Jonesboro, GEORGIA

STORY OF THE WEEK - First school district decertified since 1969.

New York Times: (August 28)

A county school system in metropolitan Atlanta on Thursday became the nation’s first in nearly 40 years to lose its accreditation, and the governor removed four of its school board members for ethics violations.

TT - But they only have half the story.

Don't all school school board members go to dinner with the teachers' union leader? And you wonder why this school district is about to lose their accreditation for ethical violations?

August 20, 2008 - The Clayton County School Board members are appearing before a state Administrative Hearing judge to address allegations that they violated state laws when they put the district’s accreditation at risk. If found to have violated any laws, Gov. Sonny Perdue can remove the board members.**

[TT -** In March, Perdue signed a bill that would let voters oust board members if a district loses accreditation. In effect, it meant he wouldn't have to take the heat for taking over the school district to impose accountability and respectability. The law is ludicrous because the same people who voted the present board into power will not look for better candidates. This new tactic of having an administrative hearing is a means of ejecting the board in a last-ditch effort to avoid losing accreditation.]

At the hearing, school board chairwoman Michelle Strong (pictured above) testified that she had dinner with John Trotter, the chairman of Metro Association (teachers' union) , about five times in the past two years. Also attending was Boardmember Norreese Haynes, (who is Executive Director of that same teachers' union, pictured left in his booking photo) and Boardmember Rod Johnson sometimes attended the dinners, Strong testified. She couldn’t remember if any other board members were present. She testified that she couldn’t remember if any board business was discussed.

The board removed Haynes in March after police found he didn’t even live in Clayton County. Johnson resigned last week.

TT - In February, Hayes was arrested for assaulting a man who described himself as Haynes' "live-in boyfriend of five years."

Johnson's bio that used to appear on the District web page along with his picture, makes no mention of his wife being a Georgia state representative.

Reverend W. Rod Johnson was elected to the Board of Education in November 2004. Rev. Johnson has served the Clayton County community in a number of capacities: as pastor of Ambassadors for Christ Church, as a first lieutenant in the Army Reserve at Fort Gillem, and as a congressional aide to Congressman David Scott.

He is an educator in the Atlanta Public School System. Rev. Johnson holds a Bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from the University of Buffalo, a Master's degree in Education from Florida International University, and a certificate in administrative leadership from Georgia State University. Rev. Johnson's wife, Celeste, is a choral instructor in Clayton County Public Schools. He has one daughter, Genesis

His wife, Celeste Johnson, a state representative from District 75, is on the Children and Youth Committee, Interstate Cooperation Committee, and Legislative and District Reapportionment Committee. Her sponsored legislation. (Of particular note is this proposal.)
Her Bio
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TT - The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) will decide by Sept. 1 if Clayton schools remain accredited. It is the second time in five years their accreditation has been threatened. In 20 years, only three school districts have lost their accreditation. ( Biloxi, Miss.; Hartford, Conn., and Duval County, Fla.)

If you want to know what will happen if a union completely controls a school district, this is it.

Rod Johnson's wife is state Rep. Celeste Johnson (D-Jonesboro) who collected a paycheck as a teacher from the district while she was at the Capitol, instead of taking leave. She later paid the district back $1,858.

BODYGUARD Boardmember Johnson hired a bodyguard who used to be a school resource officer. This was after the man was fired by the school and subsequently indicted for - allegations of touching two teenage female students while working at a Clayton school. The bodyguard was Kenneth Jerome Alexander, fired from the district in 2004 - on allegations that he had inappropriate contact with two teen-age girls.

Another former board member, Duncan, who was appointed to the interim post in July, spent more than $2,887 on personal security to escort her to high school football games and other night functions. More than half of that money went to -- Kenneth Jerome Alexander.

Board member Sandra Scott demanded a football coach highlight her son in tapes. When he refused, he was fired.

The SACs report on the district eerily referred to the union control of the district. (pg 20)

"During the course of the investigation, it became increasingly clear that an elusive negative outside external force has not only permeated a significant segment of the Board of Education but has also infiltrated key leadership positions within the school district.

Previous TT coverage. Here Here Here
Jan 2008 Ethics Resolution of the board.
The SACs report contains dozens of ethical violations.
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DISTRICT INFO: The Clayton County Public School System is the 113th largest school district in the United States and the fifth largest in Georgia. Just 12 miles south of Atlanta, Clayton County covers 142 square miles and is home to over 270,000 residents.
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At the board meeting where Haynes was removed from the board (the vote was 5-3) many parents spoke out.

"Five hundred million dollar budget -- and those kids can't take books home," said one parent. "That's criminal."
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HEARING RESULTS - Recommendation to remove board members
August 27 - Administrative Judge Michael Malihi of the Office of State Administrative Hearings said Wednesday that Michelle Strong, Sandra Scott, Lois Baines-Hunter and Yolanda Everett should be removed for violating Georgia’s Open Meetings act and the state ethics code.

The probative evidence shows that the respondents have violated the Georgia Open Meetings Act, have violated the board’s code of ethics for board members, and have engaged in conduct unbecoming of a board member and in breach of the public trust,” Malihi wrote Perdue Wednesday in his ruling.

He said he found repeated Open Meetings violations and egregious behavior by board members, including name-calling and verbal attacks. He was also critical of outside influence from leaders of two rival teachers unions.

Clayton Schools lose their accreditation.
August 28 - From the Atlanta Journal and Constitution:

The stunning loss of accreditation for Clayton County schools left students, parents and residents reeling Thursday at the realization of “worthless” diplomas, dashed college dreams, depressed home values and an exodus of families.

The troubled 50,000-student district will become the first in the nation to lose accreditation since 1969.

The loss of accreditation came hours before Purdue ordered the removal of four school board members. The decision by the national Accreditation Commission was unanimous.

As many as 2,000 students failed to return to the district this school year, and officials expected more would leave for other districts.

GOVERNOR REMOVES BOARD MEMBERS (belatedly)
August 27 - Governor Purdue issued an Executive Order removing four member sof the board. The Executive Order also formally removed Rod Johnson (TT - See above.)and Norreese Haynes who had previously resigned or been removed.

St, Francis, WISCONSIN

Her parents must be soooooo proud.

March 21, 2008 - Kelly Sweet, 26, an 8th grade teacher at Deer Creek Intermediate School, was charged with one count of second-degree sexual assault of a child for allegedly sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy.

Sweet taught at Deer Creek for the last four years. The 14-year-old student told Milwaukee police that he and Sweet had sexual contact earlier this month in her downtown Milwaukee apartment while watching movies on her couch. Sweet is due back in Milwaukee County Circuit Court April 3rd.
Full Name: Kelly Marie Sweet
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WE FOUND: Criminal complaint PDF
Smoking Gun entry for Sweet. (with criminal complaint) and huge picture of her.

Milwaukee County Case Number 2008CF001367 Search here
Status conference scheduled for June 2nd 8:30 am Milwaukee County Courthouse
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SENTENCED (sorta) August 26 - Sweet pleaded guilty today to fourth-degree sexual assault, (a misdemeanor) for having sexual contact with a 14-year-old student. She was sentenced to serve 25 days in jail - not prison - and placed on two years of probation. She also permanently relinquished her Wisconsin teaching license. She was ordered to register as a sex offender for the duration of her probation.

Although the victim’s family members did not want to talk on camera, they were not happy with the lack of jail time in this case.

Sweet now lives in Jefferson County and works as a paralegal in her father's law firm.
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WE FOUND: The Journal Sentinel blog, Proof and Hearsay, (August 27) responded in "Teacher makes out with student." to comments about the sentencing with their own question: "Honestly, would you expect the same legal outcome? " Which, it might be said, is a lot easier than actually researching to see if sentencing results for males and females convicted of the same crimes is unfair and unequal and is an injustice to the victim. The newspaper certainly has the resources to conduct such an investigation by examining sentencing data.

SENTENCING GUIDELINES Wisconsin has sentencing guidelines online from the Wisconsin Sentencing Commission for the top 11 crimes committed in the state. There are penalty enhancers for hate crimes and crimes committed in a school zone, but look at the list of Risk Factors in this Guideline for 2nd Degree Assault of a Child. (A Class "C" felony. Wisconsin Statute 948.02(2) (PDF) See page 2. (Or see NXT Infobase.)

Risk Factors (See their Guideline Notes. pg 5.) are defined as concerns for future risk and the need to incapacitate the defendant to safeguard public safety. Sex of the defendant is not a listed factor. Employment and education are, as is alcohol abuse by the defendant and claims of sexual abuse by the defendant.

Some 60% of those sentenced for 2nd Degree Assault of a Child receive probation. (From the Guideline for 2nd Degree Assault of a Child linked to above.)

If a preponderance of concern in sentencing as seen in the worksheet is for the risk of reoffending, no doubt, women are not considered as high a risk as men. The sex of the defendant may not be in the guidelines, but in the courtroom, it is visually obvious and cannot help to be a factor. Women are simply not viewed as predators to the degree men are. And judging by the comments at the story, some juvenile males are fully convinced this is rightly so. Certainly the newspaper makes no judgement, which is seriously worrying.

Isn't it the duty and obligation of a newspaper to inform and educate their readers?

Sweet pleaded to 4th Degree Sexual Assault can be found here (PDF) (on pg 9.) 940.22.3m

Mentor, OHIO

The boy had just completed ninth grade.
Former Student Teacher of the Year at her college and sex acts in a classroom before school started.
Sentenced to three years in prison.

June 19, 2008 - Maggie Laughlin, 23, a math teacher at Shore Junior High School, was arrested Wednesday and arraigned Thursday on one count of of sexual battery and one count of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

Sex acts with the student, who just completed ninth grade, were conducted in a classroom before school started, said Capt. James Telzrow.

The relationship with the 15-year-old male began in May. Laughlin resigned in June. She had been with the district less than a year.

First article says that the authorities became aware of the relationship when the boy's ex-girlfriend's mother contacted a school official. Second article states that "Administrators say they were informed of the alleged sexual contact between teacher and student by another student on June 12 and immediately notified Mentor Police."

"This crime is a devastating betrayal of the fundamental trust that parents put in their children's teachers ever day," said Dr. Jacqueline Hoynes, superintendent of schools.
. . .
"We are grateful that one of our students had the courage to tell a teacher about this situation," Hoynes said. "It is so important that students take the appropriate action when they have information like this, and we will continue to strive to create an environment in our schools where students can do so."

Article at the Cleveland Plain Dealer states that another student told a coach about the sexual activity. Police and school officials said there were eight to 10 incidents of sexual misconduct between the student and the math teacher but not intercourse.

She is originally from Dayton and had been Student Teacher of the Year at Heidelberg College, where she graduated magna cum laude in 2007, according to the school's Web site.

Laughlin had resigned from Shore on June 9 - before the police investigation began - and planned to move to Michigan, officials said.

June 20 - Teacher faces sex charges (News-Herald)
Laughlin performed oral sex on the boy before classes. It happened eight times between May 28 and June 12, when the alleged relationship came to light.

Officials learned about the suspected relationship through the boy's former girlfriend. When the boy told her he was cheating on her with a teacher, she was too upset to go to sports practice. She told her mother, who told her coach, who informed Shore Junior High School Principal Doug Baker, police said.

Laughlin had been planning to move to Michigan with her fiance, which is why the prosecution asked for a higher bond. The judge set it at $200,000.

Laughlin's preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 26.

GUILTY PLEA August 13 - Laughlin pleaded guilty to Wednesday to eight counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a juvenile.

"I became involved with a student and the relationship became sexual in nature and I performed oral sex on him," Laughlin said to Lake County Common Pleas Court Judge Paul Mitrovich.

She will be sentenced later this month.

SENTENCED August 28 - Laughlin was sentenced to three years in prison, the time requested by the prosecution. The job at Shore teaching math was Laughlin's first teaching assignment out of college.

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer: (August 28) She claimed the ninth grader initiated the relationship when he got access to her cell phone number and began sending her text messages. Assistant Prosecutor Jason Wuliger said Laughlin on her behavior.

"She corrupted the school, lied to other teachers and asked other students who witnessed the behavior to keep her secret," Wuliger said.

Lake County Common Pleas Judge Paul Mitrovich sentenced her. "As a teacher you were placed in a position of trust," Mitrovich said. "You showed uncaring selfishness on your part."

Laughlin will be a registered sex offender for twenty-five years.

School officials and a lawyer talk to first-year teachers about inappropriate behavior in the classroom, including what constitutes sexual battery, before the school year begins, Carrabine said.

"This year we specifically addressed Maggie's incident and hammered it home," he said. "We told teachers never to meet with the student one on one with the door closed, never to meet before school starts and not to meet with a student without an administrator in the building."
Laughlin will relinquish her teaching license and have to register her address every six months for the next 25 years.

November 3 - Three months after being sentenced, she is seeking release.
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TT - Several things require comment. One, her license should be revoked automatically upon such a conviction. That would be a punitive action and speak positively about how the educational bureaucracy views such behavior. It is automatic in Ohio but it also means the teacher has the right of appeal. Still, it sends a bad message.

Secondly, teacher training in a lot of school districts is conducted by a teachers union lawyer or a lawyer for the school district whose focus is on district liability and false accusations and how to avoid them, not on how teachers have a moral obligation to students and to their parents to avoid sexual exploitation of students.

That's hardly the kind of ethical training you want for your child's teacher. And it leads to a widespread belief by teachers and administrators that when a student complains about sexual exploitation, the charges have no merit. It is automatically thought of as false, malicious and slanderous, rather than indecent, immoral and disgusting behavior on the part of the teacher.

For those teachers who do see the colleague's behavior as unethical and illegal, they can't miss the broadest implication. Turning in another teacher isn't in the game plan and shouldn't be in theirs, not if they want to be defended by the same union lawyers if they should be accused. And not if they want to be supported by the administration. Such training should be conducted by a local prosecutor and police detectives.

Hopefully, one of the really, really good newspapers, like the Columbus Dispatch that has done so much to bring accountability, open records and responsible legislation will investigate the so-called teacher training programs in school districts in the state.

Bruceton Mills, WEST VIRGINIA

Sentenced for the murder of his girlfriend and her 4-year-old son.

Apr 17, 2007 - James DeGasperin, 35, a health and physical education teacher at Bruceton School, was arrested, charged with killing his girlfriend, Lori Casteel and Collin Casteel, and her 4-year-old son.

Police found the bodies of the woman and her son several hundred yards from the house. The victims, who were not identified pending notification of next of kin, died of "substantial blunt force trauma to the head."

The Register-Herald: The court complaint said DeGasperin bludgeoned his live-in girlfriend and her son to death with a baseball bat.

According to court documents, a witness, Terry Knotts, told Preston County Lt. Joe Stiles that DeGasperin admitted to killing Casteel and asked “Knotts to help him dispose of the body.” It was Knotts who told police that DeGasperin had used a baseball bat. Police said the woman was living with DeGasperin.
Full Name: James Louis DeGasperin

PRELIMINARY: Apr 25 - At a preliminary, a friend testified that DeGasperin called him to help hide the body. Trooper Joe Portato testified that when he showed up at the house, DeGasperin looked at him and said, "I'm a really good guy, I just snapped."

The case is now headed to the grand jury. An autopsy revealed that Casteel was also six months pregnant. Prosecutors say DeGasperin will not be charged with the third murder until his is indicted.

Update Apr 27 - A grand jury will decide on the charges against DeGasperin. The next one is to be convened in June. In the meantime, an autopsy revealed that Collin, age 4, also was shot in the chest.

GRAND JURY CONVENED August 28: special session of the grand jury convened Tuesday morning to indict a Preston County man.

INDICTED August 30 - James Louis DeGasperin was indicted on three counts of first-degree murder. The third charge is only the second time someone in West Virginia has been charged under West Virginia's Unborn Victims of Violence Act that was passed in 2005.

CONVICTED and SENTENCED August 27 - After being convicted by a jury on three counts of second-degree murder and two counts of concealing Collin and Lori Casteel's bodies, DeGasperin was sentenced to 30 years in prson on each murder count and 1 to 5 years on each count of concealment.

He will serve each of those sentences consecutively and will be given credit for time he has already served.

La Mesa, CALIFORNIA

We've dubbed this Promiscuous High.

May 20, 2008 - Garry Wilcox, 43, geography teacher and soccer coach at Helix High School, was arrested for allegedly having sex with an underage student in a hotel room. The girl was 16 or 17 at the time. The student is now 18 and is still a student at Helix.

Wilcox faces several charges involving sex with a minor. La Mesa police Lt. David Bond said that Wilcox was arrested without incident and admitted the crime to officers. He would not say how the information came to the attention of the authorities other than it was not from the student herself.

Wilcox was booked into county jail on suspicion of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, contact with a minor with intent to commit sexual offense and entering a building with the intent to commit a felony.
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TT - Wilcox is the third Helix High School teacher to be arrested for having sex with students. The other two were convicted and sentenced. The school district is devising training for staff members. Entry Another teacher has been accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a female student when she was 17 but not yet charged.
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ARRAIGNMENT June 3 - Wilcox posted $70,000 bail and was ordered to return to court on Tuesday for an arraignment where he pleaded not guilty to one count each of having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor and attending and arranging an elicit meeting with a minor.

GUILTY PLEA July 24 - Wilcox pleaded guilty to one count of having unlawful sex with a minor. A second charged was dropped in the plea agreement. He will be sentenced Aug. 27.

SENTENCED (sorta) August 27 - He won't be required to register as a sex offender and was was sentenced to one year in jail - not prison - and he will be eligible for a work furlough program if he gets a job. He was also sentenced to probation.

TT - No indication of how long he will be on probation. Wilcox is now the third teacher at the same school convicted for sex with students at the charter school.

WASHINGTON

After pleading no contest in Washington state, charges against him in Alaska for molesting another child were dropped.

Feb 14, 2008 - Alex Mayo, 32, a teacher at Rilke Schule German charter school in Anchorage, was arrested for alleged sexual contact in 1999 with a 9-year-old boy in Snohomish County, Washington.

He moved to Anchorage in 2000 and began teaching there. He was suspended from the Anchorage school after he was indicted in Washington state last month.

After the Anchorage School District began its own internal investigation , they notified police of another possible victim. "As a result of that, one of those individuals talked to his children and found out that his child, he believed, had been molested." In both cases the victims' families were friends of Mayo.

School officials say he has worked at Muldoon Elementary School, North Star Elementary, and the Village Tribal Charter School. Police in Alaska have not filed charges.

Police and school officials asked that anyone who believes Mayo had inappropriate contact with their child call Stanton at 786-2668.

Sgt. Cindi Stanton, head head of the police crimes against children unit, said of the roughly 350 child sex abuse cases investigated by Anchorage police in a year, few of them end up with charges because the cases are often a child's word against an adult's, and often the instances occurred years prior and evidence has been lost.

TT - Which makes providing the police telephone number a little useless, doesn't it?

MSNBC - Mayo was allowed to continue teaching at the German middle school for two months after Anchorage police first contacted the district about the charges in Washington; however, school officials claim they did not know the nature of the charges until Dec. 12.
Trial is scheduled for March 28.

SENTENCED August 28 - Mayo pleaded the equivalent of no contest to a felony count of sexually molesting a child and was sentenced to 51 months in prison. As part of a plea agreement, Mayo's attorney got Alaskan authorities to drop the charges of molesting another boy in Alaska whose family Mayo knew if Mayo pleaded guilty in Washington.

Anchorage police Sgt. Cindi Stanton, supervisor of the crimes against children unit, said the case here concerned several incidents involving one child whose family Mayo knew. She hadn't heard about the deal until Wednesday.

"I wasn't thrilled, and of course, I'm not a district attorney and I don't work on all the dealings," Stanton said. "It's just frustrating because I think the guy should have got more time, but at least he will have this on his record."

TT - The agreement will spare both children from testifying. But there is no mention of sex registration when it is clearly, clearly called for. One article said, "Mayo agreed to stop teaching ." That's an indication that his teaching license was made part of the agreement, an indication that it was a bargaining factor.

Philadelphia, PENNSYLVANIA

Sentenced to 10-20 years for sex with a 14-year-old girl.

Feb 6, 2008 -
Joshua Ulrich, 30, a South Philadelphia High School special education teacher, was arrested Feb 2. He is accused of having sex with a 14-year-old female student. He faces charges of statutory rape.

Authorities began an investigation Jan. 21 after the child's mother reported the sexual relationship to police. Ulrich connected with the girl through MySpace.

GUILTY PLEA May 8 - Ulrich pleaded guilty to charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, interference with the custody of a child and corrupting the morals of a minor.

Ulrich will receive 10-20 years in state prison under a law establishing a mandatory sentence for adults having oral or anal sex with a child under 16, said James Carpenter, Assistant Chief of the Philadelphia District Attorney Family Violence and Sexual Assault Unit.

He will be sentenced Aug 27. (To give the state time to determine the severity of the classification Uhrich will receive under Megan's Law, which governs sex offenders.)

SENTENCED August 27 - Ulrich was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison. Ulrich was immediately taken into custody after the sentencing hearing. He will be required to undergo sexual-offender treatment while in prison.

Santa Ana, CALIFORNIA

August 25, 2008 - Bijon Watson, 40, was sentenced to 90 days in jail - not prison - and five years' probation and will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, for molesting a female student.

Watson, director for the jazz program at the Orange County School of the Arts, a middle and high school combination campus in Santa Ana, was convicted May 22 on three counts of annoyance for molesting a student.

In October 2006, when the victim was 16, Watson kissed and fondled her in his office. He later asked her to orally copulate him in his office and sent text messages to her about engaging in sexual conversations. The girl was 16 years old.

Legal Note: (From the Orange County Register -Aug 25)

He was not charged with felonies because the victim was 16 at the time of the offenses, and because the sexual conduct with a girl who was at least 16 was not considered substantial by law.

Full Name: Bijon Savero Watson

Child Pornography Drama

The BBC has a new drama about the families of men caught sharing images of child sex abuse. A researcher for the program speaks about the effect on real families who were the basis of the drama.

August 24, 2008 - "He felt strongly that he wanted his children to have a childhood, yet it didn't occur to him that he was taking away someone else's." is how one woman put it.

Melodrama aside, the researcher made a very valid point.

This is why the language used to discuss the activity is vital, and it's not political correctness that prompts many professionals to shun the term "child pornography".

The people behind Child Exploitation & Online Protection (CEOP), who receive an average of 400 reports a month from the public, and last year investigated almost a million images of child sex abuse, say that calling these pictures "child porn" only helps the abusers. "Pornography", they argue, is legal in most countries, so the word invites ideas of compliance and legitimacy, rather than forced abuse.

Paul Griffiths headed the victim identification team at CEOP on the recent FBI case, trawling through images in an attempt to identify and rescue children. "These images," he says, "are crime-scene photos where children are being subjected to sexual abuse." Jim Gamble, chief executive of CEOP, puts it just as bluntly: "If I were to take a woman to a hotel room, commit rape and take a picture, no one would call that pornography."

Read the whole thing.

Gainesville, VIRGINIA

Sentenced to 15 years for producing child pornography. Followed by 10 years of supervised release. There is no parole in federal sentences.

March 28, 2008 - John B. Shulick, 53, a teacher at Bull Run Middle School, arrested and charged in U.S. District Court with producing child pornography after authorities said they discovered he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl.

Police said that they discovered videos on Mr. Shulick's computer in which he and the Fairfax girl engaged in sex acts. They also found other images of child pornography on his computer.

Police said Mr. Shulick met the girl on the Internet. She admitted to her parents that she was having sex with Mr. Shulick after the mother's boyfriend saw the girl getting out of a truck driven by an older man.

Police said some of the images depicted minors identified by authorities in other investigations.

Full Name: John Byron Shulick

Anyone with information is asked to contact Fairfax County Police Department's Child Exploitation Unit at 703-246-7827 or the Fairfax County police nonemergency number at 703-691-2131.

No press release at the Fairfax County Police Dept. at this time.

GUILTY PLEA May 28 - Shulick pleaded guilty to federal charges of producing child pornography. According to court documents, Shulick met a 16-year-old Fairfax County girl on the Internet through an adult social networking Web site for people interested in "sexual practices such as bondage, sadistic and masochistic conduct [and] submissive/dominant relationships." He faces a MINIMUM of 15 years in prison when he is sentenced on Aug. 22.

SENTENCED August 23 - Shulick was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for production of child pornography. Followed by 10 years of supervised release. ( There is no parole in federal sentencing.)

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

Whats vague about...?

What the hell is "vague" about a law that requires teachers, like doctors, health care and emergency room personnel, social workers and others to report to police when they suspect child abuse?

August 22, 2008 - Headline: Reporting school child abuse: Vague law may cost principal

Rosamond Elementary School Principal Shelley A. Nordick may have become a pawn in a feud between the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office and the Jordan School District over the district's child abuse reporting policy. Nordick, 46, was recently charged with a class B misdemeanor for allegedly failing to report the actions of Rosamond teacher Frank Laine Hall - who was arrested in March 2007 and later convicted of sexually abusing 11 of his first-grade students. .

But Lt. Rod Norton told The Salt Lake Tribune the Sheriff's Office has no "personal interest" in prosecuting Nordick. He simply wants to know if the district policy, which does not conform with state law, needs fixing.

The state statute flatly requires anyone who suspects child abuse to report it. But while the school district's policy says a school employee who "knows or reasonably suspects" child abuse has occurred must report it to police, it also gives teachers leeway to conduct their own investigations.

"To support the suspicion of abuse and neglect, professional school employees may gather information by interviewing the child," the policy states. Teachers say this caveat allows them to separate actual abuse from numerous false alarms.

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TT - Read the thing, then consider the facts. Two reports were made against the teacher in 2006 and 2007. Elementary School Principal Shelley A. Nordick said in response to the first complaint she observed the class without the teacher's knowledge and interviewed students and concluded she did not need to notify police in 2006.

A year later, two more parents complained and Frank Laine Hall was arrested in March 2007 and later convicted of sexually abusing 11 of his first-grade students. He was sentenced to fifteen years to life. The children were 6 to 7 years old.

Entry for Shelley A. Nordick
Entry for Frank Laine Hall
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NOTE: Even the news article has a box at the bottom that says, "Jordan School District's reporting policy differs from state law; Rosamond Elementary School Principal Shelley A. Nordick is being prosecuted for failing to report child sex abuse by a teacher.

* State law flatly requires anyone who suspects child abuse to report it.

* District policy gives teachers the leeway to conduct their own investigations "to support the suspicion of abuse and neglect . . ."

What is vague about the state law, then? Absolutely nothing. What the problem is is that school district think they are exempt from obeying the law.

This school principal was not a trained investigator, which is why all criminal accusations should be referred to the police. The police know the law, rules of evidence and are impartial.

The real reason schools don't call in police is because schools have a vested interested in avoiding a criminal complaint. For decades what schools across the country did was shift the accused from one school to another or to another school district. The practice was called "Passing the Trash" and the mandatory reporting laws were meant to stop this practice. School districts know they potentially become legally liable when a teacher abuses children. They also face bad publicity and parental anger.

Parents should be angry. And they should insist that their school district has a policy that encourages teachers to follow the law. We're talking about children!

This isn't a "feud." It is an attempt by police to pressure the district to conform to state law. That's the job of the police - to uphold the law. No one should be immune even with the backing of newspapers.

Pittsburgh, PENNSYLVANIA

"1 thick daddy" is under arrest.

August 23, 2008 - Nicholas Salvo, 34, a Mt. Lebanon High School chemistry teacher, was arrested and charged with two counts of unlawful contact with a minor, one count of attempted unlawful contact with a minor and two counts of criminal use of a computer.

The prosecutor's office said that Salvo. sent sexually explicit messages and videos to an undercover agent whom he thought was a 14-year-old girl.
Full Name: Nicholas E. Salvo
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Pennsylvania Attorney General Press Release (dated August 22, 2008)

Corbett said that Salvo, using the screen name "1 thick daddy," allegedly used a teen chat room to contact an undercover agent from the Child Predator Unit who was using the online profile of a 14-year old girl. Within minutes of that initial contact, on July 3rd, Salvo allegedly sent a private message to the girl, asking what her measurements were and telling her, "I like younger girls."

According to the criminal complaint, Salvo told the girl that he was watching online pornography and then sent her a webcam video that showed his exposed penis. During other chats that followed, Salvo made reference to the nude video, asking the girl, "did you enjoy the other night," and telling her, "you got to see a big one, too." Salvo also allegedly sent additional webcam video showing him masturbating in front of his computer.

HEARING WAIVED October 30, 2008 - Salvo waived a hearing Oct. 21 on charges of unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of a computer.

Grove City, PENNSYLVANIA

Time to update those yearbooks.
Suspended in 2003 in Grove City.

August 22, 2008 - Daniel Konnen, 29, a former music and band teacher who was suspended in 2003 for a web site he created as a college student, was arrested August 8 in Elizaville, NY, where he was head camp counselor at Camp Eagle Hill. After his arrest, Konnan resigned from Westminster College.

He is accused of secretly taping a 15-year-old boy after encouraging the camper to masturbate in his room. The camp director asked police to investigate Konnen who was interviewed Aug. 8 and arrested. Charges include promoting the sexual performance of a child, possessing a sexual performance by a child under 16 and endangering the welfare of a child.

Suspended in 2003 from his teaching job in Grove City, he resigned in February 2004.

Konnen was a Grove City music teacher and assistant band director when school officials discovered a Web site he had created as a Grove City College student.

The Web site contained pictures of Konnen and friends at a Hickory High School band camp, a list of favorite songs, a scene from “South Park” and off-color jokes. Grove City School Board suspended Konnen in March 2003 for “immorality, incompetence, intemperance and persistent negligence.”

In New York, a second camp counselor was arrested during the investigation when investigators discovered he had had provided a Playboy magazine to a 13-year-old boy who was also at the camp. Twenty-six year old Jesse Garcia of West Harrison, NY, was arrested for endangering the welfare of a child.

Konnen lives in Hermitage, PA. The camp is about 95 miles north of New York City.
-------------------------
ONLINE RESOURCE: The Standards and Practices Commission at the Pennsylvania Department of Education maintains and online list of Teaching Certificate Actions taken dating back to 2004 against teaching certificates. Also, see their FAQ
--------------------------
TT - No actions found for Konnen.

April 23, 2003 - School board: Teacher's personal web site is grounds for dismissal
The state's teachers union has vowed to defend his right to free expression on the web, arguing that the site has nothing to do with his in-school behavior. The teachers union plans to file a grievance on Konnen's behalf, Park said, adding, "It may come down to a First Amendment issue."

Vernon, ALABAMA

Fraudulent student loans in another teacher's name.

August 23, 2008 - Ginger Collins, 57, a sixth grade teacher at a Vernon intermediate school, was placed on paid leave after her arrest on Monday for six counts of possession of a forged instrument. The charges are in connection with forgery and identity theft involving more than $100,000 in fraudulent student loans.

Collins allegedly used the identity of a fellow teacher to take out the loans.
---------------
The school may be Lamar County High-Intermediate School.
Google map

Scarey

Second Magnolia Junior High School teacher arrested in four months.

Arrested this week in Magnolia, Arkansas, Alison Dean, (left) 30, was arrested, accused of giving drugs to and having sex with a 15-year-old boy. Entry

The affidavit said the teenager said Dean would pick him up near his home and they would go to the Genestet water well on County Road 76, near Waldo. He said that Dean performed oral sex on him five times and that he and Dean had sexual intercourse on three occasions.

Donna Sanders, 46, (right) a special education teacher at the school was arrested April 23, charged with two counts of accomplice to rape, four counts of third-degree sexual assault, and six counts of permitting abuse of a minor.

It is alleged that Sanders rented motel rooms for a 12-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl to have sex with two underage boys and a 22-year-old man they met on line through Facebook. . Police say she rented motel rooms in El Dorado for the girls, left them overnight, and returned the next day and picked them up. She also provided alcoholic beverages to the juveniles. The incidents happened over seven months. Entry

Murrieta, CALIFORNIA

Guilty plea to 10 felonies of oral copulation of a minor.
Plea agreement calls for 120 jails in local jail.

May 2, 2008 - Crissy Hisey, 28, a 10th grade English teacher at Vista Murrieta High, was arrested and booked into the Southwest Detention Center on suspicion of oral copulation by force and sending harmful matter to seduce a minor.

She is accused of having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl she first met in her classroom. Police were given a cell phone that contained photos and messages that led them to suspect that inappropriate and unlawful behavior was taking place between Hisey and her former student.

The school district says there was never any reason to suspect a relationship. But the mother of a senior at Vista High said when school officials announced the arrest, students were not surprised because the teacher and the girl, who was described as “withdrawn,” had been spending a lot of time together.

Hisey resigned from her teaching position.
Full Name: Crissy Torcella Hisey
------------------------
UPDATE (June 24, 2008) - A Felony Settlement Conference is scheduled for 08/01/2008
Case SWF025505 Defendant 1685238 NOORIS, CRISSY T
Arrest charge was 1 count of Oral Cop/Under 18 years.
Filled charges are 10 counts of Oral Cop/Under 18 years and 1 count of Distribution/Exhibition of lewd Material to Minor
--------------------------
GUILTY PLEA August 22 - Hisey pleaded guilty Friday to 10 felonies stemming from a sexual relationship she had with an underage girl. She pleaded to 10 counts of oral copulation with a minor and prosecutors dismissed one count of sending harmful material to a child. (That charge came from the pictures and videos found on the cell phones of both Hisey and the girl.)

According to court records, under the plea agreement, she faces up to 120 days in county jail - not prison - and her case will be reviewed by a probation officer before she is sentenced.

Grandville, MICHIGAN

When a middle school teacher was arrested and sentenced for masturbating in a gym at Grand Valley State University, parents were somewhat concerned. However, a newspaper blogger at Michigan Live came to the teacher's defense.

August 22, 2008 - (Mind you, the writer is not being facetious.) He wrote,

Dennis James Graveldinger, 48, of Alto, a popular Grandville Middle School science teacher, was in the GVSU locker room after a workout and decided to take a shower. During that shower, Graveldinger found himself in a state of arousal. He returned to his locker and did what any normal person would do.

He began masturbating.

And,

Now, while Graveldinger may not have done anything technically wrong other than not wait for the person standing next to him to leave before auto-eroticizing, other people see the situation a bit differently.

Parents of the children who go to the school Graveldinger teaches at have become concerned that somehow this act impairs his teaching ability or that he might be a pedophile, even though there were no objects to his arousal and that no minors should be in the GVSU locker room.

He worries that the career of an otherwise good teacher could be at risk for one incident that has become blown out of proportion. And asks,

What do you think? Should he be fired, discipled or given a second chance?
Have you cast the same stone yourself?
----------------------------
TT - Apparently you can't cast a stone in the writer's view because he thinks the teacher did "what any normal person" does, which is masturbate in a public place. The public place was the Grand Valley State University gym where a university student was present. In fact, next to him.

The writer asks, "Everything should be alright, right?" (Presumably an editor did not review the article because "all right" is always two words unless it's bad dialogue. Just as "all wrong" is two words. That's a mnemonic. Autoerotic is not hyphenated, by the way.) The newspaper blogger was referring to the reaction of parents to the arrest who objected to Graveldinger's continued presence in the classroom. In a middle school. With impressionable seventh graders.

Undoubtedly, the offense doesn't fall under those that mean automatic dismissal. And, thankfully, the teacher did not perform "autoeroticism" in the middle school, but amazingly, other districts and other writers might find such behavior unacceptable. Other districts might think that this teacher fails as a role model. And more earthy types might wonder why a teacher became so unaccountably aroused in the shower of a male locker room that it required instant, ah, intervention, so to speak.

We're not willing to take a poll on the subject, but we're probably safe in saying that most guys would probably prefer to "autoeroticize" in the shower rather than expose themselves (literally) and demonstrate publicly their lack of self-control to a perfect stranger. Frankly, we think parents who think the behavior sounds like a serious impulse control problem and that the inability to delay gratification should, at a minimum, call for psychological testing, aren't off the wall.

Luckily, Central Michigan University has a self-test online, Delaying Gratification Inventory in a Happiness Survey. Taking the 10-15 minute survey allows you to enter into a drawing for $100. You must be at least 18 years to participate in the survey.

Disturbingly, seventh graders have posted to the entry, one even providing her name.

As said befor mybe the student was to observent. I beleive this situation was stretched as far as it can go. He is a very popular teacher. And isnt the locker room ment for changing?

We deleted the comment because of the self-identification. But, the very fact that seventh graders are discussing the merits of the case, rests ours.

Cumberland, MARYLAND

Middle school teacher arrested for murder. How do you explain that to middle schoolers?

August 21, 2008 - Cory Yantz, 38, has been charged with first degree murder after his wife was found dead in the kitchen of their Fayette Street apartment. Yantz is a teacher at Washington Middle School.

Yantz is alleged to have stabbed Tonya Jean Yantz, 34, according to C3I. Cumberland Police responded to the home at 3:12 p.m. for a report of a woman who had been stabbed and found Tonya Yantz dead in the kitchen.
Full Name: Cory Francis Yantz
------------------
C3I = Combined County Criminal Investigation Unit, a cooperative unit between several Allegany County law enforcement agencies. Second story of the day involving C3I. Mountain Leathers, 24, a teacher at Mountain Ridge High School was arrested in Frostburg. TT entry.

Cumberland and Frostburg are a little over 11 miles apart.

Santa Cruz, CALIFORNIA

August 21, 2008 - Forest Miles, 24, a teacher at Empire Academy, was arrested and charged with unlawful intercourse with a minor, lewd or lascivious acts with a minor, sexual penetration with a foreign object and annoying or molesting a child. He is accused of having sexual relations with at least two girls.

The investigation began in late July when the father of the 17-year-old girl reported his daughter was having a sexual relationship with a former teacher.

Investigators contacted school administrators where they found that Mr. Miles had possibly been involved in inappropriate behavior with another 16-year-old student while teaching at the school. The other girl was 14 when that relationship began.
Full Name: Forest Cascade Miles

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the Santa Cruz Police Department Investigations Section at 831-420-5820.
---------------
Empire Academy is a private school in Santa Cruz that serves grades 6-12. No online story says why he was a "former" teacher or how administrators knew of the inappropriate behavior. Or if the two are connected.
---------------
NOT GUILTY PLEA August 23 - Miles pleaded not guilty to the charges. From the article: He was let go at the end of the last school year, according to Principal Sinda Merritt. Merritt said Miles was not terminated in connection with the alleged sex crimes and said school officials were unaware of the allegations until contacted by police this summer.

Lewiston, MAINE

An earlier complaint against him was handled in-house by the school district.
Jury verdict: guilty on all five charges.

Nov 1, 2007 - James G. Raymond Jr., 26, a music teacher at Park Avenue Elementary School, was arrested and charged with unlawful sexual touching, a class D misdemeanor.

The student told police that during a music class in early October, Raymond had moved her from her spot in a semicircle to sit next to him. She said he slid his hand up her skirt and touched her buttocks through the outside of her underwear. She told [Detective Chad] Syphers that Raymond's contact wasn't an accident.

The girl told her mother after school what happened. The mother told the girl she would report it to the school, but later had second thoughts, fearing it could ruin Raymond's teaching career. She decided to wait to see whether there was a repetition of the behavior.

In the meantime, however, the girl told school staff about the incident, and it was reported by them to police. The girl has stuck by her story.

In an interview with police, Syphers said the teacher at first claimed any touching was accidental or innocent in nature. But he later confided that he had an attraction to female students from kindergarten age to third grade.
Full Name: James G. Raymond, Jr.

AN EARLIER COMPLAINT aginst Raymond was handled in-house by the school. Raymond also confided that a federal agency is also investigating him for his online activity involving child pornography and that he had bought memberships at child pornography Web sites. His personal computer had been turned over to federal agents as part of that investigation, which is ongoing, he told Syphers.

TT - Don't miss the comments at the story. Some very, very thoughtful people. The sister of the mother commented as well. The mother was not concerned with the teacher's career but the possibility that it might have been an accident.

A prior story had commenters who praised the teacher and one doubted the girl and suggested she might have acted because of failing grades. The story is available, but not the comments.

Some of the comments from today's story can be found at at "Some things need to change" - at TT-News.

Nov 2 - School district insists an earlier complaint was handled appropriately.

ARRAIGNMENT WAIVED Nov 21 - Raymond was scheduled to be arraigned. It was waived when he pleaded not guilty.

NOT GUILTY PLEA Jan 18, 2008 - Raymond pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from accusations that he touched a student inappropriately.

BAIL CONDITION HEARING March 28 - Raymond wanted bail conditions changed so that he could be in contact with children under age 18. His lawyer explained that the request was made pending Raymond's trial so that he would be able to socialize and "isn't just sitting alone, isolated."

Assistant District Attorney Deborah Cashman objected to the motion.

She said Raymond was a popular teacher whose alleged actions might not be known to all of the parents who had children at the schools where he taught. He has acknowledged that a "little voice" tells him to put his hand up the skirts of young girls, 7 and 8 years old, Cashman said.

In some instances, other teachers were present when Raymond allegedly touched students improperly, she said. Adults need to be trained about how to supervise his contact with children, she said.

She asked that any contact with family members under 18 be supervised.

The judge agreed. See TT - entry Red flags at full mast.

ARRESTED (AGAIN) April 29 - James was arrested on charges of violating his conditions of release. On Sunday, an off-duty investigator spotted Raymond at Wal-Mart, in Auburn. Police said the investigator witnessed Raymond having contact with a person younger than the age of 16, a violation of his bail conditions.

Auburn police obtained security video from Wal-Mart which they said captured the incident.
Police obtained an arrest warrant and took Raymond into custody Tuesday afternoon at his house.

TRIAL August 11 - A jury has been chosen for James' trial. Raymond's lawyer says the trial is slated to begin Monday in Androscoggin County Superior Court.

GUILTY VERDICT - August 21 - A jury found James guilty on all five counts against him. James testified in his own defense, saying that he lied to investigators when he said he was attracted to young girls.

Magnolia, ARKANSAS

August 21, 2008 - Allison Dean, 30, a Magnolia School District teacher who resigned last Wednesday, was arrested, accused of giving drugs to a male student and having sex with him, over eight months. The boy is 15.

Dean faces eight counts of sexual assault, with each count punishable from six to thirty years in prison.
Columbia County
------------
Poll at the news story asks, What do you think is the most pressing issue facing schools? Your choices: Teacher shortage, Test scores, Drop-out rates.
Headline is: Teacher Turns Herself in for Affair with Student
------------------------
August 23 - (From Arkansas Democrat Gazette) Dean resigned her teaching position with the Magnolia School District on Aug. 15.

The probable-cause affidavit filed by the sheriff’s office Thursday afternoon said that on Aug. 12, the boy’s mother became suspicious of her son’s cell-phone use and confiscated the phone. While she had the phone, the mother saw a text message and answered a call. When the mother asked for the caller’s identity, the caller hung up. The mother also found several text messages related to drug use when she reviewed messages on the phone.

Dean is the second Magnolia Junior High School teacher arrested on sex-related charges in less than four months. Donna Lou Sanders, 46, was arrested April 23. Entry

Frostburg, MARYLAND

August 21, 2008 -
Autumn Leathers, 24, a Mountain Ridge High School English teacher, was arrested late Wednesday, accused of having sexual relations with one of her students.

She was charged with sex abuse of a minor, second-degree custodial child abuse, fourth-degree sex offense, perverted practice and second-degree assault.

Officers say they were contacted by a resident, who noticed the student at Leathers’ home several times in the late evening. When questioned, the victim told police that he had engaged in sexual intercourse beginning in May when he was age 15.

A C3I (Combined County Criminal Investigation Unit, a cooperative unit between several Allegany County law enforcement agencies. ) spokesman said investigators believe there may be additional victims as the investigation is continuing.

Leathers has been placed on administrative leave without pay, pending recommendation from the superintendent of schools to the board.
-----------------------
Frostburg is located about 150 miles northwest of Baltimore.
-----------------------
INDICTED September 20 - Leathers was indicted this week by a grand jury. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 7.

Chapel Hill, NORTH CAROLINA

UPDATE: Sentenced to at least 50 years in prison.

July 28, 2008 - Eric Grange, 45, is on trial, accused of sexually abusing five girls ages 5 to 8. The trial is expected to last four to six weeks.

Grange is charged with with five counts of statutory first-degree sex offense and four counts of indecent liberties with a child. Police said the girls were abused at the Montessori Community School in Chapel Hill in 2005 and 2006.

Grange is a French citizen. He was arrested Sept. 6, 2006 by U.S. immigration agents at Dulles International Airport, three months after warrants had been issued in the case.

Prior to working in Chapel Hill, Grange worked at the Montessori School of Raleigh and the Heartwood Montessori School in Cary. In the late 1990s, he also worked as a researcher at North Carolina State University.

GUILTY VERDICT August 20 - A jury Wednesday found Grange guilty of two counts of statutory first-degree sex offense and eight counts of indecent liberties with a child.

The case was handled in Durham County Superior Court because Montessori Community School is located in the part of Chapel Hill that lies in Durham County.

SENTENCED August 21 - Grange was sentenced to at least 50 years in prison. The children, 5 to 8 when the incidents occurred, testified in a courtroom closed to the public.

South Riding, VIRGINIA

You can't get facts from the Washington Post. You get - scenarios.

August 21, 2008 - Ting-Yi Oei, 59, assistant principal at Freedom High School, was arrested on child pornography possession charges.

Making controversy out of nothing, his lawyer claimed they were not informed after the grand jury handed down the indictment against Oei on Aug. 11. "The timing raises questions. Why the public spectacle?" However, prosecutor Nicole Wittman said that Oei's attorneys had been informed of the indictment and told to be in court Aug. 12 but that they didn't show up.

"We just feel very strongly that this is not someone who should be in the Loudoun County school system," Wittman said.

What prompted his arrest was a March 14 incident, officials said where Oei allegedly had come to possess an "inappropriate" cellphone photo of a female student taken by another student, said Kraig Troxell, a sheriff's office spokesman.

Law enforcement officials were notified of the photo by a third party three weeks later, Troxell said. Oei allegedly did not inform the child's parents, law enforcement or child protective services of the photo, Troxell said, so officials charged him with failure to report suspicion of child abuse or neglect, a violation of state law. Oei was placed on administrative leave with pay.

That charge was dropped to be replaced with felony possession of child pornography.

"There's more to the story," Wittman said without elaborating. "If this was a matter of a photo that he possessed and maintained solely for the purpose of executing his job as vice principal, we would not be interested in prosecuting him. That is not the case."
------------------
TT - It's a time-honored method of journalists to pressure police to give them more information than is healthy for the case by threatening to "run with what we know." Whether that's true in this case or not, surely even the National Enquirer would drop a dime to the prosecutor's office and ask to look at, or be faxed, copies of notification papers that were sent to the attorneys.

Dropout Rates (again)

Sounds good.

August 20, 2008 - Headline: Streicher: Drop-outs = more crime

Opening paragraph: More than 140 murders and 4,000 violent assaults in Ohio and Kentucky could be prevented if high school graduation rates were boosted by just 10 percent, a new report says.

Cincinnati Police Chief Thomas Streicher joined law enforcement officials from across the country in Washington on Wednesday to unveil the report, which shows high school dropouts are three and a half times more likely than graduates to be arrested and eight times more likely to be imprisoned.

Streicher is part of a national group called Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, which is calling on Congress and state lawmakers to expand and pay for pre-kindergarten programs such as Head Start.

Claim: “Research shows that children who receive quality early childhood education have a much better chance of finishing high school,” Streicher said. “By earning a diploma, they’re more likely to find good jobs and contribute to our economy, instead of our prison population.”

Claim: Nationally, more than 3,400 murders could be prevented and 172,000 crimes averted if graduation rates were increased by 10 percent, the report said.
-------------------
UP CLOSE: The group is Fight Crime: Invest in Kids
The news article does not link to the report produced by Fight Crime:Invest in Kids.
You can find it here. PDF (12 pgs.)

WE FOUND: There's only one problem. No one actually knows what the dropout rate is.

Different definitions of dropouts, different time periods during the school year when dropout data are collected, different data collection methods, different ways of tracking youth no longer in school, and different methods used by school districts and states to calculate the dropout rate, result in unreliable aggregated national dropout figures.

Nevertheless, every advocate knows there needs to be an solution to "Dropout Rates."

REALITY CHECK: No state actually tracks students from the time they enter school until they leave. Some states are planning, or have implemented in the last year, tracking systems. But currently, each state has their own formula for estimating the dropout rate.

No state tracks students after they leave the public school, so they have no information that the student did not reenter the education system at any time in another state. Or even the same state, if the student gets a GED or if the student is incarcerated and gets an equivalent diploma there, or - a larger problem - if the undocumented alien student migrates to another school under a different name.

This is why we call the Dropout Crisis an expensive non-solution to solve an unquantifiable problem, The Ideal Program for bureaucrats to administer.

From ChildTrends Databank: "incarceration rates among black male high school dropouts, which more than doubled between 1980 and 1999, thus removing them from the civilian non-institutionalized population." and "Among youth ages 16 to 24, Hispanics accounted for 41 percent of all current high school dropouts in 2005. However, they only made up 17 percent of the total youth population."

Foreign-born students had a dropout rate of 24 percent in 2005, compared with 16 percent for children born in the U.S. to foreign-born parents, both of which are higher than the national average.

ALARMING (Maybe) Look at this table. This particular study defines a dropout as "the status dropout rate which measures the percentage of young adults aged 16 to 24 who were not enrolled in a high school program and had not received a high school diploma or obtained an equivalency certificate."

So, why would you consider someone 21-24 a "dropout?" Why not call them a "non-graduate?" And how many of those young adults, many of whom aren't young, actually emigrated to this country as young adults with no diploma?

This is why quantifying the problem is so fraught with difficulties. It depends upon the agenda of the source reporting the figures.

NON-ALARMING This statistical analysis for individual states defines "dropout" as "Teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 who are not enrolled in high school and are not high school graduates," which is what most of us think of when we think of dropouts. The dropout percentages are not all that alarming. Seen as numbers, they are even less so.

The Fight Crime: Invest in Kids report depends heavily on statistical analysis by two researchers who produced a 2004 study. In an abstract of the study done by Lance Lochner (University of Western Canada) and Enrico Moretti (Univ. Of California, Berkeley), entitled, "The Effect of Education on Crime: Evidence from Prison Inmates, Arrests, and Self-Reports," American Economic Review, 2004" there was this:

Overall, the estimates suggest that completing high school reduces the probability of incarceration by about .76 percentage points for whites and 3.4 percentage points for blacks.

So whether you become alarmed or not is pretty much your choice. But bear in mind, all the solutions want taxpayer money to fund their efforts. Money - trillions of dollars - have not made public education more accountable or responsible.

Or effective.

The hope of many advocates is that they can implement newer, costlier programs, including Head Start for every child, irrespective of the fact that there is no discernible benefit to the child beyond the first three years. That way, there will be new programs in place before you find out how poorly the present education system is performing.

Many of these people are well-meaning. But, so too, were those who built a welfare system that destroyed the black family unit. So were those who spent trillions on poverty programs but reduced no poverty. And those no-fault divorces? Ask a mother of three abandoned by her husband what she thinks.

Bethlehem, PENNSYLVANIA

What nepotism???

August 20, 2008 - The Bethlehem Area School Board approved a new nepotism form that requires a job applicant to declare a relationship with an elected official or existing employee before their employment.

And then they voted -- to hire the school board president's daughter and a relative of another school director. The board president and school director abstained from the vote.
------------------------
TT - We wondered at the $60,670 legal bill for the district's internal investigation into the work habits of drug-dealing ex-principal John Acerra. The investigation "which also led to new district policies aimed at encouraging employees to report unusual behavior by superiors." made us curious enough to ask, "Why would you need a new policy aimed at encouraging employees to report "unusual behavior" unless they didn't report it in the past?" Entry

Powder Springs, GEORGIA

August 20, 2008 - Holly Barnes, 24, a teacher at Grace Baptist Church and Christian School, was arrested for having sex with a 14-year-old boy. She was charged with two counts of statutory rape and two counts of child molestation.
Full Name: Holly Michelle Barnes

Arresting agency and photo: Paulding County Sheriff's Office

Sgt. Brent Miller says police are asking parents or children with information about the case to call the sheriff’s office at 770-445-6105.

Union Infighting.

August 20, 2008 - The Chicago Teachers Union's executive board voted to expel vice president Ted Dallas following allegations of financial improprieties. The vote was 34-2 to convict him of "financial impropriety." The vote to expel was 31 -5.

Dallas, who is on a leave of absence from teaching at Wells High School, has been at odds with President Marilyn Stewart over how union money has been spent since she took office in 2004. In court papers filed a few months ago, Dallas countercharged that Stewart mismanaged the union's finances and spent about a half-million dollars on food over a 12-month period.

The union said he improperly used union money to pay himself for sick days and meals.
----------------------
TT - Chicago Public Radio provided amazing 20 sec. insight. "Teachers Union Trial a Sign of Infighting"
The feud started last year. That's when word got out the union had spent millions of dollars in surplus funds and had gone into debt. Dallas says the trial against him is retaliation for accusing the administration of mismanaging that money.

Moon Township, PENNSYLVANIA

She sent pictures of her genitals to a 14-year-old boy.

Jan 5, 2008 - Beth Chester, 26, a 9th grade Moon High School gym teacher and volleyball coach, was arrested. She was accused of sending nude photos of herself and suggestive text messages to a 14-year-old male student.

The charges are three counts of child sexual abuse, two counts of unlawful contact with a minor and one count each of endangering the welfare of a child and criminal solicitation. Police said they plan to file an additional charge of statutory sexual assault against Chester.

The boy's parents found the messages and met Chester Dec 26. She resigned the next day. Police found three photos Chester allegedly sent of herself -- two of them of her genitals -- to the student, as well as a nude photo the boy allegedly sent of himself to Chester.

School district officials contacted police Jan. 3 after other staffers suggested Chester might have had inappropriate contact with a student, police said.

The school district will notify state Department of Education this week, which is required by state law.
Full Name: Beth Ann Chester

---

ONLINE RESOURCE
If you are a concerned parent or taxpayer in Pennsylvania, PA School Watch.org is an excellent web site. paschoolwatch.org Along with news archives, they watch current and proposed legislation. They also maintain a blog of current affairs and concerns.

---

Jan 7, 2007 - Chester could face additional charges.

The boy, who is not being identified because of the nature of the charges, has told police he fell in love with Chester during a three-month relationship, which involved sexual text messages, but he has denied they had any physical contact other than a hug on the last day of school before winter break.

Chester, however, said she had intercourse with the boy, McCarthy said.“She admitted to us quite graphically what happened,” McCarthy said. “Perhaps he wanted to protect her. We’re dealing with a 14-year-old. This is typical of someone who’s a victim. He’s in love with this person and she’s in jail now and losing her job.”

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for today.

Jan 11 - Cited in a CNN story on cellphones and e-mail used to seduce children. Preliminary now scheduled for Jan 22.

FIRED Jan 14 - Chester was fired from her teaching position as well as from extra-duty paid positions such as co-breakfast monitor, co-sophomore class sponsor and assistant volleyball coach. She had taught two years. Although she had submitted her resignation Dec 27, the school board — which had not met since her Jan. 4 arrest until last night — had not acted to accept it, keeping her on the district’s payroll until Monday.

Chester would write the boy late excuses and hall passes to allow them to spend extra time together. Since her arrest, the district has held assemblies for students and faculty to discuss student-teacher relationships.

WAIVED PRELIMINARY Jan 22 - Chester waived her right to a preliminary hearing. Barring a plea agrement, she will be going to trial. No date scheduled.

NEW CHARGES Jan 23 - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Prosecutors added several charges, (actually they added five, including one count each of statutory sexual assault, indecent deviate sexual intercourse and indecent assault and two counts of aggravated indecent assault) and withdrew three child sex abuse counts from the complaint.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: She faces six other charges, including two counts of unlawful contact with a minor, endangering the welfare of children, corruption of minors, criminal solicitation and criminal use of a communication system.

(From the Tribune-Review:)Her attorney said she distraught and in counseling. She hid her face in a hood when she arrived and waited in a back room while her attorney met with the judge. She will be formally arraigned March 13.

LICENSE SURRENDERED April 3 - Chester surrendered her teaching license in lieu of discipline.

GUILTY PLEA & SENTENCING August 20 - Chester pleaded guilty to statutory sexual assault, corruption of minors and criminal use of a communication facility. She was sentenced to 1 1/2 to 3 years in jail - not prison - followed by five years of probation.

The boy's family would have agreed to a sentence that did not include jail time, had Chester not continued to contact the boy after she was arrested.

The judge also ordered she have no cell phone access and mental health counseling. He prohibited her from further contacting the student, which she had done several times after being released on bond, prompting a judge to place her on house arrest in April.

Her attorney said his client is separated and in divorce proceedings, mistakenly "looked at this group of students as her peer group."

Culpeper, VIRGINIA

GRAND JURY DISMISSED CHARGE

June 3, 2008 - Michele Auville, 35, a a first-grade teacher at Emerald Hill Elementary School, was arrested and charged with alleged possession of a schedule 1 or 2 drug May 31 after they pulled over a car she was riding in.

She was a passenger in a car that tried to elude police, according to the Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies discovered that Auville had a smoking device with crack residue. The driver of the car fled on foot but was captured.
Full Name: Michele Lynne Auville

June 4 - Auville resigned on Monday.

June 11 - Auville’s case will return to General District Court July 17 at 9:30 a.m.

GRAND JURY DISMISSES CHARGE August 20 - A grand jury on Monday dismissed a felony drug charge against Auville.

The circumstances behind the grand jury’s decision will not be disclosed, as all testimony in such proceedings is secret. Court records, however, indicate that prosecutors were unable to definitively link the pipe to Auville.

According to a Certificate of Analysis from the Department of Forensic Science, Auville’s fingerprints were not found on the pipe, which police say was in her vicinity when she got out of the car. And based on a blood test, a separate report indicates that Auville did not have any illegal drugs in her system, A third report however, confirmed that the residue present in the pipe was cocaine.

During the July hearing, the judge rejected a motion from Auville’s defense attorney to strike the case. Smith had argued that because several people were in the vicinity of where the pipe was found, proving possession would be difficult.

GRAND JURY DISMISSED CHARGE

Oskaloosa, IOWA

August 19, 2008 - Jeremy Chamberlin, 31, an Oskaloosa Middle School teacher, accused of fondling a 16-year-old girl in 2006, pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse.

Chamberlin was charged on August 6. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 27
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LEGAL INFO: (from story) Assault with intent to commit sexual abuse is a class C felony when a serious injury occurs, a class D felony when a non-serious injury occurs and an aggravated misdemeanor when no injury occurs.
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Shafter, CALIFORNIA

Convicted of manufacturing a controlled substance in his school lab

Dec 4, 2007 - Jeff Scheidemantel, 32, a chemistry teacher at Shafter High School, was arrested allegedly trying to make methamphetamine in his school lab.

His arrest came after a month long investigation by a joint task force made up of local and federal agencies.

Authorities found meth recipes and several guns during a raid at his home. And in the chemistry lab, officials say they found several ingredients that show Scheidemantel was already in the process of making the drug.

Scheidemantel has worked for the Kern High School District twice. He was recently hired in 2006 at Shafter High. Before that, he worked for the district in 2003 to 2004.
Full Name: Jeff Ryan Scheidemantel

Scheidemantel is on paid administrative leave.

Bakersfield Californian: Teacher caught in meth plot
KERO ch 23: Police Say: Teacher Arrested For Making Meth In Classroom
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LOCATION : Shafter is 17 miles NW of Bakersfield, California. With a population of 14,887. According to the Bakersfield Police Department, the San Joaquin Valley has become a center for methamphetamine manufacture. "Meth labs" can be large clandestine laboratories in rural areas or small kitchen sink labs in apartment buildings.
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A news release is not yet online from the Bakersfield Police.

NOT GUILTY PLEA Feb 9, 2008 - Scheidemantel was in court on Friday. He pleaded not guilty.

PRELIMINARY March 13 - A Kern County Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday there wasn't enough evidence to sustain a charge of making meth, but ordered the teacher to stand trial for one count of possession with intent to manufacture the drug.

MOTIONS May 21 Scheidemantel's attorney wants the search warrant and much of the evidence thrown out. A judge will rule on the motion in writing.

TRIAL August 12 - Scheidemantel went on trial Tuesday. The website from which Scheidemantel is accused of purchasing controlled chemicals was created and operated by law enforcement officers.

According to police, Scheidemantel acknowledged that he extracted a chemical used to make meth from decongestant tablets, but said he planned to use it in his Shafter High chemistry class. The trial is expected to last through the end of next week.

A previous story reported that he was apparently writing a story in which the lead character, a teacher at a Catholic high school, shoots and kills students in class during a dream sequence, according to Sheriff’s Department reports filed in Kern County Superior Court.

Three handguns and a shotgun were seized from Scheidemantel’s residence at the time of his arrest.

GUILTY VERDICT August 19 - A jury convicted Scheidemantel of manufacturing a controlled substance, a felony. A second count of possession material with intent to manufacture methamphetamine was dismissed. Sentencing is set for Sept. 25
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TT - The juries in the Bakersfield area are tougher and smarter than the media gives them credit for. In two major trials, the local paper became a virtual cheerleading section for the defense, trying desperately to obfuscate the facts. In Scheidemantel's case it was the mantra, "no metham-phetamine was found."

Dominic Dunne might wryly observe: A science teacher, a science lab, illegal chemicals, an area where methamphetamine is more common than chili con carne and a defense that the phosphorus was for a class project making matches. Come on, how dumb do you have to be to be unable to connect the dots???

But the local newspaper seemed unable to make the leap just as they had not been able to in the murder trial of Vincent Brothers, the 45-year-old vice principal who shot to death his wife, his three children (ages 2, 4 and 6 weeks), and his mother-in-law. Jurors convicted him despite a Los Angeles-like trial with 150 motions and dozens of preposterous story lines.
TT entry for Brothers.

That case barely made it to the news wires, either.

SENTENCING DELAYED September 26 - Sentencing was delayed while the judge considers a motion for a new trial.

NEW TRIAL DENIED Oct 10 - Judge William Palmer rejected a request for a new trial for a Shafter chemistry teacher convicted of manufacturing methamphetamine. He will be sentenced October 16.

Corruption Watch

The trial to watch.

August 19, 2008 - The trial of Alabama state Rep. Sue Schmitz will never be a HBO movie, but it will make huge waves in Alabama where criminal corruption in education and the two-year college system has shaken the roots of the corrupt political establishment.

Schmitz is among 43 legislators who had financial ties to two-year colleges from 2002-2006. The legislators, their close relatives or businesses received work from the system during the period, in most cases after the lawmakers were elected. A newspaper investigation found 13 legislators who were presently employed in Alabama community college system.

Schmitz is accused of taking $175,000 from the community college system for a federally-funded job she never performed. Even her firing from the position by the new Chancellor was a show of hubris. She claimed fair dismissal rights as if she was a teacher. Chancellor Bradley Burnes responded to her arrest and the year and a half legal duel with the teachers' union.

A federal investigation of the two-year system has resulted in agreements to plead guilty by a former state representative and a former two-year college chancellor. Two current legislators, one of them Schmitz, have been charged.

THE FIRST DAY was the testimony by former two-year college Chancellor Roy Johnson, 62, who testified that in 2002, Alabama Education Association Executive Secretary Paul Hubbert and Speaker of the House Seth Hammett asked him to help find work for Schmitz.

The reason given was because she had a difficult work situation in Madison County, where she was struggling to balance her daily duties as a teacher and as a member of the Alabama Legislature. Johnson said he contacted the then president of the Central Alabama Community College and asked him to find a job for Schmitz.

[In 2002, she was forced to leave the Madison County teaching job when after the school district told her in 2002 she would have to take leave without pay for days she worked in Montgomery on legislative business. Link is to previous entry.]

At the time when Johnson contacted the Central Alabama Community College, the program had no openings and was struggling for money. Johnson said college officials, "wanted some assurances that we would fund that position and I gave those assurances."

By 2005, her supervisor at federally-funded program complained that Schmitz "simply did not show up for work. In fact, she never did.

But what is already interesting is who had asked Johnson to provide the job for Schmitz.

Paul Hubbert, the executive secretary of the Alabama Education Association is the head of the state's largest teachers union. The union is usually referred to as "the politically powerful Alabama Education Association" by Alabama newpapers. Hubbert, writing August 11 in the Montgomery Advertiser, compared not allowing state employees to also hold public office to a new kind of segregation ("In Alabama we have a sordid history of denying groups political rights. For decades blacks and women were denied the right to vote and the right to run for public office.)

He denied there was such a thing as "double-dipping."

House Speaker Seth Hammett told a federal jury today he arranged the funding for a job with the CITY program for state Rep. Sue Schmitz. He said he was approached about Schmitz's employment situation by Dr. Paul Hubbert, executive director of the Alabama Education Association. He later talked to Schmitz about funding for a job with the youth program.

IN OTHER NEWS: The wife of former Shelton State Community College president agreed to plead guilty to fraud charges. Melinda Kay Umphrey, 58, was employed as a coordinator at the Alabama Fire College, which was on Shelton State's campus, at an annual salary of $40,000 but performed no legitimate work. She was paid $127,594 in salary and received benefits valued at $29,139.

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BACKGROUND
See Patronage (how the system works)
See Double Dipping in Alabama
See Double Dipping (state school board bans the practice, finally.)
Hard-hitting Press-Register editorial about Paul Hubbert and the Alabama Education Association and their opposition to reform and their lust for power that concludes, "The leaders of the AEA talk about education, but they believe in power. They may be about to discover that even their power has limits. "
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September 8 - The trial ended in a mistrial.
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FIRE COLLEGE DIRECTOR SENTENCED October 30 - The former director of Fire College, W.L. Langston, 66, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after his conviction on multiple charges. He was also ordered to pay $1.4 million in restitution to the state.

Langston helped set up tens of thousands of dollars in contracts and scholarships for his children and those of administrators who run the state's two-year college system, records show.

Langston's actions offer more insight into how the fire college was managed and how he spent some of the millions in state funds the college received each year. Most of the college's $6 million budget comes from the state's education fund.

The Fire College is part of the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education, and the senior Langston was on the payroll of Shelton State College as executive director. He also headed a private foundation that was supposed to support the Fire College. His son was also sentenced after pleading guilty to charges that he was paid thousands of dollars for a bogus work contract.
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October 31 - Alabama Press-Register editorial, "Fire College director deserves his sentence"

Perth Amboy, NEW JERSEY

June 9, 2008 - Demond Edwards, 25, a substitute teacher, was arrested Monday for sexually assaulting a student and for endangering the welfare of a child.

The sexual assault charges are related to accusations of engaging in a sexual relationship with one female student. He is also accused of sending inappropriate text messages to another female student.

Edwards has been a permanent substitute teacher at the Perth Amboy High School since October 2006. The investigation began Thursday after the state Department of Children and Families contacted the Prosecutors Office.

The school district reported the possible improper relationship to DYFS and city police, Perth Amboy Superintendent John M. Rodecker said.

"When we learned that there was a suspicion of improper conduct, we immediately notified the authorities,'' Rodecker said. "We're upset about it; we're very disturbed that this kind of behavior surfaces from time to time. But our record has indicated that we have no tolerance for that kind of behavior and we immediately take action against it.''

Anyone with information related to the investigation or any other matters related to Edwards' employment in Perth Amboy, Woodbridge or East Brunswick is asked to contact Investigator Raj Chopra of the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office Sex Crimes/Child Abuse Unit at (732) 745-3600 or Detective Kenneth Puccio of the Perth Amboy Police Department at (732) 324-3871.

GUILTY PLEA August 19 - Edwards pleaded guilty today to child endangerment. The plea agreement assures that he will not spend more than 364 days in the Middlesex County jail - not prison. He will be sentenced October 3.

Evergreen, COLORADO

SENTENCED TO FIFTEEN YEARS TO LIFE.

ARRESTED May 24, 2007 -
William Eisenman, 32, a music teacher at Evergreen High School and Evergreen Middle School, was arrested for sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust and sexual assault on a child, pattern of abuse.

Investigators became aware of two separate allegations against Eisenman involving female students at the high school. Eisenman is being held on a no bond hold.
Full Name: William Robert Eisenman

Sheriff's Office News Release here
(Photo courtesy of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.)

Investigators believe that additional victims may exist and are urging anyone with additional information to contact the tip line at 303-271-5612.

CHARGES FILED May 31 - Thirteen felony charges were filed, including one count of sexual assault on a child by someone in a position of trust, and 12 counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust in a pattern of conduct. Eisenman posted a $35,000 bond and is on administrative leave.

GUILTY VERDICT June 24 -(Article by Pam Russell, the public information officer for District Attorney Scott Storey, found at YourHub.com) Jurors found Eisenman guilty of one count of sexual assault of a child by one in a position of trust in a pattern of conduct, a class three felony. He was also found guilty of providing alcohol to a minor, a class four felony. The jury acquitted him of unlawful sexual contact involving another female student who had turned 18.

In March, 2007 he registered at a hotel room in the Denver area and drove the girl there so that she could model the clothing for him. Eisenman sexually assaulted the teen for the first time at the hotel.

Over the next two months he continued to sexually assault the teen at the school, in his car, in hotels and at his home. During a jazz festival in Greeley, Eisenman invited a friend of his to the hotel to have a "threesome."

AND,

Prosecutors showed the jurors how Eisenman had groomed the teen starting with being a good listener and friend. But as their relationship grew he told her that he had a heart condition that was incurable and that he would die within two to three years.

Eisenman told the girl that he was glad he could talk to her because he couldn't tell his wife about his heart because it would upset her. He also asked the teen to take care of his wife when he died.

UNIQUE SEXUAL ASSAULT STATUTES

Eisenman will be sentenced on Aug. 19 at 1 p.m. and faces a mandatory prison sentence. This will be an indeterminant prison sentence unique to our sexual assault statutes.

The judge will decide what the low end of sentence will be, in the range of from eight to 24 years. The prison sentence then will be up to life. If Eisenman were to be paroled, he would be on lifetime parole supervision.

Compare the above with the Rocky Mountain News coverage: Band teacher guilty in sex case (June 24, 2008) Or the Associated Press take.

Eisenman will be sentenced August 19.

SENTENCED August 19 - Eisenman was sentenced to 15 years to life.

[Jefferson County District Judge Tamara] Russell the incidents are "truly a parent's worst nightmare. We send our children to school to be safe, to respect their teachers," but Eisenman "took the love and respect of his students and used it for his own purposes and made it something ugly."

Russell also praised the two victims for coming forward, calling them heroes.

TT - For an explanation of the length of the sentence, see June 24 and the article by Pam Russell, the public information officer for District Attorney Scott Storey.

Potter Valley, CALIFORNIA

Notice the fine grasp of details, not to mention, the reasons cited for dismissal by the D.A.

August 19, 2008 - Molestation charges were dropped against a Potter Valley math and science teacher. He had been charged with seven counts of annoying or molesting a child and three counts of sexual battery.

Two or three students said he had touched them during the course of class activities when other students were present, [Mendocino County District Attorney Meredith] Lintott said.

The accusations included that Holbrook's hand grazed a girl's breast as he examined her necklace, she said. There were no allegations of any attempt to have sexual relations with the students, she said.

She said the allegations would have been difficult to prove in court because the touching could have been interpreted as being accidental and Holbrook had never before been accused of being inappropriate with students.

She said the decision to drop the charges also was affected by an outpouring of support from Potter Valley residents.

"This was very divisive to the community," Lintott said.

A psychological exam also was favorable to Holbrook, she said.

Holbrook's agreement to resign from teaching at Potter Valley largely alleviated the concerns of the families of the girls who complained, Lintott said.

TT - The original story said there were five or six victims between the ages of 14 and 18. Nice life lesson for those girls, isn't it?

Major Court Ruling

No, it's not a spoof, but funny, nonetheless.

Rome, August 19 - Teachers must not spit at headteachers, Italy's Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.

The Cassation Court upheld a decision by a Palermo appeals court condemning a teacher, identified as Antonino R., who spat three times at a female principal during a teachers' meeting at a training institute in the Sicilian capital.

The defendant tried to convince judges that spitting was a way of expressing his opinion about the behaviour of the principal, which he thought was ''oppressive''.

He also asked the judges to reopen investigations to verify the ''direction and efficacy of the spit'', arguing that he was incapable of producing large quantities of saliva because heated argument had made his mouth dry.

But the court said it was ''irrelevant whether or not the spit reached the headteacher'' or whether problems with salivation ''would have made its execution more problematic''.''The fact remains that there was spitting, and it was directed at the principal,'' the judges said.They also pointed out that the teacher had said ''I'm putting perfume on her'' in between spits, removing any doubt over his motives.

The court also slammed the teacher's claim that his actions were an acceptable form of disagreement, ruling that spitting is not a ''legitimate'' means of ''critical expression''.

Flint, MICHIGAN

Sex with a 12-year-old boy.

August 20, 2008 - Allanah Benton-Wells, 42, a Flint Williams Elementary School teacher, was arraigned today on two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under the age of 13 for her alleged relationship with a student.

She is accused of having sex with a sixth grader in her class on two occasions last year when she was supposedly helping him with her homework. The boy was 12 years old.

Benton-Wells is divorced and the mother of 19-month-old twins. She has two other sons in their 20s. She was placed on paid leave from the School in November and was fired this month

ABC12.com: (August 19) Benton-Wells turned herself in to be charged.

"The mother intercepted a phone conversation between the suspect and her son. The mother then went to the school and informed the principal of the school. The principal of the school informed Flint police, Flint police conducted an investigation, and that investigation then wound its way to our office," [Genesee County Prosecutor David] Leyton explained.

The Post-Chronicle (August 19) Wells former husband has told police that he arrived home both nights to find the two in what most would describe as engaged in inappropriate behavior.

The first time the husband arrived home at about 2:30 am to find the young man without a shirt sitting on the couch. The next time his wife was on the couch, wearing a nightgown and no bra, along with the 12-year old.

Wells was placed on administrative leave in November 2007. She was fired in August. She has since appealed her termination.
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AT THE STORY: Fashion-conscious Flint-Journal news reporter: "Benton-Wells appeared in court wearing a black skirt, white top and purple head scarf. She was relaxed and sometime smiling during the arraignment which ended about noon." A poster at the story at the Journal wondered how it was relevant to the issue. We can only guess that perhaps the reporter wanted to prove to her editor that she was really in the courtroom.

If you think the victims seem to be getting younger and younger, you aren't mistaken. In November, we started a list of Sex with Little Boys (link is to TT entry)

Media interest in female sexual predators is confined to sensational stories. Anything else would be a morality tale and of particular disinterest to them. But even when they try, it's half-hearted. See Female Sexual Predators (link is to TT entry)

Lafayette, LOUISIANNA

Lawyers are a separate species from humans, aren't they?

August 19, 2008 - When a mother complained about a middle-aged man photographing girls in a water park, the pictures park security found pictures in his camera were focused on their butts and breasts. He was arrested for video voyerism. The girls were 10 to 13 years old and wearing bikinis. Police subsequently found 13,000 images of girls, mostly in bathing suits, on his home computer.

Duane Champagne's attorney argued Monday that his client wasn't breaking the law when he snapped the photographs because his subjects, young girls and women wearing bikinis, had no expectation of privacy at that public facility.
TT entry for Champagne.

Harrold, TEXAS

Teachers in this Texas school district will be packing this fall. And not for a trip.

August 15, 2008 - The board of the Harrold Independent School District unanimously approved a plan to allow teachers and staff members who are certified to carry a concealed handgun in Texas to carry concealed guns in school this fall.

Teachers who want to carry have to have permission from school officials. They will receive crisis training in hostile situations and will be required to use ammunition designed to minimize the risk of ricocheting bullets.

The reason? The school is a 30-minute drive to the Walbarger County Sheriff's Office.
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Google map location. The district has 1 school with 113 students.

TT - What else can you say except, God Bless, America! These folks in a remote rural town take their responsibility to protect students seriously.

San Francisco, CALIFORNIA

Felony pimping and pandering charges for running a number of brothels.

August 18, 2008 - Gerald Courtney, 57, assistant principal at Galileo High School in San Francisco, was arrested on felony pimping and pandering charges. He is accused of running a number of brothels.

Police say Courtney and 41-year-old Hsiu Hwa Chou ran two brothels in San Jose and used the Internet to advertise.

San Francisco Chronicle: (August 9)

During a four-month investigation, police allegedly found Courtney responsible for leasing apartments used for the brothels and creating Internet posts seeking prostitutes and customers, San Jose police Sgt. Mike Sullivan said.

A second suspect, Milpitas resident Hsiu Hwa Chou, also was arrested in the case. Chou, 41, allegedly was the madam of the brothels, Sullivan said. Two other suspects have been arrested on misdemeanor prostitution violations.

Courtney has been put on paid administrative leave.

Webster Parish, LOUISIANA

August 18, 20008 - David Taylor, 51, a substitute teacher, has been charged with being an accessory after the fact and indecent behavior with a juvenile. Police say knew of the aggravated rape of an 11-year-old girl, but instead of reporting it he asked her to do the same thing him.

Rockcola "Rocky" Plaisance, 19, is being held on $4 million bond after his arrest in Cotton Valley over the weekend. He is accused of aggravated rape of the girl.

Eidson, TENNESSEE

His computer and hard drives had 110 videos depicting child bondage and children engaged in sadomasochistic conduct. In all, the computers contained over 9,000 images of child pornography.

SENTENCED TO 26 YEARS and LIFETIME SUPERVISED RELEASE.

SEX CHARGES ARREST June 28, 2007 - Michael Noel, 36, a teacher and basketball coach at Clinch School, was arrested and charged in two separate incidents involving a 13-year-old male and a 15-year-old male.

Noel has been charged with aggravated sexual battery, sexual battery by an authority figure, solicitation of sexual exploitation of a minor, and attempt to commit especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor.

FIRED July 19 - Noel was dismissed by the Hawkins County Board of Education July 12. He has 30 days to request a hearing before the board.
Full Name: Michael Eugene Noel

FEDERAL INDICTMENT AND ARREST Feb 16, 2008 - Noel was indicted and arrested on federal child pornography charges. The three count indictment was handed down February 12 by a federal grand jury.

The first count of the federal indictment alleges Noel "did knowingly receive child pornography" from March 2006 until June 2007.

The second count, covering the same time frame, alleges he possessed a computer "containing an image of child pornography."

The third count of the federal indictment claims from June 20, 2007 until June 28, 2007 Noel "did corruptly obstruct and impede, or endeavor to influence, obstruct and impede" the criminal case "by damaging and attempting to destroy two CPU towers and computer accessories, all of which was evidence of crime, and by concealing other evidence of crime."

He is in federal custody pending an arraignment and detention hearing to be held February 19. Follow up: (from Apr 16 story) Noel waived his right to a detention hearing has been held in federal custody without bond since being indicted in February.

GUILTY PLEA April 16, 2008 - Noel pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography and obstructing justice. The obstruction of justice charge comes from his attempt to destroy evidence.

Court records state after Noel agreed to meet [Detective] Adkins at his home to receive the arrest warrant, Noel removed from his home the two computers and two hard drives containing the child pornography images, disconnected the Internet cables for the computers, and stored the equipment with a friend who had no knowledge of the contents of the computers and hard drives.

Prosecutors say Noel also defaced one of the computers and attempted to disable or destroy it by hitting it with a hammer. Because of these actions, federal prosecutors charged him with obstruction of justice.

He still faces charges in Sullivan County for sexual battery, aggravated sexual battery, solicitation of sexual exploitation of a minor, and attempted especially aggravated exploitation of a minor.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on the child pornography charges on Aug. 18.

SENTENCED August 18 - Noel was sentenced to 26 years in prison for having more than 9,000 images of child pornography on his computers. After serving his prison sentence, Noel must submit to supervised release for the rest of his life.

Read this excellent writeup that includes extensive quotes from the U.S. Attorney.

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

La Jolla, CALIFORNIA

Dec 1, 2006 - Eric Don Standefer, 48, Muirlands Middle School teacher, was arraigned and charged with possession of child pornography after federal agents found thousands of images of children in sexual situations on his home computers. Police found him naked inside his home with a smashed laptop and a hammer.

Investigators found one computer had 519 movie files and 362 pictures on it, many with names describing child pornography. See Correction below. Another computer in the house had 3,500 images and 60 movies involving children in sexual situations, an FBI agent said in a court filing.

Criminal complaint unsealed. U.S. Attorney's Office.

Corrected news story at San Diego Union-Tribune.

The laptop was so damaged that its hard drive could not be fully accessed, but investigators could tell that it had 519 movie files and 362 pictures on it, many with names describing child pornography.

Hundreds of additional photos and movies were found on recordable compact discs in the home.

GUILTY PLEA Nov 28 - Eric Don Standefer pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.

According to court records, the investigation started in March 2006, when the FBI learned that individuals were using the online currency "E-gold" to purchase access to child porn Web sites. Standefer, a music teacher at Jean Farb Middle School, was identified as one of the purchasers, and a search warrant was executed at his residence in June 2006.

He will be sentenced Feb 19.

SENTENCED August 18, 2008 - Standefer was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender.

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

Easton, PENNSYLVANIA

Paid $71,333 for 275 unused sick days.

August 18, 2008 - Easton Area School District reached a $39,488 settlement last month with former personnel director Karl R. Hettel. Hettel claimed the former superintendent promised him $127,380 for 275 unused sick days and sued the district for the remaining $95,000.

The district paid Hettel an initial payment of $31,845 in January 2000 after he retired in 1999 after 34 years as a teacher, principal and personnel director. He claimed the Easton Area School District owed two more payments. They settled on one additional payment, plus 6% interest.

THANK YOU, TAXPAYERS!!

Irvington, NEW JERSEY

August 18, 2008 - Two contractors have pleaded guilty to offering bribes to former Irvington Mayor Michael Steele while he served as business administrator for Irvington Board of Education. (Double dipping in New Jersey is an artform.)

Michael Steele, 52, was indicted in June on bribery and official misconduct charges and has pleaded not guilty. He was accused of taking at least $120,000 in kickbacks connected to district contracts. He served as mayor from 1990 to 1994 and retired as the school business administrator in April.
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New Jersey Office of the Attorney General
Press Release (June 5, 2008) on Steele's indictment.
- Indictment PDF (434k)
- View Charts Listing Rigged Contracts and Kickbacks (73k & 56k PDFs)

New Jersey Office of the Attorney General
Press Release (August 18, 2008) on the guilty pleas of the two contractors.
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SCHOOL INFO: It's no surprise that the Irvington Township School District rates a 2 at GreatSchools.net for appalling test scores. The district has 8 schools with 7,253 students.

The high school rates 1 at GreatSchools.net
(High school is a good measure of the cumulative education of students in a district.)

Grade 11 - %age performing at or above grade level
Science
- This District = 11% State Average = 73%
Language Arts Literacy
- This District = 62% State Average = 85%
Math
- This District = 20% State Average = 73%

School population = 92% Black, 7% Hispanic
Students participating in free or reduced-price lunch program = 38%
(A surprisingly low figure.)

Attendance rate students = 89% Statewide = 94%

NCLB REPORT CARD
The Faculty Attendance Rate is found in the NCLB Report Card at the New Jersey Department of Education.
The rate is 94% in the high school. Statewide it is 96.1%.
Numbers of students per faculty member = 13.4

Number of teachers who have been certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards = 0

Median Salary for Administration
This District = $102,107 (Statewide = $108,431)

Median Salary for Teachers
This District = $59,741 (Statewide = $55,550)

Total Cost per pupil
This District = $15,367 (State Average = $13,701)

Google Map

Be sure to read the parent reviews at GreatSchools. One student observed, "This school is not a learning enviornment, more like a teenage daycare. The children of Irvington have no future."

Knoxville, TENNESSEE

Police were not notified until 24-hours later.

August 18, 2008 - An 17-year-old special education student died after falling out of the back of a pickup truck at Karns High School. The student was riding in the back of a pickup truck with three other students when he fell out of the bed of the truck and hit his head on the asphalt.

An administrator and a teacher were placed on administrative leave while the school investigates. Superintendent Jim McIntyre will decide the next step once he has the results of the investigation. Isaacs previously said the student had been asked to help load a truck while in shop class, fell, and hit his head. The student was 17-year-old Eric Law.

The sheriff's office was not notified until nearly 24 hours after the accident.

St Clair Shores, MICHIGAN

Teacher accused of groping male students.

August 6, 2008 - Melissa Lavender, 33, a South Lake High School culinary arts teacher, was arraigned on two charges of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, accused of engaging in sex acts with two male students, age 15 and 16.

Police said the incident happened on a former student’s parents' boat that was docked in a St. Clair Shores marina.

He said there were eight former and current students on the boat. Lavender was the only teacher. A witness came forward just last week and told police Lavender had inappropriately touched two of the current students. The alleged victims are 16 and 17, respectively.

“Criminal sexual conduct is any unwanted touching,” said Det. Harold Bergeron. “When a person is touched for the sexual gratification of another, that’s just inappropriate.” St. Clair Shores investigators said even though the alleged victims are both of the age of consent, state law forbids teachers from having sex with students who are under 18 years old.

Lavender has been suspended with pay. She is married with two children. A pretrial conference is scheduled for August 26.

PRELIMINARY SCHEDULED August 27 - Lavender (See photo at story) has a preliminary scheduled for October 10.

West Plains, MISSOURI

August 18, 2008 - A federal grand jury indicted Michael Wilson, 45, a West Plains high school teacher, for possessing and receiving child pornography over the Internet.

The indictment was unsealed and made public upon Wilson’s arrest and initial court appearance on Wednesday, Aug. 13. The federal indictment alleges that Wilson received child pornography over the Internet from April 8, 2005, to July 20, 2007.

The indictment also alleges that Wilson was in possession of child pornography on his computer.
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U.S. Attorneys Office Press Release (dated August 18, 2008)

Houston, TEXAS

Eight years of probation but lifetime registration as a sex offender.

Feb 19, 2008 - Christopher Evans, 26, a New Heights Christian Academy teacher, was arrested and faces two counts of sexual assault and one of indecency with a child for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old student. He had a reputation for touching and kissing female students.

An investigation was launched by police after parents of the 15-year-old complained to the school, said they got no satisfaction and filed a police report. There were, apparently, prior complaints because police say Evans ridiculed students who lodged complaints against him.

Police say the alleged assaults took place in the home he shared with his pregnant wife.

Evans is the son-in-law of the school principal Richard Walters. Walters said today that Evans' mother, grandmother and wife also work at the school. Police said school records obtained under court subpoena do not establish that Evans has a college degree or any teaching credentials. But Walters said today Evans has a degree from the University of Houston completed in the last several years. He estimated Evans taught at the school for about five years.

Anyone who has information can call the juvenile division at 713-731-5353 or 713-731-5498.

GUILTY PLEA & SENTENCING August 18 -Click2Houston: Evans pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault of a child. [He actually pleaded guilty to one count of indecency with a child, according to the Houston Chronicle. See below.] The plea agreement called for an eight-year adjudicated sentence. However, Judge Vanessa Valasquez demanded he apologize to the victim.

"I think it's only right, based on what was done, and the fact that the state's given you a break that you apologize to this woman, this young lady, for what you’ve done," the judge said.

Evans responded in a low voice.

"I didn’t hear you," the judge said.

He tried again, but still did not satisfy Velasquez.

"Were you somebody that was supposed to be trusted? Wasn't she a student? Didn't you take advantage of her? Well then, I think you ought to say a heck of a lot more than, 'I'm sorry. I apologize.' Turn around and apologize appropriately for what you've done," she said.

Evans apologized a fourth time in a tone still difficult for spectators to hear, but loud enough to satisfy the judge.

Evans is married with a small child. [Chronicle says he has two children.]

Houston Chronicle: (August 18) Evans pleaded guilty to indecency with a child in exchange for eight years of probation and a $500 fine. Criminal defendants who successfully complete the terms of deferred adjudication avoid final conviction, but the fact that they were charged remains a part of their record.

Evans must register a sex offender for life. His visits with his two children must be supervised

Houston, TEXAS

Grand jury declines to indict.

We don't usually cover those teacher-student fight cases when the teacher is arrested but this one has some interesting twists.

June 6, 2008 - Andre Credit, 32, an associate principal at Bush High School, was arrested Tuesday and charged with aggravated assault. A student says Credit put him in a choke hold and slammed him to the ground following a food fight where the student threw a plastic bottle. The student reportedly suffered bruises and paramedics were called to treat the student at the school.

Today, ABC13 news learned that Credit was convicted of misdemeanor theft twice. The convictions happened in 1995, then in 1996. At the time he was 20 and 21 years old. He's now 32. Each time he was given a year of probation. For the '96 conviction he was sentenced to 180 days in jail. He worked at Houston Independent School District before Fort Bend hired him a year despite those convictions.

The school district reaction: "It is not a practice of the district to hire employees with felony convictions, and the district evaluates misdemeanor convictions on a case by case basis prior to employment."

The case has turned into a drama. The student talked to Eyewitness News and Credit had a press conference in front of the school surrounded by his wife and infant son and "a slew of professional colleagues, (a slew looks to be 6) some of whom are principals at area high schools" (described by the Houston Chronicle merely as "friends." ) The teachers union had a press conference to demand further investigation. Ominously, "there are questions about the handling of the investigation into the Bush disturbance."

They claim police set students down at a table to write out their statements without monitoring them and the students consulted each other. Fort Bend police say that was the administration investigation, not theirs. They talked to students separately.

A student took a cell phone picture of the takedown of the student that really makes you cringe for the facedown student. (Seen briefly in this video report.) Teachers at the school seem to be feeding the media info about the student. That he has an extensive disciplinary record and "He has had issues with being disruptive and disrespecting authority in the past,” one person on campus said, which doesn't sound like a high schooler talking.
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Unrelated to the case, a federal judge ruled Friday the valedictorian at Bush High School will not be allowed to participate in his graduation ceremony. Khurrum Khan is facing charges of felony property theft for his alleged role in what district officials described as a scheme involving missing computers at that school and computer hacking at another school. He sued when the school district said he could not attend the graduation ceremony in light of his conduct. The judge's ruling.

June 8 - TT - What has become increasingly interesting is the automatic assumption that police were incompetent and acted in bad faith in arresting the administrator. At least, those are the public postings, the emotion fed, it looks like, by the teachers union.

In Texas, the battlelines are drawn between the teachers union and anyone else who wants a say in education issues. Including elected representatives. This appears to be a case of overreaction by an administrator that, luckily, only bruised the student but might have caused severe injury. The police made a call on scene. Until evidence is presented at a preliminary, it is hard to form any opinion, but the hype seems to be way out of proportion. SERIOUSLY way out of proportion. It's the kind of hissy fit hysteria that activists like to throw. What we would like to know is if Credit is a union representative at the school or very active in the union. Or if Credit's priors were a factor.

NO INDICTMENT August 18 - A Fort Bend County grand jury declined to indict Credit.

Wyoming ACT exams

Not ready for prime time.

August 18, 2008 - Billings Gazette: "Few grads ready for college"

Less than a quarter of Wyoming high-school students who took the ACT college entrance exam tested well enough to show they are ready for college with 79 percent possibly needing remedial college classes.

Statewide, 68 percent of the students who took the ACT are ready for college English. But just 28 percent are prepared for college science. And only 21 percent achieved a score indicating they're prepared for English, math, social science and science in college.

Results indicate that 79 percent of the students may need help such as taking remedial college classes, said Scott Gomer, ACT's media relations director.

Nationwide, only 22 percent of the 2008 high-school graduates who took the test are ready for college.

Birmingham, ALABAMA

August 18, 2008 - Jury selection has begun in the trial of state Rep. Sue Schmitz, a teacher turned legislator, accused of taking $175,000 in pay from Alabama's two-year college system for work she never performed.

The trial is expected to last at least two weeks. UPDATE: It ended in a mistrial.
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• Previous TT coverage of the two-year college system scandal. Here
• And Schmitz' arrest. Entry
• Corruption in Community Colleges in Alabama. Entry
• Corruption in Education (in Alabama) Entry Schmitz is among 43 legislators The News identified who had financial ties to two-year colleges from 2002 to 2006. The legislators, their close relatives or businesses received work from the system during the period, in most cases after the lawmakers were elected.
• A newspaper investigation found 13 legislators who were presently employed in Alabama community college system.

FEDERAL INVESTIGATION A federal investigation of the two-year system has resulted in agreements to plead guilty by a former state representative and a former two-year college chancellor. Two current legislators have been charged and are awaiting trial while a grand jury in Birmingham continues to review the colleges. Previous TT coverage. Entry and Entry and Entry

Columbia, TENNESSEE

School Board Watch

August 18, 2008 - The Maury County School Board is proposing to spend about $1 million dollars for I Can Learn, a software system aimed at boosting math scores. The software would be geared toward eighth-grade students learning algebra.

The software program, the Advertiser News reports, "is marketed by a politically savvy company whose product has been at the center of a corruption case in Louisiana."

The program has faced criticism in Fort Worth, Texas, where school officials ended their contract with the software company after spending almost $15 million on algebra and pre-algebra labs.

Former Fort Worth Superintendent Thomas Tocco touted the program extensively during his tenure with the district when it was purchased and was later hired as a consultant for JRL Enterprises.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported in June 2007 that only one of 10 schools that originally had the program were still using it in 2007.

In Louisiana, Mose Jefferson was indicted on bribery, obstruction of justice and money-laundering charges in April. He is accused of paying a former Orleans School Board president a series of bribes totaling $140,000 in exchange for supporting the lease of I CAN Learn programs. The school board president, Ellenese Brooks-Simms, pleaded guilty to bribery charges in U.S. District Court.

Investigators allege Brooks-Simms was elected to the Orleans Parish School Board with the assistance of Jefferson and his political organization.
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TT - Mose Jefferson is the eldest brother of indicted Congressman William Jefferson. (D-LA)

The Maury County School District rates a 5 at GreatSchools.net

Interestingly, none of the Gateway end-of-course testing at the schools show any problems in Algebra. The state average is 77% at or above proficiency (Proficiency= at grade level.) In Maury District, 83% tested at or above grade level in Algebra I.

State-directed Schools

About time.

August 18, 2008 - Georgia was notified July 1 that it is one of six states to be granted new No Child Left Behind flexibility by the federal government. Among the changes was the right for the state to step in more quickly and take charge of schools that fail to make Adequate Yearly Progress goals year after year.

As a result, Georgia is trying to hire 56 state directors to go to the lowest-achieving public schools to work alongside school officials.

State directors will be charged with meeting with teachers, doing benchmark testing to analyze student test data, sitting in classes to observe teachers, analyzing student and teacher attendance rates and discipline records and developing action plans if necessary, among other duties.

Directors will also help principals make decisions about replacing any members of the school staff.

The state-directed status also means a private tutoring option for students not meeting standards in reading, English or math. Those schools are also mandated to offer school transfers. At Weaver Middle, 93 students have requested a transfer this year, and 98 students asked to leave Southwest.
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TT - Several of the schools are in their sixth, seventh and eighth year of "needs improvement" under NCLB.

See the Georgia Department of Education 2006-2007 Report Card for average salaries for Administrators, Support Personnel, and Teachers. (Click on i More Information to see what is included in support personnel.)

2007 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) Overview Report.
Schools meeting AYP = 1764
Schools not meeting AYP = 374 (17.8% of the 2100 public schools)

Free Education (sorta)

Only three states charge students for classroom textbooks. Indiana is one of them.

August 18, 2008 - A South Bend Tribune editorial, "State has duty to pay for school books," wants the state to pay for textbooks. They maintain that the "cost of textbooks most assuredly is part of the cost of public education and should be shared by all taxpayers." Indiana Code, enacted by the General Assembly, says that school systems may charge students to rent textbooks.

The cost can be very high.

Bremen Public Schools charges parents $87 for kindergarten books. Parents of fifth-graders pay $128. High school students’ families commonly are charged $150 or more. A family with several children can easily pay up to $500 just in book fees.

Only in 2007 did the legislature decide to fully fund books for students who receive free and reduced-price meals.

According to the Tribune, Indiana is one of only three states that doesn't provide textbooks in public schools. This, despite a 2004 Indian Supreme Court decision that struck down a $20 activities fee, that said,

“It is absurd to suggest that public schools may not charge for the services of a teacher, but may charge students a fee for things as essential to teaching and instruction as the services of a teacher, such as school buildings, maintenance, heating and cooling, electricity, or textbooks.”

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TT - They don't say what the other three states are.

New Focus

August 18, 2008 - From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, comes this story about the new leadership of the American Federation of Teachers, "Women plan new focus leading teacher unions."

The American Federation of Teachers has recently elected female candidates to all three national posts, a first for a major U.S. labor union.

And if the new leaders have their way, students, teachers and parents will see a difference in the way schools are run, owing in part to an understanding of the obligations many women have of juggling jobs, children and other tasks.

Randi Weingarten, the new union president, wants change.

She wants schools to focus more on teaching than testing and plans to prod local officials to look at "the whole child, what we should be doing to improve not just math and reading proficiency but to help improve a whole child.

""We need bottom-up, real solutions so kids in St. Louis and Kansas City have a level playing field," she said. That could include extending hours so high school students who have a job can attend classes at night, providing some health care services at school or offering classes for parents who need a GED.

At the local level, there is the St. Louis Teachers Union.

Mary J. Armstrong, president of the 2,100-member St. Louis Teachers Union, says the leadership changes are "historic" and send a clear message about the role of women. Armstrong has long pushed for much of what Weingarten is advocating, including taking into account socioeconomic, nutritional, home life and other aspects of a student's life.

She now hopes to gain momentum in St. Louis, including for her desire to examine — and reverse — a rising dropout rate among black male students.

In Missouri, the American Federation of Teachers has 6,000 members — two-thirds of them in St. Louis and Kansas City.
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TT -Interesting article but no mention of the fact that the St. Louis School District was taken over by the state in 2007 after the Missouri Board of Education stripped the district of accreditation for poor academic performance and malfeasance. Kansas City is facing the same scrutiny (again.) Entry

Kansas City previously lost their accreditation in 1999. Both districts have been academic disasters and financially mismanaged for decades. Taking Over Bad Schools Entry

Don't miss this article on how the international relief organization Feed the Children delivers school supplies to children in -- Kansas City and St. Louis. And compare that to how the Kansas City school district spends their money in "A money mess bites hard in KC classrooms."

legal fees are off the charts, five times the average per-student costs of other districts, reflecting a troubled district that has been “under siege,” attorney Maurice Watson said.

A lot of those fees have gone to fight succession movements from outlying districts that no longer want to be part of the Kansas City Public School system and the costs of a revolving door for school superintendents.

The St. Louis public school system's cumulative debt in 2006 was almost $25 million, according to the State Board of Education, and it had six superintendents since 2003.

Declining enrollment is a polite way of referring to the mass exodus from Kansas City schools. Schools in Kansas City and St. Louis are so badly run that they are the only districts in the state who are allowed to have charter schools. The Kansas City Star urged the district to "cut bloated management." (And transportation. And maintenance costs.)

Schools in St. Louis and Kansas City are miserable and costly failures. It is surreal and ludicrous to want to "look at the whole child" when public schools can't even provide basic education. And it certainly doesn't help when a major newspaper in the state pretends nothing is wrong that a little cheerleading can't fix.

The pity, the absolute tragedy, is that there are four generations of school children from those schools who have been denied a decent education and the opportunity to escape from a soul-destroying poverty pit where political patronage is the game and education is just the cash cow.

The best, the very best, they can hope for is a Katrina-like disaster that will allow them to abandon the city and find a less corrupt place to live.

Location, Location, Location

There's only one little problem.

August 18, 2008 - This AFP (Agence France-Press) story about cameras in the classroom carries no location. While the original clearly indicates the location is London, U.K.

Monroe, NORTH CAROLINA

Worrisome.

August 17, 2008 - Michael Wullschleger, 48, a swim coach and a bus driver for Union County Parkwood School District in North Carolina, was arrested Friday in Florida after he drove from the Sea World Hilton Grand Vacations Club hotel, where he was staying on vacation with his wife, daughter and daughter’s friend, about 45 miles to Lakeland to meet who he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

Wullschleger talked to three different undercover detectives, each posing as a 14-year-old girl. After he dropped his family off at the Disney World theme park Friday morning, he chatted online from his hotel room. He was arrested and booked for traveling to meet a minor for sex, two counts of receiving a computer statement for the purpose of sexual conduct and use of a computer to seduce a child.

Two other men were also arrested in the sting called Operation Marauder. It was conducted by the Polk County Sheriff's Office. The weekend operation also included special agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) working in conjunction with members of the State Attorney's Office, along with Attorney General Bill McCollum's Office of Statewide Prosecution. This is the fifth such operation conducted by the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
Full Name: Michael Richard Wullschleger

Ware Shoals, SOUTH CAROLINA

It isn't dumb. It isn't bad judgement. It's irresponsible.

August 15, 2008 - Jessica Swain, 26, a Ware Shoals School District substitute teacher was arrested Tuesday after police say she had a party at her home where underage individuals were consuming alcohol.

Police say that when they arrived on the scene they were unable to get anyone to come to the door. According to Ware Shoals Police Chief Mickey Boland, when Swain and two other individuals became aware that police had arrived at the home they walked across the street, through woods and behind homes. There they called a male individual and asked him to come pick them up. Two male individuals arrived to pick up Swain and the two other females in a Red Toyota Pick-Up.

Police later stopped the pickup at which point Swain got out of the vehicle. When officers told Swain to remain in the vehicle Swain reportedly told offers that she couldn’t. Officers also observed a female lying in the bed of the pick-up truck who was later identified as a 17-year-old girl who had been at Swain's home and had been picked up along with Swain.

The girl told police that there had been more people attending the party but they hid in the woods at the home. When police arrived back to the home, everyone had left. Police arrested Swain and the girl.
Full Name: Jessica Brownlee Swain
Abbeyville, Greenwood and Lauren counties.

Acworth, GEORGIA

August 15, 2008 - Joseph Placanica, 40, an eighth-grade science teacher at Durham Middle School, was arrested Thursday for stalking a former student.

Placanica allegedly began "an affair" with his former student, who is now 17 years old, in May of 2007. After she broke off the relationship with him, Placanica continued to try to contact her at work, through text messages and on her MySpace, said Sgt. Dana Pierce, a Cobb police spokesman. When the 40-year-old married teacher showed up at the gym where the woman worked, she called police.

The girl is a student at another Cobb County school. Placanica resigned Friday. Placanica is married.

Alexandria, LOUISIANA

Improper relationship with a student.

August 16, 2008 - Christopher Smith, 39, a teacher at Holy Savior Menard Central High School, was arrested Friday, accused of having "an improper relationship" with a female student.

The parents of the student filed a complaint with the Sheriff's Office about the relationship, authorities said. Smith was arrested on two counts of felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile and two counts of prohibited sexual conduct between educator and student. The latter charges also are felonies.
Full Name: Christopher D. Smith
Arresting Agency: Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office
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LEGAL: Louisiana passed the law criminalizing sex between an educator and student last year. Entry.

Winchester, INDIANA

August 16, 2008 - School Board member Dana Cox, 68, was arrested August 2 in downtown Muncie, accused of soliciting a prostitute. Also arrested in that sting was Harold McGrath, a Nettle Creek English teacher. McGrath's resignation was accepted Wednesday by the Nettle Creek School Board.

On Tuesday night the Nettle Creek School Board voted 4-0 for a motion to ask Cox for his resignation also and censured him for his "alleged misconduct and the undue attention that it has brought to Randolph Central." Cox has served on the board 18 years.

See The Star Press: (August 6) School board member, teacher among those nabbed in sex sting
Harold Thomas McGrath, Jr., 61, was arrested for public indecency at McCulloch Park, and has taught since 1973 in Hagerstown for the Nettle Creek School Corp. The 11th grade English teacher has also worked with the student academic team, said Nettle Creek Supt. Joe Backmeyer.

McGrath was arrested after allegedly talking with and arranging sex with an male undercover officer, who reported he also saw McGrath fondling himself in public at the park.

Three other men were also arrested in the five-hour undercover prostitution sting in McCulloch Park and surrounding neighborhoods. McGrath was arrested after allegedly propositioning male undercover officers. Cox arrest stemmed from a purported dealing with a female undercover officer in the downtown area.

The park is listed in an "alternative lifestyles" publication as a location for male prostitution.

Grandville, MICHIGAN

Amazingly, an obscene disorderly conduct arrest is not among those a teacher must report to school districts and the Michigan Department of Education.

August 16, 2008 - Dennis Graveldinger, 48, a seventh-grade science teacher at Grandville Middle School, was sentenced to one year of probation a for obscene disorderly conduct in a public locker room.

Graveldinger was masturbating in the men's locker room in the fieldhouse at Grand Valley State University in Allendale Township at 6:20 p.m. June 12, according to a Grand Valley Police Department report and court records. He pleaded no contest Wednesday to obscene disorderly conduct.

The conviction does not fall under a 2006 state law that bars teachers from the classroom if they are found guilty of certain sex crimes, mostly felonies, according to a state police spokeswoman and Grandville Superintendent Ron Caniff, who consulted with a district lawyer.

Graveldinger did not disclose his arrest to school authorities. The misdemeanor charge is not among those a teacher must report to school districts and the Michigan Department of Education, said Jan Ellis, MDE spokeswoman.
Full Name: Dennis James Graveldinger
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Online comment at the news story: All it will take is one more "lapse in good judgment" and an innocent life can be scarred forever. A teacher who would perform this act in a public place with a younger college student nearaby has damaged his reputation beyond a mere slap on the hands. I would not allow my children to be unsupervised in Mr. Graveldinger's presence.
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August 22 - "Can you cast the same stone yourself?" a news blogger at a Michigan newspaper asks in this column.

TT - Our response.

Scottsdale, ARIZONA

Court to hear appeal of dismissal of charges.

August 16, 2008 - The Arizona Court of Appeals has agreed to hear arguments over a Maricopa County Superior Court judge’s decision to dismiss a sexual misconduct case against former Scottsdale Saguaro High School assistant football coach Tom Porras.

After Judge Helene Abrams ruled to dismiss a sexual misconduct case against Porras, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office filed an appeal, and the appellate court is reviewing the case. It will begin hearing arguments Sept. 11.
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TT - Entry for Porras. Actually, the judge dismissed after she threw out his confession.

At a guess, the arguments will be heard in Division Two, but it doesn't show on the calendar at this time. Under a new law passed in 2007, a crime victim can ask the Court of Appeals to send him/her a copy of the court’s decision on the defendant’s appeal at the same time that copies are sent to the prosecutor and the defendant.

Cleveland, TEXAS

Students say she was a role model. Let's hope not.

August 17, 2008 - Laurie Lewis, 38, a Cleveland High School theatre teacher and Student Council sponsor, was arrested August 13 in Houston on misdemeanor prostitution charges.

Kerry Cowart, the superintendent of Cleveland ISD said he spoke to Lewis on Friday afternoon and confirmed the allegations. Cowart said that when he asked if she was arrested for prostitution, Lewis admitted it was true.

Lewis was immediately placed on paid administrative leave pending resolution of the charges. Arraignment is scheduled in Harris County Criminal Court 2 on August 20.
Full Name: Laurie Anne Lewis

ABC13: Police took Lewis into custody after they say she offered to have sex with an undercover HPD vice officer for $300 when the two met up in a room at the Four Seasons hotel. ABC13 also reported: "A source close to the investigation tells Eyewitness News Lewis, who went by the name of Victoria, advertised on a web site called BackPage.com. "

Cleveland Advocate: (August 17) The arrest was part of an ongoing undercover operation. Since Lewis’ arrest is part of a continuing investigation, the offense report regarding her arrest has not been made public.
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TT - If things don't work out, she might still be able to teach in Oregon.
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THOSE DETAILS August 18 - Police say they initially made contact with Lewis in an escort service’s chat room.

“We opened up a discussion with her in the chat room (and) she agreed in the discussion for sex for money. She was asked to meet the detectives at that location, a specific room number, and when she entered the room the deal was done,” said Captain Bruce Williams with the HPD.

August 19 -Lewis, according to KVUE.com, worked for the escort service and went by the name "Victoria."

RESIGNED August 19 - Lewis resigned.

St. Petersburg, FLORIDA

Six years in prison and lifetime supervised probation.

August 16, 2008 - Werner Bloch, 41, a teacher at the Admiral Farragut Academy, was sentenced to six years in prison and lifetime supervised probation having child pornography on his home computer. Federal prosecutor said agents found 16,000 images of child pornography on Bloch's home computer.

Tampa Tribune: (August 15) Bloch was arrested in 2007 after agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement found him as part of a nationwide investigation of commercial child pornography Web sites.

The Web site that agents targeted was called "Home Collection" and sold monthly memberships for $79.95 that allowed patrons to access more than a dozen Web sites containing images and videos of child pornography. Bloch was caught ordering a subscription to the "Boys Say Go" Web site, according to his plea agreement. That site had images of prepubescent boys engaged in sexual activities with one another and adult men.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew said Bloch's actions were "despicable" but that he deserved the lower sentence, partly because of the two experts' testimony that he is unlikely to offend again. "There is a need to protect the public," she said. The judge also noted that the child pornography involved real children who were victimized.

She also Bucklew said she didn't buy Bloch's assertion that he didn't take the job to have a pool of kids. There was some connection, she said, between Bloch's chosen career and his interest in child pornography. She said she didn't know which came first.

Bloch's therapist testified at the sentencing.

Bloch's therapist, Robert Whitford, testified that Bloch has obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety and depression. Whitford said Bloch is a pedophile who has not had improper contact with children.

"It really is an extraordinary case in that he was there 14 years and there is no evidence of any contact," Whitford said. "There was never any overtures toward a kid. That's remarkable."
Asked by Bucklew how he knew that, Whitford backed away from the statement. "I don't know if he did or not."

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

Casstown, OHIO

August 15, 2008 - Chad Widener, 37, a history teacher at Miami East Junior High School, was indicted by a Miami County grand jury on one count of felony importuning.

In February, the parents of a 15-year-old girl reported to police that they had been having issues with their daughter regarding sending and receipt of "inappropriate" e-mails and text messages, so they installed a spyware program on the computer. They said the program intercepted a text message between the girl and an unknown male that occurred Dec. 6 and contained "sexual statements" by the male, the report said. A sheriff's investigation identified Widener through phone records.

Widener joined the district as a special education teacher and coach in 1995. He resigned in August. An arraignment is scheduled for August 22.

Widener's father is a Miami County commissioner.The investigation was turned over to a special prosecutor in Shelby County by Miami County Prosecutor Gary Nasal. Nasal, whose office serves as legal counsel to the county commission, said Ralph Bauer, Shelby County prosecutor, handled the case to avoid any appearance of impropriety by the local office.
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SCHOOL INFO: The school rates an 9 at GreatSchools.net. The district rates an 8.
Google Map
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TRIAL SCHEDULED September 2 - Widener's trial is scheduled for Dec. 11-12 in Miami County Common Pleas Court. He pleaded not guilty at arraignment Aug. 22.

Clarksville, TENNESSEE

When you're facing 30 years in prison, there isn't much else to do. The agony for the victims and the families, however, must be awful.

August 16, 2008 - Ex-schoolbus driver Brian Lee Wrigglesworth, is asking for post-conviction relief. The motion will be heard by a judge on October 14.

Wrigglesworth pleaded guilty in 2006 to three counts of child rape and was sentenced to 30 years. He was originally charged in an 87-count indictment of raping three 6- and 7-year-old girls at Glenellen Elementary School between April and May 2004.

The news story states that he is ineligible for parole.

Wrigglesworth must serve all of his sentence. Not even the governor can reduce the sentence.

He will be 68 years old when released from prison if he serves his full sentence. And, even then, he will have to register as a sex offender.
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LEGAL NOTES: Post-conviction relief appeal is part of the appeals process in both non-capital and capital cases. From the Office of the Attorney General and Reporter of Tennessee, there is this explanation.

Within one year of the final order in a case, a defendant may file a petition for post-conviction relief in the county trial court of conviction. In this petition, a defendant is limited to raising only constitutional errors that occurred during his trial and/or sentencing hearing. Post-conviction petitions are handled, at the trial court level, by the local district attorney general's office.

If post-conviction relief is denied, a defendant may appeal that denial to the Court of Criminal Appeals. Just as in direct appeal cases, if the defendant loses in the Court of Criminal Appeals, he may seek permission to appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court. Review is granted or denied at the discretion of the Supreme Court, in both capital and non-capital cases.

IN ONLINE ARCHIVES: In September 2006, Wrigglesworth alleged that attorney never wanted to try the case and in this June 5, 2007 story, he wanted to change his plea:

A judge decided a convicted child rapist can not change his guilty plea. Attorneys for former school bus driver Brian Wrigglesworth filed a motion asking if he could change his guilty plea to not guilty. A judge denied the request and ordered Wrigglesworth to finish out his 30-year sentence behind bars. He struck a deal after being charged with raping students on his bus.

OREGON

ONLINE RESOURCE aaaaa

The Teacher's Standards and Practices Commission of Oregon maintains online records of teacher disciplinary actions taken against teachers' licenses. The actions date back to 1997.

The site can sometimes be slow. The Commission takes the time to explain their ethical standards and their methods. Good organization.

Rated 5 out of 5 for accessibility, clarity, completeness and public accountability.

Great Bend, KANSAS

An awful way to end a career.

August 14, 2008 - Don Atkinson, principal at Jefferson Elementary School, pleaded guilty to six counts of theft by deception. The charges stemmed from the theft of more than $40,000 from a PTA and student council.He is scheduled to be sentenced next month

Atkinson was arrested in March. He Atkinson resigned last November after PTA leaders went to school administrators, who called authorities. He had worked in USD 428 in Great Bend for 28 years. The theft occurred over eight years.

Durango, COLORADO

The least-watched elected officials in the country are school board members. They also comprise the largest single group of elected officials in this country.

August 14, 2008 - There are calls for the recall or resignation of Durango School District 9-R board member Padraig "Paddy" Lynch after his arrest for breaking into the Humane Society after-hours to retrieve his dog. The dog had been seized by Animal Control officers after a caller complained that it was locked in Lynch's truck at the fairgrounds.

(Other stories say it was the High School parking lot and the dog had been locked in the truck for hours without water. It seems to be the case the that he was at the Fairgrounds working on cars for the demolition derby and left his dog in his truck in the school parking lot for hours without water.)

The former teacher's tenure on the board has been controversial. Lynch's fellow board members have accused him of impeding their work.

He drew a reprimand from then-Superintendent Mary Barter in March for a visit to Durango High School that she called "disruptive," and again drew criticism in May when he called a union official to discuss sensitive contract negotiations.

Lynch was a welding teacher at Durango High from 2003 to 2005, when the district declined to renew his contract. Evidence surfaced this year that Lynch had repeated interactions with a female student who was not in his class that made her uncomfortable.

TT - Who votes for these people? Nationwide, less than 20% of the electorate usually vote in any school board election.** Who runs for the offices? A surprising number of candidates are teachers backed by their unions. It's a obvious and blatant conflict of interest when the primary responsibility of the the board member is to vote on budgets, union contracts and union-concern issues, but it is perfectly legal.

We found his surprisingly laughable bio for Paddy online. And this 2006 article paints a picture of, not of a non-conformist, but a career loser. (TT Opinion)

** In Durango, turnout for elections in 2003 was higher than the 2001 turnout of of 18.7%, leading them to begin to conduct mail-in elections.

Wenatchee, WASHINGTON

"If Eastmont could not fire Lynn McCoy for the acts testified in this case, then heaven help our children." JURY DECIDES AGAINST TEACHER.

July 31, 2008 - Two parents filed assault charges against her.

"You'll find they were dedicated, honest administrators who were faced with a very difficult problem," [Eastmont attorney Jerry] Moberg said in his opening statement. "They were faced with a teacher who created enough havoc that not just a few parents but 20 or 30 parents who had individual complaints against the way their child was treated by Ms. McCoy. ... It's hard to fire a bad teacher, as you'll hear from the evidence."

Lynn McCoy, 57, taught at Cascade Elementary from 1991 until she was fired in March 2004.

Two principals tried to mention parent complaints in McCoy's evaluation but the comments were removed by the school superintendent. There were three investigations into McCoy's alleged mistreatment of children. The school district put McCoy on paid administrative leave for more than a year after two parents filed two separate misdemeanor assault charges.

A Douglas County district judge agreed in December 2003 to eventually dismiss the charges if McCoy committed no more offenses for a year.

McCoy is suing, claiming Eastmont school administrators retaliated against her for complaining too much. McCoy says administrators fired her in retaliation for the eight grievances she filed against at least three administrators and the school district in general, according to court documents.

According to court documents, McCoy's grievances included:
•Challenging negative comments in two annual evaluations
•Challenging the assistant superintendent's claim McCoy had a "pattern" of misconduct
•A grievance against the principal for creating a hostile work environment
•Two grievances against the district for not letting her attend union meetings on district property and not paying her attorney's fees in regard to the assault charges.

McCoy is currently executive director for the Wenatchee Valley Dispute Resolution Center.

JURY DECIDES IN FAVOR OF SCHOOL DISTRICT August 14 - Ten of 12 jurors Wednesday decided against Lynn McCoy's claim that the district fired her in retaliation for grievances she filed with the teachers union.

The school district claims McCoy was fired for probable cause that she assaulted two students and emotionally abused several others, [Eastmont School District attorney Jerry] Moberg said.

"If Eastmont could not fire Lynn McCoy for the acts testified in this case, then heaven help our children," Moberg said during closing arguments Wednesday.

About 40 parents complained about the treatment of children, Moberg said. Their complaints against McCoy included humiliation, breaking down self-esteem and excessive punishment.

Standardized Testing

BRAGGING RIGHTS?

August 14, 2008 - The Contra Costa Times reports that the Los Angeles Unified School District standardized test scores are up.

Scores went up in every subject except 11th grade English-Language Arts, said Esther Wong, assistant superintendent for planning, assessment and research.

Despite the gains, more than two-thirds of district students continue to languish beneath the proficiency goals in English and math subjects, as measured by the 2008 Standardized Testing and Reporting, or STAR, program.

LAUSD students average 34.8 percent proficiency in math, while the state average is 43 percent. District students score nearly the same in English-Language Arts, where 34 percent are proficient, while the state average is 46 percent.

Last year, 31 percent of LAUSD students scored a proficiency rating in math, up two percentage points from the previous year. In 2007, 31 percent of LAUSD students also scored proficient in English-Language arts, up one point from 2006.

----------------------
TT - It's useful to remind parents that proficiency doesn't mean mastery of the subject. It means at grade level.

Put another way, 65.2% of LAUSD students are below grade level in math. Statewide, 57% of students are below grade level in math. No bragging rights there, especially when there is a 99.99% likelihood the student will be promoted to the next grade where the chance of failure automatically increases because of poor preparation in a prior grade.

Naturally, some media are against standardized testing. The usual rationale is that students take too many tests already, but truth is that the tests measure teacher effectiveness more than student aptitude.

SAT wants to test 8th graders because, DOH, by the 11th grade it is too late to apply remedial efforts.

Elkridge, MARYLAND

Request denied for sentence review.

August 14, 2008 - Uppercase Judge Howard County Circuit Court Judge Richard Bernhardt denied a request by Joseph Samuel Ellis to have his sentence reviewed and possibly modified.

Ellis was sentenced to five years in prison after a jury found him guilty of sexual abuse of a minor, indecent exposure and telephone misuse.

In a motion filed with the Howard County Circuit Court on July 24, Ellis' attorney, Andrew Levy, requested that the court hold a hearing one year after Ellis' conviction to allow Ellis "to make a showing as to his rehabilitation and why and how his sentence should be modified."

According to the motion, Ellis is currently in group therapy and tutors his fellow inmates who are working toward their GEDs.

TT entry for Ellis.

At his sentencing, a victim wrote, "Every girl looks forward to her senior year in high school," the victim wrote. "I would rather die than have to relive it."

Administrative Salaries - NEW JERSEY

Until recently, the President of the United States was given a salary of $100,000. It's now up to $400,000, but School Superintendents in Burlington County, New Jersey, are gaining fast.

August 14, 2008 - The state issued a report on the salaries and benefits for all the top school administrators in New Jersey. In Burlington County, thirteen of Burlington County's 42 superintendents earned base salaries above $150,000 this year.

The Burlington County Times has a graphic with the salary figures AND current enrollment. They analyzed the data to reveal the average salary of a full-time superintendent in Burlington County was $141,023.
------------------------------------
TT - Compare that to the median income for a household in Burlington county that is $58,608, and the median income for a family of $67,481. (Source: Wikipedia) In 2000, the population of the county was 423,394.

ONLINE: The story doesn't link to the "Plain Language Summaries" from the New Jersey Department of Education. You can find it here.

The Excel spreadsheet is 1.9mb. The annual number of contracted work days for the administrators range from 200 to 260, with contracted vacation days that range from a low of 12 to an average of 20+. And then there are 12 to 20 sick days and Personal Days that run from 2 to 5 days.

The salaries are base salary. They do not include allowances, bonuses, stipends, contributions to insurance and health care, retirement plans and - buyback policies for unused sick days and opportunities to buyback unused vacation (leading to early retirement for many.) But such figures are included in the spreadsheet.

Camden City Schools are one of those school districts that has been taken either over by the state or on school watch , one of five at the last count. It is one district that frequently makes the news. (Links are internal to TT site.) Here Here Here They have three assistant superintendents, all of whom make $135,000 in one of the poorest districts in the country.

We've said it before: School administration is more lucrative than drugs, prostitution or extortion.

Gloucester, MASSACHUSETTS

The "Pregnancy Pact" Principal resigned in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

August 13, 2008 - The Gloucester High School Principal who was the source of a Time magazine that claimed that the multiple pregnancies of teenage girls at the school were the result of deliberate and intentional "pact" has resigned.

He cited lack of support by the Mayor and the School Superintendent for his decision.
---------------------
Previous coverage here.

Short version: Time magazine was there to support the position that schools should prescribe contraceptives regardless of parental consent. It was a policy advocated by the school clinic's medical director and nurse practioner. The practioner and the pediatrician who was the school medical director both resigned in May in protest when the notion was "met with hostility." (Says Mayor Carolyn Kirk: "Dr. Orr and Ms. Daly have no right to decide this for our children.")

The school nurse practitioner performed 150 pregnancy tests, apparently on the same seven or eight girls. Seventeen girls in the High School became pregnant. The school principal stands by his contention that the students formed a pact to become pregnant.

Utterly ignored by the media is the fact that no parents were alerted to the promiscuous behavior and no educational programs - it's a school, for God's sake - were adopted to stem the soaring unwed teenage pregnancy rate. What are schools for if not to educate trashy students on acceptable behavior? Excuse me, but when a pediatrician wants a school to prescribe birth control pills without parental consent, what do you think students think the school attitude is?

What use are schools who do not teach even basic decency? Come to think of it, what good are newspapers and a media that thinks that this is just a sensational story?

Lancaster, NEW YORK

The judge called his behavior "bizarre, creepy and scary."
Yeah.

August 14, 2008 - A 64-year-old school bus aide was spared jail when he was sentenced to three years' probation, continued sex offender treatment, a $1,000 fine and an order that barred him from any online computer not related to the janitorial job he recently obtained.

Last September, Paul W. Buhlig was fired after one of the 16-year-old girls he touched inappropriately went to her school principal with a suggestive note Buhlig had given her on the bus. He pleaded guilty to two non-sexual misdemeanor charges of child endangerment for touching the two girls.

He had given one of them a pack of chewing gun, in which he had inserted a note asking her for a date, the prosecutor said.

New Port Richey, FLORIDA

August 14, 2008 - Joel Cupp, 29, a teacher at Trinity Oaks Elementary School, was arrested and faces faces three counts of online solicitation and one count of lewd and lascivious exhibition, all third-degree felonies, for an Internet solicitation.

Cupp exposed himself multiple times over a web cam to the "children." He believed he was talking to three teenage girls.
Full Name: Joel Matthew Cupp
Pasco County
Fifth Judicial Circuit
---------------
PRESS RELEASE: Florida Attorney General Press Release (dated Aug 14, 2008)

The investigation was initiated by the Citrus County Sheriff's Office which requested assistance from the CyberCrime Unit when the investigators determined Cupp, 29, was located in Pasco County. The investigation was further coordinated once the investigators realized they were all chatting with the same suspect.

Cupp is the second school teacher arrested by the CyberCrime Task Force this month.

The case involving the chats with the CyberCrime investigator is still under investigation, but could result in similar charges.
---------------
ONLINE RESOURCE: The Florida Department of Education maintains a database of disciplinary actions taken against teacher licenses since January 2006. The site is: myfloridateacher.com
You can search for actions by last name or by district. (Use the dropdown menu to browse through the actions taken in the district.)

Reminder: Not all disciplinary actions will be found on the database because many negotiated settlements include non-disclosure.

Ontario, OREGON

August 14, 2008 - Joseph Garner, 42, an Ontario High School social sciences teacher, was arrested Wednesday and charged with seven counts of online sexual corruption of a child in the second degree after being caught in an Internet sting. He is scheduled to face a grand jury this morning.

Prosecutors say Garner began talking to what he believed was a 13-year-old girl via MySpace. He was talking, however, to a sexual predator decoy. The conversations began in May.

Garner resigned his position. He has a wife and three children.
Full Name: Joseph Tracy Garner
Malheur County
-----------------
SCHOOL INFO:
Google Map
Ontario High School rates a 3 (with 10 highest) at GreatSchools.net
Based on poor academic performance.
The school has 780 students in grades 7-9

The school district rates a 2 at GreatSchools.net
The school population is 2810 in 7 schools.
Of the seven schools in the district, two rate 1 and none rate above 4.
For this poor performance, they spend $8,529 per student, which, oddly, is less than the $10,852 state average. (We say oddly, because 70% of the students in the district are eligible for a free or reduced-price lunch program, which is an indication of chronic poverty. In other states, the usual pattern is to see increased spending for such schools.)

Demographics of the district school population are 52% Hispanic and 43% White. The median household income in the city is $33,010, compared to a statewide average of $47,396. (The national average is $49,149.)
-----------------
INDICTED August 15 - Garner was indicted on seven counts of online sexual corruption of a child in the second degree Thursday morning. After an arraignment, he was released his own recognizance.

Garner must contact a counselor weekly; he cannot access or use computers, computer equipment or technology with Internet capabilities; and he cannot have any contact with minors except his own children. A pre-plea conference was scheduled for September 11. Garner’s plea hearing is set for September 19.

Comment at the news story: As a teacher, I am disgusted that people like this tarnish our profession. As a parent, I am irate and disgusted that there are people trying to defend this act of his. As a former student of this man's, I am sick to my stomach!I hope they throw the book at him.

Vandergrift, PENNSYLVANIA

No school board member explained why the teacher in question hadn't been fired.

August 14, 2008 - An unnamed intermediate school teacher is being considered for tenure status despite having been charged in two counties with drunken driving on two separate occasions.

The first offense occurred December 2005 and was expunged after she completed an Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program for one year. In addition, the teacher was required to attend an alcohol highway safety school and had driving privileges suspended for one month.

The teacher's second offense occurred less than a year later in September 2006. In May 2007, the teacher was sentenced to 90 days of electronic monitoring and six months probation following the monitoring.

No school board member explained why the teacher in question hadn't been fired.
------------------------------------------------------
DISTRICT INFO: The school district is the Kiski Area School District.
The August 11 Board Member agenda is here. (PDF)

From the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

THE LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH FOR TEENS

Leading causes? Research shows which behaviors contribute to teen-related crashes. Inexperience and immaturity combined with speed, drinking and driving, not wearing seat belts, distracted driving (cell phone use, loud music, other teen passengers, etc.), drowsy driving, nighttime driving, and other drug use aggravate this problem.

Rogers, ARKANSAS

August 13, 2008 - Matthew Reese, 26, an Oakdale Middle School teacher, was arrested Tuesday for allegedly attempting to obtain prescription drugs without a prescription.

Reese was arrested for felony attempting to obtain drugs without a prescription after attempting to obtain methadone, hydrocodone and oxycodone.

If found guilty of a criminal offense, Arkansas teachers can lose their teaching licenses. State law prohibits the Arkansas Department of Education from issuing a license to a teacher found guilty of any of 33 offenses listed in Arkansas Code 6-17-410.The department, through the State Board of Education, also can revoke a license when a teacher is found guilty of any of those offenses.

Benton County
--------------
Arkansas Code Search here.
The 33 offenses include:
1) Capital murder as prohibited in § 5-10-101;
(2) Murder in the first degree as prohibited in § 5-10-102 and murder in the second degree as prohibited in § 5-10-103;
(3) Manslaughter as prohibited in § 5-10-104;
(4) Battery in the first degree as prohibited in § 5-13-201 and battery in the second degree as prohibited in § 5-13-202;
(5) Aggravated assault as prohibited in § 5-13-204;
(6) Terroristic threatening in the first degree as prohibited in § 5-13-301;
(7) Kidnapping as prohibited in § 5-11-102;
(8) Rape as prohibited in § 5-14-103;
(9) Sexual assault in the first degree, second degree, third degree, and fourth degree as prohibited in §§ 5-14-124 — 5-14-127;
(10) Incest as prohibited in § 5-26-202;
(11) Engaging children in sexually explicit conduct for use in visual or print media, transportation of minors for prohibited sexual conduct, employing or consenting to the use of a child in a sexual performance, or producing, directing, or promoting a sexual performance by a child as prohibited in §§ 5-27-303, 5-27-305, 5-27-402, and 5-27-403;
(12) Distribution to minors as prohibited in § 5-64-406;
(13) Any felony in violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, § 5-64-101 et seq.;
(14) Sexual indecency with a child as prohibited in § 5-14-110;
(15) Endangering the welfare of a minor in the first degree as prohibited in § 5-27-205;
(16) Pandering or possessing visual or print medium depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child as prohibited by § 5-27-304;
(17) False imprisonment in the first degree as prohibited in § 5-11-103;
(18) Permanent detention or restraint as prohibited in § 5-11-106;
(19) Permitting abuse of a child as prohibited in § 5-27-221(a);
(20) Negligent homicide as prohibited by § 5-10-105(a);
(21) Assault in the first degree as prohibited by § 5-13-205;
(22) Coercion as prohibited by § 5-13-208;
(23) Public sexual indecency as prohibited by § 5-14-111;
(24) Indecent exposure as prohibited by § 5-14-112;
(25) Endangering the welfare of a minor in the second degree as prohibited by § 5-27-206;
(26) Criminal attempt, criminal solicitation, or criminal conspiracy as prohibited in §§ 5-3-201, 5-3-202, 5-3-301, and 5-3-401, to commit any of the offenses listed in this subsection;
(27) Computer child pornography as prohibited in § 5-27-603;
(28) Computer exploitation of a child in the first degree as prohibited in § 5-27-605;
(29) Felony theft as prohibited in §§ 5-36-103 — 5-36-106, and 5-36-202;
(30) Robbery as prohibited by §§ 5-12-102 and 5-12-103;
(31) Breaking or entering as prohibited by § 5-39-202;
(32) Burglary as prohibited by § 5-39-201;
(33) Forgery as prohibited by § 5-37-201;

August 14 - Reese will likely in the classroom Monday despite drug arrest

August 15 - Teacher Won't Be In Classrooms Monday
Officials said Thursday that Reese would teach at Oakdale Middle School, but reversed that position Friday afternoon. Ashley Kelley, district communication coordinator, refused answer questions from the Morning News about whether Reese still works for the district but in a capacity other than classroom teacher.

Reese will be arraigned September 22.

Rockport, INDIANA

CHARGES DISMISSED

Oct 4, 2007 -
Robert Ewing, 40, a South Spencer High School teacher, was arrested on theft, criminal confinement, and domestic battery charges for allegedly accosting his wife.

Ewing is a math and science teacher and boys and girls cross-country coach.

Full Name: Robert E. Ewing II

CHARGES DISMISSED - May 8, 2008
A motion to dismiss without prejudice was filed May 8, 2008 by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Neil C. Thomas because:
1. The victim in said cause has refused to cooperate with the prosecution.
2. That there is no independent corraborative evidence which would allow the State of Indiana to go forward with the prosecution of the above-captioned case.
Filed in Vanderburgh Superior Court.

CHARGES DISMISSED August 19 - Charges against Ewing related to an incident with his estranged wife in an Evansville parking lot last year have been dismissed. (Evansmille Courier & Press)

Urbana, ILLINOIS

Charges filed against three district officials who failed to report suspected child abuse.

August 7, 2008 - Criminal charges have been filed against former superintendent Gene Amberg, former human resources director Carmelita Thomas and former Thomas Paine Elementary School principal Janis Bradley.

These charges allege that the two top administrators and the school principal were aware or should have been aware of child abuse or neglect occurring in Thomas Paine Elementary School.

The state's attorney says all three former Urbana school district employees were mandated reporters and required by law to report suspected child abuse or neglect to the Department of Child and Family Services.

All three district officials are now retired. All face up to a year in prison. They are eligible for probation. Failure to report is a Class A misdemeanor.

They are scheduled to appear in court August 22.
---------------
BACKGROUND Jon White was found guilty of sexually abusing eight little girls at Thomas Paine Elementary School earlier this year. He was sentenced to 60 years in prison for abusing children in two counties.
TT entry for White.

Mandatory reporting is an inside joke. Not only is failure to report a misdemeanor but it doesn't result in revocation of a teacher's or administrator's license. The intent of Mandatory Reporting laws adopted in every state was to to require teachers, administrators, school personnel as well as other professionals - doctors, dentists, health care and mental health workers and others who have contact with children - to report their suspicions to the police or child welfare agencies. There is ABSOLUTELY NO LIABILITY should the report be in error. See previous entry.

We recently came across a 2005 paper by Daniel C. Swinton, "Criminal Liability, Failure to Report Child Abuse, and School Personnel: An Examination of History, Policy and Caselaw." that concludes that "the criminal liability affixed to mandatory reporting statutes for school personnel is hardly more than window dressing, or a vague, unrealized threat." He also notes that teachers have consistently reported a lower percentage of cases than other professionals.

You can be sure that if a doctor failed to report sexual or physical abuse of a child that later suffered other injuries, he would be liable to a malpractice lawsuit and a threat to his license, not to mention lawsuit by the parents. However, teachers and school officials have no such enforcement mechanisms and no professional penalties.

Eight children were needlessly abused because school officials ignored their legal, not to mention, human, responsibilities. The children and their families spent a year anticipating an ugly trial before White pleaded guilty.

At his sentencing, his lawyer presented 30 letters of support for his client, one from a fellow Thomas Paine teacher.

Waliluku, HAWAII

In Hawaii, no teacher - none, zero, zilch - has lost their license since 2001 - despite major drug convictions. Like this one.

June 4, 2008 - The largest drug bust in Maui County yielded 18.5 pounds of cocaine, approximately 6 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, 1 ounce of marijuana and more than $114,000 cash. The drugs had an estimated street value of more than $1.5 million.

Patrick Aniban, 44, and his wife, Ohia Aniban, 34, a first grade teacher at Christ The King School in Kahului, were arrested in the 2007 raid on their home. Today, Patrick Aniban pleaded no contest to drug charges. He will be sentenced August 5. He is facing 20 years.

Ohia Aniban is still awaiting trial, along with another defendant. A third defendant provided evidence and is awaiting sentencing.
---------------
TT - Hawaii has a huge problem with drug-dealing teachers. In response, the state negotiated an agreement with teachers that in exchange for an 8% raise, they accept random drug testing. It was opposed by the union. When members voted, however, they accepted the testing with a 63% vote.

Entry Entry Entry Entry
Hawaii Board of Education Refuses to pay for drug testing Entry
Reform stifled in Hawaii Entry

Why no teacher has lost their license. Entry
---------------
NO CONTEST PLEA August 7 - Ohia Aniban pleaded no contest to criminal conspiracy and two counts of third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug. Her husband was sentenced a day earlier to 20 years in prison. He will spend four years in prison before he becomes eligible for parole.

In exchange for her pleas to the reduced charges, the prosecution agreed to dismiss four other charges - two counts of possessing drug paraphernalia, second-degree promotion of a detrimental drug and promoting a controlled substance near a public park. As part of the plea agreement, the prosecution could ask that Ohia Aniban spend up to six months in jail when she is sentenced Oct. 16.

Hendersonville, NORTH CAROLINA

August 6, 2008 - David Pace, 57, a North Henderson High School carpentry and technical teacher, was charged in Buncombe and Guilford counties and South Carolina with soliciting sex from a child over the Internet.

Pace was arrested July 7. He was charged with four counts of criminal solicitation of a minor for allegedly participating in graphic online chats with detectives posing as young teenagers. Guilford County has charged him with two counts of criminal solicitation of a minor.

He resigned from his job effective Aug. 4 and voluntarily relinquished his teaching license.
Full Name: David Frank Pace

INDICTED October 16 - Pace was indicted by the United States Attorney’s Office one count of felony coercion or enticement of a female. Pace has also been charged in Guilford (NC) on two counts of criminal solicitation of a minor and in Greenville on four counts of criminal solicitation of a minor.

Bayside, CALIFORNIA

August 8, 2008 - Andrew Belant, 25, a second grade teacher's aide at Jacoby Creek Elementary School , pleaded not guilty at a preliminary hearing on Thursday.

He pleaded not guilty to 20 charges stemming from accusations he molested four boys, ages 9 to 13, between January 2007 and March 2008. He met them while working at a Eureka church and afterschool programs. He was arrested March 4.

Belant also worked at Lafayette Elementary School, the Humboldt Child Care Council and the Triumphant Life Camp. He was also a youth pastor.

Testimony at the preliminary included William Honsal, a district attorney investigator with the Child Abuse Services Team who interviewed the children.

Honsal told the court he traveled to Belant's Cutten residence to serve a search warrant the day after receiving reports of abuse. After knocking, Honsal said there was a long wait before Belant answered. He said Belant was detained on his couch while he began a cursory sweep of the home.

Honsal said inside Belant's room, he found two laptop computers running -- one of which was running what he called “Department of Defense grade” data destruction software, effectively wiping clean Belant's hard drive.

Full Name: Andrew Brian Belant

Berne, NEW YORK

August 11, 2008 - Police arrested Mary Petrilli, 54, principal of the Berne-Knox-Westerlo High School, on weapons and menacing charges.

State Police charged Petrilli with second degree menacing and fourth degree criminal possession of a weapon following an incident Saturday night during which she allegedly threatened a woman with a knife. Petrilli was holding a 12-inch kitchen knife during the incident, described in one story as a domestic incident.

Petrilli has been on medical leave since October, but resumed her post July 1. She is now on paid leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
-----------------------
Berne-Knox-Westerloo Junior/Senior High School includes grades 6-12 with 670 students. (Source: GreatSchools.net)
Be sure to read the parent comment.

Google Map (Source: GreatSchools.net)

Decatur, ILLINOIS

August 12, 2008 - Scott M. Brown, a P.E. teacher and the girls' volleyball coach at McArthur High School before resigning last year, was arrested July 18 charged with five counts of possessing child pornography with intent to disseminate.

He will be arraigned Friday.
No other online stories available.
-------------------------------
Macon County
CASE #: 2008 CF 001138
Arraignment scheduled 1:30 pm August 15, 2008.

Byron Center, MICHIGAN

When we say that students are excoriated when they step forward, we aren't kidding. Some of the most vicious remarks come from the sources you would least expect.

See comments at this story. And, especially this from a self-described "parent, child advocate, and teacher."

WOW! What about this case does make sense?
1. The charge? unclothed-NO
2. The proof? a disgruntled, failing student-well then
3. An individual with no history of questionable behavior

As a parent, child advocate, and teacher, I feel sickened by the charge and the verdict. I have witnessed "witch hunts" against both students and teachers. IT COULD HAPPEN TO ANYONE! I believe that administrators fear public outcry and react. Children have observed situations in the media and have learned to manipulate facts to suit their purpose. And frightened (or vendictive) parents believe their children. I probably would have believed mine! Another concern is for the "victim." When she begins to consider the consequences of her lies, her mental health will suffer? Where are the morals in the prosecutor, "victim," and administrators who know this to be false.

----------------------
TT - The teacher who was convicted is Steven Sanger. A jury took two hours to find him guilty of attempting to capture or distribute an image of an unclothed person. During closing arguments in the trial, his defense attorney said witnesses were mistaken in what they saw.

Four students testified that they saw the incident. The prosecution said they found other "up-skirt" photos that were shot in his classroom. A school secretary testified that she saw him wandering around distraught and muttering to himself: "I think I went too far this time." "He said he wasn't sure if he'd taken the picture or not," she said. TT entry for Sanger.

Makes you sad that a self-described teacher can't spell vindictive when he or she is so clearly in need of understanding what the word means. But it also makes you appreciate why students hesitate to come forward to report wrongdoing. You have to be hero material to want to put yourself through that kind of viciousness.

To those students and their families, thank you for doing the right thing.

Hammond, OREGON

August 13, 2008 - Jeremiah Scott, 26, a teacher at the North Coast Christian School, was arrested, accused of having sex with a 15-year-old student.

He is charged with eight counts of third-degree rape, a felony, and one count each of third-degree sodomy, a felony, contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor and sexual misconduct.

"We're looking to see if other young girls had similar experiences with Mr. Scott," Brown said. "That's going to be interesting, because the victim's family wonders what kind of supervision their daughter's been getting from the school."

Pacific County continues to investigate the case and is expected to charge Scott with two counts in connection with the case.
Full Name: Jeremiah Gunner Scott
----------------------------
Clatsop County. North Coast Christian School is a private school with 104 students. Source: GreatSchools.net
Google Map Source: GreatSchools.net
----------------------------
LEGAL NOTE: (from article) Third-degree rape is not a Measure 11 offense, which would require mandatory sentencing. The charge was third-degree rape because his alleged victim was 15 years old and sex was consensual, officials said. Oregon law states that sex of any sort with 12- or 13-year-old victims is second-degree rape and sex with victims younger than 12 is first-degree rape, both Measure 11 crimes.
-----------------------------
ARRAIGNMENT August 28 - Scott was arraigned Wednesday on eight counts of third-degree rape and one count of third-degree sodomy, all felonies.

His attorney asked that Scott be allowed to travel to Washington, where he might face related charges - the alleged victim was from Pacific County ."Does he have something pending across the river as well?" the judge n asked."Not at this point, but it's very possible," the attorney replied.

A resolution conference is scheduled for Oct. 29.

Narrows, VIRGINIA

Another band director arrested.


August 13, 2008 - John Maddy, 34, band director at Narrows High School, was arrested and charged with multiple felonies for having sex with a 16-year-old female student.

He was charged with 13 felonies and five misdemeanors. The charges include taking indecent liberties with a child while being in a custodial position and crimes against nature, both felonies, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor.

According to police, he admitted to the relationship and resigned the same day he talked to investigators. Maddy is the father of two children.
Full Name: John Stafford Maddy

From the news story: Maddy is the second band director at the high school to be arrested on similar charges in fewer than four years. A director charged in 2005 was found not guilty in a jury trial in April 2006.
----------------------
TT - They've got a long way to go to catch up with Helix High School in La Mesa, California, where two band directors and a geography teacher were convicted of having sex with students. A fourth resigned after he was arrested. All in separate instances and with different students. Entry
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RECOMMENDED READING: An award-winning series by Danny Robbins of the Houston Chronicle called "Out of Bounds" gives valuable insight into why there are so many instances of coaches having sex with students. The same can be said of band teachers. Link

Springfield, ILLINOIS

Declared not guilty by reason of insanity.

Nov 13, 2007 - Louis M. Kovin, 39, a technology teacher at Springfield Middle School, was arrested after a police chase that followed a meeting with school administrators. He was reportedly upset after the meeting.

Two schools were in lockdown while police looked for him. When they found him, a chase ensued. Deputies said the van repeatedly swerved into the opposite lane, ran vehicles off the road, and three times veered toward oncoming police cars.

They stopped him with road spikes.

He was being held in the Lucas County jail on two counts of felonious assault, felony fleeing and eluding, reckless operation, and inducing panic.

Nov 14 - From 13abc: The school board will discuss Kovin. 13abc learned that last March administrators put Kovin on a last chance employment agreement. A letter explains, Kovin may have accessed inappropriate websites while at the school. Last week, we are told Kovin quit his job, but then changed his mind.

Nov 14 - From the Toledo Blade: Kovin was taken to Northcoast Behavioral Healthcare. He threatened suicide in a telephone call to his wife.

The meeting Monday was in regard to Mr. Kovin's behavior Nov. 6 when he apparently became distraught over a complaint made by a parent about his interaction with a female student in his technology class, according to records contained in his personnel file.

He cleaned out his desk, turned in his keys and identification badge, tore his name off his mailbox, and left the building about 1:50 p.m., according to records.

During a meeting Friday, Mr. Kovin said it was no longer his intention to resign.

A letter Monday from Ms. Hott said, "You conducted yourself in a manner which does not reflect the behavior of a professional educator both with and in front of students and colleagues."

An evaluation in March said he "worked diligently to provide his students with interesting and relative lessons."

INSANITY DEFENSE Nov 21 - Kovin asked a Lucas County Common Pleas Court judge yesterday that his competency to stand trial be evaluated and he be found not guilty by reason of insanity. Kovin will be recommended for termination at the Nov. 28 board of education meeting.

DECLARED INCOMPETENT Dec 19 - Kovin was declared incompetent to stand trial in Lucas County Common Pleas Court yesterday and was ordered to undergo therapy at a local mental-health facility.

"The conclusion is that the defendant is responsive to medication, however, not presently competent," Judge McDonald said. He said Mr. Kovin could be restored to competency within a year with proper medication.

Judge Frederick McDonald referred to seven-page report authored by a doctor at Northcoast Behavioral Healthcare when making his decision.

COMPETENT Jan 16, 2008 - Less than a month later, Kovin has been declared capable of assisting in his own defense. The defense still plans an insanity plea. The judge referred Kovin to the Court Diagnostic and Treatment Center to determine whether the plea would be appropriate. The issue will be heard Feb. 12 by Judge Frederick McDonald.

SECOND EXAM ORDERED Feb 13 - The judge ordered a second psychological evaluation to help Judge Frederick McDonald rule on whether to accept his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. The judge ordered the evaluation at the request of the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office.

CONTINUED TREATMENT August 13 - A judge ordered continued treatment for Kovin that includes psychiatric treatment and medications. Kovin was found not guilty by reason of insanity May 13 after a bench trial before Judge Frederick McDonald. Because he is under the court's jurisdiction for as long as he could have been sentenced if found guilty, Mr. Kovin must continue to undergo treatment and will have periodic court appearances.

Saratoga Springs, NEW YORK

The girl was 14 years old. No sex, but, sheeze, even his wife was freaked out.

August 5, 2008 - Mark Oppenneer, 37, a tenured English teacher at Saratoga Springs High School, will be fired after a hearing by the State Education Department determined he had an inappropriate relationship with one of his students in 2007. The 36-page state report recommended the firing, but did not indicate whether Oppenneer will lose his teaching license.

He was charged by the Saratoga Springs City School District with twelve counts of misconduct in September of 2007 after the mother of one of his former ninth-grade students discovered email and online correspondences between the two.

Examples of misconduct, according to the district, included Oppenneer inviting the student to meet for lunch or coffee on several occasions; his corresponding with her via telephone, text messages and MySpace; his exchanging CDs with her; and his giving her a leather notebook.

Throughout those correspondences [with the girl,] Oppenneer admitted several times knowing the relationship had developed to a point that would be deemed inappropriate by his wife, the girl's parents, school officials and "society" at large, saying, for example:

- "My wife became very upset this afternoon. She perused our conversations and found them very disturbing... I also imagine it would freak your parents out, too. And perhaps the school officials... not to mention the police." (June 22, 2007)

- "It's that whole what society thinks thing -- that somehow the mere feeling that I enjoy communication with you is bad. If you were a mom and you knew your daughter was up at 1:36 doing this, you would feel pretty upset." (August 17, 2007)

- "I'd be hard pressed to explain to other adults (my wife included) the nature of our friendship." (August 26, 2007)

District officials began to investigate Oppenneer when the girl's parents discovered the emails the two had been sending each other and contacted State Police, who in turn began talking to school and district officials. No criminal charges were filed, and there were no allegations of a physical relationship.

August 13 - Oppenneer was fired Tuesday from Saratoga Springs High School by a unanimous vote of the school board.

Ault, COLORADO

An Alford plea is not an admission of guilt but an acknowledgement that should the case go to trial, he would likely be found guilty. Under law, the plea is treated like a guilty plea.

Sept 20, 2007 - John Cochran, 41, a Highland High School social studies teacher, was arrested on suspicion that he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old during the 2006 school year.

Cochran faces possible charges of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust. The La Salle resident was accused of that same charge in 1996, according to the Weld County Sheriff's Department, but that case was dismissed before it went to trial.

Cochran had been teaching a senior-level course as an adjunct professor in the University of Northern Colorado's school of education. He taught social at the high school in Ault in the 2005-06 school year, after serving a year as a substitute. His contract was not renewed after the 2005-06 school year.
Full Name: John Rogers Cochran

BOND Sept 22 - Cochran is barred from any contact with children as a condition of bond, which was set at $25,000. His attorney argued for the lower bail because Cochran has another job working at a casino and didn't want to lose that job. Next court appearance is Nov 15.

NOT GUILTY PLEA Jan 18, 2008 - Cochran pleaded not guilty to sexual assault. A four-day trial is set to begin June 9.

PLEA August 12 - Cochran entered an Alford plea to unlawful sexual contact. Charges of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust were dropped. According to the plea deal, Cochran must register as a sex offender and have no contact with anyone younger than 18, including his own children.

Cochran taught at Highland High School in Ault during the 2005-06 school year and had been teaching as an adjunct instructor at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. Highland did not renew his contract because of complaints of inappropriate conduct with female students and inappropriate comments he made about female faculty and students, according to the arrest warrant.

He could face up to five years of intensive supervised probation when he is sentenced on Sept 25.
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TT - What is consistent and very disturbing about stories coming from Colorado is that the victim is very rarely mentioned or, worse, considered by either the news media, the prosecution, or the courts. Somehow, they don't think it particularly creepy that a 41-year-old man should have sexual contact with a 16-year-old girl. There seems to be no interest or surprise or concern at the plea agreement that contains no contact restrictions that are unusual, to say the least. They act as though every convicted sex offender is forbidden to have no contact even with his own children. Why??

Nor is there any great concern that there were prior allegations and that he taught at the school of education preparing other teachers for the field. Talk about whacked out. It's Colorado. Welcome to the low-oxygen zone.

Ringling, OKLAHOMA

August 11, 2008 - Ringling High School teacher
Robin Dillon, was arrested for public intoxication, resisting arrest and assaulting an officer.

Carter County District Attorney Craig Ladd says he is still waiting to hear from more witnesses in the case to see what they know about what happened before and after the incident.

KTEN reported that Ringling police and parents told the reporter that at the end of the school year, in May, there was a party at her house with alcohol and fighting. The police chief says they couldn't press charges on Dillon because the teenagers didn't want to be singled out for going to police. Parents were upset that nothing was done by the school board since they first voiced their concerns last year.

North Scituate, RHODE ISLAND

More pot growers.
Two of the children showed an investigator where the plants were.

August 7, 2008 - Joan Lowell, 36, a PonagansetMiddle School teacher, and her 24-year-old husband were arrested and charged with felony counts of marijuana cultivation and conspiracy to break controlled substance laws and possession charges.

A Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) investigator told police they had received numerous tips about the growing plants on the DCYF hotline, including one from a relative. A DCYF investigator told police she went to the house on Thursday and two of the Lowell children showed her where the plants were. She then called police. Police found a number of plantss.

Four of the woman’s five children were placed in custody of her first husband and father of the four. Lowell’s other child was placed with the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF). The children range from age 2 months to 10.

Aug 5 - Johnston Middle School Teacher Arrested For Growing Pot at Home
See video at site.

Rocky Mount, NORTH CAROLINA

Never too old to act like a hormone-crazed teenager.

August 13, 2008 - Kelly Bartz, 39, a Rocky Mount High School teacher, was arrested. She was indicted by a Nash County grand jury on charges of sexual activity with a student by a teacher.

Bartz resigned from her position as an English teacher at Rocky Mount High School on June 30 after the mother of the 17-year-old boy contacted school officials.

Bartz's first court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 25.
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Case # 2008005618 and CRS#2008005619 CRS
Nash County

Australia

You just don't get headlines like this from the amoral U.S. media.

Ex-Brighton Grammar teacher admits child pornography shame
Defence lawyer John Dickinson said Hewitt's former high standing in the community had made his downfall all the greater.

"One doubts he will ever regain that reputation," Mr Dickinson said.

Brighton Grammar chaplain Brian Porter gave evidence that Hewitt had lost just about everything.

The Victorian Institute of Teaching said Hewitt was no longer registered as a teacher.
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TT - If it had been reported here in the U.S., a shameless defense lawyer would claim the pictures were no worse than watching a video game, no one would ever use the "R" word because reputation is something our Peter Pan Press knows little about. A psychologist would actively campaign against sentencing him to anything but expensive sex therapy, provided, of course, by another expensive psychologist, if not the same psychologist. And, despite the guilty plea, it would take two to three years and $200,000 to strip him of a teaching license.

Denver, COLORADO

August 12, 2008 - Brittany Wild, 28, a third-grade elementary school teacher at Columbine Elementary School, pleaded guilty to marijuana cultivation and was sentenced to a two-year deferred sentence. Prosecutors dropped two felony possession charges, one charge of possession with intent to distribute, and one misdemeanor child abuse charge.

If she completes her two-year deferred sentence, her felony conviction will be dismissed.

Wild and her husband were arrested last month in their home on suspicion of growing and possession of marijuana. Police found the couple’s child in the room with the drugs, and arrested both parents on suspicion of child abuse.

Social services placed the child in foster care.

When the district laid off about 85 teachers this spring, Wild was among them. She is listed as Brittany Webb, which was her maiden name.

Her husband will be arraigned August 29. Michael Wild, 33, has been charged with several drug-related violations in Colorado dating back to 1995, according to court records.

Edinburg, TEXAS

August 6, 2008 - Nelson Galloso, 47, a teacher at the South Texas Business, Education, Technology Academy, was arrested, charged with two counts of indecency with a child and two counts of improper relationship between an educator and student.

Allegations surfaced in April. A Child Protective Services worker says two female students, ages 15 and 17, made an outcry to her. They claimed Galloso inappropriately touched their breast and butt. He'd allegedly rubbed his body up against theirs and put his hand underneath their shirts.

School officials placed Galloso on leave in the spring after the girls complained he repeatedly fondled them and encouraged one of the teens to bring a bikini for an overnight field trip for which he forged her father's signature on a permission form.

Texas Child Protective Services investigated the incident and eventually contacted the Edinburg Police Department.

"Galloso would hug her from behind grabbing her waist and would sit her on his front lap refusing to let go," court records state.

Along with Galloso's teaching duties at BETA, he also was the school's yearbook adviser. Galloso often contacted his alleged victims after school, calling the girls' cell phones and sending messages to them via MySpace, the social networking Web site, court records state.

North Port, FLORIDA

August 7, 2008 - Ronald C. Barche, an ROTC teacher at North Port High School, was arrested after a 16-year-old victim and her parents contacted them on Sunday to report that the child received inappropriate text messages from Barche.

He was arrested on charges of use of computer service/electronic