So if you have chosen to be a teacher you better make sure you keep your domestic violence private and just suck it up. How man teachers are now going to stay in an abusive relationship for fear of losing their job? How many are going to be another statistic? There are other ways to handle this. Move schools and keep it private. Make sure they are informed by law enforcement when her fine upstanding ex is released. Somehow I think the divorce played a factor. They just aren't saying it.
That probably isn't an option open to most private schools, because the hiring decisions are made by the school committee and apply only to that specific school. It isn't like a public district with multiple schools within their jurisdiction. And even if it were, teaching isn't a profession that lends itself to secrecy. My kids have attended 4 different public schools and 1 private, and every single one has a staff listing on their web site. It isn't as though transferring her across town would make her hard to find.
It is a horrible situation all the way around, but in the end I don't think the school had much choice. Private schools, particularly parochial schools, are struggling right now. Ours has a whopping 70 students, pre-K to 8, which is about half the students they served a decade ago and few enough that even a few families leaving the school over a perceived danger like this poor teacher's ex-husband would have a major impact. The news story mentioned a "movement" among parents to pull their kids out of school if nothing was done. And of course, there is also the liability... If they keep the teacher on and her ex comes back and shoots up the place, the school will take the blame both in the media and likely in civil court as well.
I want to know why all the outrage in this case seems to be directed at the school, rather than at the laws that will have this man back out on the streets in time for the next school year. So long as restraining orders go unenforced and domestic violence is a slap-on-the-wrist offense abusers will continue to terrorize their victims. One article mentioned a 20 year history of domestic violence, another said he faced two felony charges stemming from the January incident, and yet there's this, buried deep in the end of one news story: "
Her ex-husband is scheduled to be released from Jail at the end of June." That is what people should be angry about - years of violence, ignoring a restraining order, terrorizing a school full of children, and what does he serve? Six whole months.
