My little sister's teacher....?

Question

My sister is in third grade, and her teacher's long-term sub had everyone bring in money for the victims of the china earth quake. So my sister brought in money, but the substitute wrote the amount that everyone brought in on the board. Of course, it pressured my sister to bring in more money. So, she borrowed $15 from my older sister. When she brought it in her teacher's sub said 'I'm not accepting this; it isn't yours.' My sister told her that she had gotten it from my other sister, and the sub said 'No, you stole it.'

Her teacher not only pressured her to bring in money, she also accused her of stealing and lying. What should I do?

I don't know how much I can do, the last day of school was yesterday, but I could probably still get in contact with the teacher.

Answer 1

Don't contact the teacher.  Contact the principal.

What the teacher did was wrong on many counts.

Children should not be pressured to give money.

Children should not be pressured to give to specific charities.

Children should not be shamed.

You can expect to be blown off by the principal.  Your local paper might be interested in this, however.

Answer 2

The teacher's long-term sub was deliberately trying to embarise those pupils whose amounts were low. She succeded but at a high cost to your younger sister's feelings. Such behavour by a responsible teacher, even if she is a substitute, is reprehendable and a formal letter of complaint should be sent to the school governing board with a copy to the head teacher.

This letter will hopefully reach the board before the substitute teacher works this trick again. Is there any record of what happened to all of the money that was collected by that class? How do you know that it wasn't the substitute teacher who is the thief?

Answer 3

I think that you (or a parent) need to schedule a meeting with her principal and tell him/her exactly what happened.  That way, hopefully, they won't ever hire this teacher again.  Personally, I think it's stupid for any teacher to expect a 3rd grader to bring in his or her "own" money considering there are a lot of kids that age who don't get huge allowances (or any allowances for that matter), and they aren't old enough to have jobs.

Answer 4

go straight to the school governing board and put in an official complaint how dare she. your poor sister it disgusting.

Answer 5

Get in touch with the Principal, the Superintendent or someone from the Board of Education.  It depends on how far you want to take this.

Answer 6

Tell the principal and contact the teacher and tell her that writing the amount on the board is rude and tacky and mean and so unproffesional!

Answer 7

I would try to contact the teacher and ask her who she thinks she is for accusing your sister of stealing! And tell her that writing on the board how much each kid brought in was VERY tacky and rude! What if some kids couldn't afford to bring in anything? That is very disrespectful! I agree that she could have kept a tally of the total from the class on the board but individual contributions was way out of line!

Then I would ask for proof that she actually sent it a relief fund for the eathquake victims and didn't go shopping for herself!

Answer 8

lol... y the teacher said that she stole it? she just borrow it... that teacher think she wat?

Answer 9

Tell your parents what happened and ask them to file a complaint against the substitute.  They should be able to contact your Board of Education.

Teachers who act in the way this one did need to be reprimanded.  She should have to apologize, personally, to your sister.

Answer 10

i would have a parent contact the school or school board to report the incident.  Not only was she pressuring them to bring money, but accusing her of stealing.  they should know about that.

Answer 11

i would get your parents involved.

I would also tell your school, and the teacher to stop extorting money from students, especially if it's going to benefit the  communists in Red China.

We have people at home who need help. Don't give a penny to those in China.

Answer 12

There are 2 things I see wrong here.

A: Donations are voluntary and people should only give what they can afford. It should be anonymous. Putting the amounts on a score board makes it into a competition rather than an act of benevolence. The point isn't about how much money you can get. Its about helping people that need it.

B: The teacher shouldn't have accused the kid. They should have tried to contact the parents. But I know teachers can be stressed out and might slip up from time to time. If this is a 'long term sub'. The school is probably desperate for teachers anyway.

You should go to the principle with a written statement about what happened and why you're concerned. Definitely let the principle and teacher know you're available if they have questions and that you want to be contacted if something like this comes up again.

I don't mind talking to the teacher about how my kid is doing, but if its a disagreement, I'd rather have  the Principle in the room during the discussion. I wouldn't confront the teacher directly especially in front of students. It undermines the school's authority.

Next time something like this comes up you should probably send a note to the teacher along with the money so there's no question.

Talk to your daughter about what charity is and donate the $15.00 through some other means. Explain that people sometimes make mistakes and that the teacher was trying to do the right thing even though he was wrong this time.

Good luck.

Answer 13

the teacher was tacky.

nothing you could do now, you could try writing her a letter and giving her this suggesion.

she should of wrote on the board

"kids thank you for your contributions, our class is giving a total of $25 to the victims.  good job".  

instead of writing who gave what, she should of made it a group total. thats teamwork.

Answer 14

I dont really think that there is much you can do, but maybe you could tell the story to the principal. Thats stupid, writing that on the board?