DOE FILED DISMISSAL CHARGES AGAINST A TEACHER FOR TELLING KIDS TO BE DECENT IN DANCE ROUTINE

One of our friends from the Bronx sent us an article on Saturday about a veteran teacher who was charged in a termination hearing because according to the NY Post she "​raised objections when some of the 30 girls, ​in extremely ​short ​cheerleading ​skirts, ​wore panties underneath that were too skimpy​ or ​ill-fitted​..."

I am not making this story up. While the teacher was not fired, the arbitrator still gave the Department of Education some satisfaction in the dismissal hearing as the teacher received an official letter of reprimand. The DOE has to get something in these hearings even when they are totally absurd.

The climate is so bad for NYC teachers that we can be charged for anything at any time.

Here is the Post story:

Veteran dance teacher Karen Eubanks was appalled when cheerleaders at the High School for Environmental Studies in ​​​Manhattan bared their bottoms during a school performance.

​Eubanks​ ​raised objections when some of the 30 girls, ​in extremely ​short ​cheerleading ​skirts, ​wore panties underneath that were too skimpy​ or ​ill-fitted​ ​and sh​ow​ed “some of their genitals,” butts and even pubic hair.
She spotted eight to 10 boys in the gym audience videotaping the show.

​Instead of commending Eubanks for promoting modesty and decency, the Department of Education brought her up on ​misconduct ​charges — including verbal abuse — and tried to fire her.

​Eubanks, 59, a city teacher for ​two decades​ and former educator with the New York City Ballet, was ​​accused of saying the girls ​“showed a lot of vagina” ​or “flashes of vagina​,” ​ and using ​the words “g-string​,” “burlesque moment” and “nasty” within​ ​earshot of students, thus embarrassing or belittling them in violation of chancellor’s rules.

“It’s shocking that I was accused of wrongdoing after advocating for the dignity of our students,” Eubanks told The Post.

​The ​flap erupted in April 2016 when Eubanks​, who was substituting a​t​ the Hell’s Kitchen school, ​​ attended an after-​hours spring concert​​, which included a dance ​performance by the cheerleaders.
Besides students and staff, the audience included parents.

​As part of their routine​, the ​cheerleaders executed a “fan kick.” They sat on the floor facing the audience, leaned on their left hips and raised their right legs high in the air, waving them like a fan across their faces and bodies.

Eubanks testified she saw some​ girls wore “what looked like panties” that didn’t stay in place, ​​“riding up” ​to expos​e their ​​genitals​ to the audience​​, she said.

​Darius Williams, a DOE contractor and former dancer and choreographer with the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, also attended the concert. He backed Eubanks’ account, calling the display “vulgar.”
He also saw boys filming ​it​.​

But Principal Amber Najmi-Shadid, who brought her 10-year-old chil​d, testified she “did not see any ‘vaginas’ showing,” and insisted, “Everything was appropriate.”

​Afterwards, Eubanks said she praised the ​girls for a “wonderful” ​performance​, but told a few​​ of them: “You know that fan kick? Did you guys ever think about turning it upstage, or to the side, or on a diagonal? . . . 

I’m a bit concerned because your crotches were facing the audience.” She denied ​saying words like “nasty” or “burlesque” ​to the girls.

The cheerleading coach, Nicola Brugueras, said Eubanks pulled her aside on a stairwell the next day to discuss the dance.

Brugueras said Eubanks was “confrontational” and used the words “crotch shot” and “nasty.”

Brugueras called a meeting with the cheerleaders to address the issue. ​In a chat room, one girl ​angrily ​mentioned “some f–king dumb ass lady talking s–t about our choreography, saying its burlesque and how she saw vaginas.”

“Yea. She think she some high and mighty bitch,” another texted.

The teachers who complain on this blog about teachers having no rights and having to put up with being called all kinds of obscenities from students do have a point as this case proves.

Back to the Post story:

​The DOE held a trial, which also included charges that Eubanks arrived late for ​​a class​​​ at her former school, Gramercy Arts HS, ​​when the hall bell was broken and filmed​ students in the mistaken belief ​the school had already obtained parent permission.
​
The proceeding​ last fall​​ ​ generated a 974-page transcript and a dense 42-page ruling in January by Doyle Pryor, a hearing officer who gets $1,400 a day plus expenses to conduct testimony and write rulings.

Termination cases typically cost some $300,000 in investigative ​efforts, lawyer fees and other staff time.

Pryor concluded that Eubanks was too harsh and should have used​ gentler words like 
“private part​s​.” But he found she “acted out of concern” for both the cheerleaders and their coach.
​He ordered that she receive a letter of reprimand.

​Eubanks, who makes $93,790 a year, is now teaching at ​nearby ​Facing History HS​.

All I can say is be careful out there. The DOE increasingly looks as though they have no qualms about trying to fire any of us. UFT protection: They will get you a lawyer to defend you in a dismissal hearing.

It is not a teacher friendly environment we work in.