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Education

‘I Can’t Carry That All Day’: Middle Schooler Says She Was Forced to Haul Entire Contents of Her Locker as Punishment

Mar. 23, 2013 11:04am Madeleine Morgenstern

Image source: WCSH-TV

The parents of a Kentucky middle schooler want answers after they say their daughter was forced to carry around the entire contents of her locker in her backpack as punishment.

“I’ve got marks on my back. That really hurts,” 13-year-old Ashley Owens told WLEX-TV.

She told WLEX she confessed to accidentally erasing a student’s name on the board from a list of kids who had talked in class at Powell County Middle School.

“It takes two seconds to write it back,” she said. “She [the teacher] could’ve just wrote it back.”

But instead, Ashley said, she was told to clean out her locker and put everything in her backpack. Her locker was taped shut, and she was told she’d have to carry everything around for the rest of the week.

Ashley’s parents say she weighs 50 pounds, making the 20-pound backpack nearly half her weight. She switches classes six times a day.

“I can’t carry that all day,” Ashley said.

Her parents complained, but were told the principal had approved the punishment, according to WLEX. They were so incensed they took her out of school temporarily.

“I’m fed up with it,” mother Stella Owens said. “I want something done. She’s not doing it.”

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Comments (151)

grammarman
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 12:16pm
50 POUNDS? She is either a midget or her parents are liars!

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- Stoic one
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 1:46pm
  At ten yrs old, I was 3’9″ and weighed 45 lbs.
  
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- OldTiredMarine
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 2:53pm
  my daughter weighed 51 pounds at that age. today she is 28 years old and 5’8″ perfectly normal, no two children grow at the same rate.
  
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- kenndeaux
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 4:32pm
  Guess you are one of those people that has kids that were 150-200 lbs at 10 years old..
  
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- mtaylor56
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 4:58pm
  Grammarman, I was 83 pounds when I was thirteen. Can’t remember my height, but I had to stand sideways and stick out my tongue so people could see me. That said, if I were this girls dad, I’d tell the principal I would see him or her on the street one day and it wouldn’t end well. The teacher would get the same.
  
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- 4xeverything
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 7:23pm
  Really!?! She was punished? I thought hurting the poor little kiddies feelings was illegal these days. I really can’t believe a teacher actually gave out a punishment to a child who broke the rules. In my time she would have won teacher of the year. Now, she’ll probably be put on admin. leave. The only reason this is a story is because the braindead parent can’t believe anyone would punish her poor sweet child who would never do anything wrong. I had nuns in grade school and Franciscan Brothers in highschool…beat that!
  
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- independentvoteril
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 8:51pm
  HEY not ALL kids are OBESE
  
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- KingArthur
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 9:12pm
  My skinny 12 year old daughter weighs 85 pounds.
  
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- Adobewalls
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:45pm
  Don’t think so my kids are about her age 15/11 that weight sounds about right for the contents of their entire locker. Text books are heavy by the time you get a dictionary, math, science, english, spanish, literature, and spiral notebooks for each subject I am sure it was too heavy. I think the family should have her back evaluated she probably has musculosketial injury the school district probably needs to settle out of court.
  
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- Iwillvetalways
  Posted on March 24, 2013 at 10:49am
  This is what you got out of this story ! You putz
  
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- smokie
  Posted on March 24, 2013 at 1:03pm
  Some of us are small.
  Don’t teachers teach anymore? It seems that all they do is release their petty agressions on people that are hard pressed to fight back, and recite from the Communist Manifesto. I went to a lousy school, but at least the teachers knew back then they had to at least mention the subject they were paid to teach.
  
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- InGodITrust1220
  Posted on March 24, 2013 at 6:33pm
  Well for starters the term “midget” would reference her height; not her weight. Second of all, for those saying “Omg… a teacher punished a student… it’s about time…” let me ask you if you would still be making those remarks had this been YOUR child. I do not believe that the name was “accidentally” erased as the student implies and she probably erased it for a friend and yes that is wrong and a punishment should be rendered. However, whatever happened to after school detention, ISS, a note home to the parent, or even a 500 word essay as extra homework? Requiring the student to carry around her entire contents of her locker is not only an abuse of power but it is child abuse. I, to this day, have permanent back problems due to the weight of my book bag. I agree with the parents that my child would NOT finish out this particular punishment; but as I said, I do feel a punishment should be given. This child knew what she was doing and that it was wrong… but the teacher and that principal also knew that this punishment was wrong as well.
  
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- danco35
  Posted on March 25, 2013 at 2:09am
  Or you were just little rolly polly when you were her age.
  
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firearm
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 12:04pm
Progressive re-education camps

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ThePostman
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:58am
The kid’s lying about it being an accident. She erased a friend of hers name, I suspect.

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- Jenny Lind
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 12:31pm
  like my Mom used to say-”was that accidentaly on purpose young lady?”
  
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- Exrepublisheep
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 1:32pm
  The teacher could’ve written it back? How dare a school discipline a child!!
  
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- forensicpsych
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 2:38pm
  You are so correct. There’s more to this little monster than is being reported. Sounds like the teacher was fed up.
  
  Social hemorrhoids, when they first realize they can cause chaos (and enjoy same), really get infantile when a consequence doesn’t meet their requirements. Their acting works on weak and enabling parents who will now look for a weak link in the school hierarchy. They’ll surely find one who further enable the little reptile.
  
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- OldTiredMarine
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 2:54pm
  and … you know this how? or are you projecting?
  
  Report this comment
- loriann12
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 3:46pm
  I agree it probably wasn’t a “mistake,” but you don’t make someone carry the entire contents of their locker all day long. There has to be a more appropriate punishment…..like putting HER name on the board and giving her whatever punishment the talkers would have gotten.
  
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- kenndeaux
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 4:34pm
  Then the teacher should have added her name to the board as well.. Any teacher or principal that tired that crap with my kid would be in for a world of pain..
  
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- Hmschlmom
  Posted on March 24, 2013 at 2:58am
  1. That was my first thought as well. Accident? Please…
  2. That STILL doesn’t make this an appropriate punishment. How about just adding her name to the list of kids in trouble OR what ever happened to staying after school to clean the blackboards and take out the trash? Maybe scrub some desks… this teacher should have a sparkly clean classroom! I have no problem AT ALL with a physical punishment BUT…carrying that much weight (proportionally to HER weight) around all day for a week isn’t good for the kid’s back. The school is wrong.
  
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- JRook
  Posted on March 24, 2013 at 11:55am
  @loriann12 It seems logical she would have only carried between classes which lasts about 5 minutes and in middle school you rarely switch classes. So rather than focus on her carrying a very reasonable 20 lbs, let’s consider how long she had to carry it for.
  
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- AccessDenied
  Posted on March 24, 2013 at 4:47pm
  Like most Postmen..your an idiot…
  
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Copper Catfish
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:56am
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the average height for a 13-year-old girl is 5’1 3/4″. Girls’ normal height can range from 4’11 1/4″ at the 10th percentile to 5′ 5 3/4″ at the 90th percentile. The average weight for girls at that age is 102 pounds, with a range from 82 pounds at the 10th percentile to 137 pounds at the 90th percentile.

Read more: The Average Weight & Height for a 13-Year-Old | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_7417018_average-weight-height-13_year_old.html#ixzz2ONZIzt53

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- CrismaFire
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 12:51pm
  Those are some fat kids. My first wife was 105 and fully grown woman. Later she gained to 113 but still not a kid.
  
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- OldTiredMarine
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 3:00pm
  that is IF you assume she is 13 and not 10 as middle schoolers are in this area. I was promoted twice in school in 6th grade I was 9 years old. I do not see any age mentioned only that the girl weighs 50 pounds.
  
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- loriann12
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 6:40pm
  When I graduated high school, at the age of 18, I was 5 ft, 4 in and weighed 103 pounds. Wish I could still say that…..
  
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- electroencephalographic
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 9:40pm
  OTM……“I’ve got marks on my back. That really hurts,” 13-year-old Ashley Owens
  
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- Rowgue
  Posted on March 24, 2013 at 12:08am
  Those numbers are ridiculos and I don’t care who came up with them. There is a 103lb weight class for boys high school wrestling for cripes sake. Thirteen is also right in the age range where a lot of kids haven’t hit their growth spurt yet. A lot of kids are very small even in comparison to other kids their age. And those numbers are already grossly exagerated in the source you cited.
  
  You’ve been watching too many nonsensical movies with people in their mid 20s playing teenagers. It’s warped your sense of reality.
  
  Report this comment
geeman
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:54am
What does one thing have to do with the other,if whatever the kid did was so bad why not detention or a trip the principals office.Me thinks teach’ on a powertrip.But of course the school backs the stupid teacher,cause the union told him to.

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- OldTiredMarine
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 3:08pm
  you are so right! I taught 9th grade math. I quit, could not stand the other teachers constant bitching and always on a POWER TRIP. I can’t count how many times I listened to someone say “I’ll get even with that little snot”. not all but most teachers, in the schools I taught at could not hold a job any place, so they teach.
  
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Copper Catfish
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:54am
I remember the good ol’ days when, if you got into trouble at school, your parents would also punish you at home. This was before the Marxist TSTA/NEA was in control.
Parents need to take responsibility for teaching their children morals. May I suggest checking out the “i Won’t Cheat Foundation,” started by retired Atlanta Braves superstar Dale Murphy?
“She could’ve WROTE…”? The young lady needs to pay more attention in class and less time goofing off. Also, I hope the teacher is spending her time teaching grammar.

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myoldkentuckyhome
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:53am
My daughter goes to this school with this child. While I agree there were better ways to handle the situation, it isn’t entirely honest from what I heard before the story made the news. I am not feeling the sympathy here. I tell my daughter when her backpack gets extra heavy, clean the damn thing out most of it is trash and notes and old work anyway. You can email the principal all you want, but I will be sure to tell her while I believe there were better ways to handle the situation, should my daughter act a fool, feel free to clean her locker out and make her haul it around, and I will handle the rest when she gets home. There is more to this story, so don’t get all up in arms over it.

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- Copper Catfish
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 12:03pm
  Bravo! I suspected there was more to the story than was reported.
  Thank you for taking the time to let us know.
  I would guess that this young lady is well on her way to developing an antisocial personality disorder.
  
  Report this comment
- SovereignSoul
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 1:10pm
  Maybe you could enlighten the rest of us to facts that the author of the article found unimportant, like why does a 13 year old girl only weigh 50 pounds? Does she have a medical condition, or is the family too poor to feed the child? Maybe “50 pounds” was just a typo in the article. Wait, strike that last thought as it is an utterly ridiculous idea!!
  
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- Paladin45ACP
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 1:58pm
  In the vid, the child was able to lift the pack with one hand in between dragging it. Must not be that heavy. The child appears to be an entitled brat. The exercise won’t hurt that child a bit and will make her stronger. There’s a difference between pain and discomfort. This might be discomfort. These parents are enabling this child. This is a perfect example of how this country is getting so F’ed up.
  Dial 1-800-Waaaa!
  
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- christianUSA
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 4:53pm
  Opinion: Why public schools and their system great:? NOT
  School Books; are heavy, limited index, can not ask check questions, can not write in; NO
  Why Ereaders! cheaper, liter, feedback tests, unlimited index, make notes&reports, email.
  Schools safer; gangs, drugs, low ratio adults to kids, dangerous transits, bullies, perp teachers; NO
  Homeschool: high adult per kids#, no transit, parent monitor, less centralized for drug pushers
  HOME/Private: parent guild child associations, more time activity & realLife outings, many groups.
  School pro-lesson plan; one method all, grading but no second redo,only negative feedback; NO
  HOME/Private: individualized plans, computer redos until 90+%, positive feedback, moral contain.
  Why do they even use paper books, because old ways old teachers, unions, publisher contracts; also it would be easier for people to switch to another system like homeschool if the whole lesson were on ereaders! Yes kids do NEED Educators to bad what most get are indoctrinator graders socialist-ers. Educating as with any knowledge without moral guild, discipline in learning breeds immoral undiscipline people. It was Not intention of the framers of the Constitution to strip, forbid, ban religious morals from schools or public but in fact to forbid them From being removed from public families lives and discourse.
  
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- snufy
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:32pm
  Does the word, ‘detention’ mean anything to you? I reject this form of physical punishment. It could cause long lasting problems for her back, at such a young age. I know several attorneys that would love to have this case. Maybe she is a little brat, but I’m sure she isn’t the only one. The first thing the administration should have done is call her parents.
  
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- smokie
  Posted on March 24, 2013 at 1:07pm
  Well, when your daughter has to get medical attention from a pinched nerve, or damage to her lower spine from hauling all that, we’ll sympathize with her when you complain.
  
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ChiefGeorge
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:50am
Agreed! The punishment must reflect the crime. She really only should have been verbally reprimanded for this, but in my day they could have used the BOARD of education on your backside which was painful but over with quickly.

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- OldTiredMarine
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 3:12pm
  I agree!!!
  
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- watashbuddyfriend
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 8:48pm
  Me, also, too, agree! Let me tell you, the board hurts!
  
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MLM411
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:47am
Here in Texas, our high school student has no locker and is required to carry everything she needs (books, supplies, lunch, etc) with her all day. This is due to the rampant drug use at her school where lockers were being used to do drug deals. Lockers are still in all the hallways but NOT used. Instead, students carry their belongings all day (unless you’re an athlete and then you get your own sports locker). And they’re subject to random drug dog searches in the classrooms to inspect their backpacks.

What a joy high school has become – the actions of a few kids ruin it for everyone!

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- canadianlady
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 2:51pm
  It’s just like how a handful of atheists get to dictate an entire school’s religious policy today.
  
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thejackal
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:46am
Teacher union filth! Should be removed from society completely. If it were my kid she’d already be gone. Torturing a small child because they accidentally erased a name on the board really. Gestapo much?

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- Copper Catfish
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:59am
  Yes…50 pounds is QUITE small for a 13-year-old girl. I suspect the parents might be exaggerating.
  
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wilbstal
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:40am
We need to stomp these Teachers Unions in the ground fast they are running wild with their Communist Doctrines in our, our schools

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- chips1
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 5:24pm
  Didn’t Rand Paul say that he wanted to get rid of the Dept. of Ed? He was on a talk show yesterday.
  
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eaglescout1998
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:40am
I don’t believe the punishment fit the crime, but I also have a hard time believing carrying her books could be that much a physical hardship. I carried my books around with me all the time. I never even used lockers (apparently no one else did either as my high school got rid of them in my third year).

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lessoneleg
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:39am
In bygone days the girls Dad would show up with a temper burning and a wick lit to light up the Principal for being a ******.
Heaven help a Teacher or Principal who failed to use proper judgement if they inflicted ridiculous harm to the Son or Daughter.
Why can’t we take a swing at the Principal and the Teacher. You hurt my kid, and I’ll hurt your sorry backside.

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- OldTiredMarine
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 3:18pm
  can you say “political correctness” and teachers unions that would sue you untill your fillings fell out.
  
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wilbstal
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:39am
Punishment could have been something different like writting I will not erase names 1000 times. This Boot Camp type punishment is to severe for a Girl her age. left Wing Obama Union teachers need to get smacked around real good and see if they like their punishments..

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Dde13
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:33am
Mom’s reaction “I’m fed up with this” sounds like there is more to the story here.

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ForMyKidsVA
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:32am
Why not just have the kid write “I will not erase anything from a teacher’s whiteboard without permission again” 500 times? I know that this worked for a certain kid who got caught throwing paper airplanes years ago. Not that I have first hand knowledge of it or anything.

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Dodsfall
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:24am
The punishment should fit the crime. That was uncalled for.

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- PASSIONFORCHRIST
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 1:36pm
  Their are guidelines to punishment at any school, if teacher’s can’t follow the guidelines then FIRE them!
  
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forthepeople
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:23am
Child ‘ Stole ‘ by erasing the name / info ! What lesson does it teach our children when you cheat and steal with no repercussion ? Sound like a small matter , just wait until she grows up along with her deeds !

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TRONINTHEMORNING
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:22am
What a mean little school staff. Here is the principal’s email should anyone wish to send her greetings.

Virginia.todd@powell.kyschools.us

No, that punishment is way out of line and unnecessary. I shall now send a greeting to Ms. Todd.

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kfogs1957
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:20am
You don’t need to be bright to be a teacher, just have a degree and a union to back you.

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BackToTheWall
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:17am
50LBS 13 year old?

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- stumpygrim
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 12:02pm
  Uh, try doing the math again, the back pack weighed 50 pounds,and was “half’ her weigth……
  
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- FstEti
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 12:36pm
  Uh, try reading the story again…..
  
  “Ashley’s parents say she weighs 50 pounds, making the 20-pound backpack nearly half her weight.”
  
  Do the English.
  
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- tradcatholicgirl
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 1:24pm
  I suspect Stumpygrim is right about the numbers. But the report or the claim by parents has an obvious error.
  
  I am not sure why Ms. Morgenstern, the journalist on this story, did not pick up on how ridiculous the 50lbs for a teenage girl is…
  
  …So then she did not check facts for herself before she published.
  
  Report this comment
Stoic one
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:16am
NOT the schools job.

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ones-own-truth-and-ideals
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:14am
horrid the school system is just plain horrid these unoin teachers don’t help ether.

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Caniac Steve
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:13am
all week is a wee bit much..but there should be accountability..but not “that’ much

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Rowgue
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 11:11am
The incompetence of teachers and school administrators is astounding.

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