Teacher fired for old porno flick...

[SDFgirl]

Here is the story:

http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=4859482&nav=menu31_3

Basically, a teacher was fired when it surfaced that she had starred in a pornographic movie 10 years ago, before she was a teacher. I don't know what to think - should she suffer for the rest of her career because of one big mistake?

 

[Tanuki]

Even if what she did was a crime (prostitution)- the statute of limitations should have run out a long time ago. As long as she wasn't starring with underage kids, I think it's time to put this in the past.

 

[Lyn5]

If she had done something inappropriate with children or something of that nature, I would say she didn't belong in a school. But, she seems like she could be a decent person that was ill and in a bad situation. She turned her life around, served her country and seems to have the support of the parents. I think it is sad in this case that she lost her job.

 

[PattnFmly]

I think she should be reinstated. The porn industry is just that, an industry, and usually totally legal. Who cares how many years ago it was? People have lives to lead, bills to pay, and one never knows what will come back to haunt us. Leave her alone and let her live and teach, which is her job, fully trained and able. We need to learn to live and let live and not stress so much about what our neighbors have in their past.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

oh my--if we are going to hire teachers based on their past---perhaps we should go back to the days of unmarried virgin school marms.

Now unless she was at some type of religious institution where the code of conduct is different and they may look into your detailed past...as long as she wasn't breaking the law, it is irrelevant.

Is it me or is the school system basically saying that all their students will now go seek out this flick and then think of nothing but their nekkid teacher all day? Well they could have kept quiet about it and done nothing.

I'm hoping she can get reinstated.

 

[zurgswife]

That is stupid...she made a mistake turned her llife around and your going to punish her for doing better....

 

[Shugardrawers]

It was a legal activity not involving minors or hurting anyone. Everyone involved was consenting adults. Time to let this woman live her life.

While I'm thinking of it, can anyone tell me why making a porno movie is legal but prostitution isn't? Both involve having sex for money don't they

 

[mylilnikita]

My question is: how did the school find out? I mean was a parent watching a porno or a member of the school board and recognize her?
In a city close to where I live not long ago, there was a sports star for the high school having sex off school grounds with his girlfriend and someone made a video unknown to the couple and put it on the internet and both students were expelled because they were considered a distraction.

 

[bicker]

It's a shame Americans cannot get past their hang-ups, and focus on what's really important, like the fact that there are children walking through our schools with guns and knives, and there are teachers who either can't or simply don't care to actually teach. You'd think those would be the priorities But, of course, people seek to do what's easiest rather than what is most important.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

I could see a case for firing her if the film involved children, or if it was made while she was a teacher. As it is, she should be reinstated.

 

[Cindy B]

Interesting.

I'm in teaching courses now (only about a year left until certification--YAY!)

A big thing on of my textbooks talk about is how teachers are an ambassador to the public. The text speaks about how unfairly some teachers are treated because of peoples "perceptions". Some people think that teachers are still the unmarried virgins like somebody else posted.

I would think that the board of ed got thier panties in a bunch because they expect teacher to be a moral example. Yes, this happened prior to her certification.... Wrong to be fired, especially if this happened prior to her certification.

 

[carolfoy]

It's a shame Americans cannot get past their hang-ups, and focus on what's really important, like the fact that there are children walking through our schools with guns and knives, and there are teachers who either can't or simply don't care to actually teach. You'd think those would be the priorities But, of course, people seek to do what's easiest rather than what is most important.

ITA, why punish someone for their past when it was neither illegal nor affecting what they do today, of course if she can stand all the remarks from kids she'll get every day for the rest of her working life then she's a strong woman!

 

[MrsPete]

Right or wrong, we teachers DO have a morality clause in our contracts. Teachers can be fired -- though they'd get a warning first -- for "living in sin" (though realistically, the administration probably doesn't know where /with whom most of us live) or being drunk and rowdy in public. In the real world, this doesn't happen UNLESS the teacher's also doing a bad job at school and they're looking for a reason to dump him or her.

I remember a couple years ago a just-out-of-college teacher asked me what the principal had meant when he said to her as he handed her the keys to her new classroom, "Remember, this is a small town." I told her he was warning her that students (and parents) would be watching her and talking about her. He was telling her that he liked her, looked forward to having her as a teacher in his school, and he didn't want to have any reason for conflict over her personal life. People hold teachers to a different standard; like it or not, this IS an aspect of teaching.

Furthermore, if the rules in this woman's state are the same as the rules in mine, she was NOT FIRED. The article says she's suspended until the end of the year, and her contract isn't being renewed in August. Since she has only two years' experience, she is not a tenured teacher and can be "let go" without any reason, even if she has been a model employee.

Since she's a high school teacher though, I guarantee you the boys in her class would seek out the movie, and then her effectiveness in the classroom would be gone.

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

She is learning the hard way, the same as I did, that when you deal with school kids on a daily basis..you are held to a much higher standard than other people. Even if what she did had nothing to do with her job performance, they are forced to take drastic action. It doesn't matter that it's in the past..she did it and now she has to pay the price for it.

I am not against pornos..if the people involved are adults, then fine. Go hump like bunnies for all I care. But you have to realize that people you might not want to see the film will probably see it and you will have to pay the price for your part in it.

Just my $0.02.

TOV

 

[CheshireVal]

Right or wrong, we teachers DO have a morality clause in our contracts. Teachers can be fired -- though they'd get a warning first -- for "living in sin" (though realistically, the administration probably doesn't know where /with whom most of us live) or being drunk and rowdy in public. In the real world, this doesn't happen UNLESS the teacher's also doing a bad job at school and they're looking for a reason to dump him or her.

I remember a couple years ago a just-out-of-college teacher asked me what the principal had meant when he said to her as he handed her the keys to her new classroom, "Remember, this is a small town." I told her he was warning her that students (and parents) would be watching her and talking about her. He was telling her that he liked her, looked forward to having her as a teacher in his school, and he didn't want to have any reason for conflict over her personal life. People hold teachers to a different standard; like it or not, this IS an aspect of teaching.

Furthermore, if the rules in this woman's state are the same as the rules in mine, she was NOT FIRED. The article says she's suspended until the end of the year, and her contract isn't being renewed in August. Since she has only two years' experience, she is not a tenured teacher and can be "let go" without any reason, even if she has been a model employee.

Since she's a high school teacher though, I guarantee you the boys in her class would seek out the movie, and then her effectiveness in the classroom would be gone.

But the morality clause only applies when you're actually employed as a teacher. If she wasn't employed at the time of her indiscretion, and if she has no arrest record or anything, what she did in the past shouldn't matter.

 

[tinkerrn]

This is insane!!!! I saw this on the news last night and was shocked. I can understand the morality clause, if its something you have done while certified. As a nurse, we too have clause. The funny thing is, we have teachers who are habitual drunk drivers, one nearly killing a child under the influence; and they are still teaching. I hope this woman has a good attorney.

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

If she wasn't employed at the time of her indiscretion, and if she has no arrest record or anything, what she did in the past shouldn't matter.

It probably shouldn't but it does, because you are working with kids all day long. If you're going to be a teacher, you have to scrutinize your past before you apply for that job. You have to go back and look at EVERY SINGLE THING you ever did from the time you were in college up to that point and see if it might not come back to bite you in the butt later on.

TOV

 

[declansdad]

Right or wrong, we teachers DO have a morality clause in our contracts. Teachers can be fired -- though they'd get a warning first -- for "living in sin" (though realistically, the administration probably doesn't know where /with whom most of us live) or being drunk and rowdy in public. In the real world, this doesn't happen UNLESS the teacher's also doing a bad job at school and they're looking for a reason to dump him or her.

highly doubt your morality clause would apply to things that you did prior to signing your contract. That goes against contract law, in Canada anyway.

Since she's a high school teacher though, I guarantee you the boys in her class would seek out the movie, and then her effectiveness in the classroom would be gone.

I don't know, it may help her hold their attention.


I

 

[stopgo]

The worst part is that she admitted doing the film while suffering from a mental illness. It's obvious she took the initiative to seek treatment and get her life back on track. She did a stint in the Army, got herself into school and turned things around.

Paducah, KY is bible-belt territory. Not to disparage any Christians here but it's not difficult to imagine that the school board there is chock full of "christians" who like to indulge their sense of moral outrage and this woman was a perfect target for their hypocrisy.

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Paducah, KY is bible-belt territory. Not to disparage any Christians here but it's not difficult to imagine that the school board there is chock full of "christians" who like to indulge their sense of moral outrage and this woman was a perfect target for their hypocrisy.

ITAWTC.

TOV