The Last Ditch by Tom Paine

THE LAST DITCH

False witness

Published by Tom

on

Teachers' careers 'blighted' by false allegations – Telegraph.

Consider these sinister words of a spokesman for for the Department of Children, Schools and Families quoted in the linked article;

"We are also looking at whether guidance should be amended to make clear
that accusations which have been demonstrated to be untrue do not need
to be included in teachers' references."

Excuse me?! How about ignoring all accusations which have not been "demonstrated" to be true? Who on earth would want to work for an employer with such an attitude?

Dreamstime_8125481Is it any wonder that, according to 2001 research, 40% of teacher trainees never join the profession? A brief exposure to our classrooms during training is enough to put them off. It is surprising that 18% leave within the first three years? Or that 85.2% of qualified teachers leaving the profession say they do so simply so to "get out," rather than because of the attractions of another job?

A society which doesn't value its teachers is doomed. There is no more important job. Yet in Britain, teachers in the state sector face the double whammy of low-pay and low-status. At any time, a teacher may be falsely accused and his or her guilt will be assumed until disproven. Even if nothing comes of the allegation, it remains on their record.

It takes better-than-average courage to confront a stroppy child who has been given such power by the state. No wonder there are, to put it mildly, discipline problems in state schools.

3 responses to “False witness”

  1. gerry mander Avatar
    gerry mander

    The sort of people who ‘manage’ schools work on the basis that there is no smoke without fire.
    Their ideas of justice would not have been out of place in the medieval witch trials.
    Facts, evidence, presumption of innocence, and all those quaint stale pale male ideas are concepts which are alien to them.
    However, I do hope that accusations which are made by a child, and which turn out to be false, are included on that child’s school record so that other teachers can see that they are at risk from a malicious little liar, but somehow I doubt it.

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  2. John Avatar
    John

    Great post. Even by your usual high standards. (Good reply from gerry mander, too!)
    I am completely baffled as to why the teaching profession in Britain puts up with it. Nor can I understand why there are so many people still in teaching. Nor can I understand why their trade unions are not fired up with a militancy that would make Arthur Scargill look positively moderate.

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  3. John Ozimek Avatar
    John Ozimek

    To be honest, this is a horse that has long since bolted. Last year, the infamous Pinnington case ended up with a ruling that the Police were obliged to pass on any allegations they hold on file:
    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/17/gossip_work_check/
    The judges effectively said that if the police knew about allegations, however unsubstantiated or demonstrably false, they had little choice but to pass them on.
    Now this matters. At present, most jobs require a standard crb check – for which only crime info is passed on. But some jobs require enhanced checks, for which ALL info is passed on.
    John Pinnington – referenced above – came a cropper when moving from a job needing a standard check to one requiring an enhanced one.
    But from later this year, ALL “regulated” jobs will require checking to a standard that is equivalent to the enhanced check.
    There are c. 11 to 14 million regulated positions in the UK.
    Schools will be given this sort of information, whether they want it or not. So in that context, a policy on whether or not to do anything about it is probably overdue.

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Tom is a retired international lawyer. He was a partner in a City of London law firm and spent almost twenty years abroad serving clients from all over the world.

Returning to London on retirement in 2011, he was dismayed to discover how much liberty had been lost in the UK while he was away.

He’s a classical liberal (libertarian, if you must) who, like his illustrious namesake, considers that

“…government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.”

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