Update~ The High Tech Lynching of Eleanor Burks

Huntsville teacher suspended for violating testing policy

Here we go again.

Eleanor Burks is a 4th-grade teacher at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary. She has been with the school for 27 years.

You know the drill.

School board leaders allege Burks assisted a student in changing test responses on the May 5 examination. Evidence came from the student himself, who said in a statement read aloud Thursday that Burks told him to erase an incorrect answer and to re-read the question, "because I may want to change it."

Another long time educator is tried and convicted in the court of public opinion.

The board upheld Burks' suspension. Board vice president Laurie McCaulley addressed school district employees afterward, asking that they all review the policies and procedures they must follow to do their jobs properly. 
"We don't want to see nothing like this come before us again," she said.

Those who make and enforce the rules, get to break the rules. (Links inserted for emphasis)

Prior to the board vote, the hearing turned ugly as Stan McDonald, Burks' lawyer, accused the board of violating its own hearing policy under the Students First Act, the law that in 2011 replaced the state's previous tenure laws for teachers. McDonald objected to McNeal's testimony because she was not a sworn witness and because he was not allowed to cross-examine her.

And who wins in the end?

Not the students and taxpayers that's for sure.

Sigh