Demand for Top Charter Schools Outweighs Supply

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2011/08/24/more-demand-for-top-charter-schools-than-supply

 

"There's no fights like other schools. No drugs. We are like a family," added Valencia, a 10th grader at the Gulfton campus.

It is a family that would clearly be much larger if YES prep had more than it's current 5,400 slots.

"I feel that students are suffering and that families are suffering too. I feel that we are slowing down innovation. I think that's what charter schools bring to the education community," Bernal said.

Abigail Valencia says along with her classmates, she's on a mission to change the perceptions that low income, minority kids have difficulty succeeding.

"We are going to prove those statistics wrong," she insisted.

Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2011/08/24/more-demand-for-top-charter-schools-than-supply/#ixzz1W3AAI9fI

Teen Sexting Ring Busted in Vermont

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/teen-sexting-ring-busted-vermont/story?id=14341089

 

Vermont police said that 22 high school students, ages 14 to 17, took part in a teen sexting ring, using school-issued laptops to view photos of nude and partially nude adolescent girls.

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2011/08/girl-forced-apologize-boy-who-raped-her

Girl Forced to Apologize to Boy Who Raped Her

—By Kevin Drum

| Wed Aug. 17, 2011 1:38 PM PDT

A special ed girl in a Missouri middle school reported that she was raped a couple of years ago. But school officials insisted that her story was made up and badgered her into recanting:

Following instructions from the school, the girl wrote an apology to the boy she accused of raping her and had to personally give it to him, according to the lawsuit. She was then expelled for the remainder of the 2008-09 school year....The girl returned to the middle school for the 2009-10 school year and tried to avoid the boy, according to the lawsuit. It didn't work. She was sexually assaulted again [in the school library] but didn't tell anyone because she was afraid of being expelled again.

....School officials were notified of the incident and allegedly doubted the girl's claim, saying they'd "already been through this," according to the lawsuit. The girl was also examined and found to have been sexually assaulted. However, she was suspended from school for "disrespectful conduct" and "public display of affection," her lawyers wrote in the lawsuit.

I'll grant that it's impossible to know for sure what happened based on just one side of the story. Still, a forensic exam after the second rape showed that the girl had indeed been sexually assaulted, a DNA match was made to the boy she had accused of raping her, and the boy then pleaded guilty to charges in juvenile court. But the school district continues to say that it bears no responsibility for any of this. WTF?

Do You Know Where Your Child Is? Not with his teacher, we hope.

http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2011/04/13/collinsville-teacher-ousted-for-ordering-students-to-remove-underwear

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. (AP) - A southwestern Illinois special-education teacher has been ousted after allegedly ordering students to remove their underwear to determine which child soiled his pants.

The Belleville News-Democrat reports that Collinsville’s school board voted Monday not to renew the contract of the unidentified Webster Elementary School teacher.

The newspaper reports a letter sent to parents this week indicated the teacher saw feces on the classroom floor March 30 and had each of the seven children go separately into a private bathroom stall and remove his or her underpants. The third and fourth graders then were told to put their clothes back on and exit the stall to show their underpants to the teacher.

The letter says the teacher was not ever present in the stall.

Park Middle School Teacher Wanted for Alleged Inappropriate Touching of Male 8th Grade Student

http://www.kron4.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=666

Do You Know Where Your Child Is? Not with his teacher, we hope.

ANTIOCH (KRON) -- A warrant is now out for a Park Middle School teacher accused of what Antioch police call "illicit touching of an 8th grade male student."

Investigators say they learned of the allegations against Charles Redmond of Pittsburg last Thursday.  Witnesses say the teacher made inappropriate comments to male students and touched one of them over the victim's clothing.

After police started investigating the allegations, authorities say Redmond left a note for his family and may have fled to Mexico.  Detectives secured a $100,000 warrant for him.  

If you've seen Redmond or know of other potential victims, contact Antioch police or your local authorities.

Stay tuned to KRON 4 and KRON4.com for the latest on this developing story.

 

Do You Know Where Your Child Is?

Original Link:

http://my.opera.com/cwbywz/blog/2008/10/04/do-you-know-where-your-child-is-not-with-his-teacher-we-hope

Ever found yourself yearning for those good old school days? Well, school and teachers change.

I might be a little torn on the subject and believe it changes with varying circumstances. If my 18 year old boy scored with the 22 year old teachers aid... no harm, no foul. Then when my 12 year old is raped by a 52 year old English teacher... different story.

You judge for yourself.

• Ashley Renee Flores - Teacher at East Junior High School in Ponca City, Oklahoma, Arrested On Accusations Of Repeatedly Raping Student. Had Sex With Teen While Own Children Were In The House
• Brooke Biggs, a 27-year-old physical education teacher at at Grissom Middle School and asst. girl's athletics coach at Penn High School in Mishawaka, Indiana has been arrested on suspicion of seducing a female student.
  

• Sandra Binkley, a 36-year-old math teacher at Portland high School in Portland, Tennessee has been arrested and charged with statutory rape by an authority figure after police say she had sex with a 17-year-old student.

• Carrie McCandless, a former social studies teacher and cheerleading coach at Charter High School is back in jail following a probation violation - She was caught having sex with a fellow parolee. McCandless was convicted in the summer of 2007 for having a sexual relationship with a 17 year old student from Charter High School during a class trip to Estes Park, Colorado in 2006. McCandless is the wife of the school's principal, Chris McCandless.
  

• Alyson Perri-Jarvis, a 36-year-old third grade teacher at Southern Oaks Elementary School in Largo, Florida has been arrested on accusations that she had an ongoing sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy from her neighborhood.

• Sheral Lee Smith, a 37-year-old former teacher at New Summit School in Jackson, Mississippi has been arrested and charged with statutory rape and drug charges involving a 14 year old student.
  

• Debra Lafave, 26, is serving three years house arrest and seven years probation after pleading guilty to having sex with the 14-year-old boy in a classroom and her home in June 2004 was arrested Tuesday for violating her probation, state records showed.
  

• Autumn Leathers, 24, a teacher from Frostburg, Md., has been charged with having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student. The affair allegedly began when he was 15.

• Adrienne Laflamme, a 60-year-old long-time employee of the Brevard County School District, faces 15 counts of unlawful sex with a minor after authorities arrested her for having sex several times with a 17-year-old student she taught while he was in custody at a juvenile detention center this spring.

• Shannon Hrozek, a 42-year-old English teacher at Westfield High School in Texas, was charged with sexual abuse of a child charge after a school administrator caught her performing oral sex on a student in a locked, dark classroom.
  

• Kelsey Peterson, a 25-year-old math teacher and basketball coach in Nebraska, was arrested in Mexico after allegedly running off with a 13-year-old former student. Peterson, who has been charged with crossing the border to have sex with a minor, has claimed in federal court that she was strong-armed into the relationship by the teen.In letters, the boy called Peterson his "Baby Gurl" and said their relationship was "just not about the sex but that it was pretty good," according to the court documents.

• Beth Ann Chester, a 26-year-old high school gym teacher at Moon Area High School in suburban Pittsburgh, was busted after allegedly sending a student a nude picture by text message. Chester, who is married, faces charges of child sexual abuse and statutory sexual assault.

• Allenna Williams Ward, a 23-year-old female middle school teacher has admitted to having sex with five boys in Clinton, S.C.
• Jennifer Mally, a Paradise Valley High School teacher in Phoenix, Ariz., is accused of having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old male student.
  

• Erica Umosella, 28-year-old teacher Kingsway Regional High School, is charged with three sex-related offenses, including first-degree sexual assault, for an alleged relationship with a 17-year-old student.
• Wendie A. Schweikert, 36, of Belton, S.C.,an elementary school teacher, was arrested and charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor. The former fifth-grade teacher accused of having sex with her 11-year-old student
  

• Silvia Johnson, 41, of Golden, Colo., was sentenced to 30 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to charges of throwing parties for high school boys where she supplied alcohol, drugs, and had sex with some.
• Mary Kay LeTourneau was convicted in 1997 of having sex with a 13-year-old boy, but after spending 7½ years in prison she went on to marry him. They have two children together.
• Lisa Lynette Clark, 37, of Gainesville, Ga., was charged with child molestation after being accused of having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy whom she married last week. Clark is allegedly pregnant with the boy's child, which allowed her to take advantage of a loophole in Georgia law to marry the boy.
  

• Sandra Beth Geisel, 42, a former English teacher at Christian Brothers Academy in Albany, N.Y., pleaded guilty to felony rape for having sex with a 16-year-old student at the school. She was originally charged with three counts of rape and one count of performing a criminal sexual act, but worked out a plea deal that resulted in just a six-month jail sentence.
• Rachel Holt, a 34-year-old Delaware science teacher, has been charged with 28 counts of first-degree rape after allegedly having sex with her 13-year-old male student 28 times in the last week of March 2006.
  

• Jennifer Rice, 31, a former elementary school teacher, was arrested for investigation of kidnapping, five counts of first-degree child rape, and four counts of child molestation. Rice was working as a contract teacher at McKinley Elementary School earlier this year and the alleged victim was a student in her class.
  

• Chris Lynn Morris, a 29-year-old Washington County, Utah, school teacher, charged with sleeping with male student and with five counts of rape.

• Pamela Turner Rogers, a recently married Tennessee PE teacher is accused of having sex with a 14-year-old student. She was with 15 counts of sexual battery by an authority figure and 13 counts of statutory rape. Judge sentences Pamela Rogers to 7 years In Prison. Before she started her prison term, she broke her probation by sending the child nude pictures of herself and received an additional two years.
• ina Sinha, 40, began having sex with the second pupil at the exclusive Manhattan school, which encourages pupils to learn and develop their creativity at their own pace, when he was 12, Assistant District Attorney Florence Chapin told the court. Sinha began sex liaisons with the first boy, now a city police officer, when he was 13 and she was 29, the prosecutor said, adding that the liaisons lasted for years. Besides rape and sodomy, Sinha is charged with criminal impersonation, bribing a witness, tampering with physical evidence, endangering the welfare of a child and falsely reporting an incident. If convicted on the rape or sodomy charges, she would face up to 25 years in prison.
  

• Becci M. Hill, of Martinsville, was accused of having a sexual relationship with the 15-year-old, whom she had mentored at one point, according to authorities. She was a special-needs counselor with the Wayne Township school district in Indianapolis. Hill was arrested in July after a police officer saw her and the teen engaging in sexual activity in a car on a rural road
  

• Mariella Brenlla, a 40-year-old Miami-Dade middle school teacher, was arrested for lewd and lascivious battery on a juvenile in connection with allegations that she had sex with a 14-year-old boy.

• Christina Butler, 33, taught the ninth grade at Middleton High School in Tampa until she was was arrested and charged with lewd and and lascivious battery after she admitted having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student.The 2002 Teacher of the Year, has been charged with having sex with her 17 year old teacher’s aide.
  

• Janelle Batkins, 42, faces nine counts of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree for allegedly having sex multiple times with a 17 year old student. Batkins, a former French teacher at Roseville High School in Mount Clemens, Michigan, pleaded not guilty to the charges. The teen's mother first alerted authorities after discovering the alleged relationship, then later the student gave testimony saying that he and Batkins had sexual intercourse at Batkins' home and in her car on several occasion.Michigan's age of sexual consent in 16, but because Batkins was a teacher and considered in a position of authority she now faces third degree charges.
• Jennifer Gwynn Tarkenton, 34, was a special education teacher at Greenwood Lakes Middle School in Lake Mary, Florida, prior to her arrest after she was caught allegedly having sexual intercourse with a 12-year-old boy. According to reports, the victim told police that Tarkenton picked him up at his home at 10 p.m. and then drove to a pharmacy where she purchased condoms. Tarkenton then drove to an isolated spot, parked and sexually abused the boy three times.
• Sarah Elizabeth Joel, 31, was charged on three counts of lewd and lascivious battery after a 16-year-old student told police that he and Joel had sexual encounters at her home over a Christmas break. The "relationship" began when the student was 15 and would visit Joel at her home to talk over his problems. Joel was a teacher at Harmony High School in Osceola County, Florida, prior to her arrest.
• On January 25, 2008, Loni Folks, 24, was arrested and charged with sexual battery of a 16-year-old male student. Folks, who is now on administrative leave, was a fifth-grade teacher at W.L. Smith Elementary in Petal, Mississippi.
• Rebecca Bogard, 27, was arrested on January 21, 2008, in Biloxi, Mississippi after allegedly having sexual contact with a 15-year-old student. Bogard, who was suspended with pay from her teaching job at Fernwood Alternative School, has been an elementary teacher for over three years.
• Keri Ann Brekne, 28, a seventh-grade social studies teacher at Lopatcong Middle School in Warren County, New Jersey, was arrested on January 25, 2008 for allegedly having sex with a 14-year-old female student at Brekne's home in Pennsylvania.

• Beth Modica, 44, has a resume many would envy. She is a former assistant district attorney for Rockland County and Queens, New York and a former PTA president, married to the Spring Valley Chief of Police and a mother of four. Dubbed the "Soccer Mom" by media, Modica was arrested and charged with one count of third-degree rape, four counts of third-degree criminal sexual assault, four counts of third-degree sexual abuse and 26 counts of endangering the welfare of a child after she allegedly supplied beer and marijuana to high-school students during a pool party at her Sloatsburg home. She is also accused of having intercourse with a 16-year-old and oral sex with a 15-year-old during a party at her home.
• Angela Stellwag, 27, a New Jersey mayor's daughter and a substitute teacher, was charged with four counts of sexual assault and one count of endangering the welfare of a child. According to police, Stellway, while working as a substitute teacher at Beverly City Elementary School, allegedly had sex with a 14-year-old student
• Laura Sieradzki, 34, a former special education teacher at McHenry High School in Freeport, Ill., plead guilty to sexually abusing a 17-year-old male student
• Tampa teacher Stephanie Ragusa, 28, was arrested and charged with five counts of lewd and lascivious battery of a 14-year-old male student.
• On March 13, 2008, former Lumberton Texas high school teacher, Kathy White, 42, admitted to having sex with a 17-year-old student in September 2004. White, who could have faced a 20-year prison sentence, received 10 years probation, a $2,000 fine and is ordered to complete 300 hours of community service.
• Christel Gravlin, 33, a former beauty queen and married mother of two, pleaded guilty on March 3, 2008, to one count of 3rd-degree rape. Gravlin, a former 10-grade teacher at Lisbon Central School in Lisbon, New York, admitted to having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old male student.
• Mary Jo Spack, 45, a teacher at Freedom High in Tampa Bay, was arrested and charged with two counts of contributing to the delinquency of minors and one count of unlawful sex with a minor.
• Lisa Robyn Marinelli, 40, a substitute teacher at Mitchell High School in Port Richey, Florida, was arrested and charged with unlawful sex with a 17-year-old minor. Allegedly the two had sex multiple times and places, including Marinelli's home.
• Julie Petty, 36, of White Bluff, Tennessee, worked as a softball coach and substitute teacher at William James Middle School prior to her arrest for sexual battery and statutory rape. Petty was accused of touching a 14-year-old female eighth grade student in an inappropriate way.
• Jill C. Lewis, 26, a teacher in Brazoria County, Texas, was accused of having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old male student.
• Gay Lyn Turley, 43, taught and coached at an Arizona high school in Mesa for at least 18 years until a woman, now 21, accused Turley of violating her when she was 16-years-old. Reportedly, Charmai Choate was 16 when she and Turley first engaged in a sexual relationship.
• Emily Kate Janes, a married 23-year-old former high school English teacher in Deer Park, Texas, pleaded guilty to having sex with an 18-year-old student. She was sentenced to four years deferred adjudication.
• Carolyn Hatcher, 26, a former teacher and house parent at the Mid-Western Children's Home in Pleasant Plain, Ohio, plead guilty to three counts of sexual battery. Her victim, a 16-year-old boy, had come from an abusive home and was placed in the group home for protection.
• Former Florida fourth grade teacher, Kelly Lynn Dalecki, had sex with a 13-year-old boy several times at her home and in a park.
• On Feb. 21, 2008, Marla K. Meek was sentenced to five years in prison with four years suspended, after she pleaded guilty to carnal knowledge of a juvenile. Meek, a former teacher at South Beauregard Junior High, in DeRidder, Louisiana, was arrested for having sex with a 15-year-old student in October 2006.
• Melissa Michelle Deel, 32, of Bristol, Tenn., taught eighth grade ancient world history and contemporary issues before being arrested and charged for felony carnal knowledge and taking indecent liberties with a child.
  

Okay, there seems to be no end to this. It is like entering a list of people in that received speeding tickets in Texas. But I do want to leave you with one last interesting one.
Carol Lynn Flannigan, age 51, received a five-year prison sentence and 10 years of sex offender probation when released, in exchange for having a 19-month sexual relationship with an 11-year-old student.

Flannigan pleaded guilty to lewd and lascivious acts in exchange for reducing the original capital sexual battery charges in order to avoid a trial and a possible life sentence. The boy's father reported that he also had sexual relations with Flannigan.

According to statements given by the boy, sex occurred in Flannigan's classroom, in her van, in a Civil Air Patrol parking lot, a park and a hotel room. Also, according to the boy, Flannigan's husband, Douglas DePue, knew about the sexual relationship, but ignored it. DePue has denied any knowledge of such a relationship. The victim and his father settled a $1.5 million dollar suit against DePue.

The gist of all of it is... the boy's father was having an affair with the teacher. He put his son up to the charges so they could extort money from the husband. This is one case where the "victims" dad should be the one going to jail but nope, he gets 1.5 million dollars.

US high school ends 'Beat the Jew' game - U.S. news- msnbc.com

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37515803/ns/us_news

 

MSNBC.com

US high school ends 'Beat the Jew' game

By CHRISTINA HOAG

Associated Press Writer

The Associated Press

updated 12:35 p.m. PT, Fri., June 4, 2010

LA QUINTA, California - Seven seniors at a Southern California high school were facing disciplinary action for participating in a game called "Beat the Jew" in which losers were subjected to "incineration" or "enslavement," a school administrator said Friday.

The game involved some students playing the role of Nazis who blindfolded and dropped off other students playing Jews who must find their way back to the campus, said Sherry Johnstone, assistant superintendent of personnel for Desert Sands Unified School District.

It was not immediately clear exactly if or how losing players were punished, she said.

Seven seniors at La Quinta High School could be suspended or barred from graduation, among other measures, Johnstone said.

"This is appalling to us," she said. "We want our students to understand the horror of a title like this."

The district referred the matter to police because of the possibility that the game contained a threat, said La Quinta police Lt. Jason Huskey. No threat had been found so far, but the investigation was ongoing, he said.

The district started investigating a week ago after students reported the game to administrators.

The game was promoted online, attracting about 40 students. Seven showed up to play one evening in the campus parking lot, Johnstone said.

The district is working with Jewish organizations to review its tolerance curriculum. A voluntary tolerance program will be held after school next week.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37515803/ns/us_news/

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