Social networking websites are being used to threaten and make false allegations against teachers, according to a teachers' union.

BBC: Teachers warn of online threats from pupils

Pupils who make false allegations against teachers should have details of that complaint kept on their school records, a union demanded.

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Proposals later in the year on defending teachers against false allegations of misconduct.

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Prof Andy Phippen, of Plymouth University, who has studied the problem, said teachers who had had false allegations made about them could be reluctant to counter the claims officially.

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Among their causes: charter schools, a push for merit pay for teachers, efforts to curb false eyewitness identification, and research to spur lawmakers to firm up government pension programs.

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The false flag in the sustained focus on teachers is thus: citing cases of extreme teacher malfeasance as a broad explanation of how making teachers easier to fire will produce better education outcomes and better-equipped students.

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There have been false allegations of "inappropriate behaviour with a pupil" and attacks on teachers' professional ability, according to the survey.

BBC: Teachers warn of online threats from pupils

There was no false choice between literacy and computer skills, nor did technology mean the importance of teachers was being eroded.

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