How Much Does It Cost To Fire A Teacher That Looks At Porn On The Job? $300,000 and Counting

Can anyone think of a job where you might not be fired after being caught looking at  porn on work related computers? Can anyone think of a job where it would cost the employer $ 300,000 to fire you after being caught looking at porn while at work?  Answer would be a public school teacher. During the whole collective bargaining debate, I don't how many times I would make the point to people that it is nearly impossible to fire a bad teacher. The school district of Middleton has spent over $ 300,000 on legal bills trying to terminate Andrew Harris, a seventh-grade science teacher at Glacier Creek Middle School for looking at porn on school computers. Thank God those teachers have those union protections, right? You wouldn't want to lose that teacher that is so dedicated to their students that they can't keep from looking at sexually explicit pictures and videos while in the classroom. Firing someone for looking at porn while at work should be an easy thing to do if your work involves being around children. Someone who can't control their sexual urges should not be working around children. Please spread this story around to your friends. Abuses like these need to be highlighted.

The Middleton-Cross Plains School Board has spent about $300,000 in the last year fighting a grievance filed on behalf of a teacher fired after an investigation found he viewed pornography at school.

Andrew Harris, a former seventh-grade science teacher at Glacier Creek Middle School, along with seven high school staff members and one administrator, were investigated and disciplined after the district discovered porn and other inappropriate adult content, including nudity and sexual jokes, in their email system during the fall of 2009. 

Union leaders say the case isn’t about teachers viewing porn on a school computer — an action they agree is wrong. Rather, they argue the discipline for Harris and the others was unjust and not based on clear standards or objective criteria.

A union lawyer, Willie Haus, also alleges the district went after Harris because he was a union leader who had criticized the School Board.The grievance calls for reinstating Harris and reversing other disciplinary actions taken by the School Board, including back pay for teachers who served suspensions.