Art teacher in hot water over topless photos

[thedude110]

I understand the concerns of the district. Teachers occupy this weird political space -- depending on who you ask we're role models, parents, knowledge dispensers, disciplinarians, etc. And whether right or no, if teachers have a stake in their community (if teachers are teaching not just for a paycheck but for the betterment of the lives of their kids), then they make a significant impact on local decision making.

The question here should be "How do these sets of photographs impact the teacher's ability to do her job well?" If this costs her respect in her schoool, if this impacts her ability to treat students fairly (because it impacts her ability to dispense discipline), if this impacts her ability to work with her colleagues on important distrcit and school initiatives, it seems reasonable for the district to conclude that she can't perform her job as she needs to.

Don't misread this. I'm pro-nudity, pro-teacher, pro-first ammendment, pro-employee's rights.

But I'm also pro-quality of education. Should this negatively impact her ability to produce learning, she should be relieved of her position.

 

[Electro Funk]

I understand the concerns of the district. Teachers occupy this weird political space -- depending on who you ask we're role models, parents, knowledge dispensers, disciplinarians, etc. And whether right or no, if teachers have a stake in their community (if teachers are teaching not just for a paycheck but for the betterment of the lives of their kids), then they make a significant impact on local decision making.

The question here should be "How do these sets of photographs impact the teacher's ability to do her job well?" If this costs her respect in her schoool, if this impacts her ability to treat students fairly (because it impacts her ability to dispense discipline), if this impacts her ability to work with her colleagues on important distrcit and school initiatives, it seems reasonable for the district to conclude that she can't perform her job as she needs to.

Don't misread this. I'm pro-nudity, pro-teacher, pro-first ammendment, pro-employee's rights.

But I'm also pro-quality of education. Should this negatively impact her ability to produce learning, she should be relieved of her position.

According to her... she is being fired... from her myspace account that someone linked to earlier in the thread:

About me:
ARTIST AND ART Teacher (termination pending) at a high school in Austin, Texas . Looking for help with funding the gathering of evidence to defend myself against the Austin Independant School District. (both civil and criminal). They are firing me for pictures of me being on a website (celesta) and claiming the website is pornographic. The district isn't even asking to hear my side. At this time, I have been advised not to share too much information about my case. But as soon as I get the ok I will gladly share more of my story. PS: when you donate i will send you a one of a kind drawing/painting/little something something sweet ok?

 

[thedude110]

According to her... she is being fired... from her myspace account that someone linked to earlier in the thread:

Perhaps I should have been more clear.

She should not be fired for posing nude.

If one of the consequences of posing nude (one of the consequences of her free speech) is a decreased ability to provide a high quality of education to her students, then the district's priority should be to protect the students' right to learn, not the individual teacher's right to free speech.

My union wouldn't like to hear this, but I believe the right to education of the students as a whole is more important than any individual teacher's rights (within given limits, of course -- the teacher should be paid, for example!).

If it could be shown that the district consistently and willfully acted against the first ammendment rights of several teachers, that could change my opinion significantly.

 

[dornoforpyros]

I hope she wins, those were tastefully done and artist should never have to explain their work to ANYONE, especially close minded "family values" rednecks.

 

[Electro Funk]

Perhaps I should have been more clear.

She should not be fired for posing nude.

If one of the consequences of posing nude (one of the consequences of her free speech) is a decreased ability to provide a high quality of education to her students, then the district's priority should be to protect the students' right to learn, not the individual teacher's right to free speech.

My union wouldn't like to hear this, but I believe the right to education of the students as a whole is more important than any individual teacher's rights (within given limits, of course -- the teacher should be paid, for example!).

If it could be shown that the district consistently and willfully acted against the first ammendment rights of several teachers, that could change my opinion significantly.

actually you were pretty clear in your first thread, and i cant say i would disagree with you... i think you mentioned earlier if she was teaching college students it would be quite different and i would agree there as well... i actually meant to link to someones else's thread regarding "if she was getting fired", but accidentially linked to yours somehow
my bad...

 

[mmzplanet]

Freedom of Speech is exactly that. You can speak and get your point across freely, but other affiliated parties have freedoms of their own too.

I can freely flip off my boss....but he can freely fire me too.

With that said... I don't think that your off time should be controlled by your employer. If you want to post pics of yourself online...go ahead. I can also see the other sides argument that they dont want the negative attention directed at the business or school. You can also fault individual parents too. If they dont approve of their kids seeing that on the internet...they need to keep a closer eye on web habits. Its not up to the rest of us to uphold THEIR families values.

 

[Electro Funk]

I can freely flip off my boss....but he can freely fire me too.

God i wanted to do that on Friday, but held back for your exact reasoning

 

[DZ/015]

I wonder, does Texas still do the stocks, public flogging, dunking and burning at the stake? It's so hard to know which is the most appropriate Medieval punishment for the crime of being such a wanton floozie.

If they do, I'll be first in line to photograph it!

 

[aquajet]

An open question:

Would you be okay with your teenage child looking at nude photographs of his/her high school teacher?

 

[IJ Reilly]

An open question:

Would you be okay with your teenage child looking at nude photographs of his/her high school teacher?

I wouldn't be okay with my teenage child using the internet, watching TV, listening to the radio, or going to movies. As Kurt Vonnegut once wrote, eventually the First Amendment will have to be repealed, for the good of the childern.

Stop the world, I want to get off.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

The only basis that I can find for the AISD in firing her is based on any "morals" clause that they may have in the contracts with the teachers.

While I defend anyones right to be themselves, if you sign a contract waiving those rights, then you should be prepared to pay the price. That is until SCOTUS says that "moral" clauses are unconstitutional. And that time will be a long time coming sadly.

 

[aquajet]

I wouldn't be okay with my teenage child using the internet, watching TV, listening to the radio, or going to movies. As Kurt Vonnegut once wrote, eventually the First Amendment will have to be repealed, for the good of the childern.

Stop the world, I want to get off.

I kind of suspected this sort of response would appear (and I'll be frank, especially from you ). You've guilefully evaded my question.

I can sympathize with both sides, but let's be fair here: there's a clear difference between whatever "immoral" things a child may come across on the internet or observe on television, radio or the movies and his discovery of nude photographs of his teacher. A teacher has a unique relationship with her adolescent student. How is this relationship affected by sharing nude photographs among one another? Is it reasonable to place certain constraints on a high school teacher's freedoms?

 

[DZ/015]

An open question:

Would you be okay with your teenage child looking at nude photographs of his/her high school teacher?

Absoutely not! Her conduct in this matter is beyond explanation. If she were teaching college, no problem. Primary school, no excuse for this.

 

[bigandy]

This would never happen in the UK.

Mostly because teachers here have generally hit every branch when falling from the ugly tree.

And nobody wants to see that.

 

[skunk]

Absoutely not! Her conduct in this matter is beyond explanation. If she were teaching college, no problem. Primary school, no excuse for this.

Why would primary school children even be looking at nude photos on the net?

 

[skunk]

This would never happen in the UK.

Mostly because teachers here have generally hit every branch when falling from the ugly tree.

And nobody wants to see that.

That's not very fair.

 

[link92]

So, nowadays, you can't pose for photography?

 

[Arnaud]

"Hey, you art teacher, we need you for our school. But do not try to be a free-minded artist in your own private life, we will tell you what is art and what is not."

I think this is ridiculous. She did not incite her pupils to go and see the pictures, did she ? She did not bring her photos to her class either, or did she ?

Sad for her, but I think she'll be better off in another school, where art teachers can hopefully do what they consider artistic in their private life.

 

[pedrov]

old saying call "straw that broke camels back"

think for minute... she is gay. or at least bi.

texas school district builds up info after info. they know she bi, but cant fire her for that. they get lucky when vinditive teacher shows link.

now they can fire the dyke!

i dont think this so muc about the nudes...

 

[jaxstate]

If she's doing this on her own time, so be it. Just becaue she feels this is art, doesn't mean she's teaching it to the kids.

 

[gekko513]

I looked at the pictures and I couldn't find one that was indecent. The one in the bathtub was cropped above her breasts, she was dressed for the ones on the bed, and the rest were a lot of more or less interesting pictures in different poses and settings. Some were quite good in my opinion. Even if she did show a nipple, I don't see the problem. There wasn't anything suggestive or pornographic about the pics I saw.

 

[Arnaud]

Next headlines:
-"Math teacher fired for walking naked in her house and being spotted by a pupil peeping through the window",
- "Language teacher fired for reading a newspaper with escort girls' ads in the last page, as evidenced after his trash was searched by pupils",
- "Biology teacher fired for watching soft-porn MTV clips on the cable, and having this information leaked to a pupil by his father who happens to be the cable man".

 

[Josh]

old saying call "straw that broke camels back"

think for minute... she is gay. or at least bi.

texas school district builds up info after info. they know she bi, but cant fire her for that. they get lucky when vinditive teacher shows link.

now they can fire the dyke!

i dont think this so muc about the nudes...

I agree totally.

 

[thedude110]

A teacher has a unique relationship with her adolescent student. How is this relationship affected by sharing nude photographs among one another? Is it reasonable to place certain constraints on a high school teacher's freedoms?

This is a question that a lot of high school teachers grapple with, I think. An example: I have a good friend who likes to wear T-Shirts adorned with witticisms -- "I'm a Vagitarian," for example. When she started teaching this year, she suddenly had to ask this question: Is it ok for me to wear these shirts to the mall? Where my students will see me? Will I lose respect in the eyes of my students? Will it impact my ability to do my job? To what degree do I want my sexuality to be a point of conversation amongst my students?

In turn, I would argue that a lot of this problem is rooted in a hyper-puritanical educational system that seems to demand that teachers treat their students with dishonesty (that you know who I am as a teacher, but not who I really am -- a problem that manifests itself when students don't think teachers are even real people, i.e. -- "You eat lunch, Mr.? Shouldn't you be grading or something?").

So, I guess my answer to your question is, no, we shouldn't limit teacher's freedoms -- we should instead seek more progressive pedagogy and administration. But as long as things are set up as they are -- well, teachers better understand the system and recognize that any act of publication -- from a poem to a t-shirt they're wearing -- serves as a way to judge their qualifications (and a teacher's qualifications, in the eyes of too many, doesn't go beyond a teacher's presumed character). This goes back to the fact that everyone thinks they can be a teacher and that, as capitalists, we're all pretty convinced we're disposable.

Now, should I, a high school teacher, have been "allowed" to publish the phrase "I'm a Vagitarian" to an internet message board? On school time no less?

Well, I don't think you know who I am, and I'm currently proctoring a final exam with four proctors and 9 students (the usual wonderful dispersal of resources in the public school systems of America), so I think so.

 

[Abstract]

Not porn .

You know this is a story from the US, in Europe they would not give a damn about a topless woman
or nudes that dont show anything .

Exactly what I was thinking --- this was definitely news from America. This is rated PG, at best. Anyone over the age of 13 should be able to see her photos.

Actually, a person at any age should be able to look at these photos. I don't see any nudity whatsoever after having quickly skimmed THIS account.....all 30 pages of her photographs. Can someone just tell us the page number it's on, because I honestly don't see her nude.

And if they want to hire an art teacher, don't they realize that she's gonna photograph and appear in photographs? If the photos weren't even nude, but were posted on a webpage where there WAS nudity, the teacher did nothing wrong, really.