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Supply teacher sacked in race row
A supply teacher has been sacked from a secondary school following complaints from Muslim pupils.
Andrew McLuskey was sacked from Bayliss Court Secondary School in Slough after a Religious Education lesson discussing the pros and cons of religion.
Pupils at the predominantly Muslim school claimed Mr McLuskey said most suicide bombers were Muslim.
But he rejected the allegation and said the school was too quick to sack him without giving him right of reply.
"Very unjust"
He expected to complete an eight week contract at the school - but was sacked after only several days.
"I feel it's very unjust," he said.
"I think I should've been given the chance to respond to the allegations and not in effect be ejected from a job without the chance to defend myself."
The school authorities denied they were being heavy-handed and said their first priority was pupils' welfare.
"I don't think it's important what I think," said the school's deputy head teacher Ray Hinds.
"It's what the pupils think that were in the classroom at the time. And they were very upset."
It might be funny, if it weren't so sad.-U have to laugh eh
Unfortunately in the UK we have school league tables now that compare all schools on a purely statistical basis - so they are probably terrified to start any conflict that may cause any possible disruption to their academic life.
In addition there is always the media to bear in mind - get an issue like that, that the words 'racism' can be tagged on to in the papers and your schools reputation can be screwed.
The ultimate cause of all this kind of thing (u hear lots of other incidents) is attempts by the government to try and bring market-like forces into academia - the universities have the same problem. That together with the modern PC climate is the root of all this nonsense.
I just thank my lucky stars that I didn't go into teaching (briefly considered it after uni)...
Kathianne said:I think the West is approaching the point at where decisions are going to be made, from the people up. In the US I think while divided in so many ways, the division is more at the leadership level, with the extremes of both ends of the 'people' being the outliers.
Pretty much there is agreement towards the center that we must gain control of our borders, support the military, and win the long term war. We want to maintain our basic liberties, but not to the point of a suicide pact.
Australia seems much like the US, while Canada seems to flit between the US and Europe, more often Europe. Now Europe, that is the kicker. For all their naysaying about Guantanomo and all, they do not have the problem of rights being written or even always protected. They do censor their press. They do pass laws outlawing berkas, etc. They do shut down plays, cartoons, etc. At the same time, it's the Europeans for the most part that segregate their rapidly growing Muslim populations, fail to educate/employ their young. Then they simultaneously will bug their mosques and start serving Muslim meals in their public schools. They seem willing to fall into dhimmitude, then start deporting 'extremists.'
I do think the radical Islamics understand to some degree the uncertainty of Europe. That's why they are hitting there first. They know they'll have a fight here, whether now or later.
I'm willing to bet though, that Europe will turn this into the bloodiest war ever. They will not fight the way they've argued we should and we won't stop them if they go into Crusade mode. Don't be surprised.
Wow! Thats pretty dark!
I agree, the s**t is going to hit the fan, but I dont see religion as the cause. I see planetary resources (oil in particular) being the cause of the 'crusade'. It's coming . The battle ground will be the middle east, but the participants will involve China India, the US and Europe. Islam will be a side show compared to that.
Europe may be the EU, but that doesnt really mean very much - it is in no way of a shared opinion. France, UK, Germany, Spain, Greece etc are as different in their opinions as any other countries anywhere - the Arab world is far more unified in their opinions.
In any case, when u say 'which side would it be on' I take it u mean would it be on the US 'side' or the muslim side. The answer is ofcourse that we have infinately more in common with the US than the muslim world and if it ever came to the crunch we would be on the US side.
Actually I think that a lot of the newspaper articles talking about the creeping islamisation of Europe are way over-sensationalist.
I live in Birmingham - where that be-heading plot was hatched - so I think I would notice any creeping islamisation. Yes, It's true that there are whites who convert to islam, but for every one of them there is a muslim who stops going to mosques and doesnt give a s**t about religion, so I wouldn't worry about Europe, as far as I can tell we are as distrusting of islam as the US - we just aren't very christian either.
They are. What? Is teaching facts shunned in Slough? [rhetorical question]Pupils at the predominantly Muslim school claimed Mr McLuskey said most suicide bombers were Muslim.
Back to the original post... in my rather libertarian point of view, the fact that this is a government school & therefore subject to every blithering idiot's opinion & sensitivity is the real problem.
Why was the teacher talking about the pros & cons of religion, anyway? Why is that a government school class? How the he!! is that going to help a kid get a job? Schools should be about making the kids employable... not shaping their views on social, religious, whatever issues. That's for the parents... not government.
I'm not sure about over in jolly old Slough, but in the states, we often hear those in charge lamenting the fact that there's not enough time to teach the whole curriculum... thus the ever expanding school year. How about we cut out the liberal BS classes like Religious Education, theology, philosophy, underwater basketweaving & the other nonsense & stick to the basics.
Once they master the basics, let 'em go to a big fine university & fill their brains full of this mush.
They are. What? Is teaching facts shunned in Slough? [rhetorical question]
Of course, that's assuming this is a government school. If not, ignore this post.
The point is a valid one, though.
Yeah, I'm familiar with the type of classes. I graduated from a government high school in 93... I doubt too terribly much has changed since then.
When I was in school, I'd guess that half of the day was wasted learning about things that you wouldn't consider your "core" if you were on a college campus. If the schools can't manage to teach the kids the core, why are they bothering with what should be an elective? I know... I'm WAY oversimplifying...
As for the teacher being sacked for making a supposedly offensive comment that is 100% true... like I said... government schools are subject to every blithering idiot's opinion & sensitivity. In this case, he's in a majority muslim situation & I have no doubt that there are those just waiting to be offended... positively frothing at the mouth. We have a similar situation here in the states with blacks... God forbid you say ANYTHING that could be construed as anything even remotely negative about blacks, even if it's true. You could get fired based on racial discrimination (I have a juicy anecdote I should share sometime.) Was it stupid for the guy to say it? Yup. Should he be fired for it? Nope. Should he be awarded a medal for saying something that'd probably get his throat slit? That's debatable!
At least around here, the comparative religions course would be mostly honors/ap kids. It's a solid social science class for those that want 4 years in hs.
...assuming you mean by it what I think you mean by it, I think the "subject to every blithering idiot's opinion" line reflects it... not that I would ever suggest that those wanting England to live under Sharia law are blithering idiots. 
