An Ohio high school teacher who claims to have a phobia of young children is suing a school district for discrimination.
Maria C. Waltherr-Willard, 61, of Greenhills, is suing the Mariemont school district, where she worked for 35 years, saying it discriminated against her when it reassigned her in 2010 from its high school to its junior high and then pressured her to resign, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
According to the paper, the suit is a discrimination claim based on her age and disability — a rare phobia called pedophobia, an extreme fear or anxiety around young children. Waltherr-Willard’s suit claims she has suffered from the condition since the 1990s.
Waltherr-Willard, who teaches Spanish and French, experiences stress, anxiety, chest pains, vomiting, nightmares and higher than healthy blood pressure when she’s around young children, according to documents filed by medical professionals, the Enquirer reported.
Last week, a federal judge dismissed three of the six claims in her lawsuit, claims which alleged the school district violated an implied contract to keep her from young students.
In court documents, Mariemont officials say they did not expect Waltherr-Willard to resign when she did. They said she was replaced at the high school by teachers who also were in their 50s.
Citizens in over 30 states have so far started petitions at the White House “We the People” website seeking permission to secede from the Union. The number is more than double what we reported Monday morning. Two competing petitions seeking deportation and exile of everyone who signed the petitions have also appeared.
The states now include California, Kansas, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Alaska, Ohio and Delaware. California, Ohio and Delaware voted for Obama in the recent election. The White House web site is not the only place where such petitions are showing up. “A massive number of petitions are currently circulating on Change.org, a website designed to call for action by the federal government or by private institutions on particular causes, calling for particular states to be granted permission to secede,” The Blaze reported Monday. als)
Chicago Teachers Union Demanding A 35% Pay Raise After Rejecting 16% – Is This A Joke?
Tax payer in Chicago Average Salary is $47,000 & Teachers Salary are $71,000 to $74,000 on Average.
While the cash-strapped Chicago Public Schools have offered a 16-percent raise over four years to its striking union, the Chicago Teacher Union has requested a 35-percent pay hike and a guaranteed call-back of any educator who was laid off.
Fox News confirmed those reports by The Daily Caller and Time.com as Mitt Romney and his surrogates accused President Obama of quietly giving Chicago teachers the green-light to strike as the historic standoff affecting nearly 400,000 students entered its second day.
The White House is not taking sides in the dispute, but Republicans claim that by keeping a low profile on the issue the president is enabling the teachers unions to walk off the job. They point out that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s former chief of staff, is fighting against the strike — without public support from Obama.
“Yet again, President Obama is allowing special interests to put their agenda ahead of serving our nation’s students,” Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell said in a statement. “This is Chicago-style politics at its worst. Even the president’s former chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, recognizes that this strike is wrong. It’s disappointing that the president has decided to stand idly by as the Chicago Teachers Union walks out on thousands of schoolchildren.”
Both Romney and running mate Paul Ryan weighed in on the clash Monday. Romney, in a statement, said Obama “has chosen his side in this fight.”
Ryan, speaking at an Oregon fundraiser, said that despite his differences with Emanuel, “on this issue and this day we stand with Mayor Rahm Emanuel.”
Ryan claimed the strike raises questions over where Obama’s loyalties really lie.
“We stand with the children and we stand with the families and the parents of Chicago because education reform, that’s a bipartisan issue. This does not have to divide the two parties. And so, we were going to ask, where does President Obama stand? Does he stand with his former Chief of Staff Mayor Rahm Emanuel, with the children and the parents, or does he stand with the union?” Ryan asked.
Members of the Chicago Teachers Union — the AFT’s oldest local — walked off the job Monday for the first time in 25 years over issues that include pay raises, classroom conditions, job security and teacher evaluations.
They are pitted against Emanuel, who wants to extract more concessions from teachers while the school district faces a nearly $700 million deficit.
Major teacher strikes have been rare in recent years, compared with the 1960s and 1970s, when teachers went on strike frequently for better pay and improved bargaining rights. While unions generally got what they wanted in the past, they face a tougher climate today.
Chicago is the nation’s third largest school district. The White House, pressed on the matter Monday, issued a brief statement about the dispute in Obama’s home town.
“Our principal concern is for the students and his principal concern is for the students and families who are affected by the situation and we hope that both sides are able to come together to settle this quickly and in the best interest of Chicago’s students,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday afternoon.
Obama political aides in Chicago criticized Romney for seeking advantage and pointed to his repeated campaign statements that class size does not affect a student’s education.
“Playing political games with local disputes won’t help educate our kids, nor will fewer teachers,” said Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt.
Emanuel, Obama’s former White House chief of staff, was more direct in dismissing Romney.
“While I appreciate his lip service, what really counts is what we are doing here,” Emanuel told reporters. “I don’t give two hoots about national comments scoring political points or trying to embarrass — or whatever — the president.”
That didn’t stop a wave of critical statements pouring out of the Romney campaign.
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said that by “refusing to condemn” the strike, Obama “has sent a clear message that the hundreds of thousands of children who are suffering because of this strike take a backseat to his political allies.”
Julio Fuentes, a member of Romney’s education policy group, called the strike “just yet another example of President Obama refusing to lead on matters of pressing concern to our nation.”
Chicago Teacher’s Union On Strike -Teacher’s Makes 40% More than Tax Payer whom pay the Their Salary
Teachers Make 40% More than Chicago Average Tax Payer Salary whom pay the Teachers Salary
$47,000 is the Average Salary Of the Chicago Tax Payer whom pay the Teachers Salary ($76,000 Average)
Teacher’s Union Strike – It’s for the Chilgren Right!!!
For The Children Right
$0.71 of Every Dollars Spent Goes to The Teachers Retirement.
51% of the Kids Can not Read At Basic Level!!!!!
Emails obtained by The Daily Caller show that the U.S. Treasury Department, led by Timothy Geithner, was the driving force behind terminating the pensions of 20,000 salaried retirees at the Delphi auto parts manufacturing company.
The move, made in 2009 while the Obama administration implemented its auto bailout plan, appears to have been made solely because those retirees were not members of labor unions.
The internal government emails contradict sworn testimony, in federal court and before Congress, given by several Obama administration figures. They also indicate that the administration misled lawmakers and the courts about the sequence of events surrounding the termination of those non-union pensions, and that administration figures violated federal law.
Delphi, a 13-year old company that is independent of General Motors, is one of the world’s largest automotive parts manufacturers. Twenty thousand of its workers lost nearly their entire pensions when the government bailed out GM. At the same time, Delphi employees who were members of the United Auto Workers union saw their pensions topped off and made whole.
The White House and Treasury Department have consistently maintained that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) independently made the decision to terminate the 20,000 non-union Delphi workers’ pension plan. The PBGC is a federal government agency that handles private-sector pension benefits issues. Its charter calls for independent representation of pension beneficiaries’ interests.
Former Treasury official Matthew Feldman and former White House auto czar Ron Bloom, both key members of the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry during the GM bailout, have testified under oath that the PBGC, not the administration, led the effort to terminate the non-union Delphi workers’ pension plan.
After several walkouts and delays, the right-to-work vote bill passed the House 55-44, Wednesday. It now moves to the Senate for final approval.
Governor Mitch Daniels has said he would sign it. That is expected to happen in the next few weeks.
Unions Disruption Video.
Several Republicans did side with Democrats in voting against the measure. A few others did not vote, citing a conflict of interest.
“People voted their conscience and this policy is moving forward,” said House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, moments after the vote.
Democrat Minority Leader Pat Bauer, D-South Bend, who has been leading the fight in the Indiana Statehouse, had even harsher words for those who voted to pass the bill.
“Shame on you,” said Bauer. “There should be shame on anybody that wants to take away the living wages, the living wages of families.”
At points Wednesday afternoon, shouts from protestors drowned out the debate. Representatives went back and forth, taking turns making their arguments for and against the bill.
Democrats requested the issue be put on a ballot so voters could decide whether unions would still be able to collect dues from all employees of a business. Republicans said workers should have a choice whether they want to be represented by that union.
“Obviously it’s disappointing that the House members didn’t hear their constituents, didn’t really allow a process that constituents could be heard in,” said Nancy Guyott, president of the AFL-CIO.
Union workers plan on maintaining a presence at the Statehouse until the Senate makes its final decision. When asked about a rally during the Super Bowl, Guyott didn’t answer with a yes or no, instead she said her focus was on the Senate now.
“We know that some Senators are still taking in information, taking in the opinions of their constituents. We’re going to be there to make sure that they understand what it means to, to our families.”
It’s a fight that has captured national attention. States in the South and West have tended to adopt right-to-work laws, but Indiana would become the first Rust Belt state to do so — a notable move because the area has traditionally maintained a strong union presence.
Indiana has been a right-to-work state before. A Republican-led General Assembly approved the law in 1957. Then, in 1965, when Democrats took control of the House and Senate, they repealed it.
Plymouth Rock/Cape Cod & the Islands Tea Party Patriots
Carver School Committee next meeting January 9th 2012-To decide if teacher will be allowed time off for injured Soldier son.
Why Do They Need a Meeting To decide this!!!!!!!!
CARVER (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) – A Caver High School math teacher is calling on the School Committee to overturn a decision regarding her leave so that she can be there for her son who was injured while serving overseas in Afghanistan.
Sonya Lomax has already taken the nine paid days of leave allotted to her under her contract. Superintendent Liz Sorrell claims her hands are tied and she has to honor the contract agreed upon by the school system and the teacher’s union.
Lomax is now hoping Carver’s School Committee will help her out.
The math teacher shared the story of her son’s traumatic accident before the School Committee on Monday night. Her son, Todd, was injured after being hit by shrapnel in a grenade explosion.
Todd is currently being treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland for lacerations, fractures, and head trauma.
Lomax has requested an additional three days of leave citing, “extenuating circumstances.”
Superintendent Sorrell says she can recall giving additional days to a faculty member whose home burned down, however the School Committee has requested time to make a decision regarding Lomax’s circumstances. The School Committee will make a decision on the matter by January as they take the time to review the teacher’s contract.
Democrats Supporting ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Protests?
Rep. Dennis Kucinich weighs in on demonstrations, job creation
Cavuto ask Why Rep. Kucinich did not support the Tea Party.
Massachusetts Lawmakers strip health care bargaining rights from municipal employees
Some say move will save cities more than $100M
Updated: Wednesday, 27 Apr 2011, 6:18 PM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 27 Apr 2011, 5:53 AM EDT
BOSTON (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) – In a surprising move to balance the state’s budget, Massachusetts lawmakers voted overwhelmingly late last night to strip health care bargaining rights from municipal employees. The 111-to-42 vote followed tougher measures to broadly eliminate collective bargaining rights for public employees in Ohio, Wisconsin, and other states.
But unlike efforts in Wisconsin and Ohio that sparked massive protests, the push in Massachusetts was led by state Democrats who have traditionally stood by labor unions.
After the vote, labor leaders lashed out, accusing House Speaker Robert DeLeo and other Democrats of turning their backs on public employees.
“It’s pretty stunning,” said Robert J. Haynes, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. “These are the same Democrats that all these labor unions elected. The same Democrats who we contributed to in their campaigns. The same Democrats who tell us over and over again that they’re with us, that they believe in collective bargaining, that they believe in unions. . . . It’s a done deal for our relationship with the people inside that chamber.”
Supporters say the vote — which still needs approval from the Senate — will save cities and towns more than $100 million.