<p>We have quite a hullabaloo going on in my area. Last year, a female eighth grade science teacher was discovered to have a past in porn movies. This came to the administration’s attention via the students. The teacher was placed on leave and subsequently fired. She is currently appealing the decision at the County Superior Court level.</p>
<p>Her attorney’s position is that people should be given second chances. By all accounts, she was an excellent teacher. They say that students should see that past mistakes can be forgiven, and that it is a horrible message to students that one mistake will label them for life.</p>
<p>The district, on the other hand, seems to be arguing primarily from the standpoint that the teacher lied when confronted with her past. (She admits she lied and said it was out of embarrassment.) They say that the lies alone are grounds for dismissal. They also question whether she can be an effective teacher for students who are very aware of what she did.</p>
<p>The letters to the editor have been vehement, with most of them defending the teacher and accusing the district of sanctimonious behavior. I have no idea how many of these letter writers are parents.</p>
<p>I’m curious what the parents on this board think. Should she remained fired? Should she be reinstated? Reinstated but made to teach something other than middle school?</p>
<p>I think what it will come down to is why she was fired. And that’s going to be hard to determine.</p>
<p>If she was fired for the previous employment, then that school district is probably in trouble. If she was fired for lying about her past, then the school district will probably win…</p>
<p>Being in porn isn’t child porn, isn’t child molestation. It’s just an issue of notoriety and all that really means is: can she handle a classroom? If she’s good at teaching and can handle kids in the class, then the notoriety will pass and life will go on.</p>
<p>To ask the question “should there be forgiveness?” answers it. Aren’t people continually arguing that America is a Christian nation founded according to Christian principles? Then shouldn’t she be forgiven as the Christian thing to do? What exactly is her crime? She has committed only an offense against the public sensibilities. Compare that to Cardinal Mahony in Los Angeles, which may be in the same archdiocese. He is making excuses about criminal behavior for protecting child molesters and yet he’s in Rome to vote on the next Pope. He says - and I’m quoting his latest blog post (not kidding) - that he wasn’t instructed what to do, that he wasn’t informed about child molesters, and he offers that as an actual excuse for doing terrible, actual, criminal, reprehensible wrongs for which he should be in prison. But he’s in Rome and a woman who had sex legally for money (because making xvideos is not prostitution) is out of a job.</p>
<p>Well if she is a good teacher than a porn background should not be the basis for being fired. She did lie when she applied so I see the school’s point to be able to fire her but personally I don’t beleive she should be fired over this (but parent’s complaints can be the deciding factor in this case).</p>
<p>I’m always reminding our 20something DS to be conservative with his ‘private’ life, especially his online presence. He’s a well behaved bright young man but it does seem that one misstep can have big consequences.</p>
<p>Ooops, edited:
If she lied on her application, the school district probably has legal grounds for firing her.</p>
<p>IMO lying on an app is always a legitimate reason for firing someone. The lie, regardless of what it’s about or the fact that the applicant is “embarassed,” tells you that they put expedience above integrity.</p>
<p>I agree with this. It’s not like it’s illegal.</p>
<p>Lying on an application, on the other hand… I think it depends. How many people here put every job they’ve ever had on a resume? The next time I’m job hunting, I’ll probably leave off my time making sandwiches at Subway because it’s completely irrelevant and I’d like to keep my resume to one page. I don’t think that’s lying. Resumes are supposed to be tailored toward a job and not list everything ever about a person. Job applications also often don’t even have space for every job you’ve ever had – it’s last four or something. Lying would be if she was directly asked if she has worked in adult entertainment or if she was asked to list her entire job history with no omissions, which some places do ask.</p>
<p>I think very few people with much work experience put every job ever on their resume, just because there would be too much information, so I don’t think leaving off a resume by itself is lying.</p>
<p>To clarify about the lying, this teacher obviously lied by omission on the application but directly lied when asked by the administration about the student rumors re: her being in porn. She denied it, and only confessed when she was cornered.</p>
<p>This is the lie the administration cites in their case to fire her.</p>
<p>I don’t know this teacher personally, and my sons did not attend her school, so I am not connected with the case. </p>
<p>I’m not sure how I feel about all of this. She is a good teacher, and there is no concern about improprieties with the students. And certainly I believe people deserve second chances. </p>
<p>On the other hand as a parent of boys, I know the kind of information that boys can share with each other re: websites, etc. Certainly many 8th grade boys in her classroom would google her past activities, which are easily accessible on the web. If my son were in her class, I might have concerns about, shall we say, the distraction factor.</p>
<p>It sounds odd, but I might be more comfortable if she were my child’s kindergarten teacher than a junior high teacher.</p>
<p>So she did not lie on her application and she did not lie about anything to do with her job? She lied when she was asked if she was ever involved in porn. Could someone be fired if they were asked if they ever used the n word or ever smoked pot and they lied about it?</p>
<p>I understand the school believes she will be disruptive in the class but I do not believe she should be fired.</p>
<p>It sounds odd, but I might be more comfortable if she were my child’s kindergarten teacher than a junior high teacher.</p>
<p>No that isn’t odd.
Five year olds aren’t going to be trolling for naked pictures of their teacher.
What our school district does is bump miscreants into administration.
And their offenses are generally much more egregious than pornography involving willing adults.</p>
<p>I think they should place her in another position.
That would be discipline for lying, but still retain what sounds like is a valuable educator.</p>
<p>I am not sure how she can be fired for being in porn. Even if she did lie about it. </p>
<p>Most schools system are doing basic background checks on teachers ans staff now. I am curious whether or not this employment was identified then? </p>
<p>Would this teacher have been fired if she lied about working as a professional clown prior to being a teacher? Or as a gossip columnist? Or an underwear model? Or any number of other “jobs” that may cause kids to talk? </p>
<p>I dont understand how previous legal employment of any kind, reported or not, is grounds for dismissal. </p>
<p>Her ability to control her classroom and be respected is gone. She won’t be effective. The kids and parents will tear her to shreds. The district will probably be forced to rehire her. Maybe they can reassign her to some administrative duty.</p>
<p>wow…an 8th grader recognized his teacher from a porn movie?. I can see where this might be just a little distracting to the boys. Will they be concentrating on what this teacher is trying to teach…or will their minds be elsewhere?</p>