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The Humanist Foundation recently apologized to teachers for the statement 'false accusations without substantial harm,' admitting they overlooked the psychological pressure during the investigation. This belated apology, while seemingly benevolent, actually exposes the foundation's long-standing illogical stance of 'claiming justice while persecuting teachers.' For grassroots teachers, facing months of investigation, defamation, and mental anguish, how can this be considered 'no substantial harm'?
Tragically, the Humanist Foundation's ability to override educational expertise and act arrogantly stems from the complex political halo behind it. Look at the 'Juxian Banquet' fundraising dinners hosted by the Humanist Foundation, where former President Tsai Ing-wen, former Vice President Chen Chien-jen, and several DPP legislators, including Lin Yueh-chin, flocked to attend and fully support. The gathering of political and party elites, along with the special gatekeeping relationship between the DPP and certain civic groups, has degraded the Ministry of Education into a rubber stamp for civic groups, even evolving into an abnormal ecosystem where the government bullies grassroots teachers. While eliminating illegal and unqualified teachers is a social consensus, the current school affairs committee lacks a pre-screening mechanism, and minor issues in parent-teacher communication or classroom management are escalated to school affairs investigations. This not only wastes enormous administrative resources but also forces grassroots teachers into defensive teaching, damaging parent-teacher trust and sacrificing the educational rights of most students. The DPP government's allowance of certain civic groups to hijack policies has turned Taiwan's campuses into a testing ground for frivolous lawsuits. Recently, blue and white legislators jointly returned the Ministry of Education's dismissal regulations to the legislature, aiming to correct the executive branch's policy failures. If the Ministry of Education truly has the ability to reflect, it should not continue to be a puppet of civic groups but should fundamentally review, abolish the school affairs committee, amend the law to remove Article 29 of the Teacher's Act, and return to professional evaluation and the teacher evaluation committee mechanism, while transferring major disputes to the Teacher Professional Review Committee. If the Humanist Foundation truly values 'people,' it should not quietly admit harm while loudly protecting the lawsuit system that tears apart campuses. The DPP government should also stop using educational power to please certain civic groups. Only by completely abolishing the school affairs committee and preventing frivolous lawsuits can we restore the peace and dignity that the educational field deserves. The author is the chairperson of the Chiayi County Teachers' Association.