Newsday notes that some schools are now cracking down on revealing clothing - worn by teachers:
In some districts, teachers can get dressed down for wearing skimpy tops, short skirts, flip flops, jeans, T-shirts, spandex or baseball caps. Spaghetti is fine in the cafeteria, but shirts supported by spaghetti straps are not welcome in the classroom.District 11 in Colorado Springs, Colo., for example, prohibits sexually provocative items. That includes clothing that exposes "cleavage, private parts, the midriff or undergarments," district rules say.
In Georgia's Miller County, skirts must reach the knee. Elsewhere in the state, hair curlers are disallowed in Harris County and male teachers in Talbot County must wear ties two or three times a week.
"There's an impression that teachers are dressing more and more -- well, the good term for it would be 'relaxed,'" said Bill Scharffe, director of bylaws and policy services for the Michigan Association of School Boards. "Another term for it would be 'sloppy.'"
If you were hoping for a slew of quotes in which teachers welcome this sort of regulation, so that others might understand the importance of their profession, think again. While several teachers are indeed quoted as saying they do like to "dress up" (that is, dress like other working professionals) because they feel the kids take them more seriously, we also have comments like the following:
Regulating dress is touchy, teachers say.Teachers may view policies that get too specific as restrictive and demeaning. And what to do about broad policies that are enforced inconsistently? What works for a physics teacher may not fit a kindergarten teacher who sits with students on the floor...
Why is being told not to bare your midriff demeaning? And what in that dress code prevents a teacher from wearing something that makes it comfortable to sit on the floor?
"What's too short? What's too long? What's too provocative? What's too revealing?" said Jacqueline Oglesby, a representative for the Alabama Education Association, which worries about unfair enforcement of a dress code. "Everyone has their own definition. And besides, this is supposed to be about the education of children, not tattoos or holes in your tongue."
What a stunning lack of judgment on the part of Oglesby, who has apparently taken the "everything is equally good" mantra from education schools and tried to apply it to the professional academic world. I assume she believes these sorts of statement dignify her profession; on the contrary, it suggests that she honestly doesn't see any difference between the professional demeanor of a woman covered in tattoos, baring cleavage and belly, and one wearing comfortable, modest attire.
Posted by kswygert at July 11, 2005 07:35 AM