A Tale of Two Teachers

What do you get when you cross a gifted New Testament, a former porn actress, and a local education system? 

In the separate cases of Stacie Halas and Walter Tutka, you get the boot from a local education system.

A sardonic irony exists between these two cases. A local board of education punished Ms. Halas for completely legal actions performed apart from and probably prior to her duties as a teacher. Mr. Tutka remains without a job for the next year due to quoting an ancient text and gifting said text to a student.

Let me be clear. I don't advocate actually showing porn to students in the classroom, which didn't happen here. I also don't advocate proselytizing for religious faiths in schools, which also didn't happen here. In Ms. Halas' case, she is essentially being punished for a "moral" decision, found inappropriate albeit perfectly legal. In this case, I am forced to wonder: what did the judges use to decide the moral appropriateness of Ms. Halas' ability to teach? For Mr. Tutka, he quoted a Bible verse without giving reference to its source. When a student asked about the source, Mr. Tutka used his personal New Testament to show him the quote, and he gave the student the Bible, since the student expressed never having one. In firing Mr. Tutka, did the school board not go too far in abridging freedom of religious expression?

Do you see how Alanis could use this story line? 

Attempts within education to make schools morally neutral vanguards start to turn ridiculous when these are the results. Make no mistake about it: these are cases about social and religious mores, and the manner in which we respond teaches our educational communities, students included, many a life lesson. With one hand, we punish a teacher for crossing an indiscernible or at the very least arbitrary line of sexual decency. With the other, we punish a teacher for crossing an equally ambiguous line of religious expression. Each case asks us to consider the "slippery slope" argument as a good enough reason to be satisfied with the rulings.

Personally, I am not sated. Ms. Casas is far from:

And, Mr. Tutka's actions are far from:

 

I find a golden opportunity here to teach about tolerance, second chances, and the power of assumptions. In these cases, all of these were taught but not healthily. When will accept that someone's past doesn't predestine their future? Will we understand that not every element of religion or religious expression is a ploy for indoctrination? When will common sense prevail over prejudice?

Basically, when will the adults begin living the principles we strive to see in our children?