Those Naughty Teachers

Since yesterday's post generated so many comments (Mrs. Hillbilly Mom heaves a sarcastic sigh and rolls her eyes dramatically), I decided to continue the subject today. Nobody really wants to hear how I am now tied for 4th Place in my local prep football contest, three points out of 1st Place, having had the worst week EVAH in my pigskin prognostication. Nobody wants to feel Mrs. Hillbilly Mom's pain as that recliner slips from her grasp like a bar of soap in a prison shower.

The local Michiganers were all a-flutter with comments about how those drunk-shaming teachers should lose their jobs for what went on at that end-of-the-year party at a private home after school hours with no students involved. "Off with their heads!" seemed to be the sentiment of most commenters regarding the Haslett Six.

To what extent should teachers be held accountable for their actions away from school? Yes, they were drinking at a bar, then at a private residence. They were all over 21. Alcohol is legal. Do they not have a right to live a life after school hours, after the school year is over? A Chrysler assembly line worker makes more than a teacher. Is a Chrysler assembly line worker not allowed to drink alcohol on his own time? Is his job not as important as a teacher's job? What if he puts in a part wrong? Somebody can be killed.

I have worked at a school where a teacher was told that he could not have his truck parked out front of his fiancee's (a fellow teacher) house past 10:00 p.m. Where a teacher was fired because she got a traffic ticket for not having a license plate on her car, because "It looks bad for your name to be published in the paper for a traffic ticket."

At another of my schools, a popular coach was run out of town in the middle of the night because some college girls finally came forward after 10 years of silence with tales of his sexual abuse in junior high school. He was convicted of a Class D felony, lost his Missouri teaching license, and moved back to New York. Let's hope he isn't teaching again. The school personnel said there had been rumors of this for years, but nobody believed it.

I have worked in the middle of nowhere, where teachers had drinking parties every Saturday night. That's all there was to do. But nobody drunk-shamed anyone. And married teachers brought their spouses. Some indecent proposals were made, but nobody was dosed with a date-rape drug.

Teaching is a high-stress profession. Why begrudge teachers the opportunity to blow off steam with a party every now and then? Where is it written that teachers give up their personal lives when they sign a contract? This is not the pioneer days, where teacher could not be married, and lived with families of their students.

The whole Haslett incident would not have been in the news if Veronica had not had an axe to grind against the administration for not punishing her drunk-shamers. It happened two years ago, people. Why did she just now contact the press? Perhaps the administration was trying to get rid of her because she wouldn't let the incident go, so she decided to fight back. Anyway, it looks like Veronica is one of those prickly kind of people who just love to stir it up. Check out her comment on a youth football game. Not only was Veronica busy contacting the Michigan Messenger, but also the Lansing State Journal.

The facts are, though, that Veronica went to the police the day after her drunk-shaming happened. She had a rape test. She admitted to smoking marijuana that night, but the only drug found in her system was flexeril, a muscle relaxer. So whose prescription was it? That could lead you down the trail of the 'date-raper', though no evidence of sexual activity was found, and no charges were filed. For anything.

If Haslett is trying to get Veronica to move on, they'd better beware. They tried it once, after she used up all her medical leave in 2007, with no success. It's hard to get rid of a tenured teacher. Especially an "openly lesbian" tenured teacher with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights in her back pocket.