TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online
Here's The Trick To Becoming A Laughingstock
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: May 15, 2008
There are plenty of reasons it's hard to find dedicated teachers - low pay, even lower societal appreciation, the focus on teaching the little dickens to simply take tests, rather than run the risk of actually learning something.
And then there is probably this, too. The fear a well-meaning teacher will be accused of practicing wizardry by pinched school bureaucrats armed to their tightly wound hair buns with their clipboards and lanyards and policy manuals.
How proud the Pasco County School District must feel to know their Col. Klink ineptitude in handling what should have been a bigger nonissue than "Do we give LeBron James the ball with 10 seconds left in the game?" has made these "educators" a laughingstock from Australia to Moscow to even Iraq!
On Jan. 16, substitute teacher Jim Piculas found himself with a few spare moments before the end of his intensive reading class at Rushe Middle School.
To pass the time, Piculas thought it would be fun to amuse the sixth- and seventh-graders with a silly sleight-of-hand trick in which he makes a toothpick appear to vanish in his hand.
Poof! Job Vanishes
Afterward Piculas even showed the children how he pulled off the trick.
"The entire event lasted less than one minute," Piculas explained, but it would turn out to be 60 seconds that would change his life.
A few days later Piculas was informed that the school district would no longer require his services. The now defrocked teacher said he was accused of performing "wizardry" in class. Oh dear.
Apparently one student, who if Piculas had the power he ought to have turned the youth into a newt, had misinterpreted the trick, and thus the kiddo's father filed a complaint.
School officials have denied Piculas was banished into the darkness because he is a wizard.
Under The Bus
In a letter notifying him of his firing, in addition to recklessly making toothpicks disappear, Piculas was accused of not following lesson plans, allowing students to use computers and permitting a student to lead a class.
Piculas denied the allegations, insisting his Harry Potter-lite routine is the reason he has been sent off to education's Chamber of Secrets.
In any event, the story of Jim Piculas and the Order of the Condo Association Prudes has made its way around the globe, with his tale of being thrown under the bus by a bunch of hand-wringing paper-pushers showing up in Australia, Moscow and even Iraqi media outlets.
So a man's entire career and reputation as a teacher suddenly gets trashed simply because of one crybaby who didn't understand Piculas' harmless little magic trick - even after he explained how he performed the stunt?!?!?
It's probably more than reasonable to assume once you've been accused of "wizardry" by an elementary school tattletale, your future in the classroom is more doomed than a Salem witchcraft defendant.
And that's probably the good news here.
At least Jim Piculas wasn't burned at the stake.
But this is Pasco County after all - let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.
Keyword: Book of Ruth, to read and comment on Daniel Ruth's blog.
Post a comment
(Requires free registration.)
* Keep it clean
* Respect others
* Don't hate
* Don't use language you wouldn't use with your mom
* Use "Report Inappropriate Comments" link when necessary
* See Member Agreement for details
TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online Member Agreement | Privacy Statement | Work With Us
Reader Comments
Posted by ( pacfandave ) on May 15, 2008 at 7:08 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Pasco County--pickup capital of the world. Amazing that in 2008 such Third World, Stone Age mentalities exist at all, let alone within our own borders. Even more stupefying is that they have metastasized within our public schools.
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( Platon ) on May 15, 2008 at 12:17 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
So who's surprised? Bureaucrats MUST justify their existences: Pat Sinclair, "supervisor of substitutes" (why is this position even needed?) leads the pack of dopes making this an issue. And this is what taxpayers get asking for ever-more education dollars for a government system that already spends three times that of the private sector per student: paper shufflers, supervisors, managers, ad nauseum.
Before taxes ever buy a school, a pencil or a single hour of teachers' salary they'll buy dopey bureaucrats and political power.
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( Deborahcm ) on May 15, 2008 at 9:25 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Yeah, how dare a teacher actually give something, actually teach something, that might get children to think on their own instead of regurgitating information back up on a test and then forgetting about it *sarcasm alert*.
Humm, what a perfect example of what is happening in our society: This case is another case among many that demonstrates that if any teacher does not toe the line in the government’s school system (excussse me, the “public” school system) will get his or hers career endangered or destroyed. This is one reason why the statistics show that good teachers are leaving the system in droves and college students who have the potential of becoming great teachers are steering away from the profession and are selecting other degrees to the chagrin of the higher ups that profit from the educational systems.
It is a good thing some student didn’t claim that this *gasp* entertaining and human (as in not robotic) teacher touched him or her and thus had gotten the teacher some jail time and/or his career permanently destroyed.
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( Tom_in_Tampa ) on May 16, 2008 at 5:56 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
The Pasco County School District has really demonstrated what is wrong with the Florida Education System! They should not be called educators because of their obvious belief in superstition. I am referring to the firing of substitute teacher Jim Piculas for engaging in a bit of performance art that the School District has classified as wizardry.
The definition of wizardry (noun) is the art or practice of a wizard; specif., 1. Witchcraft; magic; sorcery, 2. Exceptional cleverness
I can not imagine firing someone for exceptional cleverness; therefore it must be for witchcraft. I would hope that the Pasco County School District will discipline the Charles S. Rushe Middle School Principal and all of the school district officials involved for their endorsement of wizardry and witchcraft.
According to the 'Classroom Management Strategies' web site, "Here are some classroom management strategies that can be used by substitute teachers. Use your talents! If you know some magic tricks, that works well in the same way. Show them one at the beginning of class, and then offer to show them more as rewards."
Besides the local news stations, the Pasco County School District did make it on national cable TV. 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Wednesday, May 7
From 'The Witchcraft Trials in Salem: A Commentary'
by Douglas Linder
The last victims of the Salem witchhunt died about September 25, 1692.
The witches disappeared, but witchhunting in America did not. Each generation must learn the lessons of history or risk repeating its mistakes. Salem should warn us to think hard about how to best safeguard and improve our system of justice.
So true so true!
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( drdneast ) on May 20, 2008 at 5:57 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Sounds like the school is teaching their students how to be members of the Hitler Youth. I bet this kid grows up to be a great republican politician one day.
Report Inappropriate Comments