So now I’m hearing principals are having mutual friends spy on teachers social media account. Really? Has it come to this? People can’t even have a conversation without someone watching over them? People can’t object to something they don’t feel is good for students or education without threats hanging over their head? Welcome to Gestapo Delaware…
Are these directives coming from the district or the DOE? Or Markell himself? I can picture people standing around in an office. I don’t like what she said, he needs to go, they can’t do that. Enough! If you try to assert yourselves like this, it’s going to cause a lot of problems. We are becoming exactly what they want us to. They want us to shut up and divert away from the real issues with their phony proclamations and concerns. Parents, whether you are a teacher or not, just opt out now. Take away the ticking time bomb that is destroying education, and it’s not the test. It’s the companies that are plundering our schools with their products and services. As someone recently told me, “these are dark times in Delaware.” Only parents can make the change necessary to fix this.
The Season Of Myths 
While the practice is perhaps questionable, tracking social media is entirely legal. If you put it out there, then it’s open to the public. Teachers (and plenty of other professions) have always been liable for comments on social media.
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Yeah, well the Smarter Balanced Assessment is legal, but that doesn’t make it right. But when there is a current campaign to go out there and watch what people are saying on Social Media, these are sinister agendas with nefarious purposes. It’s not about seeing what they did last night. It’s about making sure nothing disturbs the god almighty test. It’s a joke is what it is.
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That’s not sinister or nefarious. The fact is that there is no right to privacy on open social media accounts. This would be somewhat different if the accounts were private. There’s nothing wrong with taking advantage of open data provided through social media, though.
The onus is on the individual to protect their social media accounts, not on any individual or organization to avoid searching for information. If a person is posting information that could get them in trouble with their boss or a group that they are a member of, then they should not be posting that content.
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So much for free speech in Delaware. Delaware, the first to sign the constitution, the last to follow it.
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Freedom of speech is much more complicated than a lot of people make it out to be. There are plenty of restrictions on free speech, including on the workplace. It’s much more gray than it is black and white.
To be certain, with the rise of social media, this has become a hot button issue – there was just a case about this in December (though, it was about a murder conviction and Facebook statuses and not teachers and Twitter). I can definitely agree that social media use is a gray area for freedom of speech protections, but strongly disagree that free speech is not being followed in Delaware.
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This has been well understood for a couple years “up north”. It seems, however, that one is free to criticize state policies and officials. District and particular building issues are hands-off.
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While I agree this practice is ridiculous, I highly doubt it is coming from the governor or any directive. Certain principals probably choose to do it the way certain bosses in any business choose to do it. Unfortunately people in many industries (in many states) get nailed for social media issues all the time. I don’t think it’s fair but I also don’t think it’s a big Delaware conspiracy. Honestly we probably shouldn’t be complaining about our jobs on social media anyway. Better to keep that for in-person conversations.
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I simply agree with “questionable but perhaps.” I follow the code that I do not share blog links or other opt out information on social media. DSEA has warned that this behavior can be a grey area in our professional code of conduct. My child is in high school and I am counting the days to the end of the Delaware school experiment ending. I have always been a strong advocate of quality, rigorous education. No student or parent would characterize their learning in my room as not challenged. I am well (too well educated) in experience and education that I am very knowledgeable. This seems to be very intimidating to DOE (except a few). I will forever be a student advocate but I must be more careful than ever now. My family needs my income. When I hear other posters system teachers need to stand up, it infuriates me. As an educator, I am advocate but you can not expect me to take a financial fall for due to the sheeple.
It is common for building leadership to read emails. After all, teachers are using a state network. I am sorry to say that I think Markell and Murphy will take this to an ugly level in honor of change theory. I have heard there are already plans to modify smarter at elementary and middle and consider the prePSAT, PSAT and SAT as the hide through seconday.
Teachers can’t come to a press conference (even as parents) so realize each parent must do their due diligence. I think a large % of the opt population is educator ‘ s children or families as a result of being informed.
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