Suspended Tulsa school teacher talks about student discipline problems

Several parents showed up to a public forum Thursday night to talk about students who get out of control in the classroom. <br/><br/>The teacher hosting the forum is accused of physically grabbing a student

Friday, March 3rd 2006, 6:02 am

By: News On 6

Several parents showed up to a public forum Thursday night to talk about students who get out of control in the classroom.

The teacher hosting the forum is accused of physically grabbing a student and injuring her. 6 in the Morning reporter Omar Villafranca says Mark French hosted the meeting and about 20 people showed up to hear what he had to say.

French is the suspended Clinton Middle School music teacher accused of physically confronting a student in a school hallway. The student's parents say she suffered a head injury when she hit the floor. The school board voted unanimously to start the process of firing French. French says the girl was a discipline problem and he felt threatened.

At Thursday night's forum, the music teacher said several students can really disrupt the whole classroom. He said the rules are set, but rarely enforced at schools. "We hear profanity between every class change. The code of conduct says it's a mandatory three-day suspension for swearing, but half the school would be suspended because we hear it between every class."

David Dennis: "These young people do not fear anyone, especially teachers, because the teachers can't do anything to the student."

The state says 169 teachers were assaulted in elementary schools in 2004. The number jumps to 195 in middle school, but drops to 101 in high schools. Several teachers say they hesitate to report bad kids because it looks like they can't control their classroom.

Tulsa Pubic Schools does address bad behavior. They suspended over 500 students last year for bad behavior towards teachers.

One solution discussed Thursday night that parents seemed to like was not sending suspended students home, but sending them to a special classroom to discipline students.