Bucks blogger-teacher denies demeaning special-needs students as the district charges

Central Bucks East High School teacher and blogger Natalie Munroe said Wednesday that she did not believe she demeaned students with disabilities in her blog, a charge leveled by the school district's superintendent.

Rather, she said, a cartoon in one of her posts that seemed to make light of students with special needs was meant as a criticism of what she argued were undeservedly glowing report-card remarks given to students in general.

At Tuesday's school board meeting, Central Bucks School District superintendent Robert Laws drew attention to part of Munroe's now-notorious 2010 post that showed a cartoon depiction of a bus labeled "short bus" with a caption reading, "I don't care if you lick windows, take the special bus, or occasionally pee on yourself. . . . You hang in there, Sunshine, you're friggin' special."

Laws called the posting "a direct attack on special-needs students."

Munroe, who did not respond to a request for an interview, said in a new blog post on her website, www.nataliemunroe.com, that the cartoon was misrepresented by Laws. The post labeled Laws' remarks as "Below the Belt Tactics."

Saying that several family members have disabilities, she added: "For my entire life, I've witnessed and experienced the struggles of individuals with special needs, and I would NEVER callously make light of them as it has just been suggested that I have done."

Laws on Tuesday said that because of the bus cartoon and other comments on the blog, "Ms. Munroe, by her own actions, has made it impossible for her to teach in this district. No student should be subjected to such a hostile educational environment."

Munroe's post, titled "If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say," had a long list of put-downs she said she wished she could use in student report cards. Those included "frightfully dim," "whiny," "tactless," "ratlike," and "dresses like a streetwalker."

Munroe gained national attention after she was suspended with pay Feb. 9 for her blog postings. She has portrayed herself as a frustrated teacher who was both venting to a few friends and raising important issues about out-of-control students and parents, and the lack of respect and support for teachers. Laws said Tuesday that she had been granted maternity leave starting at the end of February and that the school board would decide on her employment during the leave.

Munroe said in her post Wednesday that the "short bus" cartoon and caption "were NOT my words" and that she had found them online.

She added that the quote "reflected the sentiment that I was trying to express within the blog post, which was that, no matter what, the comments on the report cards always end up mostly positive. In no way and in no form did I even read the graphic in a way that was derogatory to people with special needs. I read it in a way that was patting all people on the back regardless of their actions."

Munroe added that "lack of support from school administration is one of the primary problems in education today, and it seems they will do anything and everything to keep the spotlight off of themselves."

Asked for comment, district spokeswoman Carol Counihan said Laws stood by his comments. All of what he said Tuesday night, she added, was "taken directly from the blog."

Len Rieser, the executive director of the Education Law Center, a nonprofit with offices in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh that handles many special-education cases, said that while he did not know what Munroe intended by posting the cartoon, "people could certainly interpret that cartoon as making fun of kids with special needs. . . . I could certainly see that as an interpretation that would jump out at a lot of people."

Munroe's attorney, Steven L. Rovner, countered Laws' contention that Munroe's own actions prevented her return. "We would dispute that. We think it was the school board's actions" after the blog became public, he said, that created an "antagonistic" situation.