group called "Wesley Chapel High = Fail," which became a popular venue for students past and present to criticize the school. It now operates under a different name, "Pros and Cons of Wesley Chapel High"...

When Fuentes returned from winter break last month, a panel of teachers voted unanimously to dismiss him from the National Honor Society on the grounds he had not upheld a pledge to show loyalty to his school, Fuentes told the Tribune.

He decided to transfer to another school last month when he learned that three of his teachers were on the panel that voted to expel him from the honor society.


This story compares to the Nevada student newspaper story in idiocy and mean-spiritedness.

2 comments:

Rhymes With Right said...

In other words, complaining about the documented low quality of the education offered by the school -- something that is certainly constitutionally protected speech -- may be grounds for punishment by the school.

See what the Morse and Doninger cases have wrought? We need the Supreme Court to unambiguously uphold Tinker, especially as it regards off-campus speech on the internet.

Ellen K said...

Isn't this the same type of attitude that labels as a racist anyone who dares to question the actions of Democrats or the president?