Day 188: Free Speech

The following is an excerpt from an article posted on the New York Daily News website. Click any of the links to get back to their home page. 

Pennsylvania teacher Natalie Munroe got an F at school last week when parents discovered she was bashing students on her blog.Munroe, 30, was suspended from her job at Central Bucks East High School in Doyleston, Pa. when vicious comments she wrote about her pupils went public.

In her blog, which has since been removed, Munroe referred to her students as "out of control," "rude, lazy, disengaged whiners," and called one "a complete and utter jerk in all ways."

"There's no other way to say this, I hate your kid," she wrote in one post. "Although academically okay your child has no other redeeming qualities," she said in another.

A few of us were discussing this story in the workroom today. We all have days we feel frustrated. We get hurt and upset. We have students we don't gel with as much as others. Yet, as educators, we are sometimes held to different standards than the general. Were her comments rude? Yes, perhaps not compared with other media, but compared to what a teacher should say about her students. Uncalled for? Maybe. Out of context? Probably. There seems like there were a lot of variables that were not taken into account. She didn't have her name on her blog. She didn't mention any students' names. She didn't say where she lived or the name of her school.  And yet, she was suspended and may be fired. 

All I know is that I won't be writing any more blogs about my students that are not glaringly positive if at all. When I searched this specific story, I found many teachers being disciplined or even fired for blogging in vague or general terms about their students. I will say there has never been teachers who didn't wish they could change their students in some way, and there are always days that are rough to be an educator. Is suspending or firing this teacher a violation of her right to free speech? 


She said some things that were pretty harsh, but since she didn't mention any student specifically and didn't violate any privacy laws, can the district fire her? I suppose it depends on the district's contractual policy about social media. 


We're not perfect, but we are asked to do an impossible, thankless job and get disrespected frequently by students, parents, and colleagues. Sometimes people need to vent, should she be fired for it?
Somehow, it doesn't seem fair to me for a teacher to be disciplined for exercising her right to free speech. I would feel differently if a name was mentioned or a student's identity alluded to, but without that information, she was vaguely complaining about her job and students; if that is a crime, we're gonna have a shortage of teachers.