Doug Bartlett, a veteran teacher with an upstanding record of 17 years, has filed a lawsuit against the school district of Chicago for suspending him without pay after giving a lesson on gardening tools to his second grade students.
The incident took place on August 8, 2011 at Washington Irving Elementary School.
Mr. Bartlett recently filed suit on April 17, 2013 saying that he suffered humiliation and embarrassment as a result of his reprimand.
The “hazardous” tools in question were pliers, screwdrivers and wrenches that only the teacher handled. The tools were kept in a locked toolbox high on a shelf out of reach before and after the gardening lesson.
The district says that Mr. Bartlett exhibited negligence in supervising the children and for “possessing, carrying, storing, or using a weapon”. Â He was subsequently suspended without pay for 4 days.
Mr. Bartlett’s lawsuit claims the suspension violated his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process as he asserts that there was never a full hearing on the incident. Â Further, he was disciplined without ever having the opportunity to plead his case.
According to the Rutherford Institute which is representing him, Mr. Bartlett is seeking damages and requesting the suspension be expunged from his teaching record.
It is important to have electronic records in order as the charge of possessing a “weapon”, in this case gardening tools, has the potential to prevent Mr. Bartlett from seeking employment elsewhere.
The incident is yet another example of an over the top reaction by school officials demonstrating poor judgment and a gross lack of common sense.
A related story occurred in the Fall of 2012 when the Vice Principal of a California school suspended a boy for bringing kombucha in his lunchbox.  With no parent or guardian present at any time, the boy was interrogated in the school office by school administration and a police officer and was ultimately suspended for 5 days for “violating” the school’s drug and alcohol policy. No tests were ever performed on the beverage which is able to be legally purchased by minors at local stores.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Teacher Who Showed Garden Tools to Second Grade Students is Suspended Without Pay
It really shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Consider the fact that shop classes, even at technical high schools, don’t exist anymore. The administration over reacted, yes, but as a parent of a CPS child and one who has spent numerous hours in the building, and outside the building helping, I see it this way.
There is a lack of teaching the basic fundamentals of respect and common sense to the children, ergo, the schools fear that even a gardening tool will be misused by students. Schools also seem to lack a good pool of principals these days. The heads of schools are not trained to think, or maybe they are and just can’t. It wouldn’t surprise me if this was the administration retaliating against that teacher for being outspoken and advocating for a better school.
So what we have here is a huge district with kids who don’t follow rules/directions, lack of exposure to the tools, and a teacher who tried to do what was right.
You can’t do what’s right in Bizarro World folks. The issues are deeper than that teacher and this should absolutely be expunged from his record and he should transfer to a place where his skills and knowledge be celebrated. I have no hope of ever seeing that in CPS.
This country is full with idiots! Period.
thats it. done.
‘Common’ sense? There’s nothing common about it anymore! Esp. among local bureaucrats.
What’s wrong with this picture. Tools are not dangerous they are tool used to fix things. It is the intention of the user of the tools. That is it is how they are used. There is nothing wrong with teaching your kids how to handle a pair of pliers correctly. Sounds like someone has too much time on their hands,
sad
That teacher got what he deserved. Prisoners and asylum inmates must never be allowed access to sharp objects.
Shame on this man for teaching children other than mindless words in a book. These children have no right to learn anything other than what the school system has in place for them. Let there be more cameras , less consideration, more security, less common sense, more violence , less care and most certainly there will not be any attempt to learn how to defend yourself let alone educate yourself.
How did we let it come to this?
I like the sarcasm. heaven forbid one of those students learns to use the tools and becomes a productive member of society.