IS THIS BULLSHIT OR APPROPRIATE?

[HairOfTheDog]

I wouldn't care if she personally wrote to him but she's an idiot for having little kids write to a convicted cop killer.

If that women isn't smart enough to know better, she probably shouldn't be teaching.

I'd have a problem with the teacher's union defending someone who had children write to a convicted murderer.

Like some of the other teacher-assignment controversies covered in this thread, the assignment content itself isn't as concerning to me as the teacher's lack of judgment and common sense in apparently not anticipating the predictable backlash.

In this case, Zuniga's post-boasting on Twitter about the letters being delivered was at least as short-sighted as the assignment itself, IMO.

In terms of the assignment itself, honestly, I don't think I'd much care where my third-grader's glitter and crayon card ended up, but I understand why some parents care. I'd be concerned, however, if it turns out there was more to the assignment, like the kids having been lectured about the murder with the teacher insisting that the convict is innocent. That would be too much for third graders, IMO. At this point, it's not been alleged that Zuniga did that; the investigation is still in progress.

I didn't find any statements from the teachers' union in regards to Zuniga's suspension, but I suspect they won't support her beyond what they're minimally required to do.

The New Jersey State Police Union President (Burgos) is having a public shit fit about the "brainwashing" and "anarchist agenda" which he contends Zuniga inflicted upon her students by having them make those get well cards. Ref: http://newsinnj.com/n-j-teacher-brainwas...dent-says/

Maybe Cutz could help save Burgos from having a heart attack and help him to gain some perspective too? I mean, if Burgos simply embraced Cutz's philosophy that all Jersey kids are, by geographic predestination, prison-bound criminals-in-the-making anyway, Burgos might decide to back away from those hopeless snot-nosed third-grade losers and focus on the little things. The little things -- like better law enforcement training, improving relations and support between the police and the public, means by which to reduce police corruption and brutality, etc...

P.s. A female NJ college professor and friend of Zuniga, Johanna Fernandez, is reportedly a staunch supporter of Abu-Jamal and she's the one who delivered the letters to him in prison. The other batch was from a group of high school students in the Philadelphia Student Union, which fights for school reform and is led by Mr. Hiram Rivera. I haven't come across any news of disciplinary action against Rivera. Ref: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/U-TUR...a.html?c=r