Joanna Molloy Replies - Says Editor Added Anti-Teacher Content

After I sent an email complaining about Joanna Molloy calling all teachers "dumb" in today's NY Daily News, she wrote back the following:

I was practically raised by my teachers; my aunt was a nyc ps teacher for decades and was dragged down the stairs once; I never mentioned teachers; unfortunately an editor did in the headline. I suppose a bad editor's call is like that of a principal? In any case, your letter is incredible, and I would encourage you to forward it to our editorial page for publication, even though it insults me! They require your phone number so they can verify that you are you.
Thank you for your thoughts,
Joanna Molloy

I replied with this:

With all due respect, I must take exception to your assertion that you "never mentioned teachers" in your column. Allow me to quote from it:

"Test scores show our kids are getting smarter.
That's a good thing, because our educators seem to be getting dumber."


And



"I don't know what the qualifications are for landing a job as a teacher or principal, but one thing's for sure, it's not common sense."

You are doing what many newspaper writers and media folks tend to do - taking the idiotic actions of one or two teachers and extrapolating that to teachers as a whole group.

I find this to be unfair.

It is as if I took the actions of Dominic Carter, convicted spousal abuser and former NY1 reporter, and said "I don't know what the qualifications for being a reporter these days are, but it seems being able to beat your spouse for 13 years without being caught is one of them..."

Or for me to point to Jayson Blair, the NY Times reporter who made stuff up and/or plagiarized whole pieces of writing in the NY Times, and said that because Blair got away with his deception for as long as he did that all reporters must be suspected as plagiarists.

Do you see what I mean about the unfairness of these kinds of blanket assertions?

In the past I have let these kinds of things go by without comment, but I have been seeing more and more of them in both the News and the Post lately. And honestly, I think it needs to stop. A few idiots in the group are NOT emblematic of the group as a whole - not for teachers, not for news people.

Thanks for replying.

She replied with this:

God, you're right, and believe me or not, that was inserted by an editor, which angers me. I guess he was referring to original Spanish teacher who brought Alexa to principal, but he should have run this by me and I would have nixed it. I'll make it up to teachers, in your honor, I swear.
Joanna Molloy

I haven't replied back yet. I believe her that an editor added the offensive content, but it's troubling nonetheless if an editor wrote the "Test scores show our kids are getting smarter. That's a good thing, because our educators seem to be getting dumber" and "I don't know what the qualifications are for landing a job as a teacher or principal, but one thing's for sure, it's not common sense" lines.

It surely shows that the editors at the News never let an opportunity to tar all teachers as idiots to go unpassed.

It seems editorial agenda trumps any veneer of journalistic integrity or objectivity these days.

Joanna Molly Call Teachers Stupid

You can read her snark here.

I responded with this email:

Ms. Molloy,

Your column about educators lacking common sense is simplistic.

There are 85,000 teachers in New York City. There are 6,100 principals and assistant principals.

Some of those people lack common sense and do stupid things like having a girl who drew on a desk handcuffed or a boy who brought in a little toy gun arrested.

That leaves lots of other educators who do NOT engage in stupid behavior and do NOT lack common sense.

I would put myself, a teacher for 9 years at a large public high school, in that group.

Three weeks ago I had a fight in my class and had to call security for the first time in my nine years as a teacher. It was an ugly fight in which one girl pulled chunks of flesh from another girl's face with her fingernails. I followed protocol, ran to the phone to call security, and tried to keep the class from breaking into complete chaos while security ran up nine flights to my classroom. After it was all over, I had to clean up a spilled thermos of iced tea, blood and hair extensions, then teach my next class. My folders of student work were covered with coffee and blood. Shaken, I changed my lesson from what I had planned to "WHAT ARE HEALTHY WAYS TO EXPRESS OUR ANGER?" for my next class. It was one of the best classes I have ever taught. Students gave honest responses as they talked about respect, anger, unresolved emotions and other things that can lead to fights.

Two weeks ago, a girl collapsed in my class. I ran to help her and yelled for a student to call security and have them call the EMT's. I thought she was okay because I could feel a pulse and hear her breathing (albeit shallowly), but you never know with these things. Fortunately she was okay and after the EMT's came and took her, I went back to teaching.

Those are two of the most extreme examples of my having to deal with the unexpected on the fly. But nearly every day, there is some point where I have to make a split second decision about something. I usually make good decisions, but occasionally I do not and then I learn from those mistakes.

That's called being an adult. I can tell you that the overwhelming majority of teachers in my building are the same way (and we have over 100 teachers.)

So I am insulted by your column. Frankly, it's a piece of snark written by somebody who doesn't know much about teaching or the current conditions in NYC public schools. It's funny if you're in the BASH TEACHERS camp (as some who work at your paper are), but if you have any idea of the number of scary, dangerous or simply worrisome incidents most teachers deal with every day, you would know what you wrote is as ridiculous as the principal who had the kid with the little toy gun arrested or the teacher who had the kids who wrote on the desk cuffed.

I will say that you are right about one thing, however, Ms. Molloy. "Grown-ups can be idiots" - you ought to look in the mirror to see one. Given the kinds of things your colleagues at the paper write about education and teaching, you can look around the Daily News to see quite a few more.

I am so sick of newspaper writers and stenographers pointing to one or two teachers who do stupid things and extrapolating that behavior to all educators.

It's like pointing to wifebeater Dominic Carter, former NY1 reporter, to say all reporters are criminals and spousebeaters.

Unfortunately that's pretty much all the media stenographers and politicians do these days.

The most extreme rubber room example is used to tar all teachers in the rubber room as bad teachers.

One teacher gets investigated for sexual abuse and all the other teachers laid off at the same time are tarred as abusers (see here for that story.)

One teacher does something stupid in the classroom, all teachers are stupid.

It's time to push back and let the people writing and saying these things know just how ridiculous they are.