Art teacher fired for being... ...an artist

[yesdachi]

So if John Irving was a high-school English teacher, we would be justified in firing him for writing Cider House Rules, or Hotel New Hampshire? Both very "adult" in nature (sex, incest, rape, abortion, infidelity, homosexuality, violence, a little bit of everything, really), but considered great American novels.

Great American novels are not necessarily for minors. I don’t think Irving would be an ideal kids teacher either, but I would have been happy to have had him as a professor in college. There are plenty of places for adults who enjoy creating and writing adult things in their off time to work with and teach other adults during their on time.

[Goofball]

Great American novels are not necessarily for minors. I don’t think Irving would be an ideal kids teacher either, but I would have been happy to have had him as a professor in college. There are plenty of places for adults who enjoy creating and writing adult things in their off time to work with and teach other adults during their on time.

Fair comment, but my question still stands: if a high-school English teacher wrote a novel that dealt with all of those subjects and it became a huge best-seller, would the school board be justified in firing him? (Let's ignore for the moment tha fact that as soon as his book sold a million or so copies, the teacher would more than likely go and tell the school board what they could do with their lousy $40 grand/year )

This guy wasn't showing his art to his students, or targeting them with his marketing. If parents are concerned with their kids viewing his material on the Internet, then maybe they should be policing their kids' Internet usage a bit more actively.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Here's your choice:

A. Fire the whacky art teacher.

+ Stops loads of complaints from parents, puts all of the issue off on the shoulders of the Board's attorney.

- Probably a law suit will be lodged (but the attorney says you have a fair case [private behavior impacting job clause in contract] so it will either be a court win -- or enough pressure to end the issue with a reasonable settlement 'out of court').


B. Let the whacky teacher teach.

+ Champions that teachers right to free expression.

- Possible law suits from parents, voluminous complaints from parents, probable loss of position at next election (and concommitant death of future political career if you have such aspirations).



....not hard to see what happened and why.

[Duke of Gloucester]

Of course, it is possible he was not a very good teacher and the school board wanted an excuse to get rid of him. I have known similar things to happen. OK not with teachers who used their private parts instead of paint brushes but teachers who did something questionable that they would have got away with if the school had wanted to keep them, but since the school wanted rid of them, they got their marching orders.

[yesdachi]

Fair comment, but my question still stands: if a high-school English teacher wrote a novel that dealt with all of those subjects and it became a huge best-seller, would the school board be justified in firing him? (Let's ignore for the moment tha fact that as soon as his book sold a million or so copies, the teacher would more than likely go and tell the school board what they could do with their lousy $40 grand/year )

I guess it would boil down to the individual school’s decision, It seems some tolerate more unusual behavior than others, personally I would excuse both and assuming there were no other issues with them I would go out of my way to help them find a teaching position in an adult atmosphere (although I don’t think it would be an issue for the million copies sold book writer )

I completely agree with this part.

If parents are concerned with their kids viewing his material on the Internet, then maybe they should be policing their kids' Internet usage a bit more actively.

[AntiochusIII]

Hooray for attacking his "art" (quoted to represent the effect of the viewpoints in question) then proceed to trump up morality.

Protect Teh Children, eh?

As a High School Student who theoretically would be affected by the precedent, I'll exert my wrongly-assumed superiority of position over you people and declare this case to be a farce.

And none of you adults with adult ideas and adult movies can stop me from saying it. The pragmatic argument, I accept; the this-is-not-art-not-morality-not-nice-for-Teh-Kids card, though, you can trump it on my canvas.

[yesdachi]

As a High School Student...

Well as a HS student, and I am assuming a minor, you are not in a position to decide what is best for you, you should go back to playing with your little friends while the grown-ups talk.

Actually, I would guess that the board would have been more than interested in hearing from the teacher’s students and I would guess they did and that is one of the reasons he was dismissed.

The alternative to not having a guy like this teach art is to employ someone with absolutely no ties to modern art whatsoever. Which is far worse.

How is that the alternative? Butt painter or someone with not ties to modern art are the only options?! I had 4 different art teachers from middle school/jr high on to graduation; none of them painted with their butt or were devoid of ties to modern art. 2 were decent and well rounded one sucked and one loved teaching so much she gave some extracurricular lessons to a senior and got dismissed (it wasn’t me ).

[AntiochusIII]

Well as a HS student, and I am assuming a minor, you are not in a position to decide what is best for you, you should go back to playing with your little friends while the grown-ups talk.

What kind I say? I'm anti-social, rebellious, violent, have some pent up anger, likes his butt a little too much, needs seventy pills a day prescribed by the psychologist (OCD, ADHD, HIV...), and must see the counselor every Tuesday after school to solve my problems. It's only natural I'll misguidedly think I'm adult enough to decide for myself what butt painting I like.

not really.

[Louis VI the Fat]

How is that the alternative? Butt painter or someone with not ties to modern art are the only options?! I had 4 different art teachers from middle school/jr high on to graduation; none of them painted with their butt or were devoid of ties to modern art.

In my mind, good modern art should always épater le bourgeois, that is, it should shock and awe the 'narrow-minded middle-class'.

There are more refined ways of doing so than painting flowers with your butt. Then again, if those bourgeois have a hissyfit over it this guys art at once becomes sublime in its stupidity. Sublime, because all it takes are some buttocks in a thong to throw an entire town in an uproar.

Gah, if I were him, I'd organise a butt-inn right in front of the school, where his pupils can admire his crap and read poems of praise for every single hair on his manly arse.

In fact, I would do some real butt painting right there. I would eat a lot of beans to get some diarrhea going, add some Guinness for interesting colour effects, and crap 'Ceci n'est pas merde' on a canvas.

It would fetch millions from the MoMa.


* 'Ceci n'est pas merde' - 'This is not Shite'

[doc_bean]

I would have preferred this guy to my art teacher. He actually eat up kids for having fun during his class...