Sometimes I feel like a bit of a tool for reporting on all these wretched teachers and school administrators when there's plenty of decent ones who don't make the news, but I find these stories strangely compelling. Maybe it's the sense of anxiety I have as a parent, sending off my kid and telling her to listen to other adults who I may or may not always agree with. And I can guarantee you I would not agree with anyone making my child eat off the floor as punishment, as one vice principal at a Philadelphia elementary school did.
Part of what makes this story particularly wretched is that it sounds like these kids were particularly vulnerable to the unfair treatment because they were ESL students, many from other countries, and in some cases the families were unaware of the punishment. The incident that prompted the vice principal to make an entire elementary school class eat their lunches off the cafeteria floor? One kid was changing the water cooler jug and it spilled. The good news is that the woman was put on administrative leave while the matter is investigated.
