By miller727@icloud.com March 24, 2014 Uncategorized 9 Comments
Sometimes the irony of life on Earth is subtle and escapes our notice.
Other times it slaps us in the face! Like a crocodile with a Croc in its mouth. Or, like this THIS story in today’s Tulsa World.
Apparently, the Oklahoma State Board of Dentistry is investigating the potentially felonious acts of Jeanne Mandeville, the health room director at Tulsa’s School of St. Mary.
What was Jeanne’s crime against society? According to a spokesperson at the Dentistry board, Jeanne has violated the law by intentionally helping students at her school pull loose teeth. I’m not making this up.
Here’s a picture of Jeannie literally breaking the law:
At her school, Jeanne is affectionately referred to as the Tooth Fairy by students at the school. She has assisted a number of fearful students over the years as their teeth teetered on the edge of falling out.
But Dental Board Executive Director, Susan Rogers, is crying foul! According to Rogers, Ms. Mandeville “might be keeping children from going to a licensed dentist who could notice any other oral issues they might be facing, and her actions, technically, could be a felony.”
Rogers went on to elaborate that “parents are allowed to assist with tooth-pulling because it’s done in a less formal, less organized manner. The formal manner of having a school health-room director pull the tooth could keep the child from having needed visits with a dentist, she said.”
Let me get this right. Pulling teeth in a “less formal, less organized manner” is cool. However, having a school health worker perform this under controlled circumstances in a school setting is against the law. Yeah, that makes sense.
The Dentistry Board’s action was in response to an email complaint forwarded to the dentistry board last Thursday. As printed in the Tulsa World, the email accused Mandeville of “practicing pediatric dentistry without a license” and said she was “not qualified, not even allowed to put gauze into a mouth without a practicing Dentist at her side.” In all capital letters, the complaint stated that Mandeville was “PRACTICING DENTISTRY ILLEGALLY.”
As a result of this action, the headmaster of the school has now told Jeanne Mandeville that she must stop pulling teeth, or else she might face felony charges from the State Dentistry Board!
This prompts the question: Where do I send my complaint against a dentist PRACTICING EDUCATION ILLEGALLY, or at best INCOMPETENTLY?
Rogers said the dentistry board has authority over anyone determined to be practicing dentistry, whether they know they are technically “practicing dentistry” or not.
You have to appreciate the irony here. A sweet lady who cares about kids and wants to nurture them through the sometimes traumatic experience of pulling a loose tooth is potentially labeled a criminal, while a dentist masquerading as an educator, whose policies adversely impact thousands of Oklahoma children, gets a free pass.
Don’t you wish that the State Board of Education had the authority to determine who should be practicing education, whether they know they are technically “practicing education” or not?
At least now we know where Superintendent Barresi learned her tyrannical leadership style—from dentistry school!