Little Rock, Ak says teachers must wear underwear and bras!!

[Chowder Head]

http://news.yahoo.com/little-rock-schoo ... 08103.html

As a teacher I would be mortified if my principal did underwearchecks. WTH TMI people. :pink-shock: :shock: :o

[DarkAnts]

http://news.yahoo.com/little-rock-school-district-now-teachers-wear-underwear-030208103.html

As a teacher I would be mortified if my principal did underwearchecks. WTH TMI people. :pink-shock: :shock: :o

The underwear thing is crazy. How will they know if someone is wearing underwear?

I dont think its unrealistic to ask teachers to wear business casual dress. It would also be reasonable to have exceptions for some teachers like gym teachers. I dont like the way they worded their dress code though. My work says nothing about specific clothing items. But, they are clear that employees must be in business casual dress. We are adults and can figure out what that means.

[nelliebelle1197]

They cannot require bras for women if they don't require them for men.

Disparate Impact Claims

Complaints about dress codes also may manifest themselves as

disparate impact claims. To establish a disparate impact claim

under Title VII, employees do not need to show intentional dis-

crimination; rather, they only need to show that the dress code has

a disparate impact on one protected class.

In Dothard v. Rawlinson the U.S. Supreme Court set forth the steps for proving dis-

parate impact. The Court explained:

[O]nce it is shown that the employment standards are discrimi-

natory in effect, the employer must meet “the burden of showing

that any given requirement [has] . . . a manifest relationship to

the employment in question.†If the employer proves that the

challenged requirements are job related, the plaintiff may then

show that other selection devices without a similar discrimina-

tory effect would also “serve the employer’s legitimate interest in

‘efficient’ and trustworthy workmanship.

[Cartmann99]

I notice it says no spandex in the article. Does that mean no outer clothing made of spandex or will you get sent home if they find out you are wearing Spanx under your clothes?

[Beb]

For the record, this is Little Rock, Arkansas; not Little Rock, Alaska.

[ljohnson2006]

Little Rock is messed up. Does this even need to be told to people? Common sense!

[dairyfreelife]

It's actually comical since I imagine the majority of teachers already wear under garments everyday. What in the world made this policy come about? :evil-eye:

[Adrienne83]

I would assume that most if not all teachers wear underwear. I wonder what happened to make someone think they didn't? :doh:

[Anxious Girl]

Underwear, I can understand. But bras? Why do schools care if their women have breasts that are shaped to their liking or not? Isn't wearing underwear just common sense to not make a law about it? And how would Arkansas go about enforcing this "law?"

[Beb]

It seems as if most of the requirements are focused upon women.

[lizziesmom]

You wonder why public schools have issues -- stupid things like this instead of focusing on the quality of the education.

[Chowder Head]

Ya'll notice that the underwear and bras have to be a nodistracting color?

[MajorMajor]

I understand the controversy over specifically stating you must wear underwear and a bra but the rest I don't understand being upset over. I work in a school currently that's a lot more casual than the rest one I was in but our employee handbook still states that we are supposed to wear business casual. However I agree that the way it was worded was condescending.

[ILoveJellybeans]

Why is this a law? Is this aimed at a specific teacher who wears a skirt and no underwear?

[Anxious Girl]

You wonder why public schools have issues -- stupid things like this instead of focusing on the quality of the education.

'Cause forced-public conversion to Christianity, Biblioatry (sp?) and Abrahamic creationism is all a student needs to suceed in life! What do you think got us to the moon, getting robots to other planets, satelites, medicine etc? People who were interested in scientifc theories to better human and animal life? Hell no! God did it all through KJV Bibles, missionaries and priests. And if you don't know that Amurica was founded on Christianity and Victorian manners, then you'll burn in hell! So schools have to evangelize its children, even if students' parents and the students themselves don't want them too! In a sing-song-voice: ~White army for God! White army for God!~

That hurt just to type that. :embarrassed:

[louisa05]

The underwear thing is crazy. How will they know if someone is wearing underwear?

I dont think its unrealistic to ask teachers to wear business casual dress. It would also be reasonable to have exceptions for some teachers like gym teachers. I dont like the way they worded their dress code though. My work says nothing about specific clothing items. But, they are clear that employees must be in business casual dress. We are adults and can figure out what that means.

It is difficult with teaching, though. Elementary teachers sit on the floor, deal with paint, have recess duty in the snow, crossing guard duty on the highway, etc...In secondary schools, there are art teachers, industrial tech teachers, around here even ag teachers--people dealing with dirt and messes. Plus you still have places around the country where old school buildings do not have air conditioning or adequate heat. You have field days, pep rallies, spirit days, field trips to all kinds of places where business casual is possibly a bad idea (in my community, elementary and middle kids do outdoor ed at the wildlife refuge multiple times per school year).

Bottom line: we are not sitting in an office at a desk. I think teachers need to maintain some level of professional dress, but typical office wear is not always practical.

[thoughtful]

Well, at least, since it is Little Rock, it provided some song-parody fodder:

We're just a teaching staff from Little Rock.

We teach on the wrong side of the tracks.

And the children for whom we heed the call,

They never do seem to care at all

Just what we are wearing on our backs.

Then someone went too far in Little Rock,

And got up in business not their own.

Like little lost lambs we stop and stare,

Are they legislating underwear?

Are we sure these men are fully grown?

I am clad, I’ve determined, though my drawers aren’t made of ermine,

My male colleague has covered up his cock.

We’re perfectly decent, in our clothes,

And really would like to punch the nose

Of the one who passed this rule in Little Rock.

We're just a teaching staff from Little Rock.

The kids are the reason we are here.

We’re teaching them how to read and write,

And keeping our undies out of sight

Let’s get back to education, dear.

I learned ‘bout wearin’ bras in Little Rock,

And here's some advice I'd like to share:

I’m a woman who now is fully grown,

It’s nobody’s business but my own,

So please get yourself out of my hair!

And Senora Fernando, I am sure, won’t go commando,

Teaching Spanish does not require a jock.

And now I’ll just hike my big-girl spanx,

I’ve got lesson plans to do, no thanks,

To the one who passed this rule (he really is a fool!)

The one who passed this rule in Little Rock!

 

[javafriend]

I am going to guess that this law was the brainchild of an uber conservative voucher supporting nutjob. Does anyone really think that there is a big problem with Little Rock teachers not wearing underwear? If someone was dressed inappropriately, then the obvious solution would be for an administrator to have a private conversation with that person. But instead, why not fan the anti-public school flames with nonsense? I can just imagine the comments being made in small towns across Arkansas ( probably by some of my cousins):

"Mary Sue, did you see this article? Public school teachers in Little Rock don't wear underwear! They're going to have to pass a law to make teachers wear underwear but the teacher's union is trying to fight it. What is this world coming to?"

[crancraz]

I am going to break my lurking silence for this thread!

I grew up going to a very conservative Christian school in the '80-'90s and there was a very strict teacher dress code. My dad taught there as well, so we knew the teacher dress code. Underwear for both sexes was mandatory, including bras, pantyhose and slips for women. Women were also not allowed to wear long, dangly necklaces that hung between their breasts. Male teachers could not wear large belt buckles. Men could also not have facial hair, hair longer than tops of ears or eyebrows.

[mlady]

I don't know guys....I've seen some people out and about who were clearly oblivious to the fact that from behind THEIR behind was more on display than I needed to see. And some busty woman swaying side to side. I hate that fact that this is even written down as law but I wouldn't be surprised if there actually were some instances where people were just ignorant about the way things looked to others.

[DarkAnts]

It is difficult with teaching, though. Elementary teachers sit on the floor, deal with paint, have recess duty in the snow, crossing guard duty on the highway, etc...In secondary schools, there are art teachers, industrial tech teachers, around here even ag teachers--people dealing with dirt and messes. Plus you still have places around the country where old school buildings do not have air conditioning or adequate heat. You have field days, pep rallies, spirit days, field trips to all kinds of places where business casual is possibly a bad idea (in my community, elementary and middle kids do outdoor ed at the wildlife refuge multiple times per school year).

Bottom line: we are not sitting in an office at a desk. I think teachers need to maintain some level of professional dress, but typical office wear is not always practical.

I have some comfortable slacks that I wear to work. I actually have more freedom of movement when I wear them then when I wear jeans.

[bal maiden]

I don't know guys....I've seen some people out and about who were clearly oblivious to the fact that from behind THEIR behind was more on display than I needed to see. And some busty woman swaying side to side. I hate that fact that this is even written down as law but I wouldn't be surprised if there actually were some instances where people were just ignorant about the way things looked to others.

Shock horror! Women's tits move, and bigger ones move more! :roll:

I hate this thing where women with big boobs are pretty much by definition 'immodest'. Tits do what tits do, and tits are what tits are. I'm not going to spend hundreds of pounds (dollars, euros, whatever) on superdooper bras that don't let me move or breathe, which smaller-boobed women or men don't have to do. If my natural body's movement makes you uncomfortable then you can close your eyes and jog on.

[Handmaiden of Dog]

I support you, Bal Maiden, on your non-support.

I wonder about the whole "see-through" thing because there are days when I wear a black bra under a white cotton shirt because all of my white bras are dirty. It is surprising how visible dark underwear is under lightweight cotton. Rather than have a whole written policy that appears to be very controlling of women why not have the principal just pull someone aside and have a quiet word? If, indeed, there ever has been a problem.

Sometimes I look at how far we are backsliding to pre-70's feminism and I just want to pull my hair. More control over birth control and abortion. More open discussions about sluts. More attempts to decide what women wear and do. It is disheartening to say the least.

[FloraKitty35]

I have two questions: first- Does the Superintendent have to wear underwear too? second- Do male teachers get to wear a bra, too, because that could open up a hole new can of worms? (As in cross dressing male teachers who are obeying the female teachers dress code)

[urban teacher]

you mean I've been doing it wrong all these years teaching? Instead of being a professional who wears bras and underwear because it's considered appropriate attire for working adults, I could have been going commando, wearing spandix and whatever else they legislated against. Clearly, I needed someone to tell me that my professionalism was in question, and that my mama raised me wrong.