Tulsa schools suspend teacher accused of touching student
2001-11-08
TULSA, Okla. - Tulsa Public Schools will consider next week whether to fire a middle school teacher accused of improperly touching a 15-year-old at a Tulsa gas station. Monroe Middle School science teacher Rodney Lawrence Flud, 34, was charged Oct. 26 with lewd molestation. He is accused of grabbing the buttocks of a 15-year-old student outside a gas station in September. The boy told police that he and a group of friends were waiting for a ride and that "a teacher he knew grabbed his butt," Officer Lucky Lamons said. The boy alleged that the man also tried to lure a teen-age girl into his car. One of the teens called police after the man left. Flud, who has been with Tulsa Public Schools for two years, has been suspended with pay. The school board will consider his termination at a Nov. 15 hearing, said Tulsa Public Schools spokesman John Hamill. "The school board will listen to both sides and deliberate," Hamill said. "It is a due-process procedure." Source:   Newsok.com

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Teacher admits to sex with students
2001-11-02
By Ron Jackson, The Oklahoman
ANADARKO, OK -- An emotional, often tearful former Apache High School teacher admitted Thursday he had sexual encounters with three teen-age students. Donald "Kip" Boggs, an Apache agricultural teacher for nine years, is charged with one count of second-degree rape for having sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old student. Boggs testified he thought the sex took place on her 16th birthday, the legal age for consensual sex. Testimony showed the girl was four days short of that birthday. Boggs also is charged with two counts of indecent exposure for having oral sex with two 16-year-old girls -- charges he does not deny. Prosecutor Lesley March portrayed Boggs as a sexual predator of female teen-age students. March asked Boggs to admit that he used his position as a teacher to lure the girls in close enough to consent to his sexual desires. Each time, Boggs denied trying to manipulate the girls, testifying that each had a crush on him. Earlier in the day, Boggs' ex-wife, Christi Coffman, testified her former husband admitted his guilt to her. She since has moved to another town with the couple's two boys. Jurors are expected to receive the case today. The second-degree rape charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, while the indecent exposure charges carry up to 10 years each. The indecent exposure charges were filed because those acts occurred in a public place. A new state law that took effect Thursday makes it a crime for a teacher to have sex with a student under 18. Legislators enacted that law amid news stories about Boggs and several other Oklahoma teachers. The new law doesn't apply to Boggs because of when the encounters took place.
Click here to read the full story

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Teacher convicted three times for drinken driving
Source: Daily Oklahoman
11-13-01
A teacher at a drug and alcohol treatment facility in Philadelphia, convicted three times of drunken driving, can be fired for immoral conduct, a state appeals court rules. The Commonwealth Court said officials were justified in firing Nancy J. Zelno. Zelno, 44, pleaded guilty two years ago to driving under the influence, her third offense. Note: No mention was made of her teaching license.

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El Reno ex-teacher charged with molestation
2001-05-11
EL RENO, OK -- A former El Reno schoolteacher appeared Thursday in Canadian County District Court on one count of lewd molestation. William Allen Bozeman, 33, didn't enter a plea at the hearing, Assistant District Attorney Gary McCurdy said. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 15. According to El Reno police, Bozeman is accused of molesting two Roblyer Middle School girls last summer. Bozeman was not employed by the district at the time, Superintendent Jeff Mills said.

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Trainer of cheerleaders facing rape charge
2001-06-14
ADA, OK -- Prosecutors charged an Oklahoma City cheerleading trainer with rape by instrumentation of his girlfriend and suspect he committed similar crimes against other young women. Jeremy W. Cagle, 27, is charged with one count of rape by instrumentation. He is accused of drugging his 19-year- old Ada girlfriend and sexually assaulting her in May, then taking photos of the act. The two were at the woman's home when the suspected assault occurred, Pontotoc County prosecutor Chris Ross said Wednesday. Cagle gave the woman a drugged drink, telling her it would help her sleep, a court affidavit said. After giving her the drink, Cagle repeatedly asked her if she was asleep. "She got concerned because he kept asking, so she stopped answering," Ross said. The affidavit said that Cagle tied her hands and feet and sexually assaulted her, then took photos of her. The woman told police about the attack the next day. She then called Cagle and asked about the incident. Police were with her and recorded the conversation, in which Cagle admitted to the assault, according to court documents. Ada and Oklahoma City police searched Cagle's apartment and found evidence that there might be other victims. Police recovered photographs of two girls who were unclothed and unconscious, Ross said. Investigators also found videos of two other girls having sex with Cagle. Ross said the taping of the sex acts appear to have been made with a hidden camera. "We don't know who those four girls are," he said. "If we can't find these four girls, then we'd like someone to tell us who they are. All the women appear to be in their late teens to early 20s. The women in the still photos were wearing yellow wristbands and one had a cheerleading competition T-shirt on, Ross said. One of the videos has scenes from a party where many people were wearing Rose State College cheerleading sweatshirts, he said. Police said the incidents probably took place in Oklahoma City. Cagle is described as a cheerleading coach. The affidavit said he works at an Oklahoma City gym and has done work for Yukon High School. He is out of jail on bail.

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Teachers Joann Harding and Clarence Matthews resign
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - May 1, 2001 - A fifth grade teacher has resigned following allegations she helped students cheat on a state-mandated test. A termination hearing was scheduled for Tuesday night, but since Joann Harding has turned in her resignation the termination request was withdrawn. John Marshall high school math teacher Clarence Matthews has also announced he is resigning effective may 21. Matthews was arrested on complaints of engaging in lewd acts with a minor.
www.kfor.com

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Ex-educator's license revoked
9-21-01
Daily Oklahoman
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK
The state Board of Education on Thursday revoked the teaching license of a former Oklahoma City assistant principal who pleaded guilty to lewd acts with a child, sexual battery and indecent exposure. Lara Delph "Buck" Jenkins II, 32, pleaded guilty in June to sexually assaulting three female students and was given an 85 year suspended sentence. State officials said Jenkins turned in his license Wednesday, a day before the state Education Board voted to revoke it. Meanwhile, board members postponed a disciplinary hearing for Oklahoma City teacher Winifred Fitz until October 11. Fitz's attorney said he needed more time to prepare. Fitz is accused of making practice sheets for students with questions like those on state tests.

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Swimming Coach convicted of sex assault
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP)
9-22-01
A former swimming coach accused of sexually assaulting four girls received a split verdict from a Brown County jury. The jury, which deliberated almost five hours before announcing its verdict shortly before midnight Thursday, convicted David Kaster on two felony counts of sexual assault by a staff member and one misdemeanor charge each of disorderly conduct and fourth-degree sexual assault of a child. Kaster, 41, was found innocent of two felony charges of sexual assault by a staff member and two misdemeanor charges. Kaster was accused of assaulting the girls between March 1998 and April 2000. He was a part-time aquatics coach at Ashwaubenon High School from 1994 until March 2000, when he resigned.

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STUDENT SEX ABUSE RUNS RAMPANT

By DOUGLAS MONTERO
July 30, 2001 -- At least one child is sexually abused by a school employee every day in New York City schools, a Post investigation has found. Equally as disturbing is that one-third of the employees accused of sexual abuse are repeat offenders who've already been cited for inappropriate behavior by school officials. "It has reached critical mass," said Schools Special Investigator Ed Stancik. "I think it's very hard for anybody to deny that we have a real problem." The Post has analyzed 117 cases of sexual abuse substantiated by Stancik's office over a 21/2-year period - from January 1999 to June 2001 - to determine how offenders are picking off city kids. The Post investigation has found that more than 60 percent of employees accused of sexual abuse - mostly tenured teachers - were transferred to desk jobs at district offices located inside schools. Forty percent of those transferred suspects were repeat offenders. Problem teachers, who sometimes get away with a sexual offense, are surreptitiously transferred to other schools - a practice known as "passing the garbage." Board of Education President Ninfa Segarra was devastated by the outcome of The Post report. She said - to her knowledge - no agency has ever bothered to analyze sexual abuse inside city schools. "My gut reaction as a mother is that that number is pretty high and it puts a lot of kids in danger," she said of the number of repeat offenders working with children. Many blame the United Federation of Teachers because it vigorously defends its accused members. One union source said the UFT is legally bound to protect them - even when it knows the employee is a pedophile. UFT President Randi Weingarten said blaming the union for the problem is "outrageous." She charges that the board has adopted a "bunker mentality" when confronted with real problems. She said all teachers deserve "fair and due process," but refused to comment directly on the practice of defending teachers who are repeatedly accused of being pedophiles. A board source said it takes an average of 20 months and numerous state-arbitrator hearings just to get rid of a suspected abuser. "To say it's an imperfect process is putting it kindly," the source said. Since sexual abuse is one of the most underreported crimes in schools,"the percentage of cases reported is substantially lower than the cases that actually occurred," Stancik said. And although he's seen some improvements to prevent abuse over the years, Stancik said much more needs to be done. "I have not seen a commitment to do more than just what is necessary, as if to appear that they [board officials] are paying attention," he said. Other Post findings include:
* Some 212 children were victims in the 117 cases - in 45 percent of the cases, an offender attacked more than one student. Repeat offenders made up nearly half of the suspects who attacked more than one kid.
* In nearly 16 percent of the cases, school officials delayed reporting the offense or tried to cover it up.
* Paraprofessionals and school aides were involved in 20 percent of the cases. Math teachers, some of whom tutored and later tried to seduce students through the Internet, made up nearly 10 percent of the offenders. Special-ed teachers also account for 10 percent.
* The average victim is a 15-year-old female high-school student in Brooklyn, where 36 percent of the abuse cases occurred. The average age of an offender is 39.
* Seventy-five percent of the victims are girls.
* Nearly 20 percent of the offenders are homosexuals, and in most of these cases, the attack led to a sexual relationship with the student.
When these numbers are added to another 347 substantiated sex-abuse cases that have been probed by the board's Office of Special Investigation between January 2000 and July 20, 2001, the statistics become even more staggering. When The Post added the OSI's 327 cases to Stancik's 117 substantiated cases of sexual abuse over 21/2 years, it was discovered that at least one child is sexually abused by a school employee every day. The board could not provide OSI's numbers for 1999. Stancik's office investigates the most serious - and often criminal - offenses, while the OSI investigates all other accusations, officials said.
NEW YORK POST is a registered trademark of NYP Holdings, Inc. NYPOST.COM, NYPOSTONLINE.COM, and NEWYORKPOST.COM are trademarks of NYP Holdings, Inc.

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Two teachers in OC face sexual charges
By AP Wire Service
4/19/01
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (AP) -- A high school math teacher was arrested Tuesday on complaints of performing lewd acts on three girls. Another high school teacher has been charged with sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl. Clarence Matthews, 62, a teacher at John Marshall High School, was arrested Tuesday afternoon, Capt. Jessica Cummins said. The allegations do not involve Matthews' students. He was being held on complaints of engaging in lewd acts with children younger than 16. Bail was set at $30,000. His arrest stems from complaints that surfaced in September when a girl told a neighbor she had been fondled. The report said Matthews had fondled her on other occasions during the past five years. Further investigation led to accusations from two other girls, ages 10 and 13. A spokeswoman for the Oklahoma City School District said the district was investigating. Meanwhile, charges against Star Spencer High School photography teacher Thomas J. Carmichael, 56, include first-degree rape by instrumentation, indecent or lewd acts with a child under 16 and indecent exposure. The sexual assaults allegedly occurred March 13 and 14 during a camping trip, a court affidavit said.

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Art teacher accused of showing how terrorists cut victims' throats
http://www.sunsentinal.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-part26sep26.story?coll=sfla%2Dnews%2Dpalm
By Kellie Patrick
Education writer
Posted September 26 2001
A committee next week could begin reviewing the case of a teacher at a Boca Raton school who parents say showed their children how to cut someone's throat. "The parent complaint that we got was that a teacher was doing a role-play of cutting someone's throat," said South County Area Superintendent Carole Shetler. "You would certainly be horrified to learn your second-grade child had been exposed to this." Across the district, elementary teachers were told to follow the curriculum and not talk about the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon unless students asked questions.

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Teacher Accused of Burning Flag in Classroom

http://beta.kpix.com/news/local/2001/09/25/Teacher_Accused_of_Burning_Flag_in_Classroom.html
Jennifer Mack
Sacramento, CA
A Sacramento elementary school teacher is under fire for allegedly burning an American flag in front of his students. About 30 6th graders at Sacramento's North Avenue Elementary apparently watched as their teacher burned part of the flag. Students say he asked them to keep quiet, but one student later told the school principal. School officials say they are concerned about the incident, but refuse to speculate on the teacher's motives. "There's a fine line between sort of getting across your own personal views in a classroom, versus providing students with an educational background," said District Superintendent Carl Mack, Jr. The teacher is now on paid administrative leave. A school board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday night so parents can discuss their concerns.

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Democratic Party tool of the NEA
"Those of us who have long dismissed the National Education Association as a tool of the Democratic Party have been badlymistaken. Apparently it's just the opposite. As documents now sealed under a judge's order indicate, it's the Democratic Party that is the tool of the NEA. That, at least, is the gist of a report from the Federal Election Commission, all the more tantalizing because the object of its investigation was not the NEA but the AFL-CIO. Yet the NEA's name surfaces again and again as one of those organizations that, in return for financial contributions, were given seats on campaign committees in 1996 as well as the right to approve or reject the Democratic agenda. ... All the while the NEA was sitting on these committees and financing these Democratic campaigns, it was listing zero dollars for political expenditures on its tax forms. ... For years the great lament over American education has been that no one holds teachers accountable for the fact that 'Johnny can't read.' The evidence of these documents suggests that might have something to do with the New Math the NEA uses on its tax forms."
--William McGurn

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Students Given Graphic Instruction In Homosexual Sex
See next: Fistgate Scandal In A Nutshell
This is a reprint of a story which broke the Fistgate scandal in the May issue of Massachusetts News. We advise caution. Even though this is what the state is teaching to children as young as 12-years of age, it is extremely offensive.
By Brian Camenker and Scott Whiteman
"Fisting [forcing one's entire hand into another person's rectum or vagina] often gets a bad rap....[It's] an experience of letting somebody into your body that you want to be that close and intimate with...[and] to put you into an exploratory mode." The above quotation comes from Massachusetts Department of Education employees describing the pleasures of homosexual sex to a group of high school students at a state-sponsored workshop on March 25, 2000.
Click here to read all about Fistgate. A new window will open for you.
Source: Mass News

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Camenker Vindicated by Reinstatement of Fistgate Teacher
August 24, 2001
The woman who taught homosexual sex at Fistgate, Margot Abels, now believes she is a heroine because an arbitrator has reinstated her in her job. “She is being used as a scapegoat,” he said. “There’s no question about it. For them to claim this was an isolated incident is completely disingenuous.” . “Just because her superiors at the state approved her talking ‘dirty’ with children is not to her credit in any way,” he stated. Abels told the Globe she is “thrilled” by the decision of the arbitrator. “I do feel vindicated,” she said. Camenker told the Globe this week he agreed with the arbitrator’s decision -- to a point. “No question about it: Her supervisors knew what was going on and encouraged her to do it,” he said. “But this woman should not continue to be paid by the state to have contact with vulnerable children. Atty. Chester Darling tells MassNews that this “is only the tip of the iceberg.” He believes Abels is telling the truth when she says that what she was doing had been going on for five years. But he also says that giving her back-pay for a year is only “rewarding her for corrupting little kids.”
Puzzled by Arbitrator
When MassNews broke the story in its May 2000 issue with an article written by Whiteman and Camenker, it reported, “One often hears that there is an aggressive HIV/AIDS prevention campaign, but the session ran 55 minutes before the first mention of ‘protection’ and safer sex came.” And when it finally did come, it consisted of telling the teenagers they could make an “informed decision” about whether or not to use a condom.
Fistgate Made A Difference
“Therefore,” according to Camenker, “Weld repaid those activists by allowing them access to our public schools and even giving them the money to indoctrinate our kids.” Everyone is always shocked when they learn what was taught to high school students at Fistgate by Margot Abels and others. That is why it became a national scandal. The original story about Fistgate was in the May 2000 issue of MassNews and a complete wrap-up was in July 2000, both of which are available free at www.massnews.com or in the print edition. An edited tape of the conference is also available from MassNews.
Read ALL about Fistgate. Click here, a new window will open for you.
Mass News

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Class Warfare
Source: Salon.com
San Leandro today is one of the most racially mixed, culturally diverse and socially integrated communities in the Bay Area. Despite its changing demographics, the town also has retained its essential character -- politically liberal (some 80 percent of voters are registered Democrats). Life for most citizens here still revolves around work, family, church and community. And the flap over gay rights at San Leandro High has caused a growing number -- newcomers and old-timers alike, white and black -- to feel betrayed by a public school system that can't seem to educate their kids yet appears intent on disabusing them of values these people hold dear. The real issue at San Leandro High is not safety but normative values and their place in the classroom. Gay activists see the public schools as a bully pulpit from which to exorcise the evil of homophobia from the souls of the young. But people who see homosexuality as a sin, a sickness or an unhealthy lifestyle worry that activist teachers may be imposing misguided values on their children -- and point to the case of English teacher and G/SA leader Karl Debro. "I've been outspoken on gay and racial issues," says Debro, one of just two African-American males remaining on the SLHS teaching staff. "A black guy who speaks out on these issues scares a lot of folks in this community." Debro has been a vocal exponent of the view -- embraced as dogma by the G/SA and Gay/Lesbian/Straight Education Network -- that the quest for gay rights is as legally valid and morally compelling as the historic black struggle for civil rights. Shortly before Thanksgiving, a popular black physical education teacher, Matt Walker, submitted his resignation. "I quit because I just couldn't deal with the school promoting the gay and lesbian lifestyle," the Pentecostal Christian said. "I don't hold a grudge against anyone. I just couldn't continue working under those conditions." Walker was promptly hired by the Oakland Unified School District, and now teaches at Fremont High. "They didn't hurt me," he observed, "but they sure hurt those kids." San Leandro High "is so divided," according to Walker, "and they kept trying to figure out what side I was on. Karl Debro would throw race into the issue, like if you didn't go along with homosexuality it was no different than racism, and I told him the two things just don't equal out in my mind."

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Sex scandals cost (Texas) coaches

Daily Oklahoman
4-22-01
Accusations of sexual misconduct with students cost at least 64 Texas high school and middle school coaches their jobs since December 1996, the Houston Chronicle reported. The newspaper's three month investigation also found 13 instances in which coaches who lost their jobs at one school because of sexual misconduct were hired elsewhere. The investigation studied coaches in various sports. Chronicle research showed sexual misconduct accusations were found at all kinds of schools from large metropolitan athletic powerhouses to small rural schools.

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Teacher charged in Child Pornography Video Case
He had tape of students having sex, complaint says
By DAVID DOEGE
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: Sept. 13, 2001
A Vincent High School teacher arrested after allegedly asking a school librarian to copy a videotape of two students having sex was charged Thursday with possession of child pornography. Danny Lee Carter was charged with the felony in a criminal complaint that says he told police he borrowed the tape from one of the students on it "because he was curious to see two students having sex." Carter, 52, a math teacher who has been on the Milwaukee Public Schools staff for 23 years, also told police that he was curious about the lifestyle of the 18-year-old student who videotaped himself and the girl having sex and wanted to strengthen his student/teacher relationship with the young man, according to the complaint. Carter, who was arrested Tuesday, is expected to make his initial court appearance on the charge today. Tiffin explained that Carter was released from the County Jail on Wednesday while the case was still under review because someone mistakenly made a notation in case records that he would not face charges over the videotape episode. Tiffin also said that the 18-year-old student who allegedly made the videotape of himself having sex with the 16-year-old girl in his bedroom was ordered released from the jail Thursday and will not face any criminal charges, at least "in the short term." Milwaukee Public Schools spokeswoman Karen Salzbrenner, meanwhile, said that Carter, who has been at Vincent since 1987 and with MPS since 1978, will remain suspended pending the outcomes of an administrative disciplinary process and the criminal case. If he is convicted as charged in the complaint, Carter, of the 3800 block of N. 38th St., could face a prison term of up to five years. The complaint provides the following account of how the videotape details came to the attention of police and prosecutors: Carter approached the librarian Sept. 7, told him he needed a "favor" and asked him to copy a videotape. The librarian agreed and discovered that the tape featured two Vincent students engaged in sex. The librarian went to Vincent Principal Gloria Erkins with the tape, and she realized it was pornographic and featured some of her students soon after she began reviewing it. The tape was turned over to police, who met with the girl and the young man. The girl told police she was aware of the tape's existence, saying that it was her understanding the tape was "just for him." The young man, meanwhile, told police that he taped the third of three sexual encounters with the girl and that he brought its existence up with Carter on Sept. 4, after the teacher spotted him hugging a girl in school and asked him if he engaged in sex with girls. The student replied that he did, prompting Carter to brag that he "made tapes" when he was in high school. The student revealed that he made a tape himself, and Carter expressed disbelief and asked to see it. The student brought the tape in Sept. 7 and gave it to Carter at the start of math class, saying he needed it back the next day. On the following day, however, Carter told the student he had not had a chance to view the tape "because of his wife and kids" and promised to return it Monday. However, that was the day he gave the tape to the librarian and asked him to copy it. Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Sept. 14, 2001. Click Here to read story online

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Star Spencer teacher charged with sex crime
4-18-01 The Daily Oklahoman
A Star Spencer High School photography teacher has been charged in Oklahoma County District Court with sexually assaulting a 9 year old girl. Charges against Thomas J. Carmichael, 56, include first degree rape by instrumentation, indecent or lewd acts with a child under 16 and indecent exposure. The sexual assaults occurred March 13 and 14 during a camping trip at Lake Arcadia in Edmond (OK), a court affidavit said. The victim, Carmichael and two other children were sleeping in a tent, the affidavit said.

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El Reno ex-teacher charged with molestation
5-11-01 - El Reno, OK
William Allen Bozeman, 33, didn't enter a plea at the hearing on one count of lewd molestation. According to El Reno police, Bozeman is accused of molesting two Roblyer Middle School girls last summer.

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Teacher arrested in investigation of lewd acts
4-18-01 - An Oklahoma City school teacher was arrested Tuesday on complaints of performing lewd acts on 3 girls, police said. Clarence Matthews, 62, a math teacher at John Marshall HS, was arrested Tuesday afternoon. The allegations did not involve Matthews' students. He was arrested and taken to the OK county jail and was held on complaints of engaging in lewd acts with children under 16. Bail was set at $30,000. His arrest stems from complaints that surfaced in September when a girl told a neighbor she had been fondled. The report said Matthews had fondled her on other occasions during the past five years. Further investigations led to accusations from two other girls,10 and 13. The district refused to release Matthews' basic employment information, including his school assignment, what he teachesand how long he has worked for the district. Matthews is the 5th Oklahoma City educator arrested and accused of a sex related crime since December. Two of the cases involve sexual misconduct with students.

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Third trial requested for teacher
4--01 - Muskogee, OK
Federal prosecutors said Tuesday they will seek a third trial against a former Arkansas elementary school counselor charged with drug trafficking. A federal judge declared a second mistrial on Monday when it was discovered jurors before opening statements on Monday and found that some of the jurors had read about the case regarding Lou Jean Wyche, 53, of rural Adair County. Wyche and her husband, Larry Glenn Wyche, 61, were arrested on Dec. 19 on charges of conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute and interstate transportation in aid of racketeering. Wyche was identified to a grand jury as a supplier of three pounds of meth that was transported from California to Oklahoma early in October.

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Alleged sex with coach sparks civil lawsuit
6-12-01 - Enid, OK
A girl who alleged former football coach John Kerr had an inappropriate sexual relationship with her has filed a civil lawsuit against the Pioneer-Pleasant Vale School District and its superintendent. Another girl was names last months in criminal charges filed against Kerr. Enid attorneys Matt David and Russell Singleton represent the girl who filed the lawsuit Monday in the Western District Court of Oklahoma seeking unspecified damages. She is a graduate of Pioneer, which is in Garfield County, south of Enid. The lawsuit alleges that Supt. Bill Noak and other officials at the high school knew of the inappropriate relationship during the 1997-98 school year and did nothing to stop it. The lawsuit states that Kerr repeatedly took advantage of and molested the girl throughout the year. David said the case is supportive of one that he intends to file soon on behalf of the girl involved in the criminal charges. Kerr is charged in Garfield Co. with 12 counts of sexual assault-related offenses involving that Pioneer student. "Not only was coach Kerr taking advantage of that young lady back in 1995, his abuse of her continued until last year," he said. "We believe ther were other victims of coach Kerr and we're trying to find out who they are. Our investigation continues to turn up girls that he was harassing. Noak said he did what he could to protect his students. He said he had heard rumors about the possible involvement and questioned the plaintiff in the civil lawsuit two or three times. "She refused to tell me anything. To me it is a frivolous lawsuit," he said. (Don't you think the girl knew this man's attitude toward her and it would have done no good to talk to him. It doesn't say he discussed this with coach Kerr. Just another cover up if you ask me.) Noak said he did not hear anything about Kerr and any other girls. He would not comment on why the school board in February relieved Kerr of his coaching duties. Stephen Jones, Kerr's attorney, could not be reached for comment.

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Claims of sex between coach, student investigated
9-6-01 The Daily Oklahoman
POND CREEK, OK - Claims that a Pond Creek basketball coach had sexual relations with a 16 year old girl on his basketball team have prompted an investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. No charges have been filed against Brandon Long, 30, who resigned after being questioned by Pond Creek-Hunter School Superintendent Jerry Miller. On Aug. 23, the school board accepted the resignations of Long and his wife, who taught at the school. Both have applied for jobs in the Dallas area after resigning. Both Long and the girl denied the relationship Miller said. "My gut feeling, until I get more information, is the girl had an infatuation for her coach and I think what happened is she expressed a desire, in talking with other kids, that she'd like to run away with the coach or something of that nature," Miller said. Miller, however, said he believed Long's resignation was appropriate. Miller said he did not report the allegations to authorities, buy Pond Creek police heard about it and turned it over to the Grant County district attorney's office, which asked for the OSBI to investigate. The sexual misconduct allegations prompted Miller to address his staff about maintaining proper relationships with students.

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MPS (Milwaukee Public Schools) Must Rehire Felon, give him $150,000 in Back Pay
By Tom Kertscher
Journal Sentines Staff
October 4, 2001
Milwaukee Public Schools has been rebuffed by the state Supreme Court and is now legally obligated to give a job and about $150,000 in back pay to a former janitor who was fired for not disclosing he had injured a child with hot grease during a domestic incident, an attorney for MPS says. Regardless of what happens with Moore, said Assistant City Attorney Leonard Tokus, the Legislature needs to address the results of his case. "It's a significant and dramatic impact for school districts throughout the state, being forced to hire a person who has been convicted of reckless endangerment, particularly involving a child", Tokus said. Moore, 39, had worked for 12 years as an MPS janitor when he pleaded guilty in 1992 to injury by conduct regardless of life, a felony. He had thrown hot grease at his girlfriend in a domestic dispute in 1988, missing her but hitting her 20-month old daughter, who suffered second and thrid-degree burns over 16% of her body. Moore was sentenced to a 90-day jail term with work-release privileges and kept his job. But, in 1995, after becoming a boiler attendant trainee, he was fired for having failed to disclose his conviction of his application for that job. In 1996, Moore again applied for a boiler attendant trainee job, this time disclosing the conviction. The key decision came from the state Labor and Industry Review Commission, which ruled in 1999 that MPS had discriminated against Moore in refusing to hire him on his second application. The commission concluded that Moore's crime did not substantially relate to the duties of a boiler attendant trainee and it ordered MPS to hire him and give him back pay. Nance, the commission attorney, stressed that the commission was simply applying the law in Moore's case. He said the commission has not taken a position on whether the law, which prohibits job discrimination based on a criminal record, should apply to school districts. Tokus said he would write to Moore to tell him the outcome of the case and to determine whether he still wants to work for MPS. Moore has said in the past that he badly wanted the boiler attendant job.

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Money Most Important to Sheboygan, WI Area School District
Front Page Headline in the Sheboygan Press: Enrollment Up in Sheboygan
By Jenny Bushnell
The Press Staff
Saturday, October 6, 2001
About 69 more students are enrolled in the Sheboygan Area School District this fall. Statewide, the third-Friday count determines how much each district will receive in state aid and how much each school board can spend under state-imposed revenue caps. More students bring more money. Walter called the increase "very good news for the school district". "The higher numbers are better, especially considering revenue caps", Eickholt admitted.
Comment: Never mind the good of the students, let's suck up as much taxpayer money as we can. Never mind Wisconsin is already the third highest taxed state in the entire Nation.

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Madison Schools Barred From using the Pledge of Allegiance
Doug Erickson Education reporter
The Madison School Board Barred Schools on Monday from Using the Pledge of Allegiance as a way to comply with a new state law that requires a daily patriotism dose. Instead, schools can use only the national anthem - and then only instrumental versions of it. No words. The 3-2 board vote came after several parents and teachers complained that the pledge, which contains the line "one nation, under God," is a religious oath that doesn't belong in public schools. Others criticized the pledge for promoting nationalism and militarism. Board President Calvin Williams, who voted with the majority, said the board's action is the "least intrusive and least offensive" way to comply with the law. "We've chosen a reasonable compromise that preserves freedom of expression on both ends of the spectrum and doesn't trample on anyone's rights," he said. "What we're doing here is opening up a very slippery slope," said Sally Franz, an educational assistant at Cherokee Middle School and one of six people who criticized the law Monday. "Indoctrination leads to totalitarianism, and we're approaching that moment." Ray Allen and Juan Jose Lopez were absent. Reached later, Lopez said he opposes the motion. "I would not have voted to ban the Pledge of Allegiance," he said. "We live in the United States of America, and people should be given the choice."

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Teacher accused of injuring boy with dowel rod
Teacher Tyranny Hits Christian School
Comment: It would be interesting to know where Mullins had taught before he came to this school. Did the school check out his background before they hired him?
2001-10-11
By The Associated Press
CLAREMORE, OK - A Claremore Christian School teacher who swatted a boy with a 3-foot long dowel rod has been charged with injuring the child. Claremore police investigator Tim Norris said the bruises on the 12-year-old boy "were the most severe I've seen in a long time. One almost covered the whole buttocks." Wendall Rayn Mullins, 28, was charged Tuesday in Rogers County District Court. He was freed on his own recognizance and returned to work at the school, which is owned and operated by the Church of Claremore. The boy received the spanking Oct. 1 as punishment for passing notes in class, authorities said. His mother, Cynthia Russell, took the boy to a Tulsa hospital where doctors characterized the bruises as "severe," she said. Oklahoma law allows corporal punishment in schools. It requires that a witness be present and the paddling be delivered with only one hand. The boy told authorities that Mullins held the dowel with two hands. "We take strong issue with the theory two hands were used," said Stratton Taylor, who is representing the school. "There is a witness to bear that out." Norris said at least three former students have since come forward and described similar bruising from swats they received at Claremore Christian School.
Source: NewsOK.com

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Hip-hop Parenting
Source: Salon.com
My son and I have a deal in which profanity begets literacy.
By Linda Specht
Linda Specht has been teaching high school in Strongsville, Ohio, for 19 years
Linda Specht has been teaching high school in Strongsville, Ohio, for 19 years I am an English teacher -- a reader and writer in a world full of words. My son is a reluctant student -- an athlete and social animal with a limited vocabulary. As a teacher of literature who openly expresses views against literary censorship, I find it hard to ban Insane Clown Posse from my home. Last spring, after a new onslaught of unsavory hip-hop lyrics found its way into our lives, I devised a compromise. And that is how Jon Krakauer's "Into the Wild" made it into the house on the same day as Dr. Dre. For every objectionable CD my son purchased with his own money, I would buy, and expect him to read, a book of my choosing. When I first presented the plan we were in the aisle of the local discount store. He was holding a cellophane-glazed case listing song titles that were themselves bleeped out. Since finishing "Into the Wild," my son and I have purchased Limp Bizkit and Roald Dahl's "The Witches," Sisqo and Jerry Spinelli's "Wringer," Adam Sandler and "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." The one-for-one profanity plan is working.

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Cramming for Kindergarten
Source: Salon.com
Written by Theresa Heim
Theresa Heim is a private tutor in Los Angeles and an MFA student at Antioch University.
Theresa Heim is a private tutor in Los Angeles and an MFA student at Antioch University. I am a personal home tutor in the Los Angeles area, serving clients in Brentwood and Beverly Hills. I work with children of all ages, but primarily 3-to-5-year-olds whose parents want them prepared to test into prestigious private schools. At an age when the word "competition" should not even be in their vocabulary, these children are forced to go in front of a panel of school officials and perform tasks such as putting blocks into the correct holes and writing the alphabet and numbers. My clients are typically successful professionals -- doctors, lawyers and studio executives -- who begin networking just after the birth of their children, planning the children's academic future as though they were conducting a business deal. They enroll them in notable preschools and fill up their schedules with as many extracurricular activities as time allows. These children take computer classes, early reading classes, early math -- all beginning at age 3 -- in order to crush the competition when it comes time for kindergarten. Some children crack under the pressure and won't even let go of their mother's hand, let alone draw shapes for a stranger. Instead of being supportive, some of the parents get angry, which only scares the child even more. A 5-year-old just doesn't understand that one 10-minute session may determine their fate and, most important, their parents' status in society. There are times when I feel partly responsible for taking away my students' childhood. But this job truly has its exceptional moments, which temporarily erase my guilt and make it difficult for me to choose another profession. This is why I continue to be part of this harsh process -- I feel like the good guy in the midst of all this madness.

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Do Schools Follow-up on Sexual Harassment from Teachers?
Source: Salon.com
In our studies we found that schools do very little. Even when kids directly report what happened, schools often ignore it, don't investigate, tell the children that they must be making it up, assume that since they knew the teacher -- and didn't think the teacher was that kind of person -- that it must not be true. Schools don't take seriously the complaints, the rumors, even their own eyes. There have been incidents of teachers turning out the lights and showing a movie and then taking the students to the back of the room to have sex with them. One kid was a top music student and the band director started spending extra time with her and then began a sexual relationship. There are incidents of teachers taking students into a closet, touching them, taking their clothes off, having intercourse with them while the others are in the classroom; of teachers taking students away from school to get an ice cream cone and then out to a remote area to have sex. Sometimes the students think they love the teacher, sometimes they're terrified of the teacher. A lot of the physical sexual abuse of students -- particularly intercourse -- may go on for years. For older kids, they often last two to three years, for younger kids it may last the year the child is in the class with that teacher. Almost all of the sexual abuse comes from male abusers. The largest proportion is to a female, but it's followed closely by male teachers with heterosexual identities having sex with male students.

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Soccer Complex, School Backed
Leader's Gang Past Does Not Scare Away Support
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A $10 million indoor soccer complex and a new Kagel Middle School for the near south side have the backing of city, county and school officials - despite the gang ties and criminal history of the neighborhood leader who is proposing it. His project has received $100,000 in city support, and Milwaukee Public Schools has advanced the center $50,000 for project planning. Fontanez, who founded the center 16 months ago, started the Milwaukee chapter of the Latin Kings in the 1970's. In 1987, he was convicted of participating in a cocaine delivery conspiracy and served eight years in federal prison. He remains on probation. Edward Fallone, chairman of the Latino center's board and a law professor at Marquette University said the board "has made it clear we support Mo (Fontanez) and we have moved forward.