Another reason why schools need to be held accountable
I’m a born and bred Northeasterner. So naturally anytime I see interesting news going on in the Delaware Valley (New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware) my attention pulls to that direction. This case (which took place in Allentown, PA) made me VERY angry.
ALLENTOWN, Pa.  Central Elementary School’s teachers and administrators, parents say, knew they had a problem with F.H., a 12-year-old accused of going into a bathroom stall and sexually assaulting a first-grade boy.
But instead of calling police and removing F.H., district officials covered up the attack and allowed him to remain in class, leading to the sexual assault of three more first-graders, according to parents.
The allegations, contained in a $15 million federal lawsuit against the Allentown school system, have created an uproar in Pennsylvania’s third-largest city, with outraged parents demanding the superintendent’s ouster and state lawmakers working on a legislative fix.
The case has also illustrated how difficult it can be under the law for parents to hold a school system responsible for the safety of their children.
“I’m disgusted,” said Yolanda Colbert, 36, whose three children attend Allentown schools. “These 6-year-olds are the most vulnerable, and if adults cannot protect them, we have some serious issues in the Allentown school district.” (continue reading this article. Click here to see the local news video coverage)
Before I start my rant here, let me acknowledge the fact that there are good teachers in public schools that would of handled this differently. I know quite of few public school teachers myself and if this would have happened in their school, they would have been just as angry as me. With that being said, I believe that teachers’ unions ultimately look out for themselves and will do anything to preserve and expand their influence in D.C. and local politics.
What really pisses me off about this case here is how the school system (heavily influenced by teachers unions) opted to bury this incident instead of getting the police involved from jump. Foxnews.com has a video of one of the fathers of the 4 kids that were molested (his face is covered). He said that his son came home one day and told him that someone in his school “…tried to pee-pee in his butt“.
For several minutes, I– went– off! I can’t imagine what this father must have felt–let alone his son.
Not too long ago, I had a public school employee tell me about several incidents in her school where teachers are simply reassigned after it was discovered that these teachers had committed some major violations. One of these incidents involved a teacher who was viewing porn in the classroom. There is a case here in Southern California (the town is about 20 min from my home) where a substitute teacher HAD ADMITTED to molesting between 100-200 girls. I talked about this case at great length here. Fortunately a local paper has been keeping track of this story as well:
RANCHO CUCAMONGA - Four families are trying to file lawsuits against several local school districts and two county agencies claiming the education system failed to stop a substitute elementary school teacher from molesting their children.
In the pending lawsuits, the families claim three of the school districts - Chino Valley Unified, San Bernardino City Unified and Ontario-Montclair - knew Eric Norman Olsen preyed on children, but failed to report him to the police. (more…)
Coincidence? I think not.
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Clearly I have a biased against public schools but it is always for educational reasons. How could any human being see a child being hurt and not, at the very least, tell the parents. It is an outrage. Not only should this child predetor be charged but the teachers and adminsitrators should be charged with accessoryafter the fact. I can not imagen my son being violated and the adults, whose care I left him in, not telling me something this life altering. These people have true lack of morality and common decency.
Comment by Saudia | February 9, 2007
this should be the last straw. i am a white lady with a white kid and so sick and tired of reading of various trbls in the schools. when that white kid in cal had someone try to shove his head in a toilet and he waited in the bathroom for that perpetrator i was so sickened by that story and not really surprised either. i think the federal govt needs to step in and teachers and administrators need to be called on the carpet bigtime. i think from my own observations they just collect paychecks and dont really want to get involved a lot of the time…….its HIGH time something be done. the demented, perverse and criminal should be treated as such and there should be no letting up of that demand. i am sick and tired of reading these type stories. my son was bullied six years by the son of a teacher and i think nephew of the principal. nothing much was done about it and noone wanted to hear about it either. a few years ago this kid told my son if he ever hit him he could kill him and get away with it. he admitted he was jealous of my son’s looks. noone really wanted to hear anything bad about this kid for years. this situation in this school is terrible, criminal and no should not be swept under the rug in any way. answers should be demanded, people should be called on the carpet bigtime and demands should also be made for the govt to take a greater role in
addressing issues like this and others. there is a lot of bullying that goes on in schools also that goes unaddressed. what happened here is criminal and should be addressed as such. people should not sit by and let this go by silently. hell no.
Comment by lady di | February 10, 2007