About a month ago a teacher’s meeting in California aired some disturbing comments about the families these teachers worked for. One teacher mocked the student’s parents, claiming that “they wanted their babysitters back.” Another used profanity to threaten an unhappy parent. This all occurred at a meeting the teachers believed was not public, but it was. The district superintendent quickly issued an apology, saying in part, “I know our students deserve better from us.”
Here in Chester County, the President of the West Chester Area School District Board, Chris McCune, sent an email to the school system superintendent that said, “People need to start seeing public education as a privilege not an entitlement.” Despite this absurd sentiment being made public, Mr. McCune has not issued an apology to our student or parent community. In fact, he appeared to actually defend his statement at a recent board meeting on Monday, March 22, 2021.
Emergencies like the pandemic and resulting school disruptions tend to bring out the best in us, and for some, it also brings out the worst. We now have confirmation that a (hopefully) small number of educators care little about their charges or the parents who pay their salaries. In fact, they seem to feel free to insult the community, expecting other teachers to agree with how little they are concerned about the people they have pledged to serve.
The Libertarian Party of Chester County is made up of local parents with children in our public, private, and home schools. We support the idea that parents should determine the use of their taxes to school as they wish. Unfortunately, a reported 30% of state public school funding does not go towards education, but instead supports the growing pension costs of our ‘babysitters.”
We would like to believe that most teachers remain dedicated in their profession and understand that they are employed by the taxpayers. Obviously, some of their members feel otherwise. In most cases, we cannot do anything about this other than calling for greater transparency in educator meetings and communication.
It is no wonder that both charter enrollment and home schooling has gained ground during the past year, even as public schools continue to lose their student base. Parents are simply choosing better options, with educators that care about their children.
But we can do something here in Chester County. That is why the Libertarian Party of Chester County is calling for the resignation of Chris McCune. An educator who does not understand the most basic fundamentals about public education, one who declares that the massive burden on the taxpayers results in a ‘privilege” of some sort is not fit to serve on a school board in any capacity.
In fact, we believe that it is now time to look at the quality of the West Chester School Board members, as well as the boards of other Chester County school districts. Parents do not need babysitters in their schools, and we do not believe that public education is either a privilege or an entitlement. It is a service that we pay a great deal for. President McCune cannot be excused for his dreadful attitude towards his employers, but he can be excused from a position he is no longer fit to hold.