The first thing that bothers me about the video is that clip of me from the school board meeting. I really need to learn to comb my hair properly when I go out in public.
The gist of the video is that I’m “scary” and that I will be harsh on “neurodivergent students.”
“Neurodivergent” is an interesting word. In Ms. LaVasse’s usage, it seems to broadly encompass not only legitimate learning disabilities such as autism, Asperger’s etc., but also includes everyone who behaves badly in school.
When I speak about “bad behavior” in school, I am not referring to any intrinsic characteristics—I’m referring to students standing on desks, throwing things, cursing the teacher, biting other students, and completely disrupting the class. These bad behaviors must be recognized as such, and not simply be excused away.
As for me being “scary,” if all students at MDUSD sat at attention and were courteous to others and showed respect to their teachers, it might indeed be “scary” for the teachers—they might die of shock.
What Ms. LaVasse seems to be saying is that “neurodivergent students” and students who are black, brown, LGBTQ, IEP, etc., should not be held to the same standards of behavior as everyone else. And how insulting is that, to imply that black and brown students are not capable of behaving properly in class and should be held to a lower standard.
I think that all students should be held to the same standard, and skin color and other identifying characteristics should not be considered when it comes to behavioral standards. Let’s hold everyone to the same high standard.
I have not only been a teacher, but I have worked with youth regularly for the past 40 years. Ms. LaVasse might be surprised to learn that I’ve worked with kids of all races, including in the inner city, so I know that all kids need discipline and all kids are capable of behaving in class regardless of skin color.
And why should we train all kids to be courteous and subject to high standards of discipline? Because when they go out into the real world, excuses will no longer be made for their poor behavior, and they will suffer negative consequences for their actions. So, it’s for their own good. I think it’s “scary” to make excuses for bad behavior. It should be obvious that if you fail to punish bad behavior, you will continue to get more of it.
Ms. LaVasse would like to interview me, but what would we have to discuss? Is it really a debatable point that students should behave in class? And is it really controversial to want to punish those who are disruptive? And how many people actually believe that the main problem with our school district is that the discipline is too strict?
Ms. LaVasse professes to care a great deal about the broad swath of students she terms “neurodivergent,” but what about the vast majority who need to learn and can’t because of disruptive students? What about their needs? In one sense, I am a “special education advocate” myself. I think that the neurodivergent do need to be in a special education setting, but with the goal of getting them to the point where they can successfully join the other students, and not to embark them on a career of being a perpetual “victim.”
I am not running for the Board as part of some diabolical plot. I was encouraged to do so by some concerned parents and community members, and I sense that if I am elected the experience will be rather less fun than a barrel of monkeys. Nonetheless, my goal is to help kids get a better educational experience, and in some cases to experience the firm discipline they need (which, deep down, many of them actually want).
Well, despite my overall good-guy niceness, I don’t think I will be winning Ms. LaVasse’s vote in November. However, if you have read this and are like-minded, please vote for me!