# Teacher Reveals Former Prostitution in Support of Craigslist Adult Services Rights - Loses Job **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 28, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352 "2010-09-28T14:47:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352/61 "2010-09-28T18:30:10Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > > > What if they never did drugs but advocated for legalizing drugs in their off time? (There are many people in this category) > > Good question. I don’t think there are many advocates in that category though. > I would have to take a position on this on a case by case basis, considering the age group he teaches and exactly how he promotes legalization. More than you think. Hell, my dad who was about as conservative as they come and guaranteed never smoked a joint was for legalizing marijuana. William F. Buckely Jr. (then editor of the National Review) was also for legalizing marijuana. His dad, who started the National Review, I think was famous for sailing his boat into international waters to smoke a joint but otherwise I doubt smoked it, was for legalizing it. Anecdotal maybe but these are (or rather were) editors of one of the premiere conservative rags in the country. I am willing to bet they are not alone. As for how they promote it why does that matter? As long as they are not breaking the law and as long as they keep it separate from the classroom why would it matter? ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352/62 "2010-09-28T18:36:10Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > In what way did Ms. Petro violate this, or in what way does this section support her removal? I have not seen the specific background investigation form, but I’m willing to bet it does not require the applicant to reveal any uncharged criminal conduct. I am willing to bet it merely asks about convictions; I’ll allow it might ask about arrests. I am certain it does not ask about uncharged past criminal activity. Regardless of any requirements or stipulations for employment by the school district, keep in mind that she must also possess a valid credential to be hired by the school district. Often state commissions on credentialing have vaguely worded “morality clauses,” by which her credential could be revoked simply because she has publicized her past activity while possessing the credential. The school district then would not fire her, but simply not be able to continue employing her. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352/63 "2010-09-28T18:51:25Z")
In her statement she admits to doing illegal things and is not repentant about them. She states the government should not prohibit her from doing so. Regardless of whether prostitution should be legal, that’s not the lesson to teach kids. Kids should learn that you follow the law even if you don’t agree with it. If you disagree, try to get the law changed. Her lesson is, if you don’t like the law, go ahead and do it anyway. That’s likely why she got fired. Usually when people get cleaned up from a crime or drug background we accept it because the person admits he was wrong and he shouldn’t have done those things. He admits it was a mistake and we move on. She is not doing that. She feels justified in making her choices. Personally, I don’t have a problem with work as a prostitute. But if you’re teaching young kids, you need to be a good role model of someone who follows the laws of society. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352/64 "2010-09-28T18:54:58Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > As for how they promote it why does that matter? As long as they are not breaking the law and as long as they keep it separate from the classroom why would it matter? As long as they can keep it separate from the classroom. That is as long as the charges won’t get the message that taking drugs is okay. Say if a teacher advocates legalization, but does his job to warns his charges against the dangers of drug use, I would be okay with that. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352/65 "2010-09-28T19:13:49Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > > [@villa](#): > > > > I guess you would ban anyone who had quit drugs from teaching, then. I mean telling kids you can smoke crack and later stop is a negative message that will tempt them to fire up the pipe. > > No, I would not want to ban any former drug users. But if the teacher acknowledged former drug use and said it was okay and should be permitted , you bet I would want to fire his ass. Well that is adding on to what you said. You complained that she was saying you can get out, look, I did. That’s exactly the same as a recovering crack addict saying you can get out, look, I did. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352/66 "2010-09-28T19:30:56Z")
> [@villa](#): > > > [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > > > No, I would not want to ban any former drug users. But if the teacher acknowledged former drug use and said it was okay and should be permitted , you bet I would want to fire his ass. > > Well that is adding on to what you said. You complained that she was saying you can get out, look, I did. That’s exactly the same as a recovering crack addict saying you can get out, look, I did. I’m not sure what you are getting at. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352/67 "2010-09-28T19:39:18Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Are art teachers supposed to be role models? Or are they supposed to teach art? Both. > [@Alessan](#): > > So once a hooker, always a hooker? They aren’t allowed to clean up, get an honest job? Sure. But you repent of your illegal actions and you shut your mouth about them when you have a job in the public sector. You don’t say “No big deal, kids. I broke the law, it was great, and I’m not sorry about it. I’ll never do it again, though…I hope.” And you don’t act as a spokesperson for the actions. At least, you don’t if you expect to keep your job. Kids hear things. They’re gossip machines. We’re not the only message board on the internet that’s heard about this woman, you know. It’s in the news. It’s going around the neighborhood, for sure. Anything that happens with this case, the kids will find out about it. So when majority opinion is that what you’re doing and saying is wrong, you deserve to be fired. It’s the parents’ school district, not hers. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352/68 "2010-09-28T19:48:54Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > > [@villa](#): > > > > Well that is adding on to what you said. You complained that she was saying you can get out, look, I did. That’s exactly the same as a recovering crack addict saying you can get out, look, I did. > > I’m not sure what you are getting at. Well, your initial objection to this woman was that she… > [@](#): > > … went on the record defending prostitution using herself as a model of how one can successfully enter the profession and leave it. That reiforces the false impression that many girls have going into prostitution that they won’t get trapped. When I asked abotu a recovering drug addict, who would be defending drug use jsut the same way by saying you can successfully enter drug use and leave it, you responded that you… > [@](#): > > …would not want to ban any former drug users. But if the teacher acknowledged former drug use and said it was okay and should be permitted , you bet I would want to fire his ass. I am saying you are going further here. It’s not just the saying I did it and you can get out, the standard you put on the ex-escort, but also you are saying the drug dealer would have to actively advocate the legalization of drugs. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352/69 "2010-09-28T19:56:07Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > It’s utter bullshit. > > If it were a man admitting that he used to use drugs and run with gangs, but he cleaned up his act, went to school and decided to give back to society by becoming a teacher…well, that’d be a freaking Reader’s Digest inspirational story. > > This is parochial BS right out of the “school teachers should be unmarried” days. Our culture still can’t handle the fact that some women have sex without pretending that they hate it. Sure, if that former ganster/drug addict then wrote an article saying that being a drug using gangster was a choice that it was never the state’s obligation or right to protect him from becoming a drug abusing gangster and believed this strongly enough to risk his new life to protest the shutting down of a section of Craigslist that facilitated drug abusing and gang activity. Then, yeah you’d have a comparable situation. But, this is not a story of redemption. With that said, i don’t know if the parent’s really give a shit how she feels about her former prostitution, they are just concerned about their kids being taughtby someone who once sold sex for money. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352/70 "2010-09-28T19:57:58Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > > [@Bricker](#): > > > > Are art teachers supposed to be role models? Or are they supposed to teach art? > > Both. I disagree. People who seek moral role models for their children in public schools teachers are simply incorrect, given the widely divergent view in the public sphere of what constitutes improper moral behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352/71 "2010-09-28T19:58:30Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > > [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > > > Yes. Prostitutes are not role models. If you think that elementary school kids 1) won’t/haven’t found out about it, and 2) don’t know what a prostitute is, you’re kidding yourself. > > Are art teachers supposed to be role models? Or are they supposed to teach art? You mean prostitution isn’t contagious like homosexuality (unless you get cured, is it even curable or is it like herpes, it keeps coming back). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352/72 "2010-09-28T20:02:36Z")
> [@villa](#): > > > [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > > > I’m not sure what you are getting at. > > Well, your initial objection to this woman was that she… > > When I asked abotu a recovering drug addict, who would be defending drug use jsut the same way by saying you can successfully enter drug use and leave it, you responded that you… > > > [@](#): > > > > …would not want to ban any former drug users. But if the teacher acknowledged former drug use and said it was okay and should be permitted , you bet I would want to fire his ass. > > I am saying you are going further here. It’s not just the saying I did it and you can get out, the standard you put on the ex-escort, but also you are saying the drug dealer would have to actively advocate the legalization of drugs. What I had against the prostitute was her disclosure **and** advocacy. My concern with the legal advocacy of drugs by a teacher would be much alleviated by a concurrent advocacy of abstinence . Drug dealers? Where has that come in? They should be fired period. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352/73 "2010-09-28T20:08:49Z")
> [@carm](#): > > In fact, the fact that she is prepared to risk her job and social standing to speak up for what she believes in suggests to me that she would in fact make an excellent role model. I think it depends on what she is standing for. If she was standing for strongly held racist beliefs, it would bother me enough to take my kids out of that school, I don’t think conviction in your beliefs is a good thing if your beliefs are not good things. I don’t hold her past against her and I would be perfectly fine with her teaching my kids whatever she was good at teaching. But, I don’t think prostitution is like experimenting with homosexuality during college, you don’t just try it out to see if you like it and I don’t think I would want my kids taught by someone that thinks that prostitution might be a part of finding yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352/74 "2010-09-28T20:13:26Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > > [@even\_sven](#): > > > > If it were a man admitting that he used to use drugs and run with gangs, but he cleaned up his act, went to school and decided to give back to society by becoming a teacher…well, that’d be a freaking Reader’s Digest inspirational story. > > How about if the man admitted he was a male prostitute? Think he’d still have a job teaching little children? I figure that guy would be lucky to get out of the job without someone accusing him of “inappropriately” touching their little snowflake. > > Frankly, I think it’s going to be very difficult for her to maintain her authority in class, when everyone knows that she used to be a prostitute. She needs a rapport with the parents and other teachers. Her past, which she “hopes” to never repeat, is also a legal risk for the school, can you imagine the lawsuit if she was accused of misbehavior? > > I don’t know how that’s all going to work with this public admission. Well was he a gay prostitute or was he Deuce Bigalow? The problem there is that people think that homosecuality is not only contagious, people think it evolves into pedophilia. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352/75 "2010-09-28T20:28:38Z")
I’d have similar concerns if a teacher said “As long as I feel it’s safe, I speed when I feel like it or it’s convenient. It’s not up to the government to tell me how fast I can go.” I have nothing against speeders teaching my kids. It’s the attitude of “I get to decide which laws I want to follow” that’s the issue. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352/76 "2010-09-28T20:29:22Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > > [@Cheesesteak](#): > > > > Her past, which she “hopes” to never repeat, is also a legal risk for the school, can you imagine the lawsuit if she was accused of misbehavior? > > Once a dirty whore, always a dirty whore, huh? How you gonna keep them on the farm once they’ve seen Karl Hungus? > > She works with little kids. There is no intersection between “teaching finger painting” and “experimenting in college with having guys over from Craig’s list for money.” Maybe if she, I don’t know, had a job in charge of a crew of hot sweaty guys in the navy her past might indicate that she is more likely to commit work-related misconduct. But having a healthy appetite for sex with adult males has absolutely nothing to do with her job as an elementary school teacher. She is no more likely to commit misconduct than the guy who admits that when he was in college he’d download music off Napster. > > If your children disrespect their teacher because of her past, you need to teach them that adults sometimes have sometimes made decisions in their past that you don’t respect, but you need to respect who they are now. A good teacher who teaches you your subject deserves respect no matter who they are outside of the classroom. Learning that nobody is perfect is a great lesson for kids. > > If your daughter sees prostitution as a viable way to make money…maybe that is because prostitution is a viable way to make money. She’s going to realize that eventually one way or another. It’s your job, as a parent, to teach her about her values and expectations and make those values strong enough that they aren’t overwhelmed by someone she once met occasionally as a small child. > > Likewise with your son. I promise you, when he is of an age where he is thinking about prostitutes, a teacher he once had as a kid is going to be nowhere as big of an influence as the drunk college girls throwing themselves at him, the quality sex education he is going to get off the internet, and the Girls Gone Wild DVDs his friends are going to loan him. And if your son somehow loses respect for women because a woman he knew as a kid once was involved in paid Craig’s List encounters- maybe that is your fault for teaching hm that a woman’s value is based on her degree of sexual purity and that a minor sexual transgression in the past makes her tainted for life. Just a thought. So I’m supposed to teach my fifth grader values that say “selling sex for money is bad” and I should not be bothered by the fact that their teacher is publicly saying “people should be able to sell sex for money” because its my fault if I don’t teach them well enough that they are immune from the effects of having a teacher figure tell them sex for money is OK? Noone is objecting to her because they think she might charge the kids for sex, and I personally don’t object to her past as long as it stays in the apst but I object to her advocating for it today. I would feel the same way about a teacher advocating for the legalization of the recreational use of heroin or cocaine. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352/77 "2010-09-28T20:31:42Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > > > So imagine a guy who smoked pot his junior and senior year of high school. He gave it up in college and four years later earns his teaching degree and becomes a teacher. > > > > In his off-time this guy advocates for the legalization of marijuana. > > > > That more relevant? > > Right on point, I think. I think it would be more on point if you changed marijuana to heroin. I don’t think I would be bothered by my kid doing a little pot any more than I would be bothered by them drinking alcohol but I would be bothered by them doing heroin or selling sex for money. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352/78 "2010-09-28T20:36:44Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Noone is objecting to her because they think she might charge the kids for sex, and I personally don’t object to her past as long as it stays in the apst but I object to her advocating for it today. > > I would feel the same way about a teacher advocating for the legalization of the recreational use of heroin or cocaine. Is there any evidence whatsoever that she is teaching the joys of prostitution to her elementary school students? If not then where do you draw the line on what teacher gets fired? You may be opposed to legalizing cocaine but maybe I am for it. You may be opposed to the democratic candidate for senate in your state but maybe I am for that candidate. You may be opposed to women showing their ankles but maybe I am for it. So tell me, as long as the teacher is teaching the curriculum and apparently doing it well and not breaking any laws who are you to say the teacher should be fired because you do not agree with her? Want to take your kids out of the public school and put them in a private one to avoid that teacher knock yourself out. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352/79 "2010-09-28T20:58:34Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > > [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > > > Noone is objecting to her because they think she might charge the kids for sex, and I personally don’t object to her past as long as it stays in the apst but I object to her advocating for it today. > > > > I would feel the same way about a teacher advocating for the legalization of the recreational use of heroin or cocaine. > > Is there any evidence whatsoever that she is teaching the joys of prostitution to her elementary school students? > > If not then where do you draw the line on what teacher gets fired? > > You may be opposed to legalizing cocaine but maybe I am for it. > > You may be opposed to the democratic candidate for senate in your state but maybe I am for that candidate. > > You may be opposed to women showing their ankles but maybe I am for it. > > So tell me, as long as the teacher is teaching the curriculum and apparently doing it well and not breaking any laws who are you to say the teacher should be fired because you do not agree with her? > > Want to take your kids out of the public school and put them in a private one to avoid that teacher knock yourself out. I don’t know if she should be fired but I wouldn’t want my kids taught by her and i would probably signa petition to get ehr fired if soemone started passing one around. Teachers are more than merely people who talk at the front of a class. I think that teachers are role models. What she does outside of the classroom affects her students almost as much as what she does inside the classroom if she does it publicly enough. She has a right to do what she wants and I have a right to try and get her fired or is she the only one that has rights? ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352/80 "2010-09-28T20:59:14Z")
You guys make it sound as if she is standing president of the “unrepentant whores for legalization of prostitution” club. In reality, she wrote a letter to the editor talking about something she did experimentally in the past and stating an honest opinion. That’s it. I think this could be a healthy lesson for students- while you should follow the law (and this person did decide to follow the law) our legal system makes room for healthy discussion and debate of the usefulness and validity of those laws. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-reveals-former-prostitution-in-support-of-craigslist-adult-services-rights-loses-job/555352.md?page=5)