Background Checks

Sept 30, 2007 - Arkansas Democrat Gazette: "Arrest reveals gaps in checks"

When teacher’s aide Robert N. Richards was arrested earlier this month on child pornography charges, school officials immediately removed him from the classroom.

But his bosses at Leverett Elementary School didn’t know at the time that Richards, 53, already had been in trouble with the law in Fayetteville.

He’d been convicted of seven misdemeanors since 1986 — four of which occurred after he began working with children in 1998.

State law requires non-licensed school employees such as teacher’s aides, janitors, etc. to undergo criminal background checks only once before they are hired.

Teachers Teachers undergo checks each time their licenses are up for renewal, which is typically every five years.

Police do not automatically notify school districts. School districts do not automatically notify the state Department of Education. And there is no statewide registry or database to alert districts when they hire.

TT - Link to Richards

Muskogee, OKLAHOMA

Sept 28, 2007 - Curtis Been, 37, a Midway High School Principal and coach, was arrested on multiple sex-related charges involving two underage girls.


He is charged with with three counts of lewd molestation, one count of forcible sodomy, one count of rape by instrumentation, three counts of second-degree rape, and one count of making a lewd or indecent proposal to a child younger than 16.

All but the indecent proposal charge involve a girl who was 14 when the alleged molestation began in August 2006.
Full Name: Curtis Thomas Been

Murray, KENTUCKY

You might remember her. She called a state trooper to set up a marijuana buy. She's going to get her job back. Good teacher material.

Feb 23, 2007 - Ann Greenfield, 34, a teacher at Murray Middle School, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to traffic a controlled substance within 1,000 yards of a school, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

A trooper got a text message on his cell phone, it was someone wanting to buy marijuana. The trooper called the number back, then set up a location and a time to meet with the person text messaging him.

No other details available.

Feb 23 - WLEX-tv reports that the text message sent to the trooper was the wrong number. He was at dinner with his wife and parents, celebrating her birthday when his phone started buzzing. He thought the text messages about buying marijuana were a joke. He set up the meeting where the teache was arrested.

Apr 25 - Ann Greenfield's attorney is challenging the evidence and whether officers needed a search warrant to seach Greenfield's car. Murray Independent School District Superintendent Bob Rogers said the system is in the process of terminating Greenfield’s contract.

A court date has been set for May 17.

OUTRAGE June 1, 2007 - Greenfield will get her job back, but not for five years. Fired after her arrest, A Kentucky Department of Education tribunal ruled Ann Greenfieldmust undergo drug treatment, and if she successfully passes fourrandom drug screenings during the suspension period, she can returnto the classroom in fall of 2009.

PLEADED GUILTY June 6 - Greenfield pleaded guilty to on misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and conspiracy to obtain marijuana (less than 8 ounces).

ANOTHER TRIAL July 10 - Greenfield will go to trial on charges of first-degree perjury for making a false statement to a grand jury. She was indicted on the felony charge in April - a month after the same grand jury indicted her on misdemeanor drug charges. Trial is set for October 31.

PERJURY CHARGES DISMISSED: Sept 29 - The felony perjury charge against a former middle school teacher has been dismissed. The charge was dropped Tuesday against former Murray Middle School teacher Ann Greenfield “without prejudice,” meaning there has been no determination made concerning the allegation, though Greenfield could face the charge again.

Greenfield temporarily lost her job at Murray Middle School through August 2009; however she will be reinstated to the position if she abides by the conditions of an agreement reached between Ward and Blankenship and accepted by Calloway County District Court.

Under the agreement, much of which was recommended by a Kentucky Board of Education tribunal, Greenfield must undergo drug testing, drug counseling and abide by other restrictions to keep her job.

Colorado Springs, COLORADO

ARRESTED: Jan 23, 2007 -
Matthew Prichard, 43, a Palmer High School teacher, has been arrested for Sexual Assault on a Child by One in Position of Trust.

His arrest comes after allegations that he had sexual contact with a 16-year-old female student in early 2006.

KKTV reported on the reactions of students at the school. Prichard is on paid administrative leave. And then: "Prichard is the second Southern Colorado teacher to be arrested this year accused of sexual misconduct involving minors. The other was a basketball coach at a charter school in Monument."

Jan 24, 2007 - Police taped a conversation between Prichard and the victim at a library.

SENTENCED: Sept 29 - Prichard pleaded guilty to a felony sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust. He was sentenced to 10 years to life of intensive, sex offender’s supervised probation after pleading guilty to a felony sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust.

Deputy District Attorney Abby Wallace said she was concerned that Prichard did not take responsibility for his actions because he told a presentence investigator the girl sent him notes and came on to him.

“He’s going to have to learn this was his fault,” Wallace said. “He’s the adult. This was wrong — no justifications, no excuses.”

Prichard’s attorney, Ted McClintock, told Crowder his client has “lost everything.” “He lost his job here, his house here, his marriage and all the friends he had here,” McClintock said.

Prichard apologized for his “mistake,” but seemed to be more sorry about how his criminal behavior affected his life.

“I’ve lost a great deal in this process,” Prichard said. “I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to rebuild my life.” Prichard is moving to be near family in Ohio.

Crowder said the only reason he didn’t send him to jail for up to 90 days is because the victim wanted him gone. “While on the scale of sexual assaults, this is on the low range, your being in a position of trust aggravates the crime,” he said.

Want the quick version?

TT-Summaries

Tallahassee, FLORIDA

CONVICTED: Sept 25, 2007 - Richard Saunders, 55, a chemistry teacher at Maclay School, was convicted of 300 counts of child pornography. Saunders admitted in the courtroom that he collected over 1 million pornographic images over the course of more than 20 years. He was arrested at his home last September.

Colleagues and parents testified, saying they had never seen Saunders do anything inappropriate. [How that is relevant is beyond us.]

The judge has delayed sentencing for a few days to consider the sentence.

TT - A poster at the site commented: "This scum bag states I only looked at the pictures but someone had to exploit the child to satisfy his deviant desire. No telling how many children he could have exploited while on line."

SENTENCED: Sept 28 - Saunders was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 40 years of probation. (Most of the article is about how the judge agonized over the sentencing.0

The minimum sentence for possession of child pornography is 1,000 months or about 83 years and the maximum is five years per count, said Saunders' lawyer, Robert Harper.

[Judge] Dekker gave a reduced sentenced to Saunders because she recognized his having the mental disorder pedophilia and his desire to seek treatment, among other reasons.

Assistant State Attorney Frank Allman said he has not decided whether he will appeal the sentence.

The judge said the court considered Saunders a “low risk” because as a teacher he had opportunities to act on his pedophilia but he never did.

TT - The fact is that someone abused those children for Saunders so he could vicariously enjoy the experience from the child pornography. For that alone, he should do the maximum.

Child Pornography and Teachers
TT - List guilty but not yet sentenced for child pornography.
TT - List sentenced for child pornography.

Tougher Sentences

About time.

Sept 28, 2007 - Tougher sentencing considered.

Several local lawmakers said Thursday they are interested in drafting legislation that would toughen child abuse laws to keep jailed molesters like former Coosa Elementary School teacher Philip Underwood-Sheppard behind bars for their entire sentence.

State Sen. Catherine Ceips, R-Beaufort, said she called Duffie Stone, solicitor for the 14th Judicial Circuit, Thursday to get the legislative process started and vowed to sponsor a bill when the legislature reconvenes.

Stone said Wednesday the legislature needs to classify sexual crimes like those Underwood-Sheppard pleaded guilty to in 2003 as violent crimes so inmates cannot be paroled early.
"When you're talking about child molestation, you're talking about the destruction of someone else's life," Ceips said. "We need to toughen that up."

Underwood was sentenced in 2002 to 25 years for molesting 9 students. He's up for parole in October of this year.

At present, inmates convicted of nonviolent crimes are eligible for parole after serving a quarter of their sentence.
TT - Maybe that's the part of the law they ought to change.

Oct 31 - Philip Underwood-Sheppard waived his right to a parole hearing. He has been incarcerated since April 29, 2002.

Rochester, NEW YORK

Eleven years for robbing a bank.


ARRESTED: Feb 2, 2007 -
Michael Bohn, 41, a teacher at Allendale Columbia in Rochester, was arrested on charges that he robbed a bank in Courtland, New York.

Police said a witness saw the bank being robbed around 5 p.m. and called 911. The police arrived as Bohn, who was armed with a handgun, left the bank, according to the police statement.

Witnesses said Bohn entered the bank at closing time, ordered employees and customers to the floor and ordered a bank employee to fill a bag with cash.

Screenshot of his faculty page at Allendale Columbia. Here
Full name: Michael J. Bohn

FIRED: Feb 13 - Allendale Columbia school fired Bohn. He is due back in court tomorrow.

INDICTED: Mar 9 - Bohn was indicted on robbery charges. He pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors say he brought buckets of water with him to wash any dye off the money and he had a map of Canada in his car.
Bohn is being held in jail without bail.

GUILTY PLEA: August 15 - Bohn pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, third-degree grand larceny, all felonies, and endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor. Two counts of first-degree robbery were dropped in exchange for his plea. He will be sentenced September 28.

SENTENCED: Sept 28 - Bohn was sentenced to 11 years in state prison for 1st degree robbery, criminal possession of a weapon in the 2nd degree, grand larceny in the 3rd degree and endangering the welfare of a child.

TT-Summaries

Americus, GEORGIA

Sept 27, 2007 - Carlton Flowers, 43, a a teacher at Sumter County Middle School, was arrested on drug charges.

When he was stopped by police, the officer said he smelled marijuana, and Flowers had a suspended driver's license, so he was arrested. A search of his car turned up a small amount of marijuana.

Bakersfield, CALIFORNIA

Guilty on five counts of first degree murder. Sentenced to death.





First reported on Jan 11, 2007 -
Vincent Brothers, 45, vice-principal is on trial, accused of killing his wife, Joanie Harper, age 39, their three children, (Marques, age 4; Lyndsey, age 2; Marshall, age 6 weeks) and his mother-in-law, Ernestine Harper, 70.

His family was found dead on July 8, 2003, and he was arrested in April 2004 on suspicion of committing the murders. Since that time there have been numerous delays, grandstanding, outrageous charges by the attorneys, and an attempt to tap into controversy when Brothers asked for the death penalty if he's convicted. Now it's the race card.

Defense attorneys are now arguing that there are not enough blacks in the jury pool in a motion to move the case to Los Angeles. Newspaper forum poster on the reason for the motion. Video from news photographer at newspaper on difficulty of photographing Brothers.

Feb 19, 2007 - Opening statements in the long-delayed trial of Vincent Brothers are scheduled for Wednesday.

But Brothers appears to have had tumultuous relationships with women. Harper was his third wife - the first two having ended in divorce. In 1990, the year his first marriage ended, Brothers was convicted of spousal abuse, according to police. The second marriage lasted only a few months and was described in court filings as "turbulent."

Brothers and Harper married in January 2000, divorced, and then remarried in 2004. Their three children, Marques, Lyndsey and Marshall, were 4, 2, and 6 weeks old at the time of the murders. The fifth victim was Harper's 70-year-old mother, Ernestine Harper.

The D.A. alleges that Brother arranged a visit to his brother in Ohio as an alibi, rented a car and drove to Bakersfield to kill his family. "The car's odometer showed he had driven 5,400 miles around the time of the murders, police said."

The two sides have filed close to 150 motions in the case, including a motion to move the trial to Los Angeles and a motion to dismiss. Brothers has remained in jail for three years while the trial has been continuously delayed in the motion process.

Update Feb 19 - Who's Who in the Trial (TT - More than you would ever want to know, but it's an indication of the sensationalism of the trial in Bakersfield that might be a big factor in the outcome.)

Update May 15 - The jury found Brothers guilty on five counts of first degree murder. He started crying during the reading of the guilty verdicts on the counts of killing his children.

The penalty phase will begin Monday and will be heard by the same jury. The judge ruled that pprosecutor Lisa Green can present evidence of a domestic violence conviction against Brothers in 1988 stemming from a spat with a girlfriend. It is expected to take four to seven days.

Update May 29 - The jury that convicted Brothers recommended the death penalty. (Not that it will ever happen in this century.)

SENTENCED: Sept 27 - Brothers was sentenced to death. Superior Court Judge Michael Bush handed down the sentence Thursday.

Teacher Recruitment Scam

Sept 27, 2007 - Foreign teacher recruitment scam.

Judge Kathleen Cardone of the United District Court of Western District of Texas in El Paso set the new trial of three Filipino recruiters on Jan. 4, 2008. The accused are held for allegedly bringing hundreds of Filipino teachers into the United States even if most of them have no job employments waiting for them.

The month long jury trial was announced by Daryl Fields, public affairs officer of the United States Attorney’s office in Houston, Texas. Named in the 26-page “second superceding indictment” were OMNI Consortium, Multicultural Professionals, Multicultural Education Consultants Noel Cedro Tolentino, his wife Angelica Tolentino, and his mother, Florita Tolentino.

The recruiting company charged the prospective teachers a number of fees.

Each teacher was also required to pay $1,500.00 placement fee “to a Philippine company, associated with defendants,” where defendants have percentage; “pay one of the defendants airfare, furniture and other assorted fees” after being selected by a school district for possible employment; or a total of approximately “$10,000.00 or more, requiring many of the teachers to acquire loans at high interest (60% APR) rates thru their associates “C.J. Librodo and/or Owen Carsi Cruz.”

They recruited for Ysleta Independent School District (YISD), Socorro Independent School District (SISD), El Paso School Independent School District (EPSID) -- all in El Paso -- together with South San Antonio Independent School District (SSAISD), and Brownsville Independent School District (BISD).

In BISD, although only 16 teachers were needed, OMNI requisitioned for 38. Originally, 100 job orders were placed. For YISD, the Omni Consortium recruited 53 teachers although only two were needed. Omni subsequently allowed 43 to travel to the U.S.

Out of the originally requested 100 teachers for SISD, nothing was accepted but OMNI still sent 69 “displaced” teachers to the US. For EPISD, out of 33 recruits, three were not accepted but still traveled to the US.

OMNI usually asked prospective schools representatives to travel to the Philippines and other countries like China to interview recruits. One of the representatives, Mario Aguilar, former superintendent of the Socorro Independent School District, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of failing to report gifts to a public official. This included a trip to China within the trip to the Philippines. He was sentenced to one year of probation.

Aguilar’s wife, Vista Del Sol Elementary School Principal Magdalena Aguilar was also sentenced to one year of probation for receiving a gift. Six-month probation.

Raye Lokey, former Ysleta Independent School District associate superintendent for human resources, was sentenced to six months of probation for aiding illegal entry. The US attorney’s office said that 273 Filipino teachers were brought to the United States during 2002-04. Less than 100 actually had jobs waiting for them.

GUILTY PLEA Jan 5, 2008 - Noel Cedro Tolentino and his mother, Florita Cedro Tolentino both pleaded guilty on Jan 2 to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. in exchange for the dismissal of all the other charges. It wasn't clear Friday what happened to the case against Angelica Tolentino.

As part of the their plea, the Tolentinos also agreed to forfeit assets, including a 1996 Mercedes Benz, a 1999 BMW, real estate properties in Houston and McAllen, and money from five bank accounts. They are scheduled to be sentenced in March.

SENTENCED August 26 - Both Noel Tolentino and his mother were sentenced to three months probation each. Charges against Noel Tolentino's wife, Angelica Tolentino, who was also implicated in the case, were dismissed Friday after she agreed to not contest the forfeiture order. Noel was detained by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement. His work visa had expired.

The 2007 trial was declared a mistrial because a couple of jury members said they had read a newspaper article about the proceedings.

Tucson, ARIZONA

ACQUITTED OF ALL CHARGES.

Sept 25, 2007 - Netzahaulcoy Ramos, 34, a Challenger Middle School teacher, is on trial on six counts of sexual conduct with a minor. The newspaper terms it "a six-month-long sexual affair with a 13-year-old student."

The married father of three is alleged to have begin an affair with the girl on Dec. 31, 2003, and it lasted until June 9, 2004, according to prosecutors.

ACQUITTED: Ramos was acquitted by the jury.

ACQUITTED OF ALL CHARGES.

Charlottesville, VIRGINIA

GUILTY PLEA: June 26, 2007 - Jonathan Spivey, 47, a choir teacher at Charlottesville High School and a "and a prominent member of the community" pleaded guilty to one count of custodial indecent liberties. He entered an Alford plea (No Contest) on three other charges.

There were four underage male victims in seven years. (One spoke to NBC 29 in Dec 2006.) From NBC 29: Three of those students were Spivey’s music students. Victims say Spivey would ask them to enter his office and he made sexual proposals towards them. With three of them, he actually participated in sexual contact.

In December 2006, Spivey was supposed to turn himself in at a bond hearing, but he missed the court date. He was reportedly at a psychiatric hospital. His attorney did not say what led to his commitment, but did say Spivey's diagnosis will be crucial to his defense.

The Commonwealth's attorney said he confirmed Spivey's condition. “We have received appropriate and assurances and have been able to double check and verify for ourselves that he is in the hospital; it is a legitimate medical condition,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Chapman.

Chapman doesn’t normally comment on pending cases, but made an acceptation [sic] in this case.

Spivey is married and the father of two children. He will be sentenced September 27.

SENTENCED: Sept 27 - Spivey was sentenced to one year and nine months in jail, followed by five years' probation. He will have to register as a sex offender.

Several character witnesses described Spivey as an upstanding member of his church and school. One city police officer testified that Spivey took him in during his troubled adolescence and inspired him to turn his life around.

However, prosecutors allege that Spivey had inappropriate relationships with four male students over a seven-year period, with the youngest victim being only 15. In some cases, he had sexual relations with student on school grounds, and once on a chorus trip, a prosecutor said.

TT- Not what you call a robust sentencing.

Oct 2 - Under the circumstances, the sentence was more than expected. Cville News:

Wait, you say—only 21 months for having sex with underage students in the chorus room closet during school hours between 2000 and 2006? Aren’t Elisa Kelly and George Robinson currently serving 27 months in jail for serving alcohol at their son’s 16th birthday party?

What’s even stranger is that the sentence is cause for celebration in the prosecutor’s office.

“That was a substantial sentence,” says Elizabeth Killeen, assistant Commonwealth’s attorney for Charlottesville. “The sentencing guidelines in the case only called for one day to three months. That’s not unusual when a person has no prior criminal record, and if I had 100 counts of this offence charged, [the guidelines] would always have [called] for that.”

Killen points out that Spivey’s sentence is seven times the guidelines’ upper end.

In fact, sentencing guidelines for sex crimes involving children are usually lower than those involving adults.

Guidelines are based on statistics gathered from cases around the state. And the sentences for cases involving children are usually lower statewide because the prosecution generally works hard for a plea deal in order to keep children off the witness stands.In other words: A criminal is likely to get a higher sentence for raping an adult than for raping a child.

Prosecutors had charged Spivey with seven counts of sexual misconduct when he was arrested in November, but dropped three with the plea deal. Spivey, a married father of two, had originally come under investigation for similar reasons in 2001, but the investigation was dropped when Spivey’s alleged victim withdrew his accusation. In September 2006, police opened a new investigation after a CHS student complained that he had been sexually propositioned by Spivey and detained for almost two hours.

Katy, TEXAS

ARRESTED: Mar 5, 3007 - Eighth grade math teacher
Emily Willis, 28, was arrested after she was discovered with a student in a car parked in an isolated area.

Willis teaches at McDonald Junior High School.
Full Name: Emily S. Willis

CHARGED: Mar 5 - Willis was charged with sex assault of a child. Police found her naked in the back seat of a parked car with a 14-year-old boy. Authorities identified the boy as a student at the same school she teaches.

She has been placed on unpaid leave.
Sidebar story at site - $13 million in marijuana seized from two yellow school buses in Houston that were used in transporting large amounts of illegal drugs from the southern border of Texas.

ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE: Mar 22 - Katy Independent School District trustees want to fire Willis. She was placed on administrative leave without pay after the incident for failing to meet the accepted standards of professional conduct. She can appeal to the commissioner of education.

“She is allowed due process, and she can choose to have a hearing before the school board or before a hearing officer,” said Debbie Harris, the district’s assistant superintendent for human resources.

Her arraignment is scheduled for April 4.

TERMINATION: Mar 26 - School Board of Trustees voted unanimously Wednesday evening to both the suspend the pay of and approve the termination of the probationary contract of Emily Willis.

Katy Times news story includes this: Another teacher arrested on Monday. Tamara Ryman, a 37-year-old female pre-calculus and algebra teacher at Bellaire High School was arrested after being found with a 16-year-old male student who was naked from the waist down in a van.

GUILTY PLEA: August 15 - MyFox 11 Houston: Willis pleaded guilty to the charge of sexual abuse of a child and will be sentenced Sept. 26. Houston Chronicle report on plea.

SENTENCED: Sept 26 - Willis was sentenced to to ten years of deferred adjudication (probation) and 180 days in jail-- not prison.

Casa Grande, ARIZONA

An answer to, "Whatever happened to Mr. Pelz?"

Sept 26, 2007 - John Peltz, 36, a former high school English and literature teacher in Casa Grande, was indicted, along with three other men, on federal charges including conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and false statements to the FBI.

He is accused by the FBI of selling homemade anabolic steroids nationwide using MySpace.com

"When I knew him, he was an upstanding guy," said Dr. Anna McCauley, principal of Casa Verde High School, in a phone interview Wednesday. She previously worked as a teacher with Peltz in Casa Grande and wrote a letter on his behalf this summer to the judge.

In a June 2007 letter to the judge in his local case, Peltz apologized for his crime and said he hoped to return to teaching someday.

"Being an athletic, muscular English teacher definitely had an impact on some of the more hardened knuckleheads that I had the pleasure of teaching," Peltz said. "To know I played a small part in that would bring me more satisfaction than any fat paycheck."

Peltz was convicted of attempted transfer of dangerous drugs by Arizona authorities. He reached a plea deal and was sentenced to three years probation in June.

Austin, TEXAS

Sept 26, 2007 - Michael Mason, 30, an LBJ High School special education teacher, pleaded guilty to sexual assault of one of his students and to having an improper relationship between an educator and student.

He was sentenced to 10 years of deferred adjudication, which is a form of probation. Mason will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. The girl was 15 in 2004.

Port Charlotte, FLORIDA

Sept 26, 2007 - Crystal Bashford, 21, a teacher at Palm Christian Academy, was arrested and charged with one count of lewd or lascivious battery for having sex with a 14-year-old boy.

The boy confided in an employee at the George Mullen Center, who in turn contacted the Department of Children and Families, which then contacted North Port Police.

Full Name: Crystal Marie Bashford

Ladysmith, WISCONSIN

ARRAIGNED July 9, 2007 -
Michael Stratton, 26, a substitute teacher at Ladysmith High School, was arraigned on one felony count of using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, and two misdemeanor counts of exposing genitals to a child. Stratton entered a plea of not guilty to all three charges.

Police say one of the girls was his student at Ladysmith High School. The other, he met on a ski trip. No other information available. A pre-trial conference is scheduled for August 9.

GUILTY PLEA & SENTENCING: Sept 25 - Stratton pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of exposing his genitals to a child. He was sentenced to three years probation as part of a plea deal.

Tunnel Hill, GEORGIA

No jail time for sexual battery of an 11-year-old girl.

Mar 5, 2007 - Jesse Gentry, 26, a third grade teacher at Tiger Creek Elementary School, was arrested, charged with two counts of child molestation involving an 11-year-old girl. The alleged victim was living with Gentry's fiancee.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Catoosa County Sheriff's Office have been investigating the 26-year-old teacher for one week.
Full Name: Jesse Wayne Gentry

Mar 6 - Gentry has been released on bond. A September court date is anticipated. Gentry has been on administrative leave since Feb 28.

GUILTY PLEA AND SENTENCING: Sept 24 - Gentry pleaded guilty to the sexual battery of an 11 year old girl. The state decided against jail time for Gentry. Instead, he was ordered to serve 10 years probation and pay a $3400 fine.

Chattanooga Times Free Press: Gentry was sentenced to two five-year probation terms, to be served consecutively. Prosecutors said Mr. Gentry also must register as a sex offender.

[Assistant District Attorney Len] Gregor said the state agreed to accept the guilty plea to lesser charges, in part, to keep the victim from having to testify at trial.

He said the plea guaranteed an admission of guilt from the man who had received rousing support from some in the community who did not believe the charges.

"(The state) basically had a situation where the victim was called and made to feel like a liar," the assistant district attorney said.

"Even if this had gone to trial, and we successfully obtained convictions, then the defendant would have still been in a position to claim he was wrongfully convicted," Mr. Gregor said. "Whereas here, he stood up in front of a judge and admitted to doing those acts for which he was charged."

Doylestown, PENNSYLVANIA

BULLETIN: Anderson committed suicide. He was due to be sentenced this week.




ARRESTED: May 8, 2007 -
Jeffrey Anderson, 23, was arrested alleged to have had sex with two ninth-grade girls.

Anderson was charged with 15 offenses including, involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, endangering the welfare of a child and corruption of minors.

He was a substitute at Tohickon Middle School in Plumstead Township. He communicated with the 14 and 15-year-old girls over Web sites like facebook.com and AOL Instant Messenger and a cell phone.

Prosecutors said he was arrested after the girls' parents monitored those Web sites with "I Am Big Brother" software. [Good for them.]

A post on Anderson’s facebook.com account reads, “Please, please, PLEASE, nothing that is said or done between the three of us can EVER be repeated to anyone else!!! I could get fired, never become a teacher again, or go to jail don't tell anyone.”

May 9 - Gibbons said Anderson engaged in sex acts with both girls at the 15-year-old gir's home and later bragged about it online,

“Hah ... im so going to hell ... I can't believe I hooked up with two 9th graders!!” Anderson allegedly wrote in an instant message on Facebook.com, a popular Web site.

A 14-year-old eighth-grader at Tohickon, said Anderson was his substitute for English, music and study hall. Derek said Anderson often whistled at girls in the hallway and “stared at their chests.”
“I'm not surprised that he got arrested,” Derek said. “But most of the people in school thought he was only kidding.”

Anderson remains in jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.

TT - Our apology. We should have, and finally did, look up the school.

GUILTY PLEA August 8 - Before his scheduled trial, Anderson pleaded guilty of having sexual contact with two female students.

From the Bucks County Courier Times:

Anderson will be sentenced in about 90 days on charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children, corruption of minors and criminal use of communications devices.

The charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of five to 10 years in a state prison.

Anderson is free on $500,000 bail while the state Sexual Offenders Assessment Board in Harrisburg reviews his case to determine if he meets the criteria of a sexually violent predator. A predator finding would mean lifetime registration and court-supervised sex offender treatment, and Anderson's neighbors would be notified each time he moves to a new community.

The Morning Call refers to him as "a well-known coach."

SUICIDE: Sept 25 - Anderson asphyxiated himself with a gas stove in a closed room on Saturday. He was scheduled to be sentenced this week and faced 10 to 20 years in prison.

Fremont, NEBRASKA

ARRESTED: June 4, 2007 -
Brandy Reynolds, 24, a teacher at Omaha Baptist Academy from 2004 - 2006, was arrested, charged with ith first-degree sexual assault for sex with a 15-year-old student in 2005. The boy was a student at the school.

The boy's family contacted the state Health and Human Services System and a complaint was filed with police.

It is illegal in Nebraska for a person 19 or older to have sexual contact with a person under 16.

Arraignment is scheduled for June 19.

NOT GUILTY PLEA: July 3 - Reynolds pleaded not guilty. She is scheduled to return to court July 23.

August 1 - Reynolds' trial is scheduled for August 21.

NO CONTEST PLEA: August 16 - Reynolds pleaded no contest to attempted first-degree sexual assault, a felony. The original first-degree sexual assault charge was dropped as part of a deal for her plea. The prosecutor agreed to make no recommendation for sentencing.

From Fremont Tribune:

Rubbing her wedding ring as tears streamed down her face, Brandy Reynolds could barely be heard when she pleaded no contest to attempted first-degree sexual assault Wednesday in Dodge County District Court.

The investigation began after an anonymous report to the state Health and Human Services department.

The boy's parents also reported the case. The affidavit stated the boy's parents found out about the relationship from Pastor Adam Love of Calvary Baptist Church in Fremont after Reynolds had confided in him about the relationship.

She will also be a registered sex offender.

“I wanted to try to resolve (the case) without the victim having to through the trial process,” Vaughan said. “This will still cause her to have to register as a sex offender.”

He said the conviction also would prevent Reynolds from teaching children and limit her contact with minors.

Sentencing is scheduled for September 24.

SENTENCED: Sept 24 - Reynolds was sentenced to four to eight years in prison.

From the Omaha World-Herald:

After reviewing the evidence, [Judge] Samson denied Reynolds' request for leniency."You were the one who was the more mature individual," Samson told Reynolds. "You were put in a position of trust." After sentencing, Reynolds put her head on the wooden defense table and sobbed. More than a dozen friends and relatives, including Reynolds' husband, packed the courtroom to show support.

State College, PENNSYLVANIA

Sept 24, 2007 - Michael E. Miller, 41, a Mount Nittany Middle School teacher, was arraigned on charges that he engaged in a sexual relationship with a local teenager. He is charged with four felonies, including sexual abuse of children and unlawful contact or communication with minors.

According to a criminal complaint filed by State College police, the parents of the teenager alerted authorities in April to “a possible inappropriate relationship between a teacher and their 17-year-old daughter.”

Police interviewed Miller. He at first denied but soon admitted to having a sexual relationship with the teenager, according to the complaint.

Miller also admitted that he had sex with the youth “approximately twice a month for the past seven to eight months,” the complaint says.

Earlier this year, Miller pleaded guilty to a charge — corruption of minors — that stemmed from that relationship. On Sept. 6, according to the complaint, was sentenced to five years of probation.

The arraignment today focused on additional charges against Miller. On Sept. 12, the complaint says, the teenager’s parents reported to police that their daughter just disclosed more details about the relationship.

She soon told police that she engaged “in sexual talk over the phone with Miller” when she was 15 years old, according to the complaint.

A preliminary is scheduled for Oct 3.

Clinton, SOUTH CAROLINA

Sept 23, 2007 - Police arrested Karen Robbins, 49, a special education teacher at Thornwell School, on charges she had sex with a child under 16. Robbins is charged with three counts of a lewd act on a child, and three counts of criminal sexual conduct with a child.

According to arrest warrants, the incidents happened over a three month period back in 2005.

She most recently taught at Bell Street Middle School through August of this year.

Nov 10 - WYFF 5 : Friday, the solicitor's office offered Robbins a plea deal. She has until her next court date on Dec. 7th to decide whether to accept the offer.
Laurens County

S.C. educator certificate Summarily Suspended in October 2007.

INDICTED - Received Jan 30, 2008.

Van Nuys, CALIFORNIA

Sept 22, 2007 - Rodolfo Rabonza, 33, a fourth grade teacher at Saint Elisabeth Catholic School, was arrested and charged with Lewd Acts on a Minor for sex crime against a 15-year-old male.

The alleged incident occurred at a health club.

LAPD Press Release (Dated Sept 20, 2007)

Anyone who has information or even additional questions are advised to immediately contact Van Nuys Detective John Eum, Sexual Assault Unit at 818-374- 0093.
On weekends or during off-hours and non-business hours, do not hesitate to call the 24-hour toll free tip line umber at 1-877-LAWFULL (529-3855).

Modesto, CALIFORNIA

Sept 22, 2007 -
Lewis Wilhelm, 41, a Modesto High School band instructor, was arrested for an alleged inappropriate relationship with a 15-year-old student.

CBS 13: They say the girl, who was also a member of the band, was only 14 when the relationship began.

He is facing one count of lewd and lascivious acts with a child. The girl told a friend about the relationship. The girl's friends reported the relationship to school officials, who contacted Modesto police.

Detectives seized evidence from Wilhelm's home, including a computer and a cell phone. Wilhelm's 15-year-old son was home at the time of the arrest and released to his grandmother.

Sept 23 - From the Modesto Bee: Craig Gundlach, a Modesto police spokesman, said there was no indication that sexual intercourse took place.

Modesto police ask anyone with information about this crime to call CrimeStoppers at 521-4636. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.

Modesto Police Department Press Release (Sept 22, 2007)

Wellington, KANSAS

Feb 23, 2007 - DeAnna Abasolo-Farley, 34, a Wellington High school para-educator, was in court Thursday to update the judge on progress she has made in finding a lawyer.

Abasolo-Farley was arrested Feb 12, on charges of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and unlawful relations between a teacher and student between the ages of 16 and 17. She made her first court appearance on the charges Feb 15.

She will be back in court Mar 5.
Full Name: DeAnna M. Abasolo-Farley

Update Mar 9 - Abasolo-Farley's preliminary hearing has been moved to March 15. The married mother of four resigned her school position in late January. She is currently free on $20,000 bond.

Update May 3 - Abasolo-Farley, "dressed in an orange shirt and jeans," made a court appearance. "Sitting next to her as usual, was her husband Phillip Farley, who has been in tow for every court appearance his wife has made." [No description of what he was wearing.]

Her attorney asked for three weeks continuance time for discovery purposes. According to court clerks, the three weeks of discovery could give the ex para time to work out a plea negotiation.

Update May 25 - "Abasolo-Farley waited outside of the courtroom Thursday with husband, Phillip Farley, while her Wichita defense attorney Phillip White asked the court to set a preliminary hearing for his client.: A preliminary has been scheduled for June 14.

GUILTY PLEA: Sept 21 - Abasolo-Farley changed her plea to guilty. The plea agreement calls for 30 months in jail with 3 years of post-release supervision. She will be required to be on the registered sex offender list for at least 10 years. She will be formally sentenced Oct 4.

Papillion, NEBRASKA

ARRESTED: Sept 21, 2007 - Mike Govig, 44, a coach at Papillion-La Vista High School, was arrested on child pornography charges.

In a twelve page complaint unsealed Friday, a special agent for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says the coach had hundreds of images of child porn on his computer. In court papers that they started their investigation into a website called "Home Collection" a year-and-a-half ago. That led them to other child porn websites like "Sexy Angels," "Spycam Lolitas," Lollivirgins," and "Excited Angels."

On December 27, 2006, agents say Govig paid Pay Pal a monthly subscription fee of $99.95 to access the websites.

Three days ago, ICE agents and other law enforcement agencies raided Govig's house in La Vista and took his laptop. Court papers say he reportedly admitted to agents that he lives alone, had downloaded the video files, and said the girls in the videos were about 12.

Agents dispute this, saying one movie file shows a 6 to 10-year-old girl performing oral sex on an adult male. They say a second movie shows a 6 to 10-year-old touching herself.

Govig was hired this summer as the assistant softball coach at Creighton University. They fired him.

Honeoye Falls, NEW YORK

Sept 21, 2007 - Timothy Meehan, 23, a substitute teacher in the Honeoye Falls Central School District, was arrested accused of sending sexual pictures via cell-phone, as well as soliciting girls to send pictures to him. He is also accused of sexual contact with a female less than 17 years old. The incidents occurred over a period of time during the 2007 school year.

He was arraigned on charges of disseminating indecent material to minors in the 1st degree, promoting sexual performance of a child, criminal Sexual Act in the 3rd degree and endangering the welfare of a child.

Meehan subbed 17 times before the district became aware of suspicious activity.

Anyone with additional information about this investigation or other incidents involving minors and computer/cell-phone abuse, or anyone interested in learning more about the dangers is asked to contact the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office at (585) 243-7100.

Pinellas Park, FLORIDA

Sept 21, 2007 - Police have referred Principal Joseph Paul Milana to prosecutors for possible obstruction charges, along with Bryant Alexander and teacher Roslyn Holloway for possible child abuse charges.

All three work at Oak Park School, a charter school for troubled students.

all started, deputies say, when a group of teenage students became disruptive during class Wednesday. One of them made an offense remark towards the teacher, and she left the classroom in tears.

Another teacher, identified by deputies as 35-year-old Bryant Alexander, entered the classroom to restore order, accompanied by two older students from another classroom. He then sat in the back of the room, investigators say, while the two older boys berated the younger troublemakers.

According to detectives, no injuries were reported after the confrontation, but several students were pushed from their seats onto the floor and at least one student was slapped in the back of the head by the older student.

The whole thing lasted for about a half-hour and only ended when school dismissal time arrived.
The next day, a parent complained about the altercation. Deputies say Alexander and another teacher denied any involvement, but investigators decided they had enough evidence to arrest the 16-year-old.

Before they could do that, they say the school principal on Friday morning arranged for a staff member to drive the suspect home, temporarily preventing his arrest. But the 16-year-old student was arrested at his home on five counts of misdemeanor battery and one count of misdemeanor assault.

Neither teacher tried to intervene while other students were abused. Police became involved when a parent found out.

Tampa Tribune: Teachers May Be Charged (Sept 21)

Sept 22 - Fox News is now characterizing it as "accusations that two school teachers enlisted two older boys to beat up younger students in the classroom as a form of discipline, and then tried to thwart a police probe of the incident"

Schaumburg, ILLINOIS

Sept 21, 2007 - Patrick McCarthy, 30, a special ed teacher at Robert Frost Junior High, was arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated battery and one count of unlawful restraint.

Staff members advised the principal of the allegations. The principal contacted the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and Schaumburg police, and Schaumburg Township Elementary School District 54 immediately removed McCarthy from the classroom, the release said. NBC5's Anthony Ponce reported the staff member both saw and heard the alleged incidents.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct 19.
Full Name: Patrick Edward McCarthy

See Chicago Sun-Times' coverage.

INDICTED Oct 19 - McCarthy was indicted on three counts of aggravated battery and one count of unlawful restraint. He is accused of shoving one boy into a metal cabinet and tying another to a chair with a jump rope. He is on paid administrative leave. [The reaction to which posters at the news site refer to the teacher as a "piece of sh--"]

El Cerrito, CALIFORNIA

ARRESTED: Nov 21, 2006 -
Achi Ben-Shalom, 52, A music and Hebrew teacher at a private Jewish day school, was arrested for for alleged "lewd and lascivious acts" with a female student.

Jan 31, 2007 - Prosecutors filed a felony child molestation charge Tuesday against a former teacher at a Jewish day school accused of groping a student.

CONVICTED: August 24, 2007 - A jury acquitted Shalom of felony child molestation, but it convicted him of misdemeanor counts of assault and battery.

The Contra Costa District Attorney's Office had not charged Ben Shalom with the misdemeanors. At trial, the judge instructed jurors that they had the option of finding Ben Shalom guilty of lesser, nonsexual crimes.

Deputy District Attorney Colleen Gleason said the verdict means jurors did not find beyond a reasonable doubt that Ben Shalom had a sexual intent, but that he may have touched the girl in a way she did not like.

Sentencing is scheduled for September 21.

SENTENCED: Sept 21 - Ben-Shalom was sentenced to to 90 days in County Jail for misdemeanor assault and battery against a former student. He must also serve three years of county probation. He also cannot work as a teacher or in a position of trust with children and cannot possess pornography.

Port Isabel, TEXAS

Sept 20, 2007 - Joseph Sadler, 29, a Port Isabel High School coach, was arrested on suspicion of indecency with a child, a third-degree felony for an improper relationship with a student.

The age of the student wasn't given. Sadler resigned.
Full Name: Joseph Andrew Sadler

Sept 21 - A municipal judge barred television and newspaper reporters from the courtroom during the arraignment Friday of former Port Isabel High School assistant coach, Joseph Sadler. [The result was that there are no details that would be normally available.]

Portland, MAINE

Sept 10, 2007 -
Melvin Logan, 67, was found guilty on 19 counts of possessing sexually explicit material. The child pornography was found on his computer in 2004 when he took his personal computer to a repair shop, and a technician there found digital images showing young boys and girls naked and engaged in sex acts with adults

Prior convictions against Logan in New York, included a child endangerment case when he was a teacher in the 1980s.

He will be sentenced later this week.

SENTENCED: Sept 20 - Logan was sentenced to 18 months in prison, followed by six years of close probation. The Maine Legislature recently changed the law on child pornography, making it a felony to possess images of children clearly under the age of 12. At the time of Logan's arrest in 2004, that crime was classified as a misdemeanor, carrying a maximum sentence of a year in prison.

Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Norbert displayed several of those images on a video screen at the sentencing hearing. Some in the courtroom turned their eyes.

"Each time that photo is saved or downloaded, that child is exploited," Norbert said.
Norbert also discussed information that was not allowed in the trial, including a 500-page handwritten manuscript found by police in Logan's apartment.

The manuscript, Norbert said, documented Logan's life as a pedophile, beginning in the 1960s in Rochester, N.Y.

Logan, a former high school English teacher, wrote in detail about having sex with students, Norbert said, adding that she contacted and spoke by telephone to some of those former students named in the manuscript.

Logan and his attorney, Joel Vincent, said the manuscript was part fact, part fiction, and should not be considered in the sentencing.

Norbert also noted Logan's prior convictions in New York, for child endangerment, grand larceny and disorderly conduct. She requested a sentence of six years in prison because of the aggravating factors.

"He is a true child predator," Norbert said. "This began in his early 20s, and here he is today at 67, continuing to prey on children."

Oct 19 - State corrected. Thank you.

Child Pornography and Teachers
TT - List guilty but not yet sentenced for child pornography.
TT - List sentenced for child pornography.

Houston, TEXAS

Sept 20, 2007 - Donald Carpenter, 45, a Smiley High School teacher, was arrested and charged with improper relations with a student. She was 17 years old at the time.

His arrest follows a lengthy investigation, police said.

Anyone with information on the case is urged to contact the HPD Sex Crime Unit at (713) 308-1180.

The girl is a special needs student. Detectives said Carpenter may have had inappropriate contact with other students.

Lantana, FLORIDA

Arrested, finally.

Sept 14, 2007 - Police searching for teacher.

Police are searching for a popular Santaluces High School drama teacher who allegedly had sex with two of his 17-year-old students, impregnated one of them and then took her to a clinic for an abortion.

Andrew Foster, 27, is accused of having sex with both girls in his apartment, and with one of them in his car and at school. Police say he also sent pornographic pictures and videos of himself to the girls' cellphones.

A teacher at Santaluces for three years, Foster abandoned his job one week into the school year after a former student warned him in a text message that police were on his trail.

Earlier allegations:

At Santaluces, school district police investigated earlier allegations that Foster had had sex with another female student. The investigation was closed after she denied the allegations.

In 2003, Foster was hired as drama teacher at Washington High School in South Bend, Ind. A school district detective contacted Washington High's school resource officer and said there had been allegations of Foster's trying to have sex with female students. The officer also said Foster had "exposed his genitals to a female teacher," according to the police report. Despite the allegations, school officials gave Foster glowing reviews and made positive comments to Heyward. If the Indiana district conducted an investigation or disciplined Foster, it did not share that information with Palm Beach County.

Horrifyingly,

But if Foster had been disciplined, there is no guarantee that a potential employer would be told. Some administrators, fearing a possible lawsuit, choose not to taint an employee. In some cases in which teachers have been accused of misconduct, administrators have asked them to leave as a way to get rid of the problem.

ARRESTED Sept 20 - Andrew Foster, 27, was arrested. He had been evading detectives since the beginning of the school year.

NO BOND Sept 21 - Foster was ordered held without bond.

Oct 12 - Foster was in court this morning. Six former students were there to support him.

Foster looked over at the young people many times, and at one point even mouthed the words "thank you".

Afterwards, he was approached by the bailiff and told not to communicate with them anymore.

Prosecutors have not yet filed charges. They plan to do so next week. Arraignment is scheduled for Oct 18.

LOST JAIL PRIVILEGES Oct 18 - Foster has lost some jail privileges after police said he wrote letters to at least three of his former students asking them to make a deal to get him out of prison.

Prosecutors said Foster, who has been in prison for nearly a month, wrote a letter while in jail to a 19-year-old former student, asking him to consider going to one of the alleged victims and getting her stop the charges -- reportedly even offering to pay the girl money.
Prosecutors said the evidence was not hard to find, considering all prison mail is screened anyway.

A judge Thursday barred Foster from any contact or communications with the outside world, with the exception of his attorney and monitored phone calls to his parents.

Nov 1 - Records were released in the case.

Dec 26 - Palm Beach Post: Warning signs preceded teacher's arrest on sex charges
Dec 32 - Complaints about teacher too numerous to ignore (Palm Beach Post editorial)

Jan 8, 2008 - Police have dropped charges against the student who warned Foster after she served 20 hours of community service work with domestic violence victims and wrote an essay about law enforcement.

Cahokia, ILLINOIS

Sept 20, 2007 - Teachers continue their strike for the fourth day in Cahokia.

Teacher salaries range from $36,102 to $66,173, without benefits. The average salary is about $57,000.

The school has a $49 million operating budget and is $5.3 million in debt.

The strike has put roughly 4,300 students out of school. The union includes about 300 teachers and 200 service members.

School officials are struggling to pay off a $5.3 million debt, based largely on problems caused in previous contracts.

---

TT - What the teachers deserve for their accomplishment is another matter.

From GreatSchools.net
Of the 9 elementary schools, none rates above a 6.
Most are 3 and below.
Of the middle schools, only the charter school rates a 4.
The public school is rated a 2.
Of the high schools, only the charter school rates a 4.
The public h.s. is rated a 2.
One parent began her rating with, "Please Help."

Cahokia High School State score
Reading 11th grade = 34% meeting standards.
Statewide = 58%
State score Math 11th grade = 11% meeting standards.
Statewide = 54%
Average class size = 16 State avg = 20

From School Matters, a service of Standard & Poors
Cahokia High School State reading and math test performance
Cahokia Community Unit School District 187 overview
Community Household Income Distribution 46.4% make less than $49,999

Rusk, TEXAS

Sept 19, 2007 - Brian Basse, 34, a Rusk High School social studies teacher, pleaded guilty to indecency with a child and improper relationship between a student and educator. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

He was arrested in February and resigned from Rusk Independent School District that same day. He is married. No age was given for the victim.

Virginia Beach, VIRGINIA

Sept 18, 2007 -
Doreen Oliver, 30, a Landstown Elementary School teacher, was arrested and charged her with identity fraud and credit card theft.

Police say she took a substitute teacher's credit card. The victim notified police that her card was missing and that someone made a number of purchases on it. Police went to some of the stores where Oliver allegedly made the purchases and caught Oliver on camera using the card.

Dolthan, ALABAMA

Sept 18, 2007 - Hollie Faircloth, 25, a math teacher at Northside Methodist Academy, was arrested and charged with two counts of third-degree theft of property and one count of third-degree theft of property by deception.

Faircloth stole two Vera Bradley bags from students’ lockers at the school. Security cameras caught the act on tape, Rafferty said. Also, Faircloth had been soliciting students for a supposed mission trip to Jamacia, according to Rafferty. The solicitation had been unknown to school officials, a violation of Northside policy.

Dallas, NORTH CAROLINA

Sept 18, 2007 - James Richburg, 34, a North Gaston High School math teacher, was arrested and charged with several drug violations.

He was charged with four counts of selling marijuana, two counts of maintaining a vehicle or a dwelling place for the sale or delivery of the drugs and selling and delivering marijuana. He's also charged with delivering marijuana, possession of cocaine with the intent to sell, delivering cocaine, manufacturing cocaine and selling cocaine.

Police made the arrest after a confidential informant bought cocaine from Richburg at his home.
Full Name: James Kevin Richburg

Bradford, VERMONT

Heartache for everyone. How do you explain to a sixth-grader that their teacher is a pervert who preyed upon children their own age?

Sept 18, 2007

Despite reassurances from school officials, sixth grade students at Bradford Elementary School feel betrayed in the aftermath of the arrest of their teacher on charges he sexually molested two former students, an official said.

Richard A. Foster, 51, is charged with four felony sex crimes following a discovery by the parents of a 12-year-old boy that Foster sent sexually explicit photos of himself with his cell phone, police said.

Foster remained hospitalized Tuesday after a suicide attempt in which he slashed his wrists, authorities said.

"The kids have expressed a collective sense of betrayal," said schools superintendent Wendy Hovey. "They wonder if the compassion for students that teachers show is fake in some way.

"We talked about that and assured them, 'No, it isn't fake and it probably wasn't fake in Mr. Foster," she said.

A meeting of school officials, police and parents was planned for Tuesday night at Oxbow Union High School.

One of students' biggest concerns is about school dances and a unit in their medieval studies class many had been looking forward to, Hovey said.

A court affidavit said police had recovered a videotape that showed a third young person engaged in a sex act. Sinclair said that person had been identified, but police weren't ready to file additional charges.

Sinclair said school officials were attempting to reach former students of Foster's to see if there were other victims.

TT link to Foster.

Salt Lake City, UTAH

Sept 18, 2007 - William Zwiebel, 63, a radiology professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine, was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison for downloading hundreds of images of child pornography onto his work computer.

Zwiebel was arrested by the FBI charged in August 2006 after employees with the U.'s information technology department discovered what they believed to be child pornography on Zwiebel's computer. He resigned in September and pleaded guilty in October 2006.

Federal prosecutors sought a sentencing enhancement after they found some of the images of child pornography contained "sadistic and masochistic" behavior toward children.

Attorneys in the case indicated they had reached an agreement in which prosecutors would agree to a low end of the federal sentencing guidelines but keep the enhancement, resulting in a sentence of 63 months.

He will be on supervised release for 10 years after he leaves prison.

Child Pornography and Teachers
TT - List guilty but not yet sentenced for child pornography.
TT - List sentenced for child pornography.

Cassleberry, FLORIDA

Sept 18, 2007 - The 11th parent has sued the Seminole County School Board over allegations that former teacher Kathleen Garrett physically and emotionally abused her child.

The board already has paid nearly $2 million to settle three cases.

---

TT - In case you don't remember, Kathleen Garrett was convicted in January of abusing one of her students. What the newspaper DOESN'T tell you is the reason why the school district is paying out so readily. Garrett was transferred to the Seminole County School district from another school in the same district where similar claims were made.

Rather than address the problem, they transferred Garrett from Indian Trails Middle School to South Seminole Middle School. In March 2000, the National Education Association (NEA) sent a cease and desist letter to parents who complained at Indian Trails Middle School about Kathleen Garrett. PDF The letter ended with, [caps theirs] "PLEASE GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY."

TT link to Garrett
TT link to lawsuits

Harlan, IOWA

Sept 17, 2007 -
Louis J. Stroschein, 31, Shelby County Catholic School principal, was arrested for allegedly enticing a minor after arranging to meet the girl.

He arranged to meet what he thought was a 15-year-old girl to take her to a motel to have sex.

Feb 8 - The trial scheduled to begin this week has been postponed. Stoschein's attorney requested more time to prepare for his defense. The trial has been rescheduled for March 3.

Tarrytown, NEW YORK

Sept 17, 2007 -
David Roach, 44, a teacher at Phoenix Academy of New York, a Shrub Oak high school for teens with substance abuse problems, was arrested after police said he flashed the owner of a Main Street jewelry store.

He was charged with public lewdness, a misdemeanor.

Sept 20 - Roach was barred from the classroom and barred from seeing the owner of a downtown jewelry store he is accused of flashing. He is due in court Oct 17.

Atlanta, GEORGIA

Sept 17, 2007 -
Lora Hubbard, 56, the gifted teacher at Oglethorpe Elementary, was arrested for for misdemeanor marijuana possession.

Hubbard resigned Sept 12, right after her arrest.

Hubbard's arrest stemmed from an Athens Clarke-County Drug Task Force search of her Winterville home last month that also led police to arrest her husband and son, Hunsinger said.

School Choice for Some

Choosing their schools - because they can

- 37 percent of Representatives and 45 percent of Senators in the 110th Congress sent their children to private schools.

- 52 percentof black and 38 percent of Hispanic choose private schools for their own children.

- only 11.5 percent of American stu­dents attend private schools.

- Heritage Foundation (Sept 4, 2007)

How Members of Congress Practice Private School Choice
by Evan Feinberg

The state of education, editorial The Pittsburg Tribune-Review

Tacoma, WASHINGTON

Sept 16, 2007 - The News Tribune isn't doing what a lot of newspapers do - burying problems in our schools. They are continuing to question how Tacoma schools hired Jennifer Leigh Rice. She is the teacher who is alleged to have had a sexual relationship with a 10-year-old student.

They hired her Oct 9, 2006. Within days they knew they had a problem. Tacoma human resources director Bonnie McGuire was an assistant principal at Spanaway Lake High School when Rice came under investigation in the fall of 1998 and the winter of 1999. She left that school and was not rehired in another school.

The newspaper obtained copies of e-mail exchanges that clearly show that they knew of her history. Despite that, they gave her a contract that was signed two months later - Dec 18, apparently hoping for the best.

Her employment documents. PDF

She was arrested August 13, 2007 TT - Link

Drug Testing

Didn't you just know this was coming?

Sept 15, 2007 - The ACLU will sue to halt teacher drug testing in Hawaii.

American Civil Liberties Union officials said yesterday that they plan to file a lawsuit against the state "soon" to oppose a program they claim will violate privacy rights, cost taxpayers too much money and do little to curb drug use.

What absolute jerks.

Raleigh, WEST VIRGINIA

Feb 2, 2007 - Shariff Mills, 32, a basketball coach at a Raleigh county school, was arrested after inappropriate text messages were found on one of the team player's cell phones.

He was charged with attempted use of a minor in sexually explicit acts and sexual abuse by a parent, guardian or custodian. A teacher at the girl's school recovered her cell phone after she used it in class.That's when the teacher discovered the messages from Mills to the girl.

Feb 5 - "Mills coaches the girls basketball team at Beckley-Stratton Middle School but is not an educator, Raleigh County Assistant Schools Superintendent David Severt said. Severt said Mills was a citizen coach who had taken courses to be a coach."

Feb 9 - Editorial from The State-Journal entitled, "How Do School Districts Select Coaches?"

Raleigh County school administrators say citizen coaches go through classes, tests, criminal background checks and fingerprinting before they're authorized by the state to be a coach.

That authorization is only good for one year and that coach must then go through the process again. If a member of the school's faculty becomes available for the position, they must get the job ahead of a citizen coach. The faculty member would have already gone through the process, to become a teacher.

He's charged with attempted abuse of a minor in sexually-explicit conduct and attempted sexual abuse by a parent, guardian or custodian. Authorities said he did not have any sexual contact with the girl. He's expected in court Feb 20 for a hearing.

ARRESTED AGAIN: Feb 28 - Mills was arrested (again). This time, for writing bad checks. The sexual abuse case in Raleigh County goes to the grand jury in May

GUILTY PLEA AND SENTENCING: Sept 14 - Mills pleaded guilty in May to one count of attempting to use a minor in sexually explicit conduct. He was sentenced to one to three years in prison. Mills must also register as a sex offender for the rest of his life once he is released from prison.

Sonoma, CALIFORNIA

Legal maneuvering.

Sept 14, 2007 - Defense attorneys are challenging the sentencing of Jonathan Johnson, former coach in the Sonoma Valley Unified School District. Johnson, now-24, was charged with 74 counts involving lewd acts and sexual intercourse with 14 underage girls, six of them under age 14 between 2000 and 2002.

He was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison and 24 concurrent life terms for offenses committed against girls under age 14.

The defense attorneys are saying Johnson did not receive effective counsel at trial and he actually faces 171 years in prison because the state parole board will add seven years to his sentence for each concurrent life term if they follow their regulations.

The District Attorney says the lawyers are wrong in their calculations.

Pemiscot County, MISSOURI

Sept 14, 2007 - Michael Smith, 51, a Pemiscot County teacher's aide, faces two counts of statutory sodomy, a class C felony and one count of deviate sexual assault a class C felony.

According to the Pemiscot County sheriff's department, Smith, a teacher's aide at South Pemiscot Schools, allegedly performed sex acts with at least one male student at his residence, not the school. According to the sheriff's department, students were "compensated" at times for those acts.

Arraignment is scheduled for September 17th. Additional charges are expected to be filed.
Full Name: Michael Willard Smith
---------------
Court Activity:
Pleaded guilty Dec 11, 2007 - Guilty plea to count 1.
Sentenced Feb 5, 2008 - Under a plea agreement Counts II and II were dismissed. Defendant sentenced to 7 years.

Bethel, MINNESOTA

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Judge Rosenbaum, after listening to the feedback from both sides of the court room, summed up his thoughts prior to sentencing Ostrander to 15 years in federal prison.

“Mr. Ostrander, your sister and mother say you are a good person. You spoke about sin, and I will tell you, whether you sinned is between you and the Lord. It’s not up to me to judge in that regard. I don’t care if you are a good person.

“I will sentence you based on the acts in violation of federal law. It extracts consequences.

“You have committed theft of innocence, a crime you are profoundly guilty of. As a teacher, father and husband, you have responsibilities. And what you did to these children was a straight up crime. You did it for your own purposes.

“I categorically reject your counsel’s argument that you did not touch, molest or penetrate the victims. The pain is real in every sense. I am profoundly sad for your family. The penalties fall on (all) the families.

“The judge is following the law because you failed to do so. There are victims on both sides of the room, but the perpetrator is standing right in the middle.

“You were nothing but a predator who preyed on people who had every reason to trust you,” the judge concluded.

-- from the judge sentencing Barry Ostrander

for child pornography and a hidden camera in a bathroom

TT link to Ostrander

Cleveland, TENNESSEE

Sept 14, 2007 - Despite 33 employees who have family members employed in the Bradley County school system, including the wife of the Director of Schools who was hired as Special Education’s school-to-work program and wife of the School Board Chairman hired as a school nurse, there's no nepotism involved.

According to the school system attorney who also represents 72 other school districts across the state, “No law or board policy has been broken,” in the hiring of family members by the Bradley County school system."

Chicago, ILLINOIS

Sept 14, 2007 - Donald Turner, 38, a third-grade teacher, has been arrested and charged with one count of criminal sexual assault of a a 14-year-old eighth-grade student at Alex Haley Elementary school. [Adademy]

On Dec. 24, 2005, Turner allegedly drove to the girl's home, brought her strawberries and whipped cream, and performed oral sex on the victim, according to court records. Two witnesses saw them and on Dec. 26-27, he allegedly had intercourse with her three times -- once at a motel at West 100th and South Halsted streets, and twice at Turner’s house in the 600 block of West 111th St., Simonton said, citing court records.

After these incidents, the victim’s mother overheard the victim on the phone with Turner, talking about having sex. She immediately contacted the school, court records show.

Turner was arrested Sept 12. He was ordered held on $400,000 bond. [Article doesn't say where he taught.]

His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct 3.

INDICTED Oct 4 - Turner was indicted on one count of criminal sexual assault. He will be arraigned Oct 10.

San Fernando, CALIFORNIA

CONVICTED:
Sept 6, 2007 - John Racz, 61, a Compton Unified School District teacher and a retired sheriff's sergeant, was convicted of the murder of his wife Ann Racz in 1991.

Ann Racz disappeared April 22, 1991, four days after filing for divorce from her husband and taking their three children ages 14, 11 and 7. She took the children to visit their dad and went out to McDonald's and never returned. Police never found the body. Despite that, the jury convicted Racz of first-degree murder.

He will be sentenced September 14.

SENTENCED: Sept 14 - Racz was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

Milford, CONNECTICUT

Movie of the week stuff.

June 29, 2007 - Robert Dulin, 49, was summer league basketball coach when it is alleged he had a three-year sexual relationship with a student in 2003, starting when she was 16. The girl also allegedly became pregnant during the relationship and Dulin paid $575 for an abortion according to police.

He was first arrested in December 2005. He was placed under house arrest this week for allegedly making threatening phone calls to the victim. One of the calls came while the now-20-year-old woman was at the police station. He had his bail raised before for the same thing. (Charges still pending in Massachusetts for harassment.) The arrest in June 2006 was his third arrest for violating the court order to have no contact with the now 20-year-old woman. This, apparently, is his fourth arrest. He was charged this week with tampering with a witness, violating a protective order, threatening and harassment.

Dulin was a University of Connecticut basketball star and later, a former Merrill Lynch Co. vice president. He left his job in August 2005 about a month after being arrested for assaulting a former boyfriend of the alleged victim. The boyfriend supplied the first indication of the sexual relationship with the student. Dulin is married.

From the Milford Weekly:

Ordinarily the affair would have been legal under Connecticut law. The legal age of consent is 16, but those in a position of authority like a coach or teacher are barred from having sexual relationships with anyone under their care who is younger than 18.

Whether Dulin qualifies under that law will be decided in the courts.

NO CONTEST PLEA July 5 - A judge found Dulin guilty on five counts of second-degree sexual assault, two counts of breach of peace and one count of criminal violation of the protective order, after Dulin's lawyer had entered no contest pleas on his behalf.

Several other pending cases against the former Merrill Lynch vice president, including a breach of peace charge in Derby Superior Court, will be dropped as part of the plea agreement when Dulin is sentenced in September, court officials said.

Dulin will be sentenced September 14. (New Haven Register: The plea calls for a minimum mandatory sentence of nine months for the sex assault charge. As part of a plea agreement reached with prosecutors, Dulin also must serve five years of probation and register as a sex offender for 10 years.)

SENTENCED: Sept 14 - Dulin was sentenced to seven years, suspended after 18 months served, with four years probation. Dulin also must register as a sex offender for a 10-year-period.

Derry, New Hampshire

Sept 10, 2007 - Charles Hawkins, 44, school board chairman, was sentenced to a year in jail after admitting he stole thousands of dollars from his Salem employer to pay for family trips, home improvements and online pornography.

Hawkins is required to pay the company $60,000 by Nov 6. He will start serving his time in January.

His lawyer said Hawkins was already undergoing treatment for pornography and computer sex addiction.

Arlington, TEXAS

RANT OF THE DAY

Sept 13, 2007 - There's a new name for it. "Cyberbullying" And, ridiculously, Arlington schools are demanding that students sign a "contract" that states they would not send harassing e-mails to other students. They would not instant-message. They would not send offensive digital pictures, download video footage or hack into another student's e-mail account.

A Pew Internet and American Life study released this summer found that as many as one in three online teens had experienced some form of harassment online.

And schools nationwide now are attempting to stop the scourge of bullying over the Internet — dubbed cyberbullying— which has become so prevalent that many experts say it is the most disruptive threat to the school day. Students as young as 1st and 2nd grade routinely are being asked to sign computer usage contracts, albeit in blocky print rather than cursive.

TT - Ridiculous, because they cannot legally restrict free speech outside of the limitations placed upon it in the classroom and courts have not supported their claims to be able to do so.

Stupid, because in Rhode Island, the article notes, they plan legislation to prosecute students and their parents if the student is caught sending Internet or text messages that prove disruptive to school.

Ludicrous, because there is not a word about teachers who maintain MySpace accounts and interact with students outside of the classroom or who text message students with whom they have sex.

The Nanny Staters really need to get a life and quit being so goofy.

Augusta, GEORGIA

Sept 13, 2007 - Carlton Johnson, 46, was sentenced -- again. This time, to eight years in prison followed by seven years' probation. Again. Georgia Court of Appeals reversed his 2003 conviction in January. He pleaded guilty this time around to molesting a 14-year-old boy and his sister.

In March 1994, Johnson was working as a teacher's aide when a parent told sheriff's investigators that Johnson had fondled a 6-year-old boy, according to reports in The Augusta Chronicle. Johnson was tried and acquitted of sexual battery in that case.

Stanford, KENTUCKY

Sept 13, 2007 - Karen Kirby, a Lincoln County High special needs students teacher's assistant, was arrested on August 30 after investigators say from the air they spotted four marijuana plants in the backyard of Kirby's Stanford home. When questioned, detectives say Kirby admitted the plants were hers.

She resigned from the school before her arrest. She pleaded guilty was given a type of probation for the misdemeanor offense. If she has no other offenses during the probation period, her record will be clear.

School officials found out on Thursday.

Unity, OREGON

Sept 13, 2007 - Kolton Kock, 26, a Burnt River High School teacher, was arrested on accusations that he sexually abused a 16-year-old girl.

Kock left his job as vocational agricultural teacher in May and the Burnt River School Board accepted his resignation at its June meeting, Superintendent Robert Otheim said. The Burnt River position was Kock’s first teaching job, Otheim said. The superintendent had reported the allegations to the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission.

It was Kock's first teaching job.

Dallas, TEXAS

Jury finds guilty of capital murder.

TRIAL: August 21, 2007 - In Dallas, it is the start of the murder trial for Jose Alberto Felix, 30, an elementary school teacher at Fannin Elementary, and Edgar "Richie" Acevedo, a "flamboyant waiter," for the failed kidnapping and murder of a Dallas restaurateur.

Oscar Sanchez was abducted Jan. 18, 2005. The next day, police raided a home the two men shared and found evidence of a bloody struggle. Police said they believe Mr. Sanchez was shot while trying to escape. Both men fled to Chicago. Acevedo went to Mexico, Felix was arrested as he prepared to board a plane to Mexico. He told police where to find the body.

Both men were gay. Acevedo dressed in drag and attended bars as "Pamela."

GUILTY VERDICT: Sept 11 - The jury found Felix guilty of murder. Felix was automatically sentenced to life in prison.

Livermore, CALIFORNIA

Sept 13, 2007 - Jerrold Rittmann, 69, a retired teacher, was arrested on suspicion of engaging in three or more acts of substantial sexual conduct with a child under the age of 14, committing a lewd act on a child by use of force or fear and sexual penetration with a foreign object.

Police said an adult woman told them in July that Rittmann molested her multiple times when she was a juvenile.They said that during their subsequent investigation Rittmann admitted molesting "others" but didn't disclose the names of all his victims.Livermore police say that based on Rittmann's statements, investigators believe he has molested additional victims.

He is being held on $1 million bail.

San Jose Mercury: Three victims, including the woman who came forward, have been identified. Police say some molestations may have occurred in the past year.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Elaine Briggs at 925-371-4760.

Sept 27 - Rittman pleaded not guilty to all charges. The next court date is Oct 3.

Oct 2 - See assertion by poster.

Huntsville, ALABAMA

Sept 13, 2007 - Cleavon Eason, 36, a Lee High School assistant principal, was arrested on charges of first-degree sodomy and first-degree sexual abuse. The parents of a 16-year-old male student filed a complaint with police.

Investigators believe more students may be involved. Anyone with information pertaining to this case should contact Investigator Chet Williams at 722-7100.

Eason has worked at the school for 12 years as an aide, a special education teacher and an assistant principal.

Billings, MONTANA

Sept 12, 2007 - Koby Murray, 41, a reading specialist and special education teacher at West High School, was arrested and is facing a felony charge of fraudulently obtaining dangerous drugs.

She was arrested at a local pharmacy when pharmacy personnel became suspicious.

Sept 12 - Murray appeared in court via a video link from the jail. She was ordered to appear for arraignment and released without bond. She is on paid leave.

Jan 14, 2008 - Murray pleaded not guilty to four counts of fraudulently obtaining dangerous drugs. At her initial arraignment Murray pleaded not guilty to a single felony drug charge. Prosecutors allege that Murray called in prescriptions for the pain medication hydrocodone to the same pharmacy using a fictitious name on Sept. 1, 4, 7 and 10.

Full Name: Koby Gayle Murray

Albuquerque, NEW MEXICO

Sept 12, 2007 - An unnamed substitute discoverd in girls' restroom.

A 51-year-old male substitute teacher was caught in a stall in the girls’ restroom of a middle school by another teacher on August 31st.

That word follows news that a second substitute teacher wanted for surreptitiously videotaping up a second-grade girl’s skirt has been arrested in Colorado.

APS spokesman Rigo Chavez confirms that the restroom incident occurred at Madison Middle School.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that the substitute was discovered by another teacher and allegedly said that he had already received complaints from parents and that he was leaving the school.

Chavez confirms that the man continued to work at other district schools through Wednesday when Bernalillo County deputies notified the school district that it was investigating parental complaints.

Chavez says the school district is investigating why the incident was not reported immediately to APS police or human resources.

TT - Police found another substitute teacher, Robert H. Ashley, an admitted pedophile, hiding in Colorado and arrested him. He was a substitute at Atrisco Elementary School when another teacher found a camera in his backpack that had a hole for videotaping TT link for Ashley.

Albuquerque, NEW MEXICO

Fugitive arrested.

Sept 13, 2007 - Robert H. Ashley, a substitute at Atrisco Elementary School, was arrested in Colorado. He was wanted for secretly videotaping the legs of female elementary school students in the Albuquerque school.

A Colorado informant tipped off police. Ashley had been wanted since a a teacher's assistant found a backpack with a video camera in the teachers' lounge at the school. The backpack had a hole made in it that allowed the video camera to be surreptitiously operated.

Ashley has been a substitute for Albuquerque schools since 1998.

KJCT8 reports that Ashley spent three years as a special education teacher in New Mexico, but left in 2001. He started substituting at area elementary schools in 2005.

Sept 14 - KRQE reports that Ashley worked in eight elementary schools.
Alamosa
Atrisco
Carlos Rey
Emerson
Hodgin
Kit Carson (1998-2001)
La Luz
Pajarito

INDICTED: Sept 27 - Ashley was indicted on charges of voyeurism and child abuse. Authorities say more charges are possible.

NOT GUILTY PLEA Oct 6 - Ashley pleaded not guilty to charges of voyeurism and child abuse. He is being held on $200,000 bond.

RELEASED ON BOND Dec 25 - Ashley has been released from jail after posting a surety bond.

Grafton, WEST VIRGINIA

Sept 13 - Lou Ann Woodyard, an art teacher at Taylor County Middle School, pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance and knowingly keeping a dwelling for the purpose of keeping and selling drugs.

In April of 2006, police found marijuana and drug paraphernalia in her bedroom. They also found crack cocaine in her home and arrested three others on related drug charges.

Woodward resigned in June of 2006. No sentencing date given.

East Chicago, INDIANA

Sept 13, 2007 - Frank Kollintzas, former teacher and City Council President and now a fugitive since he was convicted in 2005 of looting the city coffers, won't be getting any of his pensions.

Neither will his wife. A judge ruled against her claim to his pensions, life insurance policies or checking accounts.

Frank Kollintzas had three retirement packages from the East Chicago school city and the civil city because of his work as a teacher, facilities director and city councilman. He also had seven bank accounts and two insurance policies with cash surrender value.

Joanna Kollintzas was fired from her job in the school city in 2005. She has claimed in a federal civil lawsuit that she was fired because of her husband's political opposition to Pabey, and her case is still pending before the court.

Dec 12 - State corrected. Thank you to reader.

Belleview, ILLINOIS

Sept 13, 2007 - Sam Shelton, sentenced to 20 years for trying to murder a student, will be going to court again, but with a new judge.

St. Clair County Circuit Judge Annette Eckert recused herself from Shelton's case, citing a court conflict. Her husband, a Belleville lawyer, apparently had given legal counsel to Shelton's mother.

Shelton has pleaded not guilty to the six felony aggravated battery counts alleging he roughed up sheriff's deputies and emergency workers who responded to his apparent suicide attempt at his mother's house in May. At the hospital, prosecutors say, Shelton kicked a nurse in the face and spat on a deputy.

A status hearing i has been set for Dec 20.

TT link to Shelton

Bethel, MINNESOTA

Dec 11, 2006 - Barry Ostrander, 43, a Braham High School teacher, was originally arrested in July 2006 when investigators learned of a video taping system had allegedly installed in the bathroom of his home.

It was discovered by Ostrander's wife was changing channels on a television in their bedroom and discovered a live feed from the bathroom camera. The couple's teenage daughter and a friend helped locate the camera behind a floral arrangement, and then that friend and her mother notified authorities.

Federal authories discovered 1,000 electronic images and a dozen video files and indicted him Dec 5th in Federal court on charges of possessing and receiving child pornography. In December, local authorities dropped local charges rather than jeopardize a conviction on the more serious charges in U.S. District Court.

GUILTY PLEA: Feb 27, 2007 - Ostrander pleaded guilty federal charges that he knowingly and intentionally possessed approximately 1,000 electronic images and at least 12 digital video files of minors engaging in explicit sexual conduct.

He also admitted to installing a hidden camera in the bathroom of his Braham residence and taping four minor girls as they dressed and showered. None of those images figured in the pornographic image charges but rather were charged out in Isanti County as felony interference with the privacy of a minor.

A pre-sentencing investigation will be conducted before sentencing. He was dismissed from his job Jul 31, 2006.

SENTENCED: Sept 12 - Ostrander was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, under a program specifically geared for sex offenders. He will, apparently, be required to pay restitution to the victims and their families to be determined.

VICTIM STATEMENTS: Sept 14 - summarized by Isanti County News.

Child Pornography and Teachers
TT - List guilty but not yet sentenced for child pornography.
TT - List sentenced for child pornography.

Jan 16, 2008 - Police raided a Chaska condo in response to a raid by Interpol in connection with their investigation of an international child pornography ring. An e-mail was sent to the child pornographers in 2006 warning them not to communicate with Ostrander because he was under investigation.

Bay City, MICHIGAN

Another role model.

August 30, 2007 -

A former Bay City commissioner has pleaded guilty to attempting to resist, obstruct or assault a police officer during a June scuffle at a Polish festival beer tent.

Kurt P. Legner, who served eight years on the Bay City Commission before being term-limited and replaced on the Commission by wife Wendy in 2005, will be sentenced for the misdemeanor crime on Sept. 11.

The Washington Elementary School third-grade teacher faces up to one year in jail.

In exchange for the plea, the Prosecutor's Office has agreed to dismiss the two original charges stemming from the June incident - resisting, obstructing or assaulting a police office, a felony, and drunk and disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor.

Legner's three daughters were there at the time. The deputies did not want to use a taser gun on him in front of three young children.

Legner is looking forward to getting back to his family and his job.

SENTENCED: Sept 12 - He was sentenced to six months' probation, attend an alcohol-education class, pay $745 in costs and fines and be subject to random drug and alcohol tests.

Christopher, ILLINOIS

: Sept 12, 2007 - Gary Gischer Jr., a a physical education teacher and head basketball coach at Christopher High School, resigned as coach following an arrest in August for DUI, possession of drug paraphernalia and possessing 2.5 to 10 grams of cannabis.

The resignation from his coaching job was submitted to the board through Gischer's attorney and is effective immediately. The action taken by the board does not affect Gischer's tenured teaching position at the school.

Sugar Land, TEXAS

INVESTIGATION

Sept 12, 2007 - A Clements High School teacher has been placed on paid leave while the school district investigates allegations that he starred in a number of sexually explicit videos. The Raunchy Wrestling videos feature two men and become sexually explicit.

The school district and the media were tipped off last week.

The pictures and videos do not appear to be illegal and we did not find anything in department policy that specifically forbids the teacher's actions, though people in the district admit the behavior, if true, is not what Fort Bend would expect of its employees.

KHOU found 49 sexually explicit videos for sale on the Internet starring the same wrestler.
Source: KHOU

Rusk, TEXAS

INVESTIGATION

Sept 12, 2007 - The FBI is investigating an unnamed Rusk High School teacher for child pornography. The teacher resigned last week.

Two other teachers in Cherokee County have been investigated in less than a year.

ALLEN
In June, Josh Allen, 23, - a music instructor at Jacksonville Christian Academy, was sentenced to 48 months in prison for possession of more than 600 images of child pornography on his computer.

BASSE
Another Rusk teacher, Brian Edward Basse, 34, was indicted by a Cherokee County grand jury in March and charged with two second degree felonies, indecency with a child and improper relationship between an educator and student.
He was a teacher in Rusk at the time of his arrest.

GUILTY PLEA AND SENTENCING: Basse pleaded guilty to charges of indecency with a child and improper relationship by an educator with a student, both second-degree felonies. He was sentenced to three years in prison for each charge, with the two sentences being served concurrently.

TT - Neither was on our radar.

GAPS

News Briefs

PITTSBURG, PENN. Sept 11, 2007 - In Pittsburg, a two-year study which included test scores in 199 math teachers' classrooms, found average test scores varied as much as 59 percent from the top teacher's classroom to the bottom, regardless of the students' race. The study was conducted by Robert P. Strauss, a professor of economics and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University.

"These ... are not random effects," Strauss said. "In Pittsburgh, the teachers who are successful are successful with black kids and white kids."

He suggests more research is needed.

BOSTON, MASS. August 21, 2007 - The Boston Globe editorializes on the need to close the "teacher gap."

Last year, only 46 percent of black applicants for teaching licenses in Massachusetts passed the writing portion of the state teaching exam; among Hispanic applicants, the pass rate was 48 percent. By comparison, 77 percent of white applicants passed.

Though not as wide, a considerable gap also appeared on the reading section. These are discouraging statistics -- not only for applicants but for the public school administrators who are eager to diversify and strengthen their faculties with minority educators.

AND,

The state Department of Education already takes sensible measures to exclude language and content on the teacher licensing exam that might place minorities at a disadvantage.

TT - What is sensible about excluding language and content on a licensing exam?

Rio Hondo, TEXAS

Sept 11, 2007 - The school board is planning to fire Stephen Lucas, a junior high school teacher, after his arrest last month.

He is charged with three counts of deadly conduct, two counts of making terroristic threats, one count of unlawfully carrying of a weapon and one count of evading arrest with a motor vehicle, according to previous reports.

Columbus, OHIO

Sept 11, 2007 - Samrin Kong, 25, a Northland High School substitute, was sentenced to 60 days in jail, suspended. He also must pay $405 in fines and court costs. He pleaded guilty in May to a misdemeanor charge of sexual imposition.

He was accused of improperly touching students and making references to sex.

He asked the students, who were hearing impaired, to use sign language to spell sexy, asked one if scratches on her arm were from having sex, and talked about how mammals had sex, the report said.

The Ohio Board of Education voted to revoke his certificate.

ARIZONA

Sept 11, 2007 - English language learners in Arizona might have a problem. Their teachers don't know the language that well either.

Each year, the state evaluates a sampling of classrooms where kids are learning English. Last year, officials visited 32 districts and found similar problems at nine.

Some teachers' English was so poor that even state officials strained to understand them. The state also found that students learning English at all ages were being taught by teachers who did not have appropriate training or materials. At a dozen districts, evaluators found teachers who ignored state law and taught in Spanish.

Each year, fewer kids who are still learning English pass the reading, writing and math AIMS test

Arizona is revamping the way schools teach kids English. Starting this year, schools must begin putting language learners into four hours of classes each day where these students will learn English grammar, phonetics, writing and reading.

TT - If they put them in the same classroom with teachers who have no aptitude for the language, what difference will it make?

Omaha, NEBRASKA

Sept 11, 2007 - Jodi Reeder, 29, a Central High School physical education teacher and varsity softball coach, was arrested for the FOURTH time for drunken driving.

She was pulled over for driving the wrong way on a one-way street. Her blood-alcohol level was .189, more than twice the legal limit of .08.

Her last two arrests for DUI were in 2003. She was charged with second-offense drunken driving in each case and sentenced to five days in jail, loss of her driver's license for one year and one year of probation. She's worked for the school system for three years.

Sept 14 - KETV7: Reeder made her first court appearance. If convicted of felony DUI, Reeder will no longer be able to hold a teaching license in Nebraska

Lynchburg, VIRGINIA

Sept 11, 2007 - Richard Carroll, a former Linkhorne Middle School band instructor, was sentenced to to three years in state prison, all three suspended, after pleading an Alford plea (no contest) to one count of indecent liberties with a minor.

The prosecutor dropped 11 other charges of indecent liberties and carnal knowledge for his molestation of three students 30 years ago. The victims say Carroll molested them in 1976 when they were in his 8th grade band class.

Shelby County, TENNESSEE

Fugitive found in Mississippi.

Sept 11, 2007 - Larry Bobo, 55, a former special education teacher in Shelby County Schools, was arrested in Mississippi and returned to Memphis to face charges of aggravated sexual battery of a minor.

He had applied to work in the Panola County School District in Mississippi. He was located by U.S. Marshals’ Mid South Fugitive Task Force

Athens, TEXAS

Sept 11, 2007 - Beverly Renee Conditt, 35, a teacher at R.C. Fisher (middle) School, pleaded no contest to a charge of improper relationship between a teacher and a 12-year-old male student. She was sentenced to to five years of adjudicated probation.

Conditt’s charge goes back to June and involves a 12-year-old male student. According to the victim’s mother, Conditt was found kissing the victim at her home in the early morning hours of June 20. The incident occurred after a non-school-related outing he went on with the teacher and other children.

... The victim’s mother said the incident was discovered by Conditt’s husband, who then chased the boy out of the house. She said he ran all the way from the house in Crestview Place to Park Highland Nursing Center on Lucas Drive.The staff of Park Highland notified the police after discovering the boy.

Under the terms of the agreement, Conditt will be required to give up her teaching certificate and register as a sex offender.

She will also be required to pay a $1,000 fine and court costs, pay $50 to the county’s Child Advocacy Center, perform 300 hours of community service and attend deviant sex counseling, among other requirements.

Spartanburg, SOUTH CAROLINA

Sept 10, 2007 - Thomas Khoe, 36, a band director at Chapman High School, was arrested, accused of inappropriately touching four underage girls and offering one of them money for sex.

He is charged with four counts of aggravated assault and battery, four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and one count of criminal solicitation of a minor.
Full Name: Thomas Newton Khoe

Sept 11 - Khoe no longer works for the school. WLTX: Khoe was fired August 31.

Sept 26 - Khoe was allowed to resign.

Khoe was fired. He had requested a public hearing to get his job back, but Wednesday, the school board released this statement saying, "The board has accepted the resignation of Thomas Khoe, the former band director at Chapman High.

Oct 23 - Found in September 2007 Education Orders - Summary suspension

INDICTED June 26, 2008. Trial pending.

Springfield, MISSOURI

Principal was acquitted and charges were dropped against the teacher.

Sept 10, 2007 -
Carolyn Harralson, the principal at Rountree Elementary School, is scheduled to go on trial Monday on charges she failed to report allegations of child abuse.

Harralson is accused of not calling a state child abuse hotline after being told that gym teacher Mark Washam had inappropriate contact with several students.

A Department of Social Services investigation found evidence that Harralson knew about the allegations at least a month before someone else called the hotline in March 2006. She was removed as principal in June.

The teacher, Mark Washam, was charged at the same time as Harralson, faces four counts of misdemeanor sexual misconduct and five counts of third- degree assault, also a misdemeanor.

The failure to report is a MISDEMEANOR, which could result in up to a year in jail and up to $1,000 in fines. Harralson is still employed by the school district.

Nov 2 - Charges against Mark Washam were dropped. And Principal Carolyn Harralson was acquitted by a jury of charges that she violated the state's mandated reporter law. Found in an editorial entitled, "Mandated reporting law needs to change." The newspaper advocates "decriminalizing" mandated reporting laws. Their point is that mandated reporters fear prosecution and inundate the hot line.

With the specter of criminal prosecution hanging over their heads, too many mandated reporters ignore the professional judgment they learned from years of training and instead blindly follow a law they find harmful.

TT - Does that last make sense at all? Mandated reporting laws are harmful to children or teachers? What professional judgement? By comparison, the comments at the news story were thoughtful.

I agree that juries often do not uphold the spirit or intent of the law because for reasons outside of the expectations of "the law"- but this does not mean the law in and of itself is a failure....perhaps it is the attitude we have toward our shared responsibilities to each other to hold each other accountable for not turning a blind eye to true abuse that needs to change.

One asked, "So you think "decriminalizing" a failure to report suspected cases of abuse will increase reporting? "

Hazlet, NEW JERSEY

Sept 10, 2007 - Robert Cholowinski, 46, a third grade teacher at the Middle Road School, was arrested by the FBI on child pornography possession charges.

Cholowinski reportedly told agents that he had been trading in child pornography over the Internet for several years. He has worked as a teacher in the district since 1994.

He is being held on $250,000 bond.

Stockton, CALIFORNIA

Sept 6, 2007 -
Ernie Roxas, Sr., 54, Stockton Unified School District coach, is on trial, charged with sexually abused a girl for several years while she lived with his family.

The girl, now 25, accused Roxas in 1999. At that time, he retired from the school district and moved to Las Vegas. No charges were filed against him until the victim went to police years later. He was arrested earlier this year in Las Vegas, and was sent back to San Joaquin County.

GUILTY VERDICT: Sept 10 - A jury convicted Roxas of of eight counts, including lewd acts on a child, rape and the continual sexual abuse of a child.

A 25-year-old woman who is a relative of Roxas and testified as Corina Doe, rather than use her real surname, said she lived with Roxas' family from the ages of 9 to 17 and that Roxas had sex with her more than 40 times.

Roxas will be sentenced October 22.

Oct 23 - His attorney wants a new trial, alleging juror misconduct. Judge to consider the motion.

WEST VIRGINIA

UNFUNDED PENSIONS

WEST VIRGINIA Sept 10, 2007 - From AP: The Legislature faces a potential price tag of as much as $215 million if it wants to aid the nearly 20,000 teachers and school workers whose 401(k)-style retirement accounts lack sufficient funds in all but a handful of cases.

---

TT - Mind you, West Virginia received $804 million from tobacco securitization. (Selling all future tobacco settlement income to investors for a much smaller one-time lump-sum payment.) The $804 million was supposed to have assured the stability of the teachers pension fund.

See our collection of Unfunded Pension stories.

Gilcrest County, FLORIDA

Sept 8, 2007 - Guy Nall, 39, a former teacher and assistant football coach at Trenton High School, was arrested and charged with capital sexual battery on a victim under 12 years of age and three counts of sexual battery on a child between the ages of 12 and 18.

He allegedly committing the crimes between 2000 and 2006 in Levy County.

Nall taught at Trenton High from 1998 until 2003 when he moved to Alabama to become an assistant football coach as Enterprise High School in Alabama.
Full Name: Guy Bubba Nall
AKA Bubba Guy

Police are asking if any child has had an encounter with Bubba Nall in an inappropriate manner to contact Investigator Lauree Allen at 352-486-5111 Extension: 303.

Sept 10 - Dolthan First: Guy Bubba Nall is also known as Bubba Guy in fact that's the name on his Florida Teacher's Certification.

Sept 26 - Nall was charged with one count of incest. Nall turned himself in at the Enterprise Police Department.

DOCKET - October 17 - The Enterprise Ledger found Nall's name is among the cases listed on the 11-page docket to begin this week with Judge Jeffery Kelley hearing possible guilty pleas starting at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Nall was arrested in September of 2007 on an incest charge and was indicted by a Coffee County grand jury in October 2007 on seven incest charges. Incest is a Class C felony which carries a prison sentence of one to ten years per count if convicted, according to court officials. Nall was released on bond from the CoffeeCounty Jail.

Nashville, TENNESSEE

After her husband shot and killed the student she was involved with in Knoxville, she moved to Nashville to teach. Now there are new allegations of improper contact with another student.

September 8, 2007 - Erin McLean, an English teacher at Pioneer Christian Academy, was fired over allegations of improper contact with a student. She used her maiden name to obtain the job.

McLean called one of her students 15 to 20 times and the student's parents became concerned about inappropriate contact.

See TT link to case.

Fayetteville, ARKANSAS

September 8, 2007 - Robert Newlan Richards, 53, a teacher's aide at Leverett Elementary School, was arrested after police found multiple images of child pornography on his home computer. He faces five counts of possession, viewing and distributing sexually explicit material involving a child.

According to his preliminary arrest report, Thursday’s arrest wasn’t Richards ’ first run-in with Fayetteville Police. He has previously been arrested for shoplifting and possession of a controlled substance. He's been working for the school district since 1998.

Richards was identified through a coordinated national investigation involving state, local and federal agencies. Detectives out of Gainsville, Fla., identified a computer in Arkansas that was distributing child pornography during an undercover child pornography investigation in June. Gainsville police traced the computer’s Internet Service Provider to Fayetteville.

On June 25, investigators were able to view a public listing of the files being distributed from the computer, each of which described various sex acts involving boys between the ages of 10 and 17 years old. Detectives forwarded the information to the Arkansas State Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit.

From there, it went to local police who obtained a search warrant.

Virgie, KENTUCKY

One year in jail was obviously insufficient.

September 7, 2007 - Kyle D. Tackett, 34, a former principal at G.F. Johnson Elementary School, was arrested in Sept 2005 when a 17-year-old student was taken to the hospital after Tackett shared hallucinogenic mushrooms with him. Tackett was fired.

Tackett pleaded guilty first- and second-degree unlawful transaction with a minor in May 2006 and he was given one year in jail, with three years state supervision.

After three different brushes with the law since his release, a judge ordered him back to jail. They'll be reviewing his recent district court cases on Sept 13.

Tackett began teaching Language Arts at Pike County Central High School in 1997 and, in addition to the principal position he held at G.F. Johnson Elementary, he also worked as assistant principal and teacher at Shelby Valley High School.

Chicago, ILLINOIS

September 8, 2007 - Roderick Lofton, 41, an English teacher at St. Dorothy School, was arrested and charged with felony criminal sexual assault against a 14-year-old student in 2001.

Lofton no longer teaches and the girl came forward in 2004.

No explanation of why he left teaching nor why it has taken three years to charge him.

CBS2 Chicago: A preliminary is scheduled for Sept 26.

Lofton, wanted since 2004, has been out of the state intermittently, but was arrested Wednesday at 47th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue by members of the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force, according to police News Affairs Officer JoAnn Taylor.

Criminal sexual assault is a Class 1 felony.

Oct 16 - Lofton pleaded not guilty to six counts of criminal sexual assault and three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. A hearing is scheduled for Nov 20.

Background Checks

September 7, 2007 -

Background checks are required for new teachers entering schools except when it isn't convenient.

That seems to be the message anyway from several districts in Alabama that hire on a "temporary emergency basis," so that there is a warm body in the classroom.

Placing teachers and other employees in Birmingham city schools before completion of their background checks is common practice, said spokeswoman Michaelle Chapman.

"It takes months to get the background checks back," she said. "If you've got openings, you've got to fill them."
...
The state Department of Education disputes the contention of area school officials that the checks take weeks or months to complete. A spokesman said it takes 12 to 24 hours if the criminal background check is clear, but it can take months if something turns up.

But the best explanation may be because the applicant pays $49 for the background check.

The process is slow because the background checks are paid for by the applicants, said Nez Calhoun, spokeswoman for Jefferson County schools.

"If they paid for them at the time they applied for the job, the process would be a lot quicker," she said. "But nobody wants to pay $49 for a job they may or may not get."

East Greenwich, RHODE ISLAND

September 7, 2007 - A Rhode Island judge has ruled a strike by East Greenwich teachers is illegal and has ordered them back to work.

Teachers do not have a right to strike in Rhode Island, a fact confirmed by the state Supreme Court that ruled that work stoppages are illegal.

DON'T MISS reading Bob Kerr's opinion on teacher strikes at the Providence-Journal.

Every year, the teacher strike or strikes of the season seem a little more tedious, a little more tacky, a little more out of touch.

The last paragraph is the best.

Indianapolis, INDIANA

GUILTY PLEA: July 18, 2007 - Kevin Walsh, 28, a Perry Meridian High School teacher, pleaded guilty to one count of child solicitation and one count of disseminating matter harmful to a minor.

He was arrested in July 2006 after chatting online with an investigator posing as a 15-year-old girl. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 7.

T - Whatever you do, don't ever read the comments at the Indianpolis Star. It's pure Deliverance territory.

SENTENCED: September 7, 2007 - Wash was sentenced to three years' probation. Attorney Martin Solomon asked for leniency, pointing out there was no real victim and Walsh's two education degrees are now useless.

judge also sentenced Walsh to 80 hours of community service during each year of probation, and he will have to register as a sex offender.

TENNESSEE

It's a tough job.

Sept 7, 2007 - Hamilton County Board of Education and the teachers’ union reached an agreement so that administrators can accrue 210 days of vacation.

Unlike the previously unlimited vacation accrual policy, the new proposal states that school administrators who accrue vacation may continue to do so only until they have reached a 1,680-hour cap. Longtime employees who already are at or near that cap can continue accruing 50 percent of their vacation for a three-year period beginning July 1, 2008.

Pleasantville, NEW JERSEY

If you want a poster child for corruption in school districts and how political patronage makes school systems cash cows, try Pleasantville, New Jersey.

Continued here for space considerations.

Shreveport, LOUISIANA

Can't comment. It's a personnel issue.

August 24, 2007 - Renard Nash’s name was temporarily removed from the list of approved substitute in Caddo Parish after school officials received reports that he was involved in a sex-for-sale incident.

Deamarquis Latson, 17, of the 700-block of W. 72nd Street was arrested Monday after a Caddo deputy found the two inside of a parked vehicle in south Caddo Parish, Cindy Chadwick, spokeswoman for Caddo sheriff’s office, said.

The deputy didn’t witness any illegal activity. However, Nash told authorities it was a prostitution-type situation where he had paid Latson $10 to perform oral sex on him, Chadwick said.

Nash has taught at Fair Park High School. He was not arrested. The school district is investigating.

Sept 7 - Police have decided not to prosecute Nash. Instead, he will be a witness against the male prostitute he paid $10 to for oral sex.

Nash said he has since entered a psychological and Christian rehabilitation center for therapy.His name has been removed from the list of qualified substitute teachers in Caddo.

TT - Glad that was settled in such a civilized manner.

Eagle Point, OREGON

September 7, 2007 - Adam Mealey, 28, a teacher's aide at Little Butte Elementary School, was arrested for possession of child pornography.

Police had been investigating since March. He was jailed on two counts of first-degree encouraging child sexual abuse.

Local officers, along with FBI agents, seized Mealey's home computer June 1. Mealey has been on paid administrative leave from the school since June.
Full Name: Adam Christopher Mealey

Legalese

LEGAL TERM OF THE DAY

Deferred Adjudication

- To defer – to put off, or postpone. To adjudicate – in the criminal context it means to find you guilty. So when the judge places a defendant on deferred adjudication, he is postponing finding the person guilty, and will never find them guilty, if they successfully complete the terms of probation.
(Source: Austin Criminal Defense Lawyer blog)

Even nicer, it means you won't have that pesky criminal record to keep you going back to teaching.

Groveland, FLORIDA

Four years house arrest for molesting four pre-teen girls.

August 31, 2007 - Charles L. Barton III, 62, a retired Groveland Elementary School teacher, pleaded guilty to five counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of a minor for molesting five pre-teen girls that he knew from the school. He was sentenced to 4 years house arrest.

Under the plea agreement Barton must serve four years of house arrest followed by 15 years of sex-offender probation. He will be required to keep a log of his travels, adhere to a curfew and comply with other court orders.Any violation, however minor or technical, could send him to prison for 15 years.

Prosecutors said Barton also must register as a sexual predator. Because of the label, Barton could need a court order to stay in his home, which is less than 2,500 feet from Groveland Elementary School and Gray Middle School.

Barton retired in 2002. Assistant State Attorney Lori Lockshin said the sentence was approved by the victims and their families.

Bellefonte, PENNSYLVANIA

Sept 6, 2007 - Murry R. Nelson, 60, department head in curriculum and instruction in the College of Education, was caught smoking marijuana on July 29 in his office on the campus. He faces charges of possession of a small amount of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The criminal complaint filed against Nelson was written by a campus officer. When the officer confronted him, Nelson turned over two plastic bags with suspected marijuana, a wooden pipe, six partially burned marijuana cigarettes and rolling papers, according to the complaint.
In a subsequent office search the officer found four suspected marijuana cigarettes in a metal canister in a desk drawer. Tests showed at least two of the confiscated items did indeed contain the drug, according to the complaint.

THE KICKER: At Penn State, Nelson has served on the Dean's Administrative Council and has been the professor in charge of social-studies education, the coordinator of graduate programs in curriculum and instruction, and the coordinator of elementary undergraduate programs in the same areas.

(From cache Topix.net) It had disappeared from the Centre Daily Times the same day.

Magnolia, TEXAS

Aug 24, 2007- Lisa Minchew, 29, a Magnolia High School art teacher, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault of a child. She was sentenced to five years of deferred adjudication. She will have to register as a sex offender for the next 15 years and abide by sex offender regulations,

Minchew began working at the Magnolia Independent School District in August 2005, but she was terminated the following spring when the board of trustees learned that the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office was investigating her.She was indicted on three counts of sexual assault of a child in August 2006, but the count was reduced to one in the plea agreement.

She is accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy, a 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy.

Mansfield, OHIO

EDITORIAL "Probation makes no sense for teacher" (Sept 6, 2007)

From the Mansfield News-Journal on the sentencing of Dustin Powers.

Powers had a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl and could have received five years in prison. He should be going to jail.

A 36-year-old school teacher guilty of sexual battery against a 14-year-old student deserves time in prison.

The fact that Dustin Powers is a free man today, thanks to a decision Wednesday by Richland County Common Pleas Court Judge James Henson, does not make sense.

It's another in a growing string of decisions by the veteran judge that defy reasonable explanation.

Powers was a gym teacher at the former John Simpson Middle School in Mansfield and had worked in the district since 1997, one year after graduating from Ashland University. He has since resigned and surrendered his teaching credentials.

Married with two children, Powers began the relationship with one of his female students in 2005. "It didn't begin as a sexual relationship. It initially involved him kissing her," Richland County Assistant Prosecutor Bambi Couch-Page said during a June hearing.

Undaunted by the serious nature of the crime, and the pleas from the victim's mother, Henson sentenced Powers to four years in prison, which he promptly suspended. He placed Powers on probation for five years, declared him a sexually oriented offender and ordered sex offender treatment.

No prison time. Not even a day.

Did Powers use his position of authority as a teacher to influence a teenage girl into a relationship for which she was not prepared? Or was he simply unable to maintain a professional distance from a young woman for whom he was responsible?

Either way, it's clear he committed the crime of sexual battery against this victim, who reportedly still blames her mother for blowing the whistle on the relationship.

We can only hope that in time this young woman heals and comes to realize who the true offending party in this relationship was -- Powers.

Even if the judge didn't see fit to send him off to prison for the crime.

TT - See Our entry for Powers.

Springfield, MASSACHUSETTS

The second Springfield teacher arrested in a week.


ARRESTED: Mar 22, 2007 - James Houlihan, 43, a teacher at Samuel Bowles Elementary School, was arrested on two counts of indecent assault and battery on a female child under 14.

A school system official said that the case involves allegations related to one student in the school system. She stressed that school officials have not reached any conclusion. "We have an allegation at this point. That's what we are investigating" she said.

But citing school confidentiality rules, she said she could not reveal the age, gender or school attended by the student, or say how soon the investigation will be concluded.

Houlihan was suspended with pay after school officials began investigating.

2ND TEACHER ARRESTED: Mar 23 - Houlihan became the second Springfield teacher arrested on criminal charges in less than a week, according to the The Republican.

Elliott W. Best, 32, of 170 Central St., was arrested on March 16 at a Main Street club and charged with assault and battery, assault with a dangerous weapon and carrying a firearm while intoxicated after threatening people with a gun, police reported.

Best is a teacher at the High School of Science and Technology and a coach on the school's Cybercats football team.

GUILTY: August 29 - A jury found James Houlihan guilty of indecent assault and battery on a student under 14. He was acquitted on two other counts of indecent assault and battery.

He's been on paid leave of absence since January 5. His bail was revoked and he is being held until sentencing on September 6.

August 31 - He "faces firing" after his conviction. He has been moved to unpaid unpaid status.

Houlihan may appeal the School Department's decision to dismiss him, "if there is any further information that he would like to present," [Allen N.] Menkel [Senior administrator for employee and labor relations] said.
If Houlihan files an appeal, an administrative hearing will be held.
Menkel said he was unsure what impact the conviction could have on Houlihan's ability to collect a pension in the future, a decision that may fall to the Massachusetts Teachers Retirement System.

He called it an isolated incident.

TT - If you bloody can't well fire someone for a felony conviction, then who can you fire?

SENTENCED: September 6 - Houlihan was sentenced to two years in prison. It was the maximum sentence allowable.

Sept 13 - The school district plans to fire Houlihan. He has been on paid leave since Jan 5.

Sulphur Springs, TEXAS

Aug 28, 2007 - Shelly Shaw, 30,a Sulphur Springs High School math teacher, was sentenced to a deferred adjudicated sentence of 30 days in jail, followed by 10 years on probation.

The then-28-year-old Shaw was accused in October 2004 of engaging in an improper sexual relationship with a 17-year-old female student beginning in July 2004 and continuing through the fall semester of that same year. Shaw was placed on temporary paid suspension and then resigned.

According to the Texas State Board for Educator Certification web site (www.sbec.state.tx.us), Shaw’s teaching certification became inactive on Dec. 31, 2005. Her “official record of certification” notes she is currently under review by the SBEC Professional Discipline Unit.
Full Name: Shelly Kasandra Shaw

Carmi, ILLINOIS

May 21, 2007 - Jason R. Francis, 36, former eighth grade teacher and coach in the Carmi-White County school district, turned himself in at the request of police on preliminary charges of criminal sexual abuse and aggravated assault. It is believe hehad inappropriate sexual contact with a student.

"Francis resigned from his teaching and coaching duties during an April school board meeting, sparking suspicion and speculation in the community."

Sept 5 - Francis pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years. He must register as a sex offender and forfeit his teaching credentials.

San Diego, CALIFORNIA

GUILTY PLEA: Apr 11, 2007 - John Kyujoon Lee, 39, a teacher at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts pleaded guilty to carrying on a sexual relationship with a student, beginning when she was 16.

The prosecutor said defendant and the victim -- who is now in college -- met when she was a 15-year-old sophomore. At some point, their relationship -- which lasted three years -- became sexual, the prosecutor said.

Lee was arrested earlier this year, after officials at his school became suspicious and notified police. He will be sentenced June 5.Full Name: John Kyujoon Lee

SENTENCED: Sept 6 - Lee was sentenced to 16 months in prison.

Cincinnati, OHIO

Sept 5, 2007 - An Assistant princial at Glen Este Middle School left her 2-year-old daughter to die in a hot, searing car for eight hours outside the school. Since the District Attorney declined to charge her, locals are hoping the school board will fire her.

The West Clermont School Board will meet Monday to discuss the issue. It won't be easy to find a reason to fire her. (TT - Although a decent person would have resigned, recognizing that she had no credibility or moral authority.)

Among the reasons, [Hollie Reedy, director of legal services for the Ohio School Boards Association] said, are gross inefficiency, immorality, willful and persistent violation of school board rules, and good and just cause, “which doesn’t mean any reason that you want. When teachers get fired, there’s a lot of litigation on what constitutes a good and just cause. It has to be a serious matter.”

The story has been a sensation throughout greater Cincinnati and northern Kentucky. The newspaper reports that on Enquirer.com’s message board, some writers who identified themselves as living in West Clermont, and some who live elsewhere, said the district should not allow a woman who can’t keep track of her own kids to watch over other people’s kids and dole out parenting advice.

It’s a tough time for West Clermont. With two members up for re-election and six challengers, this issue is hot enough that it could cost incumbents their seats, and the district its fourth attempt at a bond issue.

TT - Link to West Clermont School Board site.

WCPO - August 24 - "The Slaby death was the 23rd such child fatality in the United States this year, according to Jan Null with the Department of Geosciences at San Francisco State University."

TT - A Kentucky teacher left two of her children, ages 2 and 4 months old, in a locked car at school for six hours. They didn't die, but you won't believe what the school principal said. Link

NEW JERSEY

Sept 4, 2007 -

The practice of holding two elected offices in New Jersey at the same time ends Feb. 1, under one of three ethics bills signed into law Tuesday by Governor Corzine. Incumbents will be allowed to remain in office until their terms expire or they are not re-elected.

Excused from the ban are 17 current dual office-holders in the state Legislature -- including Sen. Paul Sarlo, a Democrat who is also the mayor of Wood-Ridge; Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, a Democrat who also sits on the Englewood City Council; and Assemblyman Gary Schaer, a Democrat who also serves as the Passaic City Council president.

A fourth bill would make legislators’ voting records on all bills available to the public in electronic format.

Westmont, ILLINOIS

ARRESTED:
June 5, 2007 - Emmanuel “Manny” Reyes, 49, who recently served as associate principal of Lyons Township High School (from 1994-2005), was arrested for embezzlement in connection with an educational software company.

Reyes is the company’s chief operating officer. He was arrested along with his two associates — the chief financial officer and bookkeeper. All face charges for collectively embezzling money from Collaborative Learning, an educational software business.

GUILTY PLEA AND SENTENCING: Reyes pleaded guilty on July 17. He was sentenced Aug 27 to four years in prison. The chief financial officer - Santosh Thomas, 43, pleaded guilty to stealing more than $450,000. He will be sentenced Feb 15.

De Valle, TEXAS

INDICTED: Apr 4, 2007 -
Leland Easterling, 60, a 9th and 10th grade geometry teacher at Del Valle High School, was indicted on charges of possessing child pornography.

Easterling pleaded not guilty and is out on a $5,000 bond.

KXAN reported that "School officials said they were contacted by the Texas Attorney General's Office Tuesday about the investigation. Easterling was placed on leave with pay until the outcome of the investigation."
Full Name: Leland Keith Easterling

GUILTY PLEA: June 22 - Easterling pleaded guilty to to two counts of possession of child pornography and one count of receipt of child pornography. No date has been set for sentencing.

SENTENCED: Sept 6, 2007 - Easterling was sentenced to eight years and one month in prison. U.S. Attorney General Grant Sparks said

that among the video images that Easterling received was a video of a child being raped in a classroom. In choosing a sentence of 97 months, Yeakel noted that collectors of child pornography commit "a particularly serious crime."

"Were there not a demand for this, then the children depicted in (the pictures and videos) ... would not be exploited," [U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel said.

A retired Del Valle High School math teacher who once taught in a classroom adjacent to Easterling's, said Easterling "was an excellent teacher" who "made great contributions to his community."

Easterling will be under supervised release for seven years after prison and a registered sex offender for life.

Child Pornography and Teachers
TT - List guilty but not yet sentenced for child pornography.
TT - List sentenced for child pornography.

South Port, NORTH CAROLINA

LAWSUIT -
The only way they're ever going to be sorry.

Sept 6, 2007 - Parents are suing the Brunswick County Board of Education and 16-year advanced math teacher and coach David Hamilton Arrowood, now 50.

On April 12, 2006, two assistant principals found Arrowood's classroom doors locked and his lights off, the suit states. The principals said they found Arrowood and the student "engaging in a sexual act," according to the suit.

Later that night, the school resource officer notified the Brunswick County Sheriff's Office that an incident between a teacher and a student occurred.

By 6:30 p.m., the resource officer called the sheriff's office to tell them the investigation would be handled internally and that police did not have to respond, according to the suit.

School officials, not specified in the suit, "advised the police that they had already conducted interviews of [the student] and Arrowood and that nothing inappropriate had occurred," according to the lawsuit.

A detective, not named in the suit, persisted with the investigation despite the school's request to keep the matter internal, according to the suit. Then-Principal James Jordan reportedly was told to withhold witness statements and the personnel file of Arrowood by McGee, according to the suit.

The threat of an arrest for interfering with a criminal investigation prompted Jordan to hand over the records, the suit said.

It is the second lawsuit against the school board.

TT - There were four cases involving "romantic" or inappropriate relations between an employee at a Brunswick County high school and a minor in the past year.

Westport, CONNECTICUT

LAWSUIT -
But the town, the school board and officials still do not admit wrongdoing.

September 6, 2007 - The town of Westport, the school board and school officials agreed to a $150,000 settlement with the family of a 12-year-old girl who was fondled in 2002 by recently-sentenced Paul Held.

He was allowed to retire from the Westport Public Schools after being suspended with pay in 2002 when the girl whose family sued and another sixth-grade girl reported he touched them inappropriately. The case went to trial and Held was acquitted.

The family of the 12-year-old filed the lawsuit in 2003. Held was sentenced in August 2007 to 10 years for child pornography and lifetime Federal supervision. He had 3 to 4 MILLION images of child pornography. He also took pictures of his students under their desks.

TT - Link to Held.

Port St. Lucie, FLORIDA

ARRESTED: Sept. 5, 2007 -
Steven Maffucci, 30, an English teacher from Treasure Coast High School, was arrested after he sent three students sexual messages via cell phone and My Space. Two of the girls were 16 years old; a third girl was 15.

One of the girls reported him to the school resource officer. Maffucci was fired today. He worked for the school for two years.

One 16-year-old girl told deputies that she responded to the messages for a while to see "how far he would take it." She blocked his messages after he told her he was touching himself. He also sent her text messages on her cell phone and attempted to call her after she blocked his online messages, according to the police report.

The girl reported him Tuesday to a school resource officer at Treasure Coast High. Maffucci told deputies at first that he did not have inappropriate relationships with students, but later admitted that he asked to see one girl naked and told her he was touching himself. He told deputies that he "may have been masturbating" as he messaged with one of the girls, according to the report.

He was charged with lewd computer solicitation of a child. He is being held on $25,000 bail at the St. Lucie County Jail.

GEORGIA

September 5, 2007 - Timothy Byerly, 60, who used to teach school in Georgia, was arrested for child pornography. He was living and working in Cape Coral, Florida.

Byerly was fired and left teaching in 2001 for viewing child pornography on a work computer. He was Byerly was excommunicated from the church in late July because he continued to access child pornography.
Full Name: Timothy Evart Byerly

If you recognize the name and face, send us an e-mail.

---

ONLINE: The Georgia Professional Standards Commission lists actions on teacher discipline cases. However, no names are given and no explanation is provided.

June 2007 Minutes.
Where they reviewed 60 probably cause cases,
15 Settlement Agreements,
14 Negotiated Settlement Agreements and
5 Voluntary Surrender/Voluntary Denial cases.
There are 54 ongoing investigations.

The May Minutes are not accessible. File format is wrong.
LINK to other Commission Minutes.
Board Members here.

Check out what is NOT moral turpitude. Writing a bad check is moral turpitude, possession of marijuana is not.

Raleigh, NORTH CAROLINA

Let's see. A school administrator or a burglar?
Tough choice.

September 5, 2007 - Destiny Artis, 27, an administrative intern at Durant Road Elementary School while she pursues a master's degree in school administration, was arrested on larceny and breaking and entering charges.

Artis faces charges of possession of burglary tools, injury to real property, larceny after breaking and entering, breaking and entering and attempted breaking and entering.

Artis worked two years at Zebulon Elementary School and River Oaks Elementary School.

Shrub Oak, NEW YORK

Such high hopes and such sordid reality.


And a sweetheart deal - she won't be able to teach for a year.
Talk about a wrist slap and c-o-n-n-e-c-t-i-o-n-s.

ARRESTED: May 11, 2007 -
Stephanie Gross, 24, a Lakeland High School social studies teacher, was arrested after police said she was seen having sexual contact with a 16-year-old boy in her parked car behind a restaurant.

Gross began teaching at several grade levels at Lakeland High School in September and is still on probation. Lakeland school district officials this afternoon began preparations to fire her and said she would not return to the school.

2003 profile: While she was in college at SUNY Oneonta, Gross was elected the student trustee on the State University of New York Board of Trustees in 2003. A double major in political science and secondary education, she had lofty ambitions at that time.

"First woman president? Sure, why not, if Hillary doesn't beat me to it," Gross told The Journal News at the time, referring to U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Gross has been charged with third-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child, misdemeanors. Her next court appearance is May 16.

May 16 - In court, Gross pleaded not guilty. The school board voted unanimously on Monday to fire Gross. Gross started teaching at Lakeland High - her alma mater - in September and was still on probation. She was making $53,020 a year, according to school records.

Her statement to police. pdf Reporters discuss the case. Audio.

July 17 - Gross is due in court tomorrow. A charge of endangering the welfare of a child carries a maximum penalty of one year in county jail; third-degree sex abuse carries a maximum penalty of three months.

CASE ADJOURNED: July 19 - The case against Gross was adjourned until Aug. 16.

CASE ADJOURNED: August 14 - The case has been adjourned again until Aug 22.
(Headline: Fired Lakeland teacher's student tryst case adjourned)

CASE ADJOURNED: August 22 - The case has been adjourned again until Sept 5.
(Headline: Case of teacher who had tryst with student adjourned)

PLEA DEAL: September 5 - Gross pleaded guilty today to disorderly conduct, a violation, and agreed to pay a $300 fine. The deal prohibits her from teaching anywhere for one year. She also has to relinquish her New York state teachers certification and is on probation for a year.

She was also ticketed for driving with a suspended license, a traffic violation.

ANOTHER Idiotic Headline Award Candidate: "Former Teacher Pleads Guilty in Tryst with Teen" and bizarre rationale:

Prosecutor Frederic Green said the reduced charges were based on conversations with the teenager and his parents, and on Gross' lack of a criminal record and several letters of support from community members. The teenager was also six weeks away from his 17th birthday, the age of consent in New York, at the time of the incident.

Santa Cruz, CALIFORNIA

September 5, 2007 - Marshall Doud, 41, lacrosse coach at Harbor High School, was arrested on suspicion of murdering of his wife.

He had been missing since her body was found on Tuesday by one of their three teenage children, 17, 15 and 15 years old.

Lucerne, PENNSYLVANIA

Jan 12, 2007 - Robert Lott, 55, a special education teacher, was apprehended after failing to show up in Delaware County court for arraignment.

Lott was a Luzerne intermediate unit teacher who was arrested July 27 when he showed up in a restaurant parking to meet what he thought was a 12-year-old girl he met on the Internet. The “girl” was actually an agent with the child predator unit with the state Office of Attorney General. He was also accused of using a Web cam to transmit naked images of himself, according to the criminal.

Released after posting $125,000 bail, he failed to show up for his arraignment. He was also accused of using a Web cam to transmit naked images of himself, the criminal complaint says.
Full name: Robert Edward Lott

SENTENCED: September 6 - Lott admitted using the internet to arrange a meeting with someone he thought was a 12-year-old girl. He was sentenced to five years in state prison.

LICENSE REVOKED - Revoked April 23, 2008.

EXCELLENT
COURT DECISION

September 5, 2007 - The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a New Jersey federal judge improperly ignored the federal sentencing guidelines that called for a prison term in the range of 37 to 46 months in sentencing Stefan Goff.

Stefan Goff, an elementary school teacher at the Chapin School, was sentenced to four months for possession of child pornography. Sentencing guidelines called for 37-46 months, with 37 months a minimum.

The Appeals court criticized Goff and the sentencing judge.

Goff has attempted to downplay the nature and seriousness of his crime," [U.S. Circuit Judge Kent A. Jordan] Jordan wrote, "arguing in his brief that he was simply a 'curious, casual user' of the child pornography Web site and implying that his was a victimless crime because viewing the pornography was 'a solitary, private activity of short duration.'"

[Sentencing judge U.S. District Judge Anne E. ] Thompson "appears to have accepted this line of reasoning," Jordan said, noting that the lower court judge had interrupted the prosecutor's argument that possession of child pornography is "a serious matter," by saying: "But it's truly a psychological crime. It is not a taking crime. ... Almost one might say a psychiatric crime." The evidence, Jordan said, exposed the flaw in that logic.

One of the images found on Goff's computer was of "an adult male performing oral sex on a prepubescent female," Jordan noted.

Goff paid for access to hundreds of such images, Jordan noted, and therefore played a key role in the child pornography chain of exploitation.

The decision was unanimous. They ordered that the sentence must be vacated and the case remanded for resentencing

United States v Goff PDF No. 05-5524 (3d Cir. Aug. 30, 2007)

Honolulu, HAWAII

News date Apr 12, 2007 - Christian Cornwell, 34, a teacher at Lahainaluna High School, pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography.

Officials at Lahainaluna said their brand-new social studies teacher, Cornwell, had only been teaching for a couple of months when he left school in September.

Last year, federal agents said they identified Cornwell as a customer of child porn Web site. He later admitted to buying child porn weekly. He stored his collection on CDs labeled CP for child porn videos, officials said.

His plea agreement said that 600 images were on his home computer, many depicting masochistic behavior including "images and videos of infants screaming, crying or saying 'No' to their abusers."

The principal and vice principal of Lahainaluna said that they did not know the seriousness of the charges until Wednesday. They said they may have to follow up with Cornwell's students.

Cornwell was one of ten men arrested in March. No sentencing date given.
Full Name: Christian Blackard Cornwell

SENTENCED: September 5 - Cornwell was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison for possessing more than 10,000 images of child pornography.

Of the 10,000 images, a couple hundred were videos that included infants and toddlers being raped and molested, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Clare Connors.

Audio could be heard of the children "saying no, crying out in protest, clearly, clearly objecting to what was happening to them and clearly, clearly in pain," she said.

Cornwell is to turn himself in to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons on Oct. 27.

Child Pornography and Teachers
TT - List guilty but not yet sentenced for child pornography.
TT - List sentenced for child pornography.

Chicago, ILLINOIS

Dec 22, 2006 - Joseph Nurek, 58, a principal at Chicago International Charter School, pleaded guilty (“blind,” meaning there was no plea agreement with prosecutors) to a single charge that he downloaded child pornography on his home computer using his credit card.

He could still face trial on seven additional child pornography counts and one count of taking a child across state lines to engage in sex.

In a search of his home, police found 4,000 photographs and 1,400 videos of child pornography, prosecutors said. Nurek also had one hard cover and one soft cover periodical containing images of nude children.

Nurek's history with child sex cases dates to 1991, when a Michigan jury acquitted him of showing pornography to a 13-year-old boy.

"Nurek has had a long career in education and was hired by American Quality Schools, which runs Chicago International, in 2000."

SENTENCED: September 5, 2007 - Nurek was sentenced to 20 years.

[Nurek] did not contest allegations that he also was involved in molestations, authorities said. Assistant U.S. Atty. Julie Ruder said the government presented evidence to U.S. District Judge Wayne Andersen that Nurek has a 30-year history of involvement in child pornography.The judge ordered that Nurek pay $500,000 in restitution for counseling for three boys in the case. Nurek also was fined $50,000 and was restricted from further educational employment.

See WBBM - AP story.

Child Pornography and Teachers
TT - List guilty but not yet sentenced for child pornography.
TT - List sentenced for child pornography.

Charlotte, NORTH CAROLINA

Sept 4, 2007 - Jerry Seale, 62, a biology teacher at Derita Alternative School, was arrested, charged with four counts of felony sex offense involving a student.

Seale resigned Friday. He has not been in the classroom this school year. The student is, reportedly, a 16-year-old female student who alleges that she had sex with Seale four times between February 1 and July 22.

Full Name: Jerry Peter Seale

Sept 5 - Seale says plans to file charges against a family member who allegedly interrogated him in the bathroom at his court appearance. Police do not plan to charge the family member, Seale resigned Friday for what he describes as "medical reasons." He claims he is the victim.

Sept 6 - Police had been investigating Seale since July 22, when a 16-year-old Derita student and her mother contacted authorities.

Happy Labor Day

PENNSYLVANIA
Teachers voted for a stike in Athens Area School District.
District currently employs 197 teachers and 110 support staff.
There are 501 school districts in Pennsylvania and eighteen strikes occurred last year.

Teachers in Seneca Valley School District voted to strike.
The average teacher's salary of $54,949 in Seneca Valley is the highest in Butler County.
Teachers want a 7-percent pay hike for each year of the contract, which could only be funded with a tax hike.

Legislation from both sides of the aisle to outlaw teacher strikes is unlikely, given the "the influence and power of the predominant teachers union in the state, the Pennsylvania State Education Association." - The Patriot-News

Teachers went on strike in the Annville-Cleona School District in the spring. They threaten to strike again. The district is offering a 22% pay increase. Teachers said they want 23.2 percent over the same time. The fact finder proposed a 17.4 percent increase over four years.

RHODE ISLAND
Teachers in Tiverton School District in Rhode Island voted to strike.

Larry Purtill, president of the National Education Association of Rhode Island, was present at Friday's meeting. He said that if there is a teachers strike Tuesday, parents have only one party to blame: the School Committee.

"They (School Committee members) were elected for a job and they need to do it," Purtill said. "Their job is to get a contract so kids can go to school on Tuesday."

Burrillville schools are still closed due to the Burrillville teachers strike. (Previously reported here.) Sept 4 - Tiverton teachers are picketing. Burrillville teachers decided to go to work. East Greenwich teachers went on strike.

ILLINOIS
A teachers' strike drags on in Loves Park. Harlem School District teachers are striking, the second time in three years. The average pay for teachers in the Harlem School District is $52,864 a year. They also receive retirement and insurance benefits. They ratified Aug 30, but the teachers, who had been on strike for five days and returned to class Tuesday agreed to teach through Sept. 4 but vowed that they would walk out again if no contract was in place by that time.

Nearly 8,000 students from southern Roscoe, Loves Park and Machesney Park have missed five days of class due to teachers striking.

ZIMBABWE
NEW ZEALAND
TURKEY
WEST BANK
CANADA

WASHINGTON
Moses Lake teachers are getting a 4.3 percent salary increase, as authorized by the state, and a 3.6 percent increase in insurance benefits, but they still want more. The package that the District is estimated to cost an additional $938,000 for the items in the contract.

Teachers at the Bethel School District are striking illegally, but the Attorney General isn't about to do anything abou it. (Previously reported here.)

MEMORABLE Strikes this year
Pennyslvania.
Massachusetts
Holding Education Hostage
California

CALIFORNIA
Madera teachers are picketing Back to School Night events for the next few weeks at each of the two dozen school sites in the Madera Unified School District. About 300 teachers lined up around Madison to talk to parents and students who were there for Back to School Night. The district offered an 8% across-the-board raise but kept its present maximum $11,360 cap on the district's annual contributions toward each teachers' benefits, including medical, dental and vision.

EDITORIAL - WASHINGTON STATE
In an editorial entitled, "In Our View: Greedy Teachers" The Columbian recalls another strike.

it was only four years ago that 700 Marysville teachers staged the longest strike in the state's history and accomplished absolutely nothing. For 51 days those teachers refused to work, egged on by union officials and ignoring many court rulings that teacher strikes are illegal. When confronted with the possibility of a court-ordered fine of $250 per teacher per day, the teachers returned to class.

And a community was stunned at the damage that had been inflicted. Parents and students could only conclude that the teachers were more committed to greed than to imparting instruction.

The newspaper notes that the Bethel School District is offering two-year pay increases of 6.5 and 6.9 percent, including state cost-of-living allowances of 4.3 percent and 3.5 percent. They conclude: "Bethel teachers knew the pay situation when they entered the field. Refusing to work smacks of pure greed."

Sept 4 -
KENYA
HARARE
MEXICO and EPR's return