a quick ???

Dear friends,
I was wondering what i should do about a teacher at my DS's school. She has been harassing him.
He does not have her as a teacher this year, He did have her last year and I had words with her in regard to an incident involving DS.
She has been picking on him at the afterschool program which she works a few days a week.
I feel like she is retaliating for the words we had. (I basically caught her in a bold face lie and called her on it in which case she caught heck by the principle)
DS is a smart, clever, well liked kid who never causes any trouble.
Thank you,
Susie

Talk to members of your school board if the principle won't help.

Susie, Have you ever went to the afterschool program to pick your DS up early? (OK, really to spy on "the program")People do it all the time to check up on their babysitters, an afterschool program would be no different. Do any of the other kids have problems with this teacher? It may be time for another confrontation with either the teacher in question, other workers at the program (this would let them know you have concerns and they may watch a little closer), or even the principal. My kids are very well behaved (to me) but every once in a while they surprise me and act up. But this sounds like it is too often to be the occasional mistake made by a good kid. If nothing is done, your DS will not be happy while in the program and could lead to problems in other aspects of his life. (school in general, ie: illness, tummy aches, etc so he wouldn't have to go). Definately keep the line of communication open with your DS on this subject, so you are well informed of what is happening. Good Luck,
Julie

Susie
I had a problem with DD third grade teacher and went to the school board. It worked!! No more problem.
Cala

Let me give you some more info.
The other day she told DS she could tell He was coloring his hair (which could be grounds for suspension).
He has light brown hair which did get lighter over the summer due to chlorine ect...Maybe one shade lighter.
She told him she was going to look at last years picture and compare. This upset DS very much because the teacher made a spectacle of the issue discussing it with the other workers ect...in front of all the children in the program.
She also makes DS do a few errands for her during the time alotted for homework, then DS must do his work during play time or at home at night.
I am going to pop in early and spy on them but I have to make sure its on one of the days SHE is there.
My fear is that once I call her on this, she will do MORE to harass my child.
Thanks for listening!
Susie

Hi Susie,
I'm in the far Northeast Philadelphia. I think your course of action depends on whether it's the public school here, the catholic ones, the charters or the private. Basically, if you are paying tuition for the religious or private, then a brief meeting with the principle suffices, in most cases. The charters are run by corporations and they need to succeed in this city, so an anonymous memo in the su ggestion box (usually outside an office) gets the appropriate action. The public schools are so union tight that teacher discipline/removal is hard to come by, even if a principle knows about it. I would get the facts, as mentioned by Julie above (and I've also seen really good kids get out of hand, too), then approach both t he principle and counselor.
I had an incident a few years ago with a teacher screaming to the kids and putting the fright of God in their minds when they were called upon by raising their hands for needing more test sheets in the back row. This one teacher screamed that the child he called upon was off task because they shouldn't worry that someone needs a paper...my god!! These type incidents went on for 2 months. I complained to the counselor that this teacher was causing more than a breakdown of democracy and cooperative learning in the classroom. The counselor had the teacher meet with the parent in front of him to go over the facts...counselor couldn't believe what he heard from the teacher...teacher got remanded to anger management! This one teacher had some personal problems which were being acted out upon the students and he was able to get a grasp on his negativity through outside help. This teacher is a gem of an instructor now.
Good luck :)
Trish

Trish,
I am in the lower northeast!! Howdie neighbor!!
This is a parochial school with very high standards however this one teacher needs to stop!!
I have a brother in the far notheast and he had such a time with the schools up there. He finally gave up and sent the kids to MAST.
I wonder if we are talking about the same school??
In my case, I am going to speak to the teacher first to see what her take on the situation is. I already know that she is going to deny everything so I have begun documenting each event.
Thanks for the support.
Susie