Bridesmaids inspired "slaps" puts teacher in hot water

Is this a frivolous charge?  Maybe it will come out eventually.  Some students say the teacher is a sweet person and that there were no real slaps.  It was fake.  Hopefully, the truth will come out.

Being slapped six times in front of a class is out there.

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-malibu-bridesmaids-slap,0,6923119.story

High School Social Studies teacher given option of resigning rather than being fired

Unfortunately, he was never told what transgression had created the situation in the first place.

http://www.dailymail.com/News/PutnamCounty/201203050289

Acquitted Chico teacher sues for back pay

http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_19917822

Michael Sullivan allegedly ran his finger from a student's earlobe to her shoulder, and more.  Now he is suing the school district for back pay after being acquitted of these charges.

According to some of the people who posted comments on an article regarding this trial, it was because he attempted to grab a cell phone from a student during class.

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/gerber-ca/T2L4UHVQ7FC961KCJ

slave games

First an unthinking math teacher wrote a math homework sheet that involved problems with how many times a slave was beaten per day.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/01/teacher-who-assigned-math-homework-with-slavery-questions-resigns/
 He resigned.  Was it insensitive? Yes.  Should it end his career?  That's debatable.  But in all likelihood, it did.

Now there are reports that teacher's participated in a playground game involving escaped slaves (played by black kids).  The jury is out but, according to the school's investigation, this was something perpetrated by the students themselves.

slave games

Paper and district do not reveal name of accused teacher....hopefully a trend that continues

accused teacher returns to work

The internet and papers are full of the names of accused teachers before any real investigation has occurred.  How are these people supposed to go back into a classroom and teach given the nature of the job and society?  It is almost impossible to disprove abuse did not occur so there is always a question in peoples' minds which is easily exploited considering how gossip moves and the low status teachers are now afforded.

Also distressing is that every story out there adds to the hysteria which creates an environment where perception is skewed and teachers are suspect.

CTC incompetence, nepotism, conflicts of interest

CA teacher's commission- royal society

When one thinks about the various agencies out there to keep education running smoothly and efficiently, you have to wonder why we end up with such a poor product in terms of what graduates from our high schools.  This attorney was fired for blowing the whistle against the CTC.  Years ago, when I knew they had my number, it was suggested I report some of their below the belt practices to the board and the ctc.  I never did. Why?  They just favor their own.  It becomes apparent.

I still recall forwarding some information on our former principal to hr to underscore how corrupt she was.  Do you think I ever heard a word back from him?  Of course not.  Now he is the district superintendent and she is "executive director" (and woodrow wilson fellow) at a charter school.  Work hard and be rewarded? ......

Ricardo Aldana

teacher in California- Ricardo Aldana- accused of sexual assault

Has support of many in the community.  We have to see how this plays out.

Male teachers- Accusations

fear of accusations in Canada
Article says 1 in 7 male teachers has been falsely accused but I suspect that number has changed of late.

and in the United States

What .....me worry?

what good teachers worry about

I used to say "They might kill me, but they are going to have to do it with a sharp knife."

Every few years they would send in some overpaid playground manager that I called my principal to evaluate me.  These people generally had taught a few years in an elementary school and now they had me in the palm of the their hand...sort of.  I thought of some of these administrators as dull knives. They would have been better suited for the customer service department at Macy's.  Most of them seemed full of ambition and somewhat devoid of academic expertise.

Well...I guess the dull blade got me in the end.  The tetanus was too much for me.

If you have been targeted, and are competent, the easiest way for them to purge you is to get some student accusations.  They have trouble showing incompetence so they take the expedient route.

Dept of Ed. on false accusations

The strange thing is that only a few times were the accusations completely fabricated.  Usually, it was someone taking something I did and twisting it when it fit their agenda.  Hmmmm....your grade is low.  Why is this?  Hmmmm well the teacher did x, y or z 2 months ago.

I have allegedly: slammed a head into the wall, poked a kid with my finger, kicked a child in the leg, hit a child with a chair, squeezed a girl by her shoulder, purposely short changed students on their grades, told a student to shut up, berated a student in front of their peers, got in the "face" of a student, told a parent I would no longer harass their child and then did so, came on sexually by calling a student "sweet heart" and licking my lips, sang love songs, baited children to come into my room alone, kept a girl in at lunch and did not respond to her panic attack,  showed video of myself naked, ogled girls' chests, attempted to film girls' chests....the list could go on.  I admit I have a temper when pushed too far.  I was worried that my tendencies might one day push me too far after being baited the way I have been (remember the tiger that got lose in the san fran zoo?).  By the time I got to my final year, I rarely raised my voice despite the behavior of the students.  I noticed that as my self control became greater, that the tactic students used switched from physical abuse to being some sort of sexual predator.  I am a heterosexual male but I am happy to say that I have absolutely no interest in 13 or 14 year old girls.  When you add that these were insipid, narcissists I can only say that I would not have ever found them interesting....not at 47 and not at 13.  I suppose that on first take one might see the anger in my talk, but at its core there is a great sadness.  I am sad for myself and for this society that seems to have lost its way.

False accusations

If you are accused of sexual misconduct or physical abuse involving students and it is determined that the allegations were knowingly false when they were made, the DOE must remove all references to the allegations from your DOE personnel file, restore any lost pay with interest and permanently reassign the student from your class absent compelling and extraordinary circumstances.
The agreement makes clear that the disciplinary process should never be used to retaliate against whistle-blowers or for any other illegal reason. It goes on to state that all employees who make a knowingly false allegation shall be subject to discipline.

Burden of proof is lowered for prosecuting teachers who are accused

This comes in light of the Sean Lannigan trial.  OK. Let the witch hunt begin.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/opinion-zone/2011/05/falsely-accused-teachers-and-students-will-be-harmed-new-education-depart

NEA

How to prevent false accusations

http://www.nea.org/home/16921.htm