posted 04-20-2018 09:11 AM                  

By Greg Norman | Fox News

None of the students at a Massachusetts preschool have a best friend. And that's an order.

Pentucket Workshop Preschool's "best friend" policy is being blasted by a parent who says her daughter got upset after reportedly being told by a teacher she couldn’t use the term because it could make other students feel excluded.

"How do you police a 4-year-old from expressing their feelings?" Christine Hartwell, whose daughter, Julia, attends the Georgetown school, told FOX25 Boston. "It's outrageous, it's silly [and] it hurts.

Hartwell added: "When I asked her what was wrong she said she was really sad about what her teacher did that day."

The school does not spell out the policy in their handbook, according to Hartwell, but she told FOX25 Boston she got a letter from Pentucket's director.

"It has been our experience (which spans decades) that the use of the term 'best friend,' even when used in a loving way, can lead other children to feel excluded [...] which can ultimately lead to the formation of 'cliques' and 'outsiders,'" the letter was quoted as saying.

It adds the school will continue to discourage children from saying the term.

Hartwell argues that allowing kids to say they have best friends makes them feel more secure in the classroom and that she is removing her daughter -- who she now says is hesitant to use the term -- from the school.

"I want her to be able to express her thoughts and feelings in a healthy way, as children should," she told FOX25.

The school did not respond to a request for comment from the station.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/04/20/massachusetts-preschool-te lls-children-to-stop-using-term-best-friend.html

posted 04-20-2018 06:37 PM                  

Arizona teachers voted to 'reject' a 20% pay increase by the year 2020 proposed by the AZ Governor,,, because there wasn't any proposed increase in wages for school bus drivers, custodians, teacher assistants, crossing street guard workers, etc etc

Plus, the teachers doubted that the state legislators would approve the Governor's proposal to get them their pay increase.

The teachers plan to 'go on strike' next week if their demands are not met.

Average AZ teacher salary is $46K annually....10 months of teaching....many holiday breaks, etc

Not sure where I stand on this proposed strike
I see both sides, but I feel a 20% increase by 2020 isn't all the bad. I'd like to see more kids come out of public schools with more of a understanding of the real world, instead of still being illiterate