Deaf Teacher Argues Discrimination

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Deaf Teacher Argues Discrimination
By Peggy Agar
Web produced by Jenny DiDomenico
June 24, 2004

A local man says he was turned down for a Bloomfield Hills teaching job for one reason: he's deaf. Now, he's determined to fight for the job he wants.

Ryan Commerson teaches with his hands. A deaf man, Bloomfield Hills Schools won’t let him substitute teach for students who can hear.

"I can use a blackboard," he told 7 Action News Thursday, via an interpreter. "I can write on the board. I’m bilingual. I can use my hands or I can use English to communicate."

Spokespeople for the school district say they are only doing what’s best for the students.

"We invited him to come in to kind of go over his management style and instructional skills that he would use with the hearing classroom, and based upon that, it was determined that it may not be in the best interest of our students,"
Jennifer Woliung, Bloomfield Hills Schools, explained.

Commerson says he can communicate well enough.

"You know, as a sub teacher, the expectations of a sub teacher are what? You know, maybe passing out some homework, watching some videotapes," he countered.

But the district wants more: substitutes who can instruct. They’ve turned Ryan down for any jobs in hearing classrooms.

In the meantime, Commerson has filed a complaint with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, trying to force the district’s hand.
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Why does he want that job? Why not he can apply job at any Deaf high schools?
Is he lawsuit-hunter? I mean he is looking for lawsuit anywhere. You know what I mean. Any Deaf high schools need hire more Deaf teachers.
 
yeah well the non-deaf school was kinda rude when they wont even just give him a chance to do his job but...sometimes other deaf schools are just too far or too small for them to hire the subsitute or professional deaf teachers, you know?
 
its also prolly well known that deaf schools tends to pay less than the general teaching population in the county public schools with the majority of students being hearie which is what i think is why he wanted to work in the county public schools and i dont see why he cannot teach at a public high school with hearie students
 
Thank you for your sharing thoughts.

Anyone wanna make some comments??
 
Fly Free said:
its also prolly well known that deaf schools tends to pay less than the general teaching population in the county public schools with the majority of students being hearie which is what i think is why he wanted to work in the county public schools and i dont see why he cannot teach at a public high school with hearie students
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If you owned a business and you didn't have money to hire an interpreter for me. Should I sue you for that? You can't help it if you don't have money.
 
I applaud Ryan fighting for Deaf rights because I believe it is IN the classroom where hearing students learn NOT to discriminate Deaf people when they become future employers and CEOs. What other better example than use a Deaf teacher to show hearing people we can do anything but hear?!
 
I hope this doesn't continue too long. Sometimes, people waste their time fighting for their rights when they could use their time wisely looking for another job. There was this woman who worked at this company that my friend worked at. She was being bitchy about her ADA rights and the company didn't accomodate her 100% at the start. (I have other deaf friends who work there and they have what they need so they are satisfied.) She was complaining about her extra accomodations such as TTY (her job doesn't require her to use the phone), a hearing dog (what for?), an interpreter for every time she goes to a meeting (her job doesn't include meetings), etc. However, she has her "rights" so she kept bitching about it every day. She spent most of her time making her demands while at work that she never did her job. Therefore, the company fired her for not doing her job. She couldn't sue... hehehe! Serves that bitch right. :crazy:
 
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