In February, a Philadelphia high school teacher was suspended because of a posting to her blog in which she complained that her students sometimes acted like “rude, disengaged, lazy whiners.” In May, a Florida high school football coach was fired for sending explicit pictures to his 20-year-old girlfriend. She was not a student. In August, a Florida high school’s “Teacher of the Year” was fired for writing on Facebook outside school hours that he considered gay marriage to be a sin and same-sex unions a “cesspool.”
Most citizens view the end of work each day as a clear line in dividing their responsibilities to an employer from their rights as an individual. While at work, we accept that we must comply with work-related expectations and policies. But when the whistle blows, we consider ourselves our own masters — pursuing recreation or even legal vices as we see fit.
Increasingly, however, public school teachers are being fired or suspended for perfectly lawful activities during off-work hours when those activities are deemed inappropriate by parents or school officials.
Consider a few other such cases in the last few years:
In Pennsylvania in 2010, an unidentified teacher was suspended after a third party posted a picture on Facebook showing her with a male stripper at a bridal shower.
In Georgia in 2011, teacher Ashley Payne lost a court case challenging her forced resignation in 2009. Her departure came after a parent objected to a photo she posted to Facebook showing her holding a drink while on vacation in Europe. School officials said the posting “promoted alcohol use.”
In 2009, Wisconsin teacher Betsy Ramsdale was put on leave for posting a picture of herself looking down the sight of a rifle on her Facebook site.
All of these cases involved completely lawful conduct by teachers outside of school hours. So why did they suffer consequences? As a school board member put it in the case of the Pennsylvania teacher suspended for the bridal party picture, “Everybody has a right to do what they want on their own time, but once kids and parents see it on the Internet, it becomes the school district’s problem.” The trouble with that reasoning is that it allows teachers to enjoy the same basic rights as other citizens only so long as they don’t enjoy them in public.
Teachers have also been disciplined for lawful work they did before their teaching careers. In March, Oxnard middle school teacher Stacie Halas was placed on administrative leave after it came to light that she had been a porn actress before becoming a teacher. And then there is the case of Shawn Loftis, a substitute teacher in Miami until it came out that he had worked as a gay porn actor before becoming a teacher. Loftis was fired for having violated a school district rule requiring teachers to “conduct themselves, both in their employment and in the community, in a manner that will reflect credit upon themselves and the school system.” He was also barred from obtaining a teaching certificate for five years by the Florida Department of Education. In March, the Florida Education Practices Commission reversed that order and said Loftis could obtain a teaching certificate. But local officials were quick to assure citizens that they would not have to hire Loftis even if he were certified.
While teachers are perhaps the most common targets of such discipline, other public employees, including police officers, city managers and prison guards, have also found themselves punished for private behavior deemed unacceptable by the public.
We demand a great deal of our public school teachers. They put in long hours in overcrowded classrooms, and yet they receive lower salaries than people in other professions requiring similar education levels.
For this sacrifice, we now demand that they live their lives according to a morality standard set to satisfy the lowest common denominator of parental sensibilities. They live under the transparent conditions of celebrities without any of the benefits, with parental paparazzi eager to catch them in an unguarded moment. They deserve better.
• Turley is a professor of public interest law at George Washington University.
Comments (12)
Add commentThe solution is obvious
Replace all teachers with robots. And don't allow them Facebook accounts.
It's a fine line
It's a fine line between what is legal on a teacher's off time and what kind of behavior should be scrutinized once it's discovered.
Teachers knowingly incur this risk when they chose their career, along with the perennial whining of less pay blah blah.
Teachers MUST be role models. They don't stop becoming role models at 4pm. They know this. It's their chosen profession.
As such, if they choose to engage in behavior which might attract some scrutiny, they incur that risk themselves. Personally, if I was a parent, I would have no problem with a teacher who was a former porn star, or who had a picture of them holding a glass of wine somewhere on the web.
But, I would have a HUGE problem if I saw them at a KKK or W.A.R. rally or holding a gun in some sexy, fetishist way.
It's a fine line. So what's the solution? The solution is for teachers to realize that they are role models inside and outside of the classroom, and to act accordingly and responsibly. They are paid with taxpayer funds, and they should be held accountable for their behavior just like cops, politicians and others paid with public money.
Role Models
Posting photos of yourself in "risky" situations on the Internet is one thing; having it posted by another is a different story. Regardless, who defines risky? The School Board? One loud parent?
(I have to say that when I read a while back about the teacher with a glass of wine in her hand in Europe...really? Only in Georgia...For goodness' sake, people drink wine IN CHURCH.)
Yes, most of my colleagues are seen as role models. I am a teacher and yet I agree w/ Jo -- I'd never want my own children to have a teacher who was a current member of the KKK. Ever. But to have her fired? Hmmm. Teachers have always been held to task as being lawful, polite, role models for children, so they should certainly be careful of their Facebook posts; but the examples in the article above are few compared to the number of teachers with accounts, so I think this is widely a non-issue.
It's too bad we don't expect our politicians to have morals.
Too bad
we dont expect parents to be role models.
24-7 pay
So when are these same righteous people going to pay overtime for the hours these teacher have to comply with the morals clause? Never!
I do believe this total nonsences and without a doubt completly wrong. Perhpas it time to publish the activities of the school board in a weekly morlas report of thier private lives. That would that begin an onslaught of recalls for many board members and perhpas illustrate the absurdity of this teacher morality issues.
I will however agree anyone who post themself on any public media is probably not demonstrating thier common sense when it comes to keeping thier prive life out of view.
Common Sense
In some of these cases it is clearly lacking. Teachers are not the only ones being fired for their social media postings. It happens in other industries too. I believe it is the fault of the poster, if you cannot censor yourself that lack of judgement should bite you in the caboose.
Teacher are role models, that is the job. You cannot post like a teen and expect to hold respect in the class room. And if you cannot self edit on a forum with a delete button, do I trust you edit in the classroom?
Anything from 5 years prior to employment as an educator is off limits. That is a pretty good timeframe to show true character growth.
But if you want to post like your students, be a reality star. That is the only line of work where you get paid to be the dull tool.
The hard part is determining
The hard part is determining who will be offended. The one who had a glass of wine probably felt that was a fairly safe post, as did the one shooting a rifle. If you are posting picks of yourself pouring shots of vodka on your chest and having underage kids lick it off, that would be an inappropriate pic to post (also unlawful). If it is a lawful and socially accepted pic (even if its only a segment of society) then it should be allowed. People have lives! Its not just teachers though. If you saw you Dr drunk every other night, you might question letting him do your surgery. Same with attornies. We expect professionals to conduct themselves as just that, in all aspects of their lives.
Somebody's Always Watching
So if you will so easily ignore the contract and suggest that teachers MUST follow some moral obligations outside of school, then where does that end?
Can a teacher get drunk in public? If not, can a teacher even go to a bar? Sometimes snapshots of me make it look like I’m drunk (and 20 pounds heavier…lame).
Can a teacher drink at a private party (where somebody might take pictures of them)?
Can a teacher show affection such as kissing, holding hands, or even making out while in public?
Does the race or gender of his or her partner matter when answering the question above?
Can a teacher cuss in public? Can she cuss at somebody? Can a teacher use the “I’m sorry I’m in the way, by all means pass” single finger gesture to the drivers that cut them off on the highway? Can a teacher write a comical book about how kids suck? What type of books can they write?
Finally, why do we expect more moral turpitude from teachers than we do from parents?
No, I'm calling BS. I find
No, I'm calling BS. I find it absolutely ridiculous that we expect certain people to act a certain why or they can be reprimanded. If a teacher isnt allowed to do the things written about here then the parents or anyone else shouldn't be either. We have politicians and even leaders of fantastic organizations getting nailed with DUI and much worse with no punishment at all. I don't care if m 4th graders teacher does porn after hours currently, because I am a parent and I do parent my children, they won't see that stuff. And what if they did? Our society is filled with stuff at the very least some dont approve, of its the parents job to explain the standard they want they're children to live by, and good luck with that once they turn 17 anyway. If you have a standard you expect for your family then it's YOUR job to enforce it.
I'm sick of hearing people trying to hold other people to a standard they don't live up to themselves.
I will agree with the idea that you are responsible for stuff you post, learn the privacy section of Facebook and use it.
If teachers are role models
If teachers are role models for kids, administrators must be role models for teachers.
I think we, as a community, owe it to our children and teachers to all chip in and hire private investigators to ensure sufficient moral character of the administrators who fire teachers for having insufficient moral character.
The Superintendent of Public
The Superintendent of Public Instruction in Washington State got nailed for DUI and is still working. He said it was a "real learning experience."
new definitions of "private"
When piled on, the instances cited above may sound alarming, and I don't want to defend idiotic knee jerk firings, but in each case there are other aspects. Cashing in on many people's natural fears of the unknown online social world and painting it like a situation spiraling out of control, is only witch-hunt inducing. In fact, the tension between employer and employee's public persona is age old. Many organizations have rules about what you can and can't appear doing in public. And, while the sentiment that once kids and parents see something online it automatically becomes a school's business is questionable, I also recognize that at the same time people are learning how to live online with a new definition of 'private' and 'friend' and a new level of tolerance for their 'friends' figuring it out, so are business and organizations.