A New Jersey dad has launched a campaign against "teacher bullies" after he sent his autistic son to school wearing a wire, which he said caught teachers insulting the boy, joking about being hungover and gossiping about their personal lives in front of the class.
Stuart Chaifetz's crusade to get his son's former teachers to publically apologize has gained national attention since he posted some of the recordings to YouTube on Friday and launched a website, "No More Teacher/Bullies."
Chaifetz, 44, said he was baffled earlier this year when teachers at Horace Mann Elementary in Cherry Hill told him that his 10-year-old son Akian was lashing out and throwing chairs.
Chaifetz said Akian had anxiety due to his autism, but was sweet-natured and never acted violent.
After meetings with school officials and behavior specialists went nowhere, the divorced pop and animal rights activist said he decided to send Akian to school with a recorder hidden in his pocket on Feb. 17.
Chaifetz replayed parts of the recordings in a 17-minute YouTube video, "Teacher/Bully: How My Son Was Humiliated and Tormented by his Teacher and Aide."
In the video,Chaifetz said two teachers, who he refers to as "Kelly" and "Jodi," tell his son to "shut your mouth," call him a "bastard," and tell him he won't see his father again after a weekend visit with his mom.
In another clip, a teacher is heard gabbing loudly about getting drunk with a girlfriend the night before.
"Oh my god, so bad," one teacher says, after the other asks if she threw up. "The wine won."
Chaifetz said the teachers knew the autistic kids in the class wouldn't understand the teachers were being jerks, and wouldn't tell on them.
"These people really hurt my son," Chaifetz told the Daily News. "People think kids with autism don't know what's going on, but they do. Even if they can't express it."
He said he turned over the 6 ½-hour audio to school officials, and later was told that the aide, Jodi, was fired.
The other teacher, Kelly, was reassigned to another school, Chaifetz said, but he got no word about whether she was disciplined.
The Cherry Hill school district said in a statement to the Philadelphia Inquirer that the matter was "handled appropriately," but wouldn't comment on personnel issues.
Chaifetz called the teacher's transfer "an outrage" and demanded a public apology from both women.
If he doesn't hear from them, Chaifetz said he would file a complaint with the state department of education against the transferred teacher, and publish their names on his website.
"I'm not anti-teacher, I'm not anti-union, but tenure should not be a shield for them," he said. "When you bully a kid, you should be gone, if there's evidence. You should never teach again."
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nationa ... z1t1lAnQO3
Video: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfkscHt96R0[/youtube]
Email I sent:
Dear Shilpa Dalal,
I am writing you today to ask you a simple question, how can anyone with such an important job of leading our teachers of special education children hold such low standards. Before I continue I do not expect a response because in all honesty I assume you will use the excuse of being unable to speak of the situation however, I will not as a person let this go unheard. What I was referring to in my introductory sentence was about you( and your district) allowing the teacher in question of bullying Akian Chaifetz get away with it and being allowed to continuing teaching (special education or not). I assume you are an educated individual yourself so how can you so blindly ignore what is said on that audio. Continuing I have read your schools mission statement which states "Horace Mann School is a nurturing learning community which offers a challenging academic program, instills character, and fosters life long learning in order to develop the whole child." Let me ask you one simple question, is telling an autistic child they can not see there father nurturing or even better does calling a child a bastard instill character? I can not even begin to express my sincere sympathy towards anyone who has to deal with said teachers who bring nothing more than a negative portrayal of your school and is detrimental to the students who attend it. All I ask for is that not only you but the school district and the said parties involved apologize for letting such action ever happening and doing what you can to make sure nothing of this stature ever happens again. This is not only for Akian Chaifetz but for any child who has gone through the pain because of this.
The world is watching you, Mrs. Dalal and I will do whatever in my power to make sure that every person I come in contact with hears the horrors that have happened because of your school. The ball is in your court - pick your move.
Sincerely,
Ahmed Kidwai
