NY teachers cosign Eric Garners death

http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/201...hers-warned-not-wear-pro-nypd-t-shirts-school

Teachers Warned Not to Wear Pro-NYPD T-Shirts to School


STATEN ISLAND — Staten Island teachers were slapped with a stern warning this week not to wear pro-NYPD T-shirts to school — as an email told them that doing so could get them in trouble with the Department of Education.

An email to United Federation of Teachers members Wednesday night warned them that the Department of Education considers wearing pro-NYPD shirts to protest last month's UFT-sanctioned Eric Garner rally a threat to their ability to remain "objective" as public employees, according to a copy of the email posted online.

"The DOE has reason to believe that there may be protests in the form of tee shirts that will be worn to school tomorrow," the note begins, according to a version shared on Facebook. "They asked us to remind you that as public employees, one must remain objective at all times."

"Certain tee shirt messages may appear to be supportive, but individuals (parents, students) may see a different meaning in that message," the note continued. "Principals may report any inappropriate apparel to the chancellor."

The message ends by telling members to let others know "so they are aware of potential implications."

UFT Staten Island borough representative Debra Penny would not say whether the UFT sent out the email. She said the DOE did not ask the union to send it out. In a statement released Friday, UFT president Michael Mulgrew said they encourage members to express their opinion, just not in the classroom.

"As a democratic union, we encourage all our 200,000 members to express their opinions," Mulgrew said in a statement. "But Department of Education regulations require school personnel to avoid distracting clothes and openly political statements when in school."

The DOE also denied asking the union to send the notice, but a spokeswoman said that anything that distracts from learning, especially on the first day of classes, should be kept out of the classroom.


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Slideshow
Thousands marched to honor the death of Eric Garner, who died after he was put in an apparent chokehold by police in Staten Island.
Eric Garner March



Even with the warning, some teachers around the city posted pictures of themselves wearing the T-shirts on Thursday on the "Thank You NYPD" Facebook page. However, the note had a chilling effect at P.S. 44 in Staten Island, staff said.

"We left work yesterday all in agreement to wear it," said Rachael Bulla, a second-grade teacher at the school. "Nobody in my school wore the shirts because we were afraid we would be written up."

Community Education Council member and retired NYPD Lieutenant Mike Reilly, who posted parts of the email Wednesday night on Facebook, said he knows teachers wore the shirts when they reported to class on Tuesday and Wednesday, but hasn't heard of any who decided to wear them on the first day of class.

"I appreciate the support," Reilly said. "But in no way I would want anybody to have any disciplinary problems. Why start the school year off bad?"

The president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association criticized the warning, which he believes was sent by the UFT. He said it goes against what unions stand for.

"Mike Mulgrew needs to consider the opinions of the vast majority of his members before misusing their dues money to support anti-police issues," Pat Lynch said in a statement.

"Besides, what could be inappropriate about showing support for the police department that protects teachers and students alike? I also find it odd that a union would use management-like scare tactics in order to suppress the free expression of their members' ideas."

Mulgrew invited Lynch to take part in meetings to help police and the community move forward after the death of Garner.

"The Eric Garner march was a teachable moment for all New Yorkers, but the lesson seems to have been lost on Mr. Lynch," Mulgrew said.

"I intend to set up a meeting with some of the teachers and parents who took part in the march to discuss how the community and the police can move forward. I invite Mr. Lynch to join us."

Nearly 550 T-shirts reading, "New York's Brightest Supports New York's Finest, #ThankYouNYPD," were bought from printing company Special Tee's in anticipation of the first week of school, company director Vincent Bonomi previously told DNAinfo New York.

Bonomi's shirt was one of several that featured on the Facebook group "UFT Members for NYPD," a board started by paraprofessional Kelly Anne Carbonaro which boasts 149 members who were angered by the union's decision to back the march.

The decision to wear the shirts came in protest of UFT head Michael Mulgrew's public support of Rev. Al Sharpton's march on Aug. 23 to call for justice for the death of Garner, 43.

Garner died July 17 after being placed in an apparent chokehold by a police officer during an arrest for selling untaxed cigarettes. The police union has denied it was a chokehold, but the city's Medical Examiner ruled that it was.

 

Bitches looking for attention. Notice not a single black teacher. I wonder why.

 

I don't think that may necessarily be their intent. Things aren't always how they appear to be. You have to remember that Dillon Taylor was attacked by a black cop in Utah.

By the logic of the teachers above, they should support the black police officer/police force who shot the unarmed white kid in Utah. If they were to support the NYPD here, but then support Dillon Taylor at the same time, that would authenticate that they are hypocritical and generally anti-black/anti-minority. We can't immediately say that they are doing it because we assume that they don't like all minorities or blacks. The articles explained that they wore those shirts because they disliked Al Sharpton/Jessie Jackson and because one of the teacher's boyfriends was also a city police officer.

 

What the fuck does some shit that happened in Utah have to do with something that happened in New York City? They are wearing shirts in support for the NYCPD and not all police in general. SMDH.

 

Exactly and the absolute worst thing is the lack of consideration for black and latino students in their class. You can't feed black and latino children the line that the police are here to help when they specifically harass ONLY black and hispanic kids

 

I think he's autistic

 

The point that I tried to make with my post is that there are black police officers who act the same way. Obviously these teachers are doing this knowing that the NYPD is not 100% white. One of those women commented on that site defending them saying:

http://www.salon.com/2014/08/15/10_ways_racism_killed_michael_brown_and_eric_garner/

 

what do latino students have to do with this????????????????

 

That's common sense. So what the fuck does shit that happened in Utah have to do with the thread topic about NYC? :smt100

 

I was assuming that if they were asked or informed about Dillon Taylor, they would respond by showing some form of support for the black officer and for that police department because they already did it for the NYPD and it is not because they're co-signing Garner's loss, as implied by the OP.

 

Again. They are in New York. Why would they give a shit about supporting Utah police officers, black or white, since that's not where they live? They care about NYCPD ideally protecting & serving their privileged asses. That's what they support.

 

Ok, so they are that close-minded to anything that happens beyond the state of New York? Ferguson is a bigger issue than this, but you'd say that they should have no opinion about it. Anyhow, it may have cost them their jobs since the DOE is their employer and they have the authority to terminate them for disobeying. It probably already happened, it just hasn't made the news.

 

If they were about supporting ALL police then why would they wear shirts that only proclaim their support for just NYCPD rather than shirts that proclaim support for all police? Stop making know it all assumptions about situations without anything to back up said assumptions.

 

There aren't too many stories of Black cops shooting unarmed people.

 

Reasoning with a retard doesnt make sense

 

I thought NY was a liberal paradise, I guess not. I should've known those teachers were white. It goes to show you that even after a biracial president(half-white, half-black) is voted into office twice in a row, racism/eurosupremacism is still alive and well in this very day and age.