Northwest Indiana Discussion

He counts as a jock, not a teacher. Do college coaches even teach?

(ESPN) — The embattled members of Penn State’s Board of Trustees quietly have decided to leave Joe Paterno’s statue standing — at least for now and, some hope, forever, according to sources with firsthand knowledge of the trustees’ private discussions this week.

The trustees’ reluctance to remove the statue is motivated, in part, by a desire not to offend alumni and students who adore the late coach despite the damning findings of his role in the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse cover-up detailed in the Freeh report, the sources said. Some trustees also said in interviews they want to resist being pressured by the media into a sudden decision about such an emotionally charged issue.

“You can’t let people stampede you into making a rash decision,” a trustee said. “The statue represents the good that Joe did. It doesn’t represent the bad that he did.”

Although some trustees said in discussions Thursday and Friday in board meetings in Scranton, Pa., they believed the statue eventually would have to be torn down, most quickly reached a consensus it should remain standing in the coming weeks and months, trustees and a person briefed on their discussions said. Some trustees went even further, insisting Paterno’s statue outside Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa., never should be removed.

“It has to stay up,” said another trustee. “We have to let a number of months pass, and we’ll address it again. But there is no way, no way. It’s just not coming down.”

Since the Freeh report revealed Paterno’s role in covering up child sexual abuse allegations against Sandusky, former coaches, commentators and members of the public have demanded the Paterno statue be torn down immediately. Some have also called for the removal of Paterno’s name from the university library; the Paterno family donated more than $4 million to the university. . . .

A sign on a wall behind the statue reads: COACH EDUCATOR HUMANITARIAN. At the statue’s feet, someone placed a homemade sign that says, “Remember: He was a man. Not a god!!!”

Few have been more adamant that the statue should go than Bobby Bowden, the former Florida State coach. “You go to a Penn State football game and there’s 100,000 people down there and they see that statue and you know doggone well they’ll start talking about Sandusky,” Bowden told The Associated Press. “If it was me, I wouldn’t want to have it brought up every time I walked out on the field.”

He counts as a jock, not a teacher. Do college coaches even teach?

Philly Teacher Tells Student to
Take Off Romney Shirt: 'That's
Like Me Wearing a KKK Shirt'
NewsBusters, by Noel Sheppard

A Philadelphia high school teacher is accused of telling one of her students to take off a Romney-Ryan T-shirt claiming it was like her wearing a KKK shirt.

NBC's Washington affiliate said 16-year-old Samantha Pawlucy, a sophomore at Charles Carroll High School in the Port Richmond part of the city, wore a pink Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan T-shirt last Friday.

According to Pawlucy, no one said anything about the shirt until she got to her geometry class

"The teacher told me to get out of the classroom, I said no," Pawlucy told NBC10's Claudia Rivero.

"She told me to take off my shirt and said that she has another one if I need one. And then the teacher asked me… 'are your parents Republican?' I said, 'I don't know.' She said that's like her wearing a KKK shirt."

Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-shepp ... z28MGTFoXm

After gunman Adam Lanza broke through the school door, gun blazing, school psychologist Mary Sherlach and principal Dawn Hochsprung ran toward him, Robinson said. Hochsprung died while lunging at the gunman.

In a classroom, teacher Kaitlin Roig barricaded her 15 students into a tiny bathroathroom, pulled a bookshelf across the door and locked it. She told the kids to be "absolutely quiet."

A high school teacher in South Carolina is under investigation and has been placed on long-term administrative leave after he allegedly threw an American flag on the floor and stomped on it in front of his students.

Scott Compton, an English teacher at Chapin High School in Chapin, S.C., reprised the unpatriotic deed in three classes over the course of one day, reports local NBC affiliate WIS.

One parent, Michael Copeland, said he heard his teenage daughter discussing the incident and asked her to tell him the whole story.

“He drew a couple of symbols, like one of them was a cross, and he said, ‘What does this represent,’ and everybody said, ‘Christianity,’” Copeland explained to WIS.

“Then he proceeds to take down the American flag, and said, ‘This is a symbol, but it’s only a piece of cloth. It doesn’t mean anything,’ and then he throws it down on the floor and then stomps on it, repeatedly,” Copeland continued.

CHAPIN, SC (WIS) - The superintendent of a school district that has received national attention because of a teacher’s controversial lesson plan has decided to recommend that teacher be terminated after allegedly throwing down the American flag and stomping on it in front of his classes.

Lexington-Richland School District Five spokesperson Mark Bounds said the district’s investigation into the matter is over. Superintendent Dr. Stephen Hafter will soon make the recommendation to the school board to fire Chapin High School teacher Scott Compton.

The district placed Compton on administrative leave after parents characterized his lessons as disrespectful and unpatriotic.

When Michael Copeland overheard his teenager talking about what her honors II English teacher did with the flag in their classroom, he pressed for details.

“He drew a couple of symbols, like one of them was a cross, and he said, ‘What does this represent,’ and everybody said, ‘Christianity,’” said Copeland.

“Then he proceeds to take down the American flag, and said, ‘This is a symbol, but it’s only a piece of cloth. It doesn’t mean anything,’ and then he throws it down on the floor and then stomps on it, repeatedly.”

“I asked what was he trying to get, the point across? And she said, ‘I don’t know,’ and he said, his explanation was there would be no consequences, it’s just a piece of cloth that doesn’t mean anything.”

But there are consequences.

“Our superintendent served in the military, I served in the military for 20 years, our flag is a symbol of our freedom, and so many people have fought and died for that liberty, and so we take this action very seriously,” said Mark Bounds, a spokesperson for Lexington-Richland 5.

A Kiddie Academy preschool teacher in Morgan Hill, Calif., was arrested on Monday after the school called police because they suspected she was drugging the children.

Debbie Gratz, 59, was fired on Friday after Gratz’ colleague witnessed Gratz allegedly slipping small pieces of pills inside the children’s sippy cups. Gratz was the teacher of classroom of 10 children under the age of 2.

Sgt. Troy Hoefling of Morgan Hill Investigations Unit told ABC News, “We do not know the quantity, but we believe she was breaking the pill into smaller pieces and putting it into the children’s sippy cups.

Sgt. Hoefling expressed concern, however, that the school waited so long to contact the police and may have inadvertently destroyed evidence. Police stopped short of accusing the preschool of doing so intentionally. Sgt. Hoefling said the Investigations Unit will have to rely on witnesses statements and Gratz’ own alleged confession in order to build a case since the sippy cups were washed out.

A walking argument that teachers should have to have a background check before being hired