Here's something I won't do to make up for that projected 10% pay cut I'm going to get next year:
A high school teacher in Little Rock has resigned after school officials learned she pleaded guilty in November to a prostitution charge...
Islam said she was desperate for money and originally thought she was just going to work for a dating service. She pleaded guilty on Nov. 5 and was given a suspended 90-day sentence and a $640 fine...
Islam, who was in the fifth year of her teacher career, told Fox16.com that she hopes this attention doesn't affect her ability to find another job.
I'm always very conflicted about such stories. On one hand, if her students had ever found out, I can see how that could impact classroom discipline--thus making it the district's business. On the other hand, what consenting adults do in their free time should be no concern of the school district (see this post from almost 3 years ago). But, you might say, she broke the law! And that's true, but lots of teachers break the law (often while driving) and they don't get suspended or fired.
Is there a difference between what this teacher has done vs. the butt-print artist (see link two sentences above)? Is one situation, if known, more likely to create a classroom disruption than the other?
I always come back to the unanswered question--where is the line drawn for teachers? What conduct can get you fired and what can't? If some "morals clause" is invoked, how would you address this scenario:
A male teacher in a very conservative area (say, Utah or something) is spotted at a gay pride parade--wearing Daisy Dukes, waving the rainbow flag, belting out It's Raining Men like there's no tomorrow. He may even appear in a picture in the local newspaper.
Should the teacher be fired? If yes, why? If no, should Ms. Islam have been fired? Should the butt-print artist have been fired? If you say no to all of them, under what circumstances could a teacher's off-duty behavior get them fired? If you say yes to all of them, at what point (if any) is a (mere) teacher entitled to any sort of adult life outside of school?
What about this scenario:
A female teacher has an affair with a married man. This affair is eventually discovered and word gets around the community.
Should this teacher be fired? How about this one:
A local teacher protests in front of the local grocery store, carrying a sign claiming that the president is a Kenyan-born impostor.
And this one?
A teacher works a side job at a (legal in California) medical marijuana dispensary in order to supplement her income due to a pay cut. The feds raid the place, it makes big news.
At some point, expecting teachers to be saints or the Cleaver Family or something similar is just not, to use a word currently in vogue, sustainable. Where is that point? Where is the line to be crossed? (sorry, math humor there)
"At some point, expecting teachers to be saints or the Cleaver Family or something similar is just not, to use a word currently in vogue, sustainable. Where is that point? Where is the line to be crossed?"
ReplyDeleteA reasonable place to start might be to look at non-teaching jobs.
So ... gay pride rally ... I can imagine non-teacher people in Utah being fired for this (which doesn't mean I approve of the firing ... I'm not trying to draw a conclusion here, just try to shed some light on possible answers).
Lets say we replace gay pride with neo-Nazi. Is it reasonable to participate in a neo-Nazi rally on your own time and expect to keep your non-teaching job?
About the hypothetical affair, I have no good counterpart. I think (in general) that very few companies in the US would fire you for that.
Working at the medical marijuana dispensary could, I think, get you fired from most jobs. The problem is that the side job is not legal even in California. It is not against California law, but California residents have to follow US law also.
In 1976 Roscoe Orman, who played/plays Gordon on Sesame Street also played a non-so-nice pimp on All My Children. One of the roles (Tyrone the pimp?) changed from "guest" to recurring and Roscoe had to pick one. The Sesame Street folks didn't want to risk the kids seeing Roscoe as both Gordon and Tyrone. This seems quite reasonable to me ... but I can see some people objecting that what Roscoe does outside his Sesame Street role is his own business.
Would it be okay for a children's nurse or pediatrician to be a prostitute? Lets do this in the part of Nevada where it would be legal. How about an Army officer who did this only on leave?
Does this help draw the line? My libertarian (small 'l') instinct is to usually make everything private and let the employees and employers sort it out themselves. Doesn't work so well for teachers, who are mostly public employees.
-Mark Roulo
I don't know, but the Lowest Common Denominator intersects the line at some point. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI would think that if the moonlighting behavior created a problem in the classroom, then that is the point at which there should be intervention and a decision to retain or fire.
ReplyDeleteI recall when I was a kid that there was a teacher scandal where one teacher was having an affair with another. In the end, both left their jobs voluntarily ... I think more out of a sense of personal shame, because they realized it was well known and couldn't face the community. Of course, that was back when people were more easily embarrassed ...
I know a young lady,teacher, who also spends Christmas, Easter(spring) and summer breaks working in one of the houses in northern Nevada. She used to teach at the same school I did and while not very open about her side job, she did not worry that she would be fired if anybody found out. If the side job is legal, nobody should have any say in the matter, unless they are willing to pay me 24/7 365 and then they are paying for all my time
ReplyDeleteI would think that if the moonlighting behavior created a problem in the classroom, then that is the point at which there should be intervention and a decision to retain or fire.
ReplyDeleteSay a teacher moonlights as a tutor or a test prep instructor (only working with kids at other schools). The parents hear that the teacher charges $100/hour outside of school, and the kids hear of it. The kids start getting fussed about the teacher's external job, getting mad because they "couldn't afford" the teacher. Their resentment becomes an issue.
Or, say a teacher moonlights as a musician in a big band, playing jazz, and it's considered horribly geeky. The kids start mocking the teacher for having no taste in music, and it becomes an issue--the kids just can't respect anyone who does such a stupid job.
Either one of those is theoretically possible. Kids get obsessed by weird things. Should it be something the teacher gets fired over?