West Seneca, NEW YORK

August 8, 2007 - Anthony Harper, 33, a French teacher at West Seneca East Middle School, was arrested for "an alleged relationship with" (SEX ABUSE OF) a 13-year-old boy.

Harper is charged with committing a sexual act with a child, possession of sexual performance by a child, sex abuse, and endangering the welfare of a child.

Dec 17 - Harper was arraigned on sex abuse charges. He is charged with criminal sexual act, sexual abuse, and endangering the welfare of a child. Harper is accused of inappropriate touching and engaging in oral sexual conduct with the teen. Erie County DA Frank Clark says the inappropriate touching allegedly happened over an eight month span, with the alleged oral conudct happening in August.

Brooklyn, NEW YORK

His license to drive a cab was suspended.

August 8, 2007 - Chris Moriarty, 40, a teacher at Public School 10 on Seventh Ave. in Brooklyn, was arrested for possession of child pornography.

According to the New York Daily News, "The defendant stated that he preferred viewing pornographic images of girls of approximately 13 to 14 years of age who pose nude," the complaint states.

But the smut found on his computer included videos of children about 5 to 8 years old engaged in sexual activity and being sexually abused, according to special agent Robert Raab of the federal Homeland Security Department.

Moriarty moonlights as a cabbie and was featured on the HBO series "Taxicab Confessions" where sexually charged conversations with passengers were recorded and featured.

Bronx, NEW YORK

August 8 - Anthony Casey, Jr., 22, a teacher's aide at JHS 162, was arrested, accused of having sex with a 13-year-old student.

It's alleged by police that the Bronx teacher engaged in sexual intercourse with the student at least three times.

He is charged with Rape in the 2nd Degree and Sexual Abuse in the 2nd Degree both Class D felonies , Rape in the 3rd Degree, a Class E felony , Sexual Misconduct and Endangering the Welfare of a Child both “A” misdemeanors.

Press Release from The Special Commissioner of Investigation for the New York City School District. (Dated August 8, 2007)

Berryville, ARKANSAS

August 9, 2007 - The Berryville School Board voted to allow a middle school teacher who was placed on the Arkansas Department of Human Services Child Maltreatment Central Registry back into the classroom. She will an elementary literacy coach

The teacher is married to a former a Berryville Superintendent who was fired after some board members said he tried to hide the department’s investigation of his wife’s conduct along with the $ 1, 200 in district money he spent on her legal bills.

Julie Munsell, a spokesman for Human Services, said Tuesday that teachers face no penalties by law for placement on the state’s child-abuse list.

Also, school districts aren’t required to consult the list during the hiring process. At childcare facilities across the state, the department must approve the hiring of anyone on the maltreatment list.

Teachers do face losing their teaching licenses if convicted of abuse in a criminal court, Munsell said.

TT - The fact that a teacher convicted of abuse doesn't automatically have their license revoked says a lot, doesn't it?

Spokane, WASHINGTON

ARRESTED: August 8, 2007 - Gordon Erickson, 78, a retired Spokane teacher, was arrested for allegedly trying to have sex with a four-year-old and a baby.

An investigation began over a week ago after SIU Detectives received information that Erickson was trying to illicit sexual favors from young children via the internet.

The investigation led police to use wire taps to record Erickson's conversations about renting the two young children for the sexual encounters.

Through the use of an undercover detective and two fictitious children, ages 11 months and 4 years old, Erickson agreed to go a specified location to meet the two children. He also agreed to bring candy, popcorn and $100 per child to the location with him.

Erickson late showed up to the house with the specified items, and he was arrested.

Erickson retired as a teacher and administrator in the Spokane Public School District in 1982. A Spokesman for the school district says they don't have personnel records dating back to that time to know whether any complaints were made against Erickson during his tenure with the district.

Source: KXLY

August 21 - KHQ has obtained copies of what they describe as "the transcript of Erickson's conversations with the undercover officer."

PDF They are arresting documents and charging requests. Erickson showed up with a bag of popcorn and candy to molest the children.

August 29 - His lawyer claims that the prostitute fabricated the claims. The allegations have made Erickson an outcast at his retirement home and he's decided to move away.

Baltimore, MARYLAND

August 8, 2007 - Baltimore County District Court Judge Bruce Lamdin said he was giving David Riley, 59, the benefit of the doubt when he sentenced him to three years probation for 8,000 photos, including some that showed boys aged 10 to 18 in "'sadomasochistic' states, being bound and or tortured. Only the first year will be supervised.

"You characterized these photos as nothing more than tie-up games played as a child," Lamdin said. "I don't know anyone who would, unless they hang out with Jeffrey Dahmer," the serial killer of boys and young men.

Riley was a church choirmaster who was a part-time music teacher at Boys' Latin School during the early 1980s. He also taught in area public schools from 1969 to 1972. Later, he taught at Garrison Forest School in Owings Mills .

Several parents who attended the sentencing asked the judge to prohibit Riley from working with children during his probation, but Lamdin declined to add such an order.

"I'm willing to give (Riley) the benefit of the doubt that he just looks at pictures and keeps his hands to himself," Lamdin said.

Baltimore police are continuing their investigation.

Toledo, OHIO

July 2, 2007 - Tiffany Yglesias, 31, pleaded no contest to one count of theft from an elderly or disabled adult.

Yglesias was a Toledo Public Schools coordinator who helped author a 2006 guide on ways for parent-teacher organizations to avoid theft.

According to county Assistant Prosecutor Jeremy Santoro, Yglesias stole seven checks from her mother-in-law's purse and wrote them for a total of $2,880. She was attempting to pay off cash advances as well as return money to her husband's bank account that she had taken without permission.

She claims she had a shopping addiction.

In 2004, she pleaded no contest to one count of grand theft and two counts of theft. After being found guilty of the charges, Yglesias was ordered to serve four years of community control, including time in work-release, as well as pay $11,710.70 in restitution. She was warned that she faced 42 months in prison if she violated the terms.

Mr. Santoro said the circumstances of the 2004 case were similar to the recent one in that Yglesias stole checks and forged them.

No date for sentencing was given.

SENTENCED: August 8 - Yglesias was sentenced to 17 months in prison. The judge denied her request for time to get her affairs straightened out and ordered her into custody immediately.“You have to know this has to stop,” Judge Cook said.

The judge also extended community control for an additional two years for a previous conviction in 2004.

Yglesias has two daughters, age 9 and 11. The couple is in the middle of a divorce. Her husband denies she has a "shopping addiction."

TT - Unanswered is how she was deemed acceptable to work for the school district in 2006 after her 2004 conviction.

Nov 28 - There are no online disciplinary actions for this teacher at the Educator Conduct database in Ohio.

Brighton, COLORADO

Story dated August 7, 2007 - The Brighton Standard Blade looked at how school districts deal with background checks.

TT - The really disturbing part is at the bottom.

The state education department sends the district an updated list of teacher license revocations and/or suspensions, usually twice a year.

Good to know they're right on top of things.

Albany, GEORGIA

August 7, 2007 - Lendon Lewis, 42, Dougherty County School System elementary teacher, was arrested and charged with making terroristic threats.

Police say he's the one who put a package containing a powdery substance in a mailbox on Surrey Road in July.

See July 28 news report on the anthrax scare.

Roanoke, VIRGINIA

Mar 2, 2007 -
Thomas Nuckles, 48, a teacher at Country Bear Day School, was convicted of forcible sodomy for molesting a 4-year-old boy while he worked at a Roanoke County day care center.

Nuckles entered an Alford plea, which means he maintained his innocence but did not wish to risk a trial by jury. After hearing a summary of the evidence, Roanoke County Circuit Judge James Swanson found Nuckles guilty.

An astute mother gathered the evidence.

The boy, one of his students, told his mother one day that Nuckles had made a sexual threat toward him, but when the mother questioned Nuckles, he was able to give an innocuous explanation.

Then on April 19, as the boy's mother was driving her son home, he told her Nuckles had performed oral sex on him. She pulled over and questioned her son, who repeated what he'd said and made a gesture demonstrating what he said Nuckles had done.

The boy's mother took him home, separated and bagged his clothes, and called police the next day. DNA swabs were taken from the boy and from Nuckles.

Full Name: Thomas Daniel Nuckles

During a November preliminary hearing, the boy, then 5, referred to Nuckles as a "bad person" during testimony.

SENTENCED: August 7 - Nuckles pleaded guilty in March (one online story says he was convicted) and was sentenced to 40 years, suspended after he serves 15.

Ozark, ALABAMA

August 7, 2007 - Juan Cruz, 22, an elementary school teacher, was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana in the second degree.

A friend was also arrested.

[Ozark deputy police chief Myron] Williams said the two men were smoking at the time Ozark police drug agents entered the residence in response to complaints of drug activity there. Agents also observed other drug paraphernalia, according to an Ozark police report.

August 16 - Cruz has been placed on administrative leave. He has a September 19 court date. Cruz had not reported to the first day of school on Monday or by 9 a.m. Tuesday. He's a first year teacher.

Methuen, MASSACHUSETTS

SICK (LEAVE) ABUSE

August 6, 2007 - Methuen school district has a proposed new policy on "sick abuse."

The policy, which has already been adopted for the contracts of other school employees, including administrators, is short on detail.

It does not say what discipline should be taken and only loosely defines "situations which suggest abuse" as "more than four absences which suggest a pattern."The vague language is on purpose, Superintendent Jeanne Whitten said.

Instead of functioning as a punitive tool, the policy is meant to help identify sick-leave abuse and to encourage employees and administrators to work out a solution, she said.

Under the policy as proposed, a meeting with a union representative is scheduled if a principal or supervisor suspects abuse by an employee. The supervisor then has five days to notify the employee if the "excuse for absence was deemed unacceptable." If discipline is to be used, the superintendent and union president are informed immediately.

The union president is "willing to consider" the proposal, but if the policy is implemented, the union will participate in any disciplinary discussions about sick-leave abuse.

School Committee member Gary Marcoux pointed to the lack of union resistance to the policy as proof that it is worth implementing.

TT - The problem with such news stories is that they leave more questions than answers.

Administrators get 18 sick days a year.
How many days do teachers get?

Exactly how many sick days were taken in the last school year by teachers?
How many teachers exceed the average?

Who exactly is in charge of their schools? The administrators or the union?

The Eagle Tribune knows the answers to those questions because they investigated and produced a series called "Marked Absent" written in 2003 on just this topic.

The region's attendance records also show patterns that suggest individual sick leave abuse. The analysis found more than 150 teachers who used a disproportionate amount of sick time on Mondays, Fridays or next to regularly scheduled breaks. Those teachers used a week's worth of sick time or more in 2001-02, at least three-quarters of which came before or after weekends or holidays.

And,

All those absences added up, the analysis found. More than 75,000 days taken throughout the region, including nearly 50,400 sick days, represented more than enough time to fill every teaching slot in the Gloucester school district for the entire year.

Read the whole thing. It's worth the time to find out what questions you should ask of your school board.

July 31, 2007 -The Eagle Tribune series on unfunded pension costs also makes good reading.
July 27, 2007 - A bookkeeper for the Methuen School Department was arrested for selling cocaine.

All in all, a great newspaper.

Pooler, GEORGIA

ARRESTED: August 1, 2007 -
Joshua Evans, 25, a St. Andrews Elementary School music teacher, was arrested and charged with trying to access pornography and engage in inappropriate conversations with a child through the Internet. He was caught in a sting.

Evans was arraigned in Federal court today.
Source: WTOC

WSAV has a statement by the headmaster of the school.

FIRED: Aug 2nd - Evans was fired. His wife is pregnant and sat in the courtroom. She, too, is a schoolteacher.

GUILTY PLEA: August 6, 2007 - Evans pleaded guilty to a charge he attempted to receive child pornography over the Internet. He was fired from the school after his arrest. No sentencing date given.

TT - List of teachers or administrators guilty but not yet sentenced for child pornography.
TT - List of teachers or administrators sentenced for child pornography.

New Entry

Entry for 2nd Annual Idiotic Headline Writer Award to be awarded when we feel like it.

From the Waco Tribune
POLICE REPORT: Waco Baptist Academy moves on after ex-teacher charged with child indecency

"Moving on" is one of those loathsome phrases that suggests that the past is better left behind. It usually refers to a history that the guilty like to toss overboard, which is how in a therapeutic society the phrase got some backing in the first place.

The school isn't "moving on." They are getting on with the business of --being a school. In the therapeutic model, however, the students would be inundated with counselors eager to assuage their anger or disbelief. Heck, even the teachers might be offered counseling. Certainly there would be a post-traumatic group hug and a songfest to commemorate how they feel, or felt, before the group hug and therapy session.

New Orleans

Normally, I wouldn't link to the left wing, loony CounterPunch. It's not a publication I would read regularly, if at all, except to follow a link. But when they run an article called, "Fighting for the Right to Learn in New Orleans," I was intrigued.

It was written by Bill Quigley who is described as a human rights lawyer and law professor at Loyola University New Orleans.

The pettiness of the Left is particularly ugly to watch or read. Most of the time their righteous indignation is amusing if the topic wasn't so important.

Read the article and form your own opinion. This seems, however, to be the main contention.

Of the public schools operating at the end of the 2006-2007 academic year, educating 57 percent of public school students, were charters.

This makes New Orleans the urban district with by far the highest proportion of publicly funded charter schools in the nation. Dayton Ohio has the second highest concentration of charter schools involving 30% of its 17,000 students.

This experiment has resulted in a clearly defined two-tier public school system.

TT - The main complaint? Charter schools are competition for the miserable pre-Katrina school system in New Orleans that mired children and adults in poverty and crippled them with ignorance. That winning combination makes for a compliant constituency with no real ability to judge the worthiness of their candidates. They remain captive constituents when welfare tethers them to the swamps of mediocrity, corruption, and chronic unemployment.

Why else would anyone vote for, let alone, re-elect Ray Nagin except someone who worked for him? With a turnout of 113,591 (final) votes, Nagin got 59,460** and with 32,000 people who work in healthcare and social assistance in New Orleans, it's not only possible but probable, if you count the employees, their families and relatives.

** 66,787 actually voted against him and for some other candidate in the April primary.

Then follow links at this site. HERE HERE HERE

SchoolMatters (from Standard and Poors) Observations on the Orleans Parish School Board. (Note: their data is from school years 1999-2000 to 2004-2005)

Idiotic Headline Writers Awards

FIRST ANNUAL
IDIOTIC HEADLINE WRITERS AWARDS

MOST FRIVOLOUS AWARD
To Central Florida 13:
Teacher Accused Of Inappropriate Lessons With Student
For a story about Janet Hughes, 32, arrested in a car with a 16-year-old male student. On one count of sexual battery on a child, and attempted sexual battery. It was the second time in a month that Hughes was accused of an inappropriate relationship with a student.
TT - Link for Hughes

HEADLINE WRITER MOST LIKELY TO BE A ROMANCE WRITER
To the Chicago Daily Herald:
Ex-W. Aurora teacher arrested for tryst with student.
The headline writer apparently missed the words, "sexual abuse" and "sexual assault."
TT - Link for Watson

STANDOUT PERFORMANCE
(By a newspaper that should know a lot better.)
By the St. Petersburg Times
Where the student's refusal to testify became: "Student refuses to testify against teacher-boyfriend"
The newspaper also editorialized against prison for the 29-year-old music teacher, which became a TT Rant of the Day, considering what the newspaper represents.
TT - Link for Rant

PRETTY CONSISTENT ATTITUDE from a NEWSPAPER CHAIN
Three headlines provide a comparison of headline writing in a story about the Capuchino High School music teacher arrested and charged with 32 felony sex charges. TT - Link

The winner, of course, is the San Mateo Times for "Teacher pleads not guilty to affair."
The teacher pleaded no contest eventually and was sentenced to one year. He was Adam Albrecht, 29, ( TT -Link) and the student was 17.

LETTER to the EDITOR CATEGORY
We honor The Canton Repository. A Letter to the Editor must have missed the point because the copy editor chose a headline that didn't come close to the very good points the letter raised. But, then, that's largely a function of editors and copy editors: miss the point by a mile and race on to the next issue in a never-ending determination to reduce excessive subscribership. It's a paper-saving thing.
TT -Link

Legislation

With little fanfare, Louisiana passed a law criminalizing teacher-student sex.

House Bill 969 creates the crime of prohibited sexual contact between an educator and a student when the victim is 17 years of age or older, but less than 19 years of age, when the victim is not the spouse of the offender and is a student at the school where the educator is assigned, employed or working at the time of the offense. Under the legislation, consent of a student 17 years of age or older or not knowing the student's age are not defenses.

Penalties include a fine of not more than $1,000 or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. Second or subsequent offenses carry a fine of not more than $5,000 and imprisonment, with or without hard labor, for one to five years.

The bill awaits gubernatorial consideration.

From HOUSE NOTES
The Latest News from the State Capitol, Louisiana House of Representatives, Regular Session Wrap-Up, July 3, 2007
--------------------------
Signed into law, July 9, 2007

Cleaning House

August 4, 2007 - The Dallas Morning News deserves accolades for their investigative report last year on school employees with criminal records. Since then, the school district and the Texas Education Agency (TEA) have worked to update their records.

The Dallas Independent School District has fired, or forced to resign, 24 employees since November for failing to notify the district of arrests or court judgments for serious crimes, including indecent exposure, theft and felony assault, according to information received from DISD.

The employees include nine teachers and a teacher's assistant.

DISD also has reported at least 141 educators to the Texas Education Agency for having a criminal background or for running afoul of district rules. State law requires districts to notify TEA within seven days after learning about a licensed educator's criminal history or a dismissal for violating district policies.

Several employees claimed they didn't know they were supposed to report their convictions.

Some employees say they didn't report crimes because they didn't know they were supposed to. Starting this school year, the district plans to require all employees to sign a statement saying that they understand the district's policy.

In addition, the school district is implementing a number of other policies, including giving school board members a weekly report of individuals reported to TEA; and reporting educators to TEA as DISD learns about them instead of waiting to send groups of names.

See TT - Background checks and 1992 Dallas Morning News report.

Prescott, ARIZONA

ARRESTED: May 22, 2007 -
David Chauncey, 58, an English teacher at Prescott High School, was arrested in connection with possession of child pornography.

A random computer check at the Prescott High School raised concerns when Chauncey's computer hard drive showed more frequent use of the Internet compared to the other teachers.

The computer was frequently used when students weren't in class, and attempts were made to enter blocked Web sites, Morley said.

Police searched Chauncey's Prescott area home. Investigators examined his Prescott High School computer hard-drive and personal laptop. Authorities found pornography on the personal laptop, Morley said.

Chauncey was arrested on suspicion of ten counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor, according to police.

TT- what is commendable is that the school administrators pursued the matter by going to the police when, after finding no images on the school computer, they could have buried the matter with a private talk with the teacher and wished it all away.

The Daily Courier: Chauncey is the second PUSD teacher in a year to face child pornography charges. [James Lynn Anderson was the other teacher. TT link. ]

Detectives retrieved 70,000 images from Chauncey's school computer and personal laptop, Morley said, and the majority of them involved children. Police selected 10 photos, which depict children as young as toddlers in lewd acts, Morley said.

SENTENCED: August 4 - Chauncey was pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a minor younger than 15 and attempted sexual exploitation of a minor younger than 15.
He was sentenced to 10 years.

Odd headline: Man gets 10 years for lewd pictures
TT - What happened to the 70,000 images, including the "children as young as toddlers?"
Later Arizona Daily headline: Former Prescott teacher gets 10 years for child porn

Patronage System

It's about time.

August 4, 2007 - On his first day, James Lowe, interim president of Bishop State Community College sent letters to 13 employees saying the Mobile college intended to fire them.

Ten of the employees to whom letters were sent Wednesday were charged in May by the District Attorney's Office with theft of financial aid. Two of the employees were associated with academic irregularities in the college food service program, according to records obtained by the Press-Register.

BACKGROUND: Bishop State Community College is in Mobile, Alabama. Bishop State has been placed on probation by its accrediting agency. Former Chancellor Roy Johnson was fired by the state school board in July 2006 amid allegations of nepotism. Twenty-seven people associated with the college have been accused of stealing more than $200,000 in financial aid and sports program money. The former president, Yvonne Kennedy, was, more or less, forced to resign. Chancellor Bradley Byrne sent her notice recently that some perks negotiated during her "retirement" would be modified. He accused her of insubordination for refusing to fire one administrative employee - David Thomas.

The firings are symbolic. Except for David Thomas, the director of adult education and economic development, who was convicted on a hit and run charge and who was impeached from the Mobile County school board in 2006, Lowe expects the firings will be typical. ""I'm not concerned about our having an adequate basis" for termination, Byrne said. "I'm just concerned about this bizarre process and some of the bizarre results we've gotten from some of the arbitrators."

Double dipping is common, not as flagrant or as conspicuous as in New Jersey where corruption is an art form, but reporters found 40 members of the Legislature have direct or indirect financial ties to the colleges. Currently 13 legislators are also employed under Alabama's two-year college system. See The Huntsville Times editorial and the Press-Register editorial and the editorial of the Tuscaloosa News.

The new chancellor has also ordered the permanent closing of Bishop State Community College's Best Grill, a "culinary laboratory" that, as the Press-Register notes, "cooked up an astonishing $1.7 million in losses in a few years." (Two employees there were given termination intent letters. One was even listed as a student in his own class.)

Abstract from the Chronicle of Higher Learning on Bishop State Community College. (The entire report is behind a subscription wall, but you will get a good idea.)

Inside Higher Ed on probation for the two-year college.

CONSEQUENCES

"I will never understand being a mother herself how she could have done those these things with my child," one of the boys' mothers wrote to the court. "At one point he felt his life was ruined and over. It was heartbreaking knowing he felt that way because he's so young and still has his whole life ahead of him."

August 3, 2007 - The Roanoak Times filed a motion to unseal the sentencing hearing of Karen Susan Patton. It included the above quote from the boy's mother.

According to the transcript, families of both boys moved to escape the public notice that followed the abuse -- one to another county and one out of state.

"He was depressed and bitter at times," probation and parole officer Michael Montgomery testified about one of the victims.

"He was ridiculed by fellow classmates that suspected his involvement with Ms. Patton. Ridiculed to the point that he was homebound schooled the second half of the school year, plus the following school year, he refused to go to school. He just freaked out every time he entered a school, because he felt like everyone knew."

Both boys have had seen a psychologist or psychiatrist in the wake of their abuse. Researchers say teachers who prey on young students often excel in their educational roles because it can bring them more opportunities to be alone with victims.

---

TT - That's what sexual predators do to their victims. They rob them of their youth, their optimism, their hopes for the future. They alienate them from their friends, fellow students and classmates they grew up with.

Sexual predators find gratification wherever they can find it, and if it's a child, all the better.

They're just kids -- 13-year-old kids. And when colleagues of the teacher or the family of the teacher post comments that say "You know how 13-year-olds lie." and "This can happen to any family." you lie to yourself. Because most people, thank God, are not so indecent.

Most people want 13-year-old boys to be boys.

Fresno, CALIFORNIA

CONVICTED: July 11, 2007 -
Samuel Confectioner, 45, a substitute teacher at various Fresno schools, was convicted on two counts of child molestation for taking a 14-year-old boy to his hotel room one night and sexually abusing him.

The student was attending Edison High School at the time. The molestation occurred in 2004.

SENTENCED: August 3 - Confectioner was sentenced to two years in prison. He will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

The judge cut off Confectioner's statement in his own defense when the former teacher attacked the victim's family.

Confectioner claimed they encouraged the victim to commit crimes.

Graduation Rates

August 2, 2007 - Vermont is proud that their state rates fourth highest in graduation rates. In an Education Trust study, called "Graduation Matters: Improving Accountability for High School Graduation," Vermont scored 86.5, meaning Vermont graduated 86.5 percent of high school students in four years.

Not all states did so well, but a few did a fantastic job - well, if you believed the state's statistics.

Overall, Mississippi ranked 48 in graduation rates. Mississippi calculates their rate as 85.00% Mississippi's graduation rate was calculated by U.S. Department of Education at 63.30%

The entire report is online. Overall, the Education Trust report criticizes the No Child Left Behind Act for not setting higher graduation rate goals.

TT - The problem with this is that there is no meaningful way of measuring graduation rates unless states establish a tracking system to follow students as they enter school and at what stage they leave. At present, state calculations are haphazard and some are outright fraudulent.

Then, too, what does a high graduation rate accomplish except high turnover? Graduation rates are meaningless if students graduate without proficiency - (proficiency may sound like an impressive accomplishment but it means at grade level.) That was one purpose of NCLB - students were being graduated without demonstrable academic achievement. Urging higher graduation rates without accomplishment means social promotion. And wasn't that the problem in the first place?

The Education Trust report also includes this (on page 2.)

But data from Indianapolis give cause for concern. The state reported a 52 percent graduation rate for the district for 2005-06, but at the same time said that 33 percent more students graduated from 12th grade that year than were actually enrolled: 969 12th-graders and 1,281 graduates. (vi) While some students surely transferred into Indianapolis during their 12th grade, it’s improbable that transferin figures were so high. The Indianapolis school community cannot
allow such dubious data to go unexplained—or unchallenged.

Indeed.

August 5 -TT - One response to the report came from Louisiana. The Education Trust report contained no data for Louisiana. Unintentionally, the story on the "missing data" confirms the uselessness of the Graduation Rate report because of lack of standardization in determining graduation rates.

Waco, TEXAS

August 3, 2007 - Sergio Bezerra, 46, a teacher at Waco Baptist Academy, was arrested and charged with two counts of indececy with a child by contact.

He's accused of inappropriate sexual behavior with two 9-year-old students at the school. Parents of the victims contacted police. "According to the arrest afadavit the victims said Bezerra made them put their hand on his clothed private area. "

Source: KXXV - tv ABC

Erie, PENNYSLVANIA

August 3, 2007 - Tom Maciulewicz Jr., 37, McDowell Intermediate High School principal, was sentenced to two years' probation. He pleaded guilty in May to three counts of theft. He admitted stealing musical instruments, laptops and other items, some of which he sold on e-Bay.

Maciulewicz apologized and has paid $18,430 in restitution, said he wants "to do right the rest of my life."

Good luck in another profession.

Wayzata, MINNESOTA

August 3, 2007 - Todd W. Grams, 41, a Wayzata High School math teacher, was convicted of kidnapping and assaulting his former girlfriend last August. Grams gave up his right to a jury trial and had the judge determine the case.

Grams has been on paid leave from his job since the incident last August.

It's unlikely that Grams will face prison time, but he will have to register as a predatory offender. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept 12.

Austin, TEXAS

June 1, 2007 - Todd McDowell, 57, a teacher at Zavala Elementary School, pleaded guilty to charges of indecency with a child for allegedly touching a former student during a school camping trip and for groping her in a classroom after school, according to court documents.

He was arrested September 2006. The acts took place in 1996. No age of the victim at the time of the crime given. No sentencing date given.

KVUE: He will be required to register as a sex offender. He was originally charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child, a first degree felony.

SENTENCED: August 3 - McDowell was sentenced to 100 days in jail -not prison - and 10 years of probation.

McDowell pleaded guilty under a deferred adjudication agreement. In addition to the jail time and 200 hours of community service, McDowell will serve 10 years of probation. If he violates probation, he could be sentenced up to 20 years in prison. If he stays out of trouble, the charge against him could be removed from his record.

There was no mention of sex offender registration. Age of child was given as 13 at the time of the incident.

White, Christian Cracker

The New York Times is still flagging the "race" card.

In an emotionally charged case that has touched on differences in race, class and religion, a music teacher who regularly let elementary school girls sit on his lap while the class watched movies in a darkened classroom was convicted Thursday of sexually abusing one of them.

The teacher was white; the students were native American Indians. The school was an Onondaga Nation school near Syracuse, New York.

Albert Scerbo was found guilty.

"Bristling racial tensions" amounted to a small girl calling Scerbo a “white Christian cracker” in class the day before she accused him last December. The investigator for the prosecutor was a Mohawk and grew up on the Onondaga reservation.

The jury found Scerbo GUILTY of first-degree sexual abuse, a felony, and child endangerment, a misdemeanor. The girl, who had just turned 7 when she testified last week, told the court that Mr. Scerbo “put his hands on my stomach and then went down to my private parts.”

She had trouble recalling the dates of the abuse, as did many of the girls, but said, “It made me mad.”

TT - If she was the one who called Scerbo a white Christian cracker, good for her.

As for the New York Times, those are some REAL white crackers. Moose huggers, too.

Scerbo LINK Moose huggers LINK

Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA

ARRESTED: May 25, 2007 -
Daniel Velasco, 33, a a teacher at one of the College-Ready Academy High schools (charter school) was arrested on suspicion of having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old female student.

The student left her cellphone in a restroom and another student took it to the principal's office. While checking the phone to try to find out who it belonged to, the principal recognized a number for a teacher at the school and found "disturbing images and sexually explicit text messages involving the teacher and the girl."

From the Los Angeles Police Department Press Release:
Detectives' follow up investigation revealed the teacher and the student have been sexually involved for approximately 2 months. On May 21, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office filed seven counts of Lewd Acts with a Child Under 16. Velasco's bail was set at $250,000.
From LASD Inmate Information: Next court date is June 1.

PLEA AND SENTENCED: August 2 - Velasco pleaded no contest ("You can probably prove it in a court of law, but I dont' want to take a chance.") to committing a lewd act involving a 15-year-old female student. He was sentenced to 180 days in county jail and five years' probation.

Six other charges against him were dismissed as a result of the plea.

He must also undergo a year of sexual offender counseling and register as a sex offender for life.

Bargaining with Devils

RANT OF THE DAY

If your child is sexually abused by a teacher, you can be sure he'll be in a better position than any other man or woman accused of the crime. That's because the near impossibility of firing teachers gives them a bargaining chip - their teaching licenses.

The very people who prosecute teachers who sexually abuse students also work for the state that licenses those teachers. Since revoking a license is long, brutish and costly, the volunteer surrender of the license means time and money saved. For the victim, it's another victimization.

Shawn Feeney was sentenced to four years for sex with two female students. He pleaded to two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact and a single count of official misconduct. As part of his plea agreement, Feeney surrendered his teaching license. (New Jersey)

As part of a plea agreement, Scott Fazekas agreed to resign from his teaching position, surrender his state teaching license and register as a sex offender for sexual contact with a 16-year-old female student. He has yet to be sentenced. (Ohio)

Mark Taylor got a really hard slap of 60 days in jail for "intimidating his fiance," was released immediately for time served and ordered to leave Houston county. The agreement included a stipulation that Taylor would drop his appeal of his termination from the Houston County school system, the prosecutor said. Charges of stalking, simple battery, making harassing phone calls and false imprisonment were dismissed (Georgia)

A Michigan assistant principal, James Lighthizer, was sentenced to one year in the county jail -- not prison -- five years' probation and must register with the Sex Offender Registry, for sexually abusing a 15-year-old male student. The District attorney bragged. "He will surrender his teaching certificate," [District Attorney Bill] Whitesell said. "I have it in my possession." (Michigan)

See our rant about Lance Diefenderfer's sentencing. LINK
As a condition of the plea agreement, Diefenderfer’s teaching license was permanently revoked last week. One year home confinement, three years' probation for sex with an 11th grade student. (South Carolina)

Trenton, New Jersey teacher Slyvester Jones was allowed to enter Pretrial Intervention Program in lieu of a guilty plea. This, for sex with a student that started when she was 16-years-old. He is required "to never teach or coach again and surrender his New Jersey teaching license." He's 56-years-old.

Adam Albrecht was sentenced to one year in jail - not prison - for sex with a student. He pleaded no contest to one felony count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, one felony count of oral copulation with a minor, and one misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, for providing the girl with alcohol and marijuana. The judge confirmed that Albrecht has requested to have his teaching credentials permanently revoked."I am certain you will not teach again," Grandsaert offered, to which Albrecht nodded in agreement. The fact that he resigned his teaching position was also in his favor.

Newton, CONNECTICUT

Jan 11, 2007 - Jillian Gehrkens, 28, a guidance intern at Newtown High School, pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault after a yearlong sexual relationship 15-year-old student. She also pleaded guilty to contacting the victim despite having been ordered not to do so.

Initially free on a $25,000 bond, Gehrkens was placed under house arrest after she violated a no-contact order by meeting with the victim twice.

The plea bargain includes a nine-month sentence in state prison, 7 years in prison to be suspended after she serves the mandatory nine months, followed by 10 years of supervised probation. She will receive counseling for sex offender, and she will be placed on the state's sexual offender registry for 10 years.

She also is required to submit a DNA blood sample to serve as a reference substance for state investigations into sex crimes. HIV testing also would be done.

Gehrken has an 8-month-old daughter. Ms Gehrkens' husband and her parents attended court.
She will be sentenced March 12. (Sentencing delayed while she gave birth to a child.)

See Judge Relaxes House Arrest Rules In Sexual Assault Case
See archive coverage

SENTENCED August 2 -

A sobbing Jillian Gehrkens, with her wrists handcuffed behind her back, was led from a courtroom by several judicial marshals on Thursday, July 26, to a serve a nine-month prison term for her conviction on a second-degree sexual assault charge.

Her husband sat with other family members in the courtroom.

A nine-month prison sentence for Ms Gehrkens for the violation of conditions of release conviction will run concurrently. After prison, she will be required to register as a sex offender for ten years.

Judge Alexander warned that that if such student-teacher relationships do not stop in the broader society, the state legislature would take action to increase the minimum mandatory prison terms for convictions in such second-degree sexual assault cases.

San Bruno, CALIFORNIA

ARRESTED: June 29, 2007 -
Adam Albrecht, 29, was arrested on on 35 felony charges of oral sex and unlawful sexual intercourse with one of his students and four misdemeanor charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. (Age and sex not given.)

Albrecht is a band and choir teacher at Capuchino High School. No other information.
Full Name: Adam Glen Albrecht

NOT GUILTY PLEA: July 2 - Albrecht pleaded not guilty to 16 felony counts of oral copulation with a minor and 16 felony counts of unlawful sexual intercourse, as well as additional charges of witness dissuasion, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and possession of less than one ounce of marijuana. Albrecht will only be charged with conduct that allegedly occurred shortly before the student turned 18 years old.

July 5 - Bail was reduced from $500,000 to $100,000. Albrecht resigned. The girl's mother reported their relationship to police. The next court date is scheduled for July 12.

NO CONTEST PLEA: July 12 - Albrecht pleaded no contest to one felony count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, one felony count of oral copulation with a minor, and one misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, for providing the girl with alcohol and marijuana. He will be sentenced August 2.

SENTENCED August 2 - Albrecht was sentenced to one year in jail - not prison.

The girl's mother spoke in court this morning, saying that though her daughter, a drum major in the school's marching band, took responsibility for the relationship being her own idea, she was victimized by "her favorite teacher," a man in a position of authority who should have known better.

"She was driving the boat, but Mr. Albrecht was the adult," she said.

As for the lack of prison,

Judge John Grandsaert declined to sentence Albrecht to state prison, noting that he has "no prior record whatsoever," that he resigned his teaching position as soon as the relationship was discovered, and that he has requested to have his teaching credentials permanently revoked.

"I am certain you will not teach again," Grandsaert offered, to which Albrecht nodded in agreement.

Albrecht will be on probation three years.

Morrisville, PENNSYLVANIA

Assistant DA says, the girl, now 17, pursued the 56-years-old teacher.

June 1, 2007 -
Sylvester L. Jones, 56, facing criminal charges in one county for sex with a 17-year-old girl and despite a court order to stay away from her, was arrested when they were found were having sex in his car.

Jones was charged with corruption of minors, disorderly conduct, indecent exposure and trespassing for driving onto park property.

The gym teacher was already reassigned by the school to an administrative office. After this arrest, the judge jailed him on $100,000 bail. His wife posted $10,000 cash bond a day later.
He teaches at Trenton Central High School.

UPDATE June 19 - A preliminary hearing was continued for Jones as he claimed illness. No new date has been set. The girl was 16 when their sexual encounters began.

UPDATE June 22 - Jones was freed on $25,000 bail so he could attend his daughter's wedding. His wife and daughter requested the release. The prosecutor predicts Jones will get probation.

UPDATE July 11 - A judge dismissed the charge of indecent exposure against Jones but left charges of corruption of a minor, disorderly conduct and trespass to remain.

The sexual assault charge that Jones faces in New Jersey stems from his relationship with the victim as a teacher, not her age, said Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Robin Scheiner. That charge pending indictment, she said.

SENTENCED (SORTA) in New Jersey: August 2 - Sylvester Jones was allowed to enter the Pretrial Intervention Program which is for first-time, non-violent offenders and does not require a guilty plea.

Jones, of West State Street, was required to submit to a psychiatric exam, to never teach or coach again and surrender his New Jersey teaching license. Jones, who was a physcial [sic] education teacher at Trenton Central High School, submitted his papers for retirement after a 27-year teaching career.

Assistant Prosecutor Robin Scheiner said the lenient outcome for the case was due to the victim's refusal to cooperate in the prosecution.

The girl, now 17, had pursued Jones, Scheiner said.

TT - Because he was irresistible , right?

Trenton schools are being carefully watched by the state. The state already controls several New Jersey school districts, including Jersey City (1989), Camden (2002), Newark (1995) and Paterson (1991). They oversee a number of other schools, including Trenton.

A state evaluation, called Q-SAC, gave [Trenton schools] the school district near rock bottom scores in crucial areas of education and management. One issue cited by the report was the lack of proper certification among some teachers for the subjects they teach.

State Education Commissioner Lucille Davy said state authorities might come in and make decisions for the district's 28 schools when it comes to instruction and personnel.

-- From cache Channel 12 New Jersey, dated 7/26/07.

There is a reason why New Jersey schools are so bad. See TT - Education Cash Cow LINK

Sacred Responsibility

RANT OF THE DAY

"I'm startled that a school district would support a woman who assisted in covering up a sex crime against a child."

August 2, 2007 - The above was attributed to Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan's Law, to describe the action of West Islip school district officials who wrote letters of support for a teacher who lied on the witness stand to cover up rape of a student by her husband - another teacher..

West Islip school district officials are under fire for using district letterhead to write a judge in support of a teacher who was later convicted of trying to cover up the rape by her husband of a North Babylon High School student.

Included in a packet of letters of support sent to Suffolk County Court Judge Barbara Kahn were letters from the school's principal, Anne Shierant, the assistant principal, Dawn Morrison, and the district's director of special education services, Deborah Vertovez.

John Collins, chief trial prosecutor for the Suffolk district attorney's office, called the letters "striking" in their unseemliness."I think it's inappropriate for individuals to purport to speak on behalf of a district and its constituents in support of a person who has been convicted of intentionally perjuring herself in an effort to protect a child molester," Collins said.

Although none of the letters addressed the charges, Morrison wrote that she has "the utmost respect and admiration" for Melissa Cuesta, while Shierant in her correspondence to the court called it "a letter of support."

Melissa Cuesta pleaded guilty to third-degree perjury for lying on the witness stand during the trial of her husband. She was sentenced to three years' probation. Danny Cuesta was sentenced to a paltry 15 month's in jail - not prison - for a two-year sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl. They dropped pending investigations into allegations that he had sex with two other girls. TT -LINK

TT - Two teachers testified on behalf of the David Constanza, (LINK) recently sentenced to months to two years in county jail for sex with a 15-year-old girl. The school Superintendent expressed outrage that two teachers testified on his behalf. "How you diminished these actions and testified to his positive contributions, while this girl, the victim, with her family, sat in the courtroom, is beyond my understanding." He wrote that teachers have a "sacred responsibility to protect children" and that his confidence in the two "as guardians of our children has been diminished." TT- LINK

David Costanza is the son of school board president Charles Costanza.

We have seen the same thing over and over. Teachers who attend the trial in support of the teacher, flaunting their partisan support for the accused.

A Maryland principal wrote a letter in support of a drug dealer. A school teacher asked that his son, teacher Nathan Cox, not be sent to jail for sex with a 13-year-old student. Three teachers wrote to support Garland Eary who pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography. A North Carolina school superintendent wrote a letter to the court asking the judge to allow a local anchorman who while driving drunk killed a pedestrian to speak to the school's driver education classes.

It's their right to write such letters or testify in support; it's our right to ask "Do you have no decency?"

Oak Ridge, TENNESSEE

Paid time off for bad behavior.

August 1, 2007 - The Superintendent has recommended to the Board of Education that they fire a kindergarten teacher. The teacher has been on paid administrative leave since May pending an investigation into allegations she yelled at students or treated them harshly, despite "reasonable requests" harsh treatment and/or yelling at students be an acceptable means of interaction.

Even if they should fire her, it's not the end of it.

According to state education law, if the Board of Education hears Bailey’s recomendation and decides the charges warrant termination, Fellner will receive written notification of the decision. She will then have 30 days to request a hearing with a special judge, School Board attorney Chuck Cagle said Wednesday.

TT - They would have the same difficulties if she slept with a kindergarten student. It's called tenure.

Stamford, CONNECTICUT

Story dated July 31, 2007 - A former two-term school board member and one of the Women of the Year for 2001 by the state African-American Affairs Commission, claims police falsely accused" her son to get back at her for pressuring them about rising gang violence in Stamford during her years on the school board.

"This is a backlash," she said after learning of her son's plea deal yesterday afternoon.

Larry Stephenson, 19, pleaded guilty to two counts each of robbery and assault. He was on probation when he committed the robberies. Police charged Stephenson with first-degree robbery and second-degree assault of an austistic teen in May 2006. Two months later, Stephenson and two other city teens attacked another teenager as he left a store.

Stephenson pleaded guilty on the day his trial was scheduled to begin.

Port Clinton, OHIO

August 1, 2007 - Gail Browning, 49, a Benton-Carroll-Salem Schools speech pathologist, and her husband were charged with allowing an underage party that led to a car theft and crash last fall.

She faces three misdemeanor counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor.

RESIGNATION: August 17 - Browning resigned. Gail Browning has worked for B-C-S since 1980, according to her personnel file. During the 2006-2007 school year, she earned $63,862, her file shows.

NOT GUILTY PLEA: August 23 - Browning entered a not guilty plea through her attorney. She resigned last week.
Pre-trial is scheduled for November 2.

Nov 3 - The Brownings have second pretrials on charges of hosting an underage party last year. The pre-trials are scheduled for Jan 23.

The couple had a pretrial Friday on three misdemeanor counts of furnishing alcohol to minors. They are charged with allowing a party in their home where a Graytown teen who had been drinking there stole common pleas court Magistrate Bruce Winters car and rolled it later that night.

PRE-TRIAL Jan 23, 2008 - The Brownings had a pre-trial Wednesday in Ottawa County Municipal Court. Their next hearing date has not been set

Stevens Point, WISCONSIN

August 1, 2007 - Katie Buettner, 23, a kindegarten teacher at St. Paul Lutheran School, charged with stealing more than six thousand dollars worth of gift cards and merchandise from the school.

She resigned.

Maryland

August 1, 2007 - A Maryland senator is planning to introduce a bill that would require School systems throughout the state to be informed when teachers face allegations of sexual or violent crimes, The teacher's license would be flagged.

Sounds simple enough, right?

Only one of the 25 members of the state Professional Standards and Teacher Education Board voted for the regulation when it came up.

“The large number, the majority of these cases result in no finding, so they were concerned with identifying and tarnishing [suspects’] professional reputation, or causing an adverse reaction, when they are innocent,” [assistant state superintendent for certification and accreditation John] Smeallie said.

Timothy Gounaris was sentenced to 18 months in jail for sexual crimes this month, only after being forced to resign from Harford and Baltimore county school systems because of criminal sexual allegations.

TT - County school officials asked the Maryland State Department of Education to revoke Gounaris’ teaching certificate, and it did — but not before he was hired to teach eighth grade at Chinquapin Middle School in Baltimore. TT - LINK for Gounaris.

Shame on the Maryland Professional Standards and Teacher Education Board. Tarnishing a reputation is FAR MORE IMPORTANT than protecting children.

Also see Don't Move to Maryland TT - Link
See teacher hired despite drug convictions TT - Link
See student forced to confront teacher TT - Link
See volunteer coach coerced girl to commit prostitution TT - Link

Two-thirds of Baltimore students do not graduate. About 4,000 students in Baltimore are educated in charter schools, while more than 80,000 students attend traditional public schools. In order to handicap the charter schools, Baltimore City Public Schools paid the charter schools less than what they give traditional public schools. The Maryland Supreme Court ruled 7-2 school boards must give charter schools the same amount of money as traditional public schools.

North Babylon, NEW YORK

Jan 4, 2007 - Danny Cuesta, a North Babylon High School teacher, was sentenced to 15 months in jail for a two-year relationship with a 15-year-old girl. His first trial ended in a mistrial after a jury was unable to reach a verdict on the charges. A week later, he pleaded guilty.

From a Nov 2, 2006 story, also from Newsday:

Prosecutors also said that as part of the plea deal, they would drop a pending investigation into charges by two other girls that Cuesta had sex with them.

[TT - Newsday and other publications frequently reported during the trial that the girl claimed Cuesta "raped her" despite the fact that the girl acknowledged the relationship was voluntary, and the charges were statutory rape.]

[TT- Overlawyered blogged on "Mom tells of Daughter's 'Rape' Scheme" (Problem with links.) However, the mother, a defense witness, "had a hard time keeping her story straight," Newsday, Oct 19. The mother and father are in the middle of a messy divorce. The mother's attorney was reported to be worried about charges that might be brought against his client.]
NEW NEW NEW Update: Jan 23, 2007 - Melissa Cuesta, a special education teacher, wife of Danny Cuesta was arrested and charged with perjury. Prosecutors believe she lied on the stand when she provided an alibi for her husband. She pleaded not guilty.

Update June 6 - Melissa Cuesta pleaded guilty to perjury. She will be sentenced Aug 1.

SENTENCED: August 1 - Melissa Cuesta, 26, was sentenced to three years' probation.

Melissa Cuesta was supported in court by her mother and two fellow teachers. Her attorney, Joseph Cozzo, said she faces a 3-year suspension from her teaching job at Beach Street Middle School, although school officials wrote letters of support to the court for her.

Huntsville, ALABAMA

Talk about top secret.

August 1, 2007 - A soccer coach (whose name was given), no age given, described as "a valley teacher and coach," (school unspecified) will be going to trial next week on unexplained harassment charges. He was arrested a year after an argument on campus. He was charged with misdemeanor harassment.

The potential witness list tops 40. The news story quoted the lawyer two times. And the news station says, "Whatever the allegation, a jury will ultimately judge what happened on campus. "

Thank you for that news story.

TT - One of the reasons we don't report on coach stories that involve non-sexual harassment or minor charges of abuse is that so often they are unfounded. Most sports involve contact of some sort and conditioning the player for contact is part of coaching. But the vagueness of this story was unique.