MovieChat Forums > Election (1999) Discussion > Could a teacher REALLY get fired...

Could a teacher REALLY get fired...


...for sabotaging a high school student council presidential election? Seems rather, oh I dunno...petty and trivial. A suspension at worst, perhaps, I'd imagine. I know he was technically not fired but asked to resign, but let's face it -- it's basically the same thing (it's just a more polite version of being fired).

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[deleted]

No I don't think a teacher would get fired for doing that in reality.

But keep in my mind McAllister was NOT fired...He resigned (I think McAllister was the one who offered to resign and the princepal accepted it, not the other way around...but I could be wrong I'll have to watch again)

And it wasn't just due to his ruined reputation at school, he was very frustrated with the unraveling of his personal life in general (caught in an affair, wife divorced him, lost all of his assets in the divorce, mistress then wanted nothing to do with him) and it probably felt like his once perfect world was crashing around him and a combination of all of those occurances ultimately made him want to resign and leave town, and start over.

If he was doing well with other things in his life McAllister may not have been compelled to resign.


"Dabblin'in water colors,Eddie?"

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...for sabotaging a high school student council presidential election? Seems rather, oh I dunno...petty and trivial. A suspension at worst, perhaps, I'd imagine. I know he was technically not fired but asked to resign, but let's face it -- it's basically the same thing (it's just a more polite version of being fired).


I'd fire him for that on the grounds that I wouldn't be able to trust his judgement or actions ever again. There would always be the question of whether or not he was grading students fairly or if he was deliberately failing them out of personal spite.

When McAllister falsified the election results he revealed himself to be unethical and vindictive - not someone I'd want in a position of authority over young people.

As other posters have mentioned, his life was falling apart and he took it out on a 17 year old kid. Sure, Tracy wasn't a particularly nice person but McAllister should have maintained objectivety.

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[deleted]

He wasnt taking anything out on Tracy based on his home life. He was punishing her for her underhanded tactics that went unpunished because she weasled her way out of them. His home life had nothing to do with it and wouldnt change a thing. He knew she tore down the posters, spied on the count, and also tried to threaten him based on his line of questioning about the posters and her teacher lover

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I was just about to ask this same question after watching this great movie again last night.

Being a teacher, I can't imagine someone getting fired for this - written up or suspended, possibly.

A couple possibilities - it seems like the school took this election A LOT more seriously than any school election I've ever seen. But still, you've got a respected, tenured teacher.

Also, following the Novotny controversy, maybe the school was a lot more cautious about teacher-student issues than in the past.

"Lane, I've been at this high school for seven and a half years...I'm no dummy."

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Also, following the Novotny controversy, maybe the school was a lot more cautious about teacher-student issues than in the past.


True. Also, Tracy's mother worked at a law firm. The school board probably wouldn't have wanted a nasty, expensive lawsuit so they kicked Jim out.

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Something no one's mentioned yet, although it may be irrelevant, is that the incident got picked up by news outlets nationwide. That helped blow his misdeed out of the water. Then again, he quit before it became big news.

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Something no one's mentioned yet, although it may be irrelevant, is that the incident got picked up by news outlets nationwide

That's not irrelevant at all! Good call. And they did make a point in the movie to show all of the newspaper articles etc.

There would've been too much pressure put on the school - it was better for everyone if he just quietly slipped away before the media descended on "small town America" to cover the "scandal".

Hell is other people - Sartre

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I think they implied that the resignation occurred before it became news.




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Late to the party, but yes, Jim resigned immediately, definitely before the news went "viral."

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The reason is that Tracy's mom is a lawyer and would have caused a lot of problems for the school had he not been removed.

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Her mom was a paralegal, not a lawyer.

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A paralegal for the biggest law firm in the city.
I'm just guessing, but I think Tracy would have represented by one of those lawyers if her mom was a paralegal.


I'm open! There's just nothing in there!

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It's weird that everyone would take some school election seriously.
Anyway, what mistake did he make? He put them in the trash.
Best thing to do is to pocket it and take it home and burn it!

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Anyway, what mistake did he make? He put them in the trash.
Best thing to do is to pocket it and take it home and burn it!


Or throw them in the toilet and pee on them. That's what I would've done.

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I doubt thay Mrs Flick's position as a paralegal would have made any difference. The case itself wasn't a moneymaker, and that is pretty much all that matters.
Tracy was either delusional or bluffing.





"Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?"

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Exactly right. No lawyer in their right mind would ever take that case. Considering that she was a straight A student and all the extra curricular activities she was involved in, the fact that she lost an election for student body president wouldn't have affected her chances of getting into pretty much any school she wanted.

I would also like to point out, like the people above you did, that him throwing away the votes was pretty stupid. He should have either pocketed them or, and this is what I would have done, changed one vote for Tracy into a vote for Paul. Just cross it the mark and put another one next to Paul's name. It's a better idea than pocketing it too because it keeps the number of votes the same and could easily explain why the kid had a different count.

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Well, remember, Tracy's mother was a paralegal at the city's biggest law firms. So, if he didn't either leave or get fired, the school would probably get sued. but i love how the stuff with the janitor all came around. That guy kinda reminded me of Milton on Office Space.

"I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that."
-HAL 9000

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There are no grounds for a case and even if there was Tracys mother cannot sue over some frivolous high school disputes. When Tracy threatens Jim with legal action earlier on that scene is just to point out what a colossal pussy Jim is. If you are afraid of empty treats you are worthless.

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"...the janitor all came around. That guy kinda reminded me of Milton on Office Space."

Yes! I thought the same thing.


"Loves turned to lust and bloods turned to dust in my heart"

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I don't think it's a trivial thing to sabotage a student election! Of course the whole thing is funny in the movie, and we are on his side a little, but in real life a teacher would not have integrity if he or she did that. Not only is he biased against a student, one of the worst things a teacher could be, to rig the election is pretty low and he's abusing his authority. Even if he didn't get fired, he would lose the respect of many people.

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Without question he could. If the parent chooses to make an issue of it, file a lawsuit or go to the media ... and yeah, I'm guessing that Mama Flick would do that.

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just look at her angry face, she was going to beat McAllister up

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He was the civics teacher. I can't imagine anyone would let their kid take a civics class with an election-rigger teaching.

---
Is there blood in my hair? Is there blood in my hair?

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[deleted]

it sounds silly, but he was afraid of being discovered right then and there - by the two students who were in the room with him.
Remember how it was shown that he very slowly and carefully moves his hand to the stack, quietly takes two, then coughs to hide the noise while he crumples and drops them ..

While technically it wouldnt have been impossible for him, to put them in his pocket instead, I believe it would have required a more obvious movement of his arm, and would also have caused more noise.
Throwing them in the garbage can was the quickest and quietest method available to him at the time.

His real mistake here was that he never came back to remove the evidence afterwards ;)


As for the posters who are arguing that a teacher should be fired for doing what Mr M. did in the movie, because he would have shown himself to be untrustworthy or biased: I agree with you, BUT I also believe that teachers are human, and I would be very surprised if not every single one of them sometimes felt the way and acted the way Mr. M. did, (i.e. failed someone simply out of spite, or let someone slide out of sympathy, or similar).

_____
I don't know, Butchie, instead.

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He was a tenured teacher and had won several teacher of the year a awards. The union would have fought like a tiger for him. Realistically, he wouldve been transferred to the middle school.

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I've seen examples of teachers/coaches who have done a lot worse than this and didn't get fired.

Just sayin'.

Jackie: She's sick and I'm her understudy. Roseanne: Well, who's going to say "tureen of beef"??

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