It might have been easy to miss over the weekend. But Brian Dees, the East Lee High teacher fired for letting students keep dictionaries on their desks during the FCAT, appears to have offered a more lengthy explanation for his actions on the Gradebook deep within the comments.
He pointedly notes that most media outlets - primarily TV - didn't air much of what he had to say, and it certainly wasn't his "best 30 seconds" that made the cut. So, we decided to repost the comment here for your consideration. Maybe what he has to say will change what you think about his punishment. (Not familiar with the story? You might want to check this post first to see what we're talking about.)
"Since there has been a lot of talk on both sides of this, I thought I would defend myself personally. Much has been made of how our scripts clearly stated that nothing could be on the students' desk except a #2 pencil. What has not been told is that 8 foreign language dictionaries were placed in my room.
I was testing 15 students. WE WERE NEVER TOLD WHO WAS OR WAS NOT ALLOWED TO USE DICTIONARIES, AND WHAT KIND OF DICTIONARIES THEY WERE ALLOWED TO USE!!! I kept all the dictionaries (English and foreign) on a table in the back of my room. I have an IQ of 140, based on several tests. But the administration doesn't care how smart I am or anything else about me. The principal had never even talked to me before he hired me, except once when I approached him in the cafeteria. They just liked me because I always showed up and was willing to do any job they gave me.
The school district doesn't want us to be smart, they want us to be robots. Easily disposable robots. I talked in front of cameras for 3 different networks for roughly 5 minutes each, and less than 30 seconds of my testimony made it into each segment, and trust me, it was not my best 30 seconds. The district spokesman who was interviewed was NOT BEING TRUTHFUL, but anything I said refuting his statements was mysteriously edited out."
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In case you haven't figured this out already. I am a teacher.
Posted by: Bill | March 18, 2008 at 01:07 PM
Bill wouldn't last more than a day in a classroom.
Posted by: to Bill. | March 18, 2008 at 11:42 AM
We are cheeping out from Tallahassee to Miami. Short cuts over short cuts.
It's like Detroit in the 1970s.
Posted by: Timmy! | March 17, 2008 at 08:09 PM
He's a fall guy for the administration.
Posted by: Nancy | March 17, 2008 at 06:44 PM
The real problem is that whoever replaces this guy will be just as bad, if not worse.
Posted by: | March 17, 2008 at 05:23 PM
After the trouble this new teacher has found himself in, I was surprised to see dictionaries listed as available for some students that are testing tomorrow, 3-18-02. LEP, limited english proficiency, students are the only ones who may use the dual language dictionaries. All I can say is "When in doubt - don't". Please ask if something doesn't mesh with general directions.
Posted by: Rosemary | March 17, 2008 at 04:50 PM
This is the kind of thing I'm talking about people. The people in this profession are scary. Tell me you don't think that guy is an absolute loon after reading that post. I'd be willing to guess at least 30% of the public education workforce is just as crazy.
Posted by: Bill | March 17, 2008 at 11:36 AM