The growing backlash against overparenting

[Slargos]

Pretty funny coming from you.
You're such a hovering Helicopter Mom, we can hear "Ride of the Valkyries" as your minivan approaches the beach.

Not to mention Tim, the poster boy for immature childishness.

Tim may well be called childish in his enthusiasm (and there's certainly nothing negative about that) but from what I can discern he has accomplished more than most, and done stuff a lot of people would just dream about but never have the guts to follow through on.

[merithyn]

Unless the principal and the woman's father had some sort of previous connection or friendship.  That kind of connection / string-pulling is entirely commonplace.

They didn't.

[Neil]

Pretty funny coming from you.
You're such a hovering Helicopter Mom, we can hear "Ride of the Valkyries" as your minivan approaches the beach.

Not to mention Tim, the poster boy for immature childishness.

Tim is far more mature and less childish than you.

[Slargos]

I would be thrilled if the mother of a hot 22 year old aspiring teacher would call to ask me to hire her daughter.

She's already used to and comfortable with being told what to do. 

[merithyn]

I agree, glad you have come around Meri!

But too many parents, says Skenazy, have the math all wrong. Refusing to vaccinate your children, as millions now threaten to do in the case of the swine flu, is statistically reckless; on the other hand, there are no reports of a child ever being poisoned by a stranger handing out tainted Halloween candy, and the odds of being kidnapped and killed by a stranger are about 1 in 1.5 million.

Sure thing! And maybe I'll run out and get them vaccinated for varicella while I'm at it, too, even though they already had that!

[Neil]

Unless the principal and the woman's father had some sort of previous connection or friendship.  That kind of connection / string-pulling is entirely commonplace.

They didn't.

Then the fault is with the employer.

[merithyn]

Then the fault is with the employer.

Agreed, and he's "fixing" it now, a semester in. Apparently, she's not actually certified to teach, so as of January, she's done. They're bringing in a guy from Finland to teach German in a program they intend to kill after this year.

[Caliga]

Agreed, and he's "fixing" it now, a semester in. Apparently, she's not actually certified to teach

You work at a public school, right?  I can't believe he could have hired someone without teaching certs, if so... that's like a hospital hiring a "doctor" who doesn't have an M.D.  The unions would have a shitfit, if not the parents.

[merithyn]

Not every 22 year old knows the ins and outs of employment benefits.   For most, it's the first time they encounter bonus structures, short term vs long term disability, and what exactly constitutes employee healthcare.  Give em a break.

Working for Ernst & Young, and they can't figure this stuff out? Or at least ask Mom and Dad to work it out with them at home, while they take care of it at work? And why wasn't this taught to them prior to graduating college?

Honestly, that's the bit that astounds me. "But my baby's never encountered this before! How is she supposed to understand it??" Well, how about you start talking to them about this stuff well before they're working out that details on their first post-grad job? That'd be a nice start.

[Caliga]

The second I would have any contact whatsoever with a potential employee's parents is the second that a job offer is retracted (or never extended in the first place if we hadn't gotten to the offer stage yet).

[merithyn]

You work at a public school, right?  I can't believe he could have hired someone without teaching certs, if so... that's like a hospital hiring a "doctor" who doesn't have an M.D.  The unions would have a shitfit, if not the parents.

Long-term subs get a dispensation. They couldn't find anyone certified to fill the spot, so they were allowed to hire a qualified sub until they had one. The girl is fluent in German (that's what her degree was in), ergo, she's "qualified". The union couldn't and wouldn't do anything under the circumstances. Parents are used to this in the district so no one said much.

Jeremy's Honors Reading teacher for most of last year wasn't certified in this state, but was the best teacher Jeremy had ever had. They replaced him with a certified teacher who left in tears every day for a week before finally quitting. Her replacement, also certified, did the same in her third week in the job after fighting off H1N1 for the first two weeks. Now, he's back in the classroom, the kids are learning, and everyone is happy.

[Caliga]

I'm not trying to defend Nazi-like rigidity with regard to teaching certs... I was just pointing out how strange that sounded to me given the Nazi-like rigidity I'm familiar with.  Princesca thought about becoming a teacher once in Mass. and actually got a provisional cert (which expires after 1 year unless you enroll in an M.Ed. program), and IIRC even subs had to have at least a provisional cert to be in the classroom.  I believe it's the same or very similar in Kentucky.

[Darth Wagtaros]

I'm not trying to defend Nazi-like rigidity with regard to teaching certs... I was just pointing out how strange that sounded to me given the Nazi-like rigidity I'm familiar with.  Princesca thought about becoming a teacher once in Mass. and actually got a provisional cert (which expires after 1 year unless you enroll in an M.Ed. program), and IIRC even subs had to have at least a provisional cert to be in the classroom.  I believe it's the same or very similar in Kentucky.

Correct as far as Mass goes.  Though its slightly less rigid on subs.  Last time I worked in a puiblic school a sub with an M.Ed. got like an extra five bucks a day and could be a long term substitute, but often times they just need a body and will take someone without the masters.

[merithyn]

Subs /= regular teachers

Different rules for different jobs.

[Ed Anger]

I've never seen anybody's parents call on me at work.