Teachers Gone Wild Vol. 27Follow

Believe it or not -- not a teacher/student scandal!!

A week or so ago, some families in a Chicago suburb and the media received DVDs in the mail. On the two hour long DVDs was hidden camera footage of a local elementry school principal (married) and a teacher having sex in the principal's office during school hours. There was apparently also a teacher's aide on the tapes but I don't know if they were separate incidents or what. No one sends me good junk mail.

So, anyway, the principal and teacher resigned, the aide quit and some parents are calling for the school board to formally fire the pair rather than allow them to resign. In fact, in a board election a few days ago, the three members up for re-election all lost their posts. The footage was apparently taken months ago and was only released in the run-up to the election.

The police don't know who hid the camera in the principal's office and it seems that Illinois law only covers audio surveillance, not video and the only laws prohibiting video surveillance apply to hotels, restrooms, changing rooms, tanning booths and the private homes of others. Even if they found the guy, the most they could probably nab him with would be trespassing.

So, what would your reaction be to such a DVD, assuming that you had a child in that school? I've got to say, I don't know if I'd really care that much. This is keeping in mind that there's absolutely no evidence (or even allegations) that any students were aware or affected by the events. I'd support disciplinary action of some sort same as if you were having sex in any office environment but I don't think I'd call for them to be fired. The whole seedy "filming the act" angle makes me more at unease than the act itself -- I'd feel as if I was playing into the hands of some slimeball who filmed this and then saved it before mailing it to community. This wasn't someone who thought the principal was wrong but someone with some major issues and who wanted to seriously hurt the parties involved. Creepy.

Once again...


The two involved should be disciplined and in the case of having sex in a school office during school hours I personally feel that the discipline should be firing. If it was after hours, that might be different (just the same as coworkers having sex in an office after hours as opposed to while you're being paid to be there and working). Poor judgement to the nth degree.

The whole thing about it being taped is super creepy and I admit that I haven't really read much about the case, but were the two involved cheating on spouses or something? It sounds like a suspicious spouse thing to do to find out, but then after confirming the situation, they decided to get revenge by widespread humiliation. Maybe not though.

Nexa

I believe that firing them will make it difficult for them to work again in education. Not that this scandal (for lack of a better term) is going to be anything for their résumés.

I would think that most schools would call former employers when hiring a teacher/principal wouldn't they?

Vacation time accrued wouldn't matter whether being fired or resigning, either way they're owed that time.

Unless it was during school hours, firing seems a bit extreme, assuming this was an isolated issue. For all we know, the principal was on the chopping block already, and this could have been the last straw. I probably would have let them resign though. I really can't blame someone for wanting to have sex in their office.

Unfortunately the state of education is such that whether you have a ding on your record or not will not make much of a difference in the interview process. This does not go for anywhere but my wife's school district (fairly large) is considering starting back ground checks. Out of a district with 10,000+ employees how many do you think are felons? I would wager quite a few.

Of course each state varies and each situation does as well, but most states need teachers/administration so badly they are willing to hire anyone, as long as they are certified or can get a temporary certification.

I'm not familiar with labor laws in IL but being right across the river in Iowa, if they resign, the can't get Unemployment. But if they're fired... well, the can claim for it...

Police reports are standard in Canada for jobs or volunteer positions involving children.

What if they were legitimately on break?

Then they should have found a nice pay-by-the-hour hotel...preferably one that doesn't video tape (as if those exist).

Nexa

Gay.

Nexa

bummer.

Nexa

Agreed.

Nexa