Here is the letter...
It seems evident from the photo that ran with The Star's Aug. 12 back-to-school articles that Indianapolis Public Schools' dress codes do not extend to teachers. A teacher wearing sandals? IPS' restricted attire for students states: "No thongs/slippers/sandals/bare feet/exposed toes."A person who does not dress with authority will never be treated as an authority figure.
Here's the blog post...
It's one thing to dress down when school is officially in session. It's another thing to dress down when you are moving boxes and getting ready for class. What do you think?A letter to the editor today criticized a teacher at School 31 pictured alongside a story this week wearing sandals. The letter writer notes, "A person who does not dress with authority will never be treated as an authority figure." He also refers to the IPS dress code for students, which bans sandals.
I visited with Ms. Amos and the other teachers at School 31 on Tuesday, the day before classes were starting. We wanted to check out how teachers were getting along in getting set up for the first day of school and what all was left to do. That's when the picture was taken.
I don't know whether the teachers at School 31 wear sandals during school, but this picture was taken on what was a workday with no students or parents in the building. Teachers were hauling boxes of textbooks from the school library and moving desks around in their classroom. If you visit most schools during set-up time, you'll find similar casual attire.
Last time I went the doctors office the doctor and all of her staff were wearing jeans and sandals. I a friend in New York who edits a major magazine, and dresses very casually in the office; jeans, t-s, and sandals in the summer. Another friend is a professor at an Ivy League school and if you can get him in chino's he's dressed up. A relative is a federal prosecutor, who is relatively well know particularly in the education world since she has won several major federal prosecutions involving schools, and unless she is appearing in court, jeans and t's are her office attire. This whole professional dress thing is vastly over-rated and over emphasized. Our principal thinks he is styling, but if he wore the suits he wears into my bank president father's office they would laugh at his choice of suits.
ReplyDeleteAuthority comes from who you are not what you wear. There is a very short man who is an assistant principal at my school, ask anyone to describe him and they will say "short black man in a suit", one day I looked down the hall and saw him standing with another male teacher, who I've known for years, and discovered they were the same height. Never once have I seen this teacher in a suit, and no one ever describes him as short. It is a matter of bearing and natural authority.
I don't think professional dress is overrated, especially in positions that deal with the public (including public children, parents, etc.) I also don't think teachers should wear sandals to work. But obviously, we shouldn't be expected to dress up to move boxes! LOL
ReplyDeleteI teach grades five and six science.
ReplyDeleteI purchased polo shirts and black/blue/khaki pants, and tennis shoes. I never worry about what I'll put on the next day.
My kids can't gripe to me about the dress code, since I wear it, too.
I love it, and wish it was mandatory for staff.
In the corporate world, they say, "Don't dress for the job you have, dress for the job you want." It's not quite the same in education since I have no desire to be an administrator. But I dress like an administrator, and I do think it influences the way I am perceived by students, parents, coworkers, and administration.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of footwear, I think there's a difference between flip-flops and dress sandals. Personally, I don't think flip-flops are appropriate to teach in. But I have two pairs of nice dress sandals with flat soles that I think are okay to wear during the school year...especially in a building with no A/C!
ReplyDeleteTeachers are different than students and if Dr. White wanted a "dress code" then it would of been on the table during the contract sessions. I wear "dress casual", Dockers, Polo shits, and Prada loafers. If I had a #5,000 clothing allowance like Dr. Whte then I could purchase a few pairs of Gucci loafers and custom made suits from Hong Kong.
ReplyDeleteSandals? Really? If people are making a stink about sandals in the classroom, they should have been rioting when they were wearing those pathetic black "this is my uniform" t-shirts. If it weren't so unprofessional, they would have made me laugh. They reminded me of a bratty child holding their breath because they didn't get their way.
ReplyDeleteThose shirts made a difference, they brought attention to the fact we worked TWO years without a contract. IPS had no interest in even coming to terms until Dr. White found out we were getting a new uniserve director, suddenly he wanted to settle. If you don't agree why don't you take your raise and retro pay and donate it, the foundation does wonderful work, really helps in the system, I'm sure they will accept it. Then ride up to the seventh floor and see if Dr. White will negotiate with you, see what kind of raise you can get.
ReplyDeleteThe first person to be in violation of the IPS dress code would be Eugene White. He does not follow it and he is our leader.....whether we like it or not.
ReplyDeleteThose teachers were the same ones that attended the School Board meetings and worked on the new contract that you will place in you shallow hearted pockets every pay day. What a sad person you are 3:04 P.M., I hope you give your raise back to IPS. You sound like a BRHS hold over, maybe a drinking buddy?
ReplyDeleteNice try folks, but I never said I was a teacher. I never even went to college. I just happen to work in a field that takes me in and out of a lot of schools. So all the cracks about "giving up my raise" are pointless. I don't need a union to fight my battles for me. I'm simply stating what any person with an ounce of professionalism would say about that kind of display being put on in front of children. Any teacher willing to bring that kind of disruption into the classroom is making a pretty obvious statement about their total lack of character. If the teachers that wore those shirts cared about children at all they would have done their best to make sure the classroom remained unchanged by a contract dispute instead of flaunting it in their faces.
ReplyDeleteI am a teacher, and I, too, thought the "this is my uniform" shirts were tacky. And no, I don't think they had a thing to do with us suddenly getting our contract settled. I'm disgusted with how so many of our former union presidents end up with jobs downtown after they've served their presidency. Something smells fishy. Oh...and I've never worked at BRHS, so don't blame them. And, if Eugene follows through with his threats to send some teachers into a "sub pool" second semester, I think all remaining members of the IEA need to sever their memberships the very next day.
ReplyDeletePersonally, the shirts bothered me as well. The biggest issue was the incorrect usage of "till" on the back....it made us look like a bunch of morons! That's why I didn't buy one or wear one, it's your choice! I don't think a teacher wearing flip-flops to school on a teacher workday is newsworthy, yet here we are discussing it. I will admit, I wore flip-flops, but I had an injury that prevented me from wearing different shoes. Perhaps the teacher in the article suffered from the same affliction? Maybe the good readers of the Indy Star should hestitate before damning someone to hell for wearing flip-flops....seriously? Whatever happened to walking in someone else's shoes?!? HA....pardon the pun! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree, it is NOT newsworthy! The students were not at school yet. A lot of us are dragging heavy carts and boxes, cleaning desks--what should she have been wearing high heels???
ReplyDeleteAgain, IPS teachers are portrayed in a negative light. I mean, come on, sandals?!?!
ReplyDeleteI have worked in 5 different buildings, and all but one were not air conditioned. People can say want they want, but when my classroom was 108 degrees on the first day of school a few years ago, it is hard to dress "professionally". I wore wrap dresses and dress sandals for the first month. Even wearing that did not keep me from melting day and day out.
I agree about those shirts. I cannot believe that our teachers walked around wearing a grammatically incorrect shirt. Just one of many reasons I am glad we have reached a negotiation.
I'm one of those fortunate teachers who occasionally leaves the building for lunch in the real world. Today I dropped by Panera's on E. 56th near the Fort where I noted all the nicely dressed business women in their business type attire AND wearing their tasteful open-toed high-heeled summer business footwear. I felt frumpy and cramped in my closed-toed shoes.
ReplyDeleteEach morning I longingly look at the several pairs of $100+ dressy high-heeled pairs of open-toed shoes setting in my closet as I put on my frumpy closed-toe shoes to leave for work in IPS.
I don't think any reasonable person would consider wearing "dress" sandals to work unprofessional. The problem comes in when some people try to push the definition of "dress" sandals vs casual sandals or "flip flops". This can become very subjective. There is an extremely wide variety of types and styles when it comes to footwear. They can't count on everyone to be reasonable about their choices so they eliminate the problem by requiring closed toe shoes. Another case of a few ruining it for the many. Of course, there is also the fact that the only time this issue ever sees the light of day is in isolated cases like this that are meaningless. There are plenty of teachers wearing sandals every day and no one notices.
ReplyDelete"There are plenty of teachers wearing sandals every day and no one notices."
ReplyDeleteThe principal in the building where I work told us before school started that no open toed shoes were allowed. Our principal would notice in a heart beat.
This issue is another 'red herring' to take our attention away from the real issue - how to improve the teaching environment so our children love learning. Who expects teachers, on their day off, to observe a formal dress code? Dumbed down parents, that's who. We need to keep our eyes on the important issue and avoid being drawn into these petty pouty commentaries.
ReplyDeleteRemember three years ago when the teacher dress code was discussed at the Back to School meeting? Dr. White said that teachers were allowed to wear Birkenstocks because there was an outcry from teachers that they need comfortable shoes that support the feet. He also stated that teachers could wear denim as long as it was pressed and not in poor condition. So, why are principals telling staff that open toed shoes are banned?
ReplyDeleteI noticed that Dr. White replaced his "ice-cream man suit" with a traditional black suit with a red tie and matching red shoes!
ReplyDelete