Remember the movie “Teachers,” with Judd Hirsch as the principle and Nick Nolte as a noble teacher? In the movie, one sign of the principal’s corruption was when he allowed a teacher who had sex with a student to quietly resign.<\/p>\n
From The Oregonian<\/a>:<\/p>\n It would take months for the agency that licenses Oregon teachers to discipline a Salem-area teacher for inappropriately touching at least eight girls.<\/p>\n To get Kenneth John Cushing, then 44, away from Claggett Creek Middle School students immediately, administrators cut him a deal: If Cushing resigned, they would conceal his alleged conduct — clutching students’ waists, touching their buttocks and massaging their shoulders — from the public.<\/p>\n Cushing signed the pact — obtained by The Oregonian through public records requests — with Salem-Keizer Public Schools in 2004, and officials promised not to reveal the teacher’s behavior if potential employers called looking for a reference. They would attribute his departure to “personal reasons,” the document reads, and make “no reference to this agreement.”<\/p>\n Salem’s deal is just one of 47 similar confidential settlement agreements obtained or confirmed by the newspaper.<\/p>\n During the past five years, nearly half of Oregon teachers disciplined for sexual misconduct with a child left their school districts with confidential agreements. Most, like Cushing’s, promised to keep alleged abuse quiet. Some promised cash settlements, health insurance and letters of recommendation as incentives for a resignation.<\/p>\n The practice is so widespread, school officials across the country call it “passing the trash.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Via Portland Women’s Crisis Line blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Remember the movie “Teachers,” with Judd Hirsch as the principle and Nick Nolte as a noble teacher? In the movie, one sign of the principal’s corruption was when he allowed a teacher who had sex with a student to quietly … Continue reading