TEACHERS HELD TO HIGH STANDARDS

Some people tend to think that what they do in their personal time
shouldn't concern their employers. But what happens in the event one
is charged by police with breaking the law? Should you tell your boss
immediately, or does one subscribe to the "what he doesn't know won't
hurt him" policy?

It might not be fair but the public tends to hold some people in
certain professions to a higher standard. Preachers, politicians,
police officers and teachers are the people who leap to my mind.

Let's say a teacher was arrested by police on simple marijuana
possession charges. This teacher might have had the most stellar
teaching record, but for most, that quickly flies out the window once
he/she is busted for getting high on a joint.

Call me gullible, but that educator could still garner some sympathy
from me if the teacher can prove that he/she has glaucoma or multiple
sclerosis and was smoking the joint to relieve the pain and/or tremors.

After all, talk show host, pot smoker and MS afflicted Montel
Williams swears by the stuff.

Well, once busted, that phantom teacher owes students who look up to
educators some sort of apology or explanation. Certainly, that
teacher shouldn't go into hiding on a paid medical leave, unless
they're seeking treatment for the MS or glaucoma -- or getting clean in rehab.

Take that finger off the send e-mail button, I'm not getting into
another "to legalize or not to legalize" marijuana debate, because no
matter how much sympathy I might have for the teacher, I do believe
that person's time on the job should be winding down, well, unless
that teacher didn't inhale.

If former President Bill Clinton said that makes it right, then it must be so.

Locally, the Rutherford County School Board takes a hard line in its
Drug-Free Workplace Policy against "puffing the magic dragon" at
work, and rightly so.

It is the board's policy "that the unlawful manufacture,
distribution, dispensation, possession or use of a controlled
substance in the Board of Education's workplace is prohibited. Any
employees violating this policy will be subject to discipline up to
and including termination."

The policy doesn't address a little recreational smoking at home, or
out and about. However, county schools previously said the system
looks to state laws in cases like this.

State law says teachers can have their current license suspended or
revoked on "conviction of possession of narcotics," and conviction
"includes conviction on a plea of guilty, a plea of (no contest) or
an order granting pre-trial diversion."

A good friend may advise that teacher to resign, but that still might
not keep the educator out of hot water

Under state law, the system's director has to report to the Office of
Teacher Licensing whenever a licensed teacher or administrator
resigns "following allegations which, if substantiated, could
constitute grounds for suspension or revocation of a license."

Failure to do so and the system's director or superintendent of
schools could have their own teacher or administrators license
suspended or revoked. It's a sorry state of affairs, a no-win
situation. Hope it never happens.