Just Fire Them All
Justin Bathon on Monday, October 6, 2008 at 5:47PM This Mt. Vernon, Ohio teacher religion case just gets worse and worse. It has gotten so bad I am extremely surprised the lawyers for the school district even let this get to trial. If I were the school's lawyer in this case, I would settle no matter the price. I have blogged about this case before, and in that post you can hear the teacher try and defend himself (unsuccessfully). Anyway, now that testimony has begun the focus has shifted to the administration (the ones with the deep pockets). Here is what the superintendent had to say on the stand:
Mount Vernon's school superintendent testified today that he didn't think burn marks that 8th grade science teacher John Freshwater is accused of placing on a student's arm were abuse that needed to be reported to child protection authorities. ...
When R. Kelly Hamilton asked Short if he thought Freshwater was capable of abusing a child or mixing religion in his classroom, Short replied: "It's not his character to abuse a student. But it is part of his character to promote his religion."
The parents of Zach Dennis, 14, have sued the school district and Freshwater, saying that Freshwater used a laboratory device that puts out 50,000 volts of static electricity to burn a cross on Zach's arm in December.
"I do not believe he meant to hurt the student," Short testified yesterday, "but I do believe it was a cross."
And whether Freshwater meant to hurt Zach or not, Short said of pictures of the marks, "it looks like an injury to me."
Short also testified today that at least three other teachers had used the device on students. He did not say whether any of those students were injured. One teacher told him that she made a "quick motion" with the device on a student's arm, Short said.
This superintendent must not like his job or his school all that much because he clearly wants to be fired and is going to cost his district a TON of money because I don't know how you win a case after testimony like that. Essentially, here is what he is saying ... "yes, I knew he and other teachers burned students with electricity ... no, I didn't do anything about it. If that's not bad enough I also knew that he was proselytizing in the classroom and I did nothing about that either."
Fired. End of story. I wouldn't even let him come into the office tomorrow.
Here is what you got going on. A teacher burning crosses into student's skin and openly proselytizing on the job. Other teachers also using this electric device to burn students. A principal that seems scared to do anything about it and a superintendent turning a blind eye. ... Just fire them all, revoke their licenses and start over. And, while we are at it, I would think about firing the school district lawyer as well.
This is a great example of what can happen when people don't speak up about the injustices they witness ... kids get hurt while the Constitution lays in shreds on the floor.
h/t Scott M.
Reader Comments (3)
This is a blantant example of the injustice that goes on in our schools today. The lawyer in me is stunned that this case is even seeing the light of day in trial. This is one of those cases that must be settled. To allow a case like this to go to trial makes me question the aptitude of the lawyers involved. The future parent in me is scared that there other instances of teacher/principal/superintendent indifference out there. It makes you wonder what kind of schools we are sending our kids to.
Thanks for the comment Kenny, but I wouldn't extrapolate too much from this one case. This is one of the worst cases I have seen, and I have been watching national education news stories closely for several years now. Granted I am sure there are other cases of indifference out there, but there are also thousands and thousands of cases of the administration doing the right thing when they come across a horrible teacher. We just don't report those stories when the administration does the right thing. Anyway, there is no reason to lose faith in the public education system just because of this one outlier.
What a great article! You fully understand this situation and communicate very well.