Reply to Whitman Teacher and Crew Coach Arrested

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Sorry, just realized I posted the same link twice. The 2nd should be:  https://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/2018/education/division-ii/title-6/subtitle-1/section-6-113.1/[/quote]

I don't blame principals who make a report to central office about suspected wrongdoing by a teacher, but the teacher gets to stay in the system anyway. I do blame principals who welcome back teachers who have committed an offense, even if it's not yet sexual or physical. All principals should insist that mcps require more than the minimal re-training a teacher has to do now in order to get to come back. It's no more than a few videos, and there's no required follow ups! The principal at my school had a teacher put on leave so they could look into wrongdoing he had reported himself, and the principal made it clear to MCPS that no matter what the official findings were, there was no way in hell that teacher was coming back to his school or having access to his students. He made it clear that he would make a huge stink if MCPS tried to put this person back in his building. He couldn't get the man fired, he doesn't have the power to do that, but he provided all the necessary information to central office and did everything in his power to keep him away from students. I respect him for that. Too many administrators just go along to get along and don't ask questions.[/quote]

One issue in MCPS is how they treat Child Abuse and Neglect reports. MCPS knee jerk reaction is to protect the staff member so as an institution, they aren’t sued. If CPS and the police can not prove child abuse/sexual abuse occurred, MCPS does not remove predators demonstrating grooming behaviors. Even after the first initial complaints, predators are kept in the classroom till the arrest is made.

One issue is that the General Counsel Office in MCPS advises MCPS and Board on these types of cases. The Board does not independently review information and they will support whatever MCPS and the General Counsel advises. There is no independent review that looks at cases on behalf of protecting students and firing staff that demonstrates grooming behavior. The result is that MCPS becomes a magnet for child predators who are employed by MCPS for decades.

The only way to protect students is to enforce the Code of Conduct. Firing offenders will send a message that MCPS is no longer a haven that gives predators unlimited access to children. [/quote]

This! All of this! I work in the system and principals go along to get along. It's the rare principal who, at minimum, says, "you may be letting him stay, but there is no way he's coming back to my building." Every teacher in the building can know a guy is creepy and has no boundaries, but unless central office investigators decide whatever the person did is a fireable offense, which generally only happens in cases where CPS and/or the police choose to investigate, the teacher gets a meaningless written slap on the wrist, and then is either returned to their own school or, if their grooming behavior involves a current student, placed in another school. They also don't need to do anything more than watch a few videos. It's voila, everyone just goes back to business as usual. Until more principals stop and question this process and push back against central office edicts, or alternatively, an independent investigator gets involved and starts doing more reviews, we will see exactly what we are seeing now - which is predator educators who teach and also maybe coach for years until they do something that gets them arrested. [/quote]

What do teachers do when they know an employee is doing things that might not be a crime but definitely violates the Employee Code of Conduct? Do you report it? Would multiple reports by MCPS staff carry any weight particularly if it corroborates a complaint from a student? Is there a record kept of complaints and offenses?

Examples: teacher/coach is alone in a classroom with a student and door closed, teacher/coach texts students instead of using MCPS email, teacher/coach gives a student a gift (worth about $50 so not a trinket), teacher/coach has students at his house, elementary teacher has students sit on his lap during story time, etc. [/quote]

I would suspect any reporting goes into the great couch where it gets filed away and sat upon to never emerge.  MCPS will never do the right thing because that would expose them to a lawsuit.  There was a third grade teacher at my elementary school (one that feeds into Whitman, school begins with a W) who I am pretty sure was locking kids in a closet in the early 1990s.  Nothing came of it.

It kills me to say this but nothing changes from this story.  Too many vested interests.

1.  Rich parents with blinders willing to do anything to get their kid into an elite school.  If they had to break the legs of another student or sell grandpa's teeth, I am sure some parents would do that to get their kid into Yale. 
2.  MCPS is out to protect its brand and bottom line.  Lawsuits cost the taxpayers money, harboring and enabling predator teachers makes the system look bad.  The best thing to do is will it away or bury it.  
3.  Grooming and sexual relations with students does not appear to be criminally illegal in Maryland as cited above.  You can rules and policies all you want but they have no real teeth.  Without solid proof, it is mere hearsay no matter how obvious it is to everyone.  Don't forget the teachers union (I am pro public worker union) who protects bad teachers.  
4.  A principal of a 1600 student school is like the mayor of a small town where half the population of fairly demanding citizens comes and goes in a year.  There are 5 administrators and 150 teachers; one problem teacher is going to require a lot of resources that aren't there.  If there is no support from up above (see number 2), then you are wasting your time on something that goes nowhere.
5.  Students and other teachers have enough stuff on their plate, each teacher has 120-150 students and 5 classes, each student has 6-7 classes.  Sensing and reporting bad behavior is one of those things that require dedication that isnt there.  Also if the complaints go no where then it wont get reported.

The best we can do is teach our kids on what grooming is and how to avoid and report it.  The charging documents are a good example of how someone is groomed, whether you would want to use that as an example is another question.[/quote]

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