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Teacher’s suicide leads to call for Times to remove performance ratings
The United Teachers Los Angeles is demanding that the Los Angeles Times remove teacher performance ratings from its website after one teacher rated “less effective” committed suicide. The union claims that Rigoberto Ruelas, a teacher at Miramonte Elementary School, took his life because he was despondent over his low performance ranking. The Times published the ratings last month in a database analyzing test scores for third and fifth grade students over a seven year period. Should the newspaper yank the database? Should other newspapers refrain from publishing stories that might result in death or suicide?
The United Teachers Los Angeles is demanding that the Los Angeles Times remove teacher performance ratings from its website after one teacher rated “less effective” committed suicide. The union claims that Rigoberto Ruelas, a teacher at Miramonte Elementary School, took his life because he was despondent over his low performance ranking. The Times published the ratings last month in a database analyzing test scores for third and fifth grade students over a seven year period. Should the newspaper yank the database? Should other newspapers refrain from publishing stories that might result in death or suicide?