I can't help but believe that if education, as it presently exists, was valued by the general population, that excessive worrying about a school's ability to command authority, would be minimized. That is, many in the general population, will use peccadilloes by staff as an excuse to "push back," because they see teachers and schools as junior wardens and prisons. The fact that school is compulsory, and that, they are in fact, obligated to attend in some form, tends to support that perspective. So what we get in the end is plenty of lip service to pie in the sky ideals about morals and proper conduct, while the real agenda is about getting the best grades while expending the least effort, and encountering the smallest number of encumbrances (such as being disciplined). It's not that I don't think that teachers should be considered role models. I certainly do. But it seems like that has increasingly become our main role. When I hear the term "bad teacher" now, I presume it has next to nothing to do with someone's ability to teach and everything to do with their character's repute.
A teacher's aide was fired for not giving an administrator access to her facebook account. "Hey... they probably pay you twice the minimum wage. Don't think you have the right to a private life."
I remember being told not to have any contact with a parent that the district had decided was "persona non grata." Too bad I couldn't tell them the same.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/facebook/teachers-aide-fired-for-refusing-to-hand-over-facebook-password/11246
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