Teacher fired for old porno flick...

[CathrynRose]

How terrible.

No - she should be allowed to continue teaching. Gimme a break.

I hope she sues them. Anyone know if in their "contract" it says anything about "previous porn" being a no-no??

 

[CathrynRose]

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.
.

Thats what I was thinking too - you know how many porno's there are??? They'd be watching A LOT of them before they might happen to come across Ms. Teacher.

And who was watching them in the first place and came across this???

 

[Tiggeroo]

small towns, small schools. If the school board knows about this the students know about this. There's no way that wouldn't happen. All it would take is for one parent to tell one kid, or one kid to overhear something. Once the kids know they will find the tape. There will be talk during class about this, kids will be talking about the teacher alot. Sorry but I think that takes away her authority. They could, maybe have moved her quietly to another district.It's a shame. In theory I don't think they shoud tell her to leave but in practice, jr high boys are, well jr high boys.

 

[BrinxFam]

Paducah, KY is in the Bible Belt and literally right in my back yard, I can see it! In fact, my DH works there and I 'm on my way to shop today.

While Paducah is in the Bible Belt the type of "christians" that you speak of are not the overwhelming majority. The Paducah area is not over the top religious. I am a christian and used to work at a church in Paducah.

It is my understanding that the movie was seen by someone in the school but I don't recall hearing if it was parents or students. The news did report that a local video store had had an excessive number of phone calls wanting to rent or buy the movie. The teacher was originally suspended with pay. She appeared on the local news just a couple of nights ago and is extremely remorseful. Many of the parents and students are rallying behind her. She can petition for her job next school year. I would expect that the petition will be granted. I honestly think that the suspension this year is only to try to allow school to finish without much hoopla, only a couple of weeks to go.

My DH graduated from the high school this is all taking place at and I'm sure he and his friends would not have minded at all.

My DD attends school here in Massac County, IL and there are some of the teachers there concern me more than this lady would.

Good Luck to her and hopefully the McCracken County schools will do the right thing!

 

[Deb in IA]

I am much more disturbed by teachers having sexual relations with their current students -- which seems to be happening at an alarming rate these days -- than a teacher, who, 10 years ago, as a homeless, untreated bipolar, spent one day filming an adult video.

 

[dadto1]

Anybody have a link to the video, I need to examine it before I make a decision about on which side of the track I'm on in this matter!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Maybe some middle school buddies will be willing to share, 'dad'.

Anybody have a link to the video, I need to examine it before I make a decision about on which side of the track I'm on in this matter!

 

[CheshireVal]

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

That's not necessarily true unless you're applying to be a teacher in a tiny tiny town where everyone knows everyone else's business.

 

[cats mom]

So she was suspended on May 3rd and school gets out on May 24th.

Not that I'm saying it's right or wrong for her to lose her job over this, but wouldn't it have made more sense for the administration to just let her ride out the last couple of weeks of the school year and then quietly not renew her contract for next year?

I'd think as a fairly new teacher that would have been a pretty easy thing to do - really no explanation needed.

Makes me wonder what was going on behind the scenes.

 

[MrsPete]

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.

I don't know where I stand on that. Whether she did it a decade a go or last week, it obviously IS an issue for kids and parents; otherwise, this wouldn't be in the news. I doubt the principal (or the school board) discovered this situation -- it was probably kids who "uncovered evidence" about her past.

Still, it doesn't matter.

The bottom line is that she's a second year teacher, and she can be dismissed for no reason whatsoever -- no, let me rephrase that: the school can choose not to renew her contract next fall for no reason whatsoever. In their first few years of work, teachers are sort of like temps, contract workers, or people hired to complete a certain project (the project being to teach for one school year); they are only promised a job from this August to next June. When their contract's up, it's up. That contract may or may not be extended for the next year. The school doesn't have to give her a reason of any type. She can be dismissed because the principal's niece graduated from college and needs a teaching job. She can be dismissed because the principal found someone who's able to coach football. She can be dismissed for any reason whatsoever, and the school's not going to keep a controversial teacher around if they're not forced to do so.

She's not being fired, so there's nothing stopping her from going to another county or state and applying for a job (well, nothing but this publicity). She's not eligible for any type of unemployment because she's been employed for her full contract.

Most people don't realize that this is how teachers' employment works. Teachers have NO job stability for the first few years. Once they are tenured, then they can only be fired FOR CAUSE.

 

[dadto1]

Maybe some middle school buddies will be willing to share, 'dad'.

A joke Dan, ever heard of one of those?

 

[MrsPete]

Sorry but I think that takes away her authority. They could, maybe have moved her quietly to another district.

But they didn't. That leads me to believe that one of two things is true:

1. The tape was originally discovered by kids, who passed it around somehow and the whole thing became public knowledge and an embarassment to the school. If this happened, then the school woudln't have had a chance to "move her quietly".

2. She isn't a good teacher in the first place, and they were happy to have an excuse to sever ties with her.

I could be off-base, but based upon my teaching experience, I'd bet that it's one of these two things.

 

[MrsPete]

That's not necessarily true unless you're applying to be a teacher in a tiny tiny town where everyone knows everyone else's business.

Nah, in today's information age, everyone lives in a small town. Students are nosy, and if there's anything questionable to dig up about a teacher's past, the kids will do it.

Since she said she didn't use her real name, I do wonder how they found this video. I suspect quite a bit was left out of this article.

 

[MrsPete]

I am much more disturbed by teachers having sexual relations with their current students -- which seems to be happening at an alarming rate these days -- than a teacher, who, 10 years ago, as a homeless, untreated bipolar, spent one day filming an adult video.

While even one is too many, I don't think this is happening at an "alarming rate". I mean, there are well over 1000 teachers in my county alone -- I have no idea how many there are in the US; yet only a small handful of offenders are ever discovered -- and this isn't the type of thing that stays quiet. The vast, vast majority of teachers shake their heads and say, "What are they thinking?" when they hear these horror stories.

 

[boomhauer]

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

The same reason why marajuana is illegal but alchohol is not.
The same reason why selling tickets on the streets is illegal, but having a license to do so is not.

If our greedy politicians can't get their hands on some of the money, it's illegal.

 

[boomhauer]

Anybody have a link to the video, I need to examine it before I make a decision about on which side of the track I'm on in this matter!

 

[fakereadhed]

I find it surprising that everyone thinks this is an OK thing for a teacher to have in their past. She should get a pass because it was 10 years ago? What message does that give our kids?

This is the message I would hear if I was a kid and they didn't take action: do whatever you want now, because as long as some time has passed it will not count against you.

 

[boomhauer]

I find it surprising that everyone thinks this is an OK thing for a teacher to have in their past. She should get a pass because it was 10 years ago? What message does that give our kids?

This is the message I would hear if I was a kid and they didn't take action: do whatever you want now, because as long as some time has passed it will not count against you.

Should we send our kids a message that there is no such thing as forgiveness?

 

[bicker]

If we're not careful, we'll change things in education just like we have in politics: So that only the lesser people will be willing to subject themselves to the scrutiny. The better people will simply prefer the private sector where personal lives are respected.

 

[Sparx]

Porn is not illegal. As long as what she was doing was legal I see no reason for this woman to be fired.

This is just another case of morals being forced on people.