unions suck, the teachers unions sucks bigtime. unions are adversarial in nature against the company.
in the case of the teachers union, the company is the children and the taxpayers!!!
Posted on 09/05/2008 1:14:06 PM PDT by llevrok
The state’s largest teacher’s union says teachers who have sex with their 18-year-old students should not necessarily face felony charges.
The Washington Education Association filed a “friend of the court” briefing in the state Court of Appeals case of former Hoquiam High School choir teacher Matthew Hirschfelder, accused of having sexual relations with one of his 18-year-old students.
“Eighteen- year olds aren’t kids,” union spokesman Rich Wood said. “They are minors. … And should consenting adults be subject to criminal charges? That’s the question behind this case and this law.”
Hirschfelder has been charged with first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor in Grays Harbor Superior Court. Prosecutors allege that the then 33-year-old Hirschfelder had sexual intercourse with one of his 18-year-old students in his office toward the end of the 2006 school year.
Last year, Hirschfelder’s attorney Rob Hill argued that the case should be dismissed because the girl was not a minor. Hill questioned the state law, which says, in part, that a person is guilty of first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor if “the person is a school employee who has ... sexual intercourse with a registered student of the school who is at least 16 years old and not married to the employee ...”
The employee must also be five years older than the student.
Superior Court Judge David Foscue, who recently retired, ruled that there “is no ambiguity in the text of the statute.”
“As long as she’s still a student in the school, she can still be a victim of this crime,” Foscue said last year.
Hill appealed the decision to the Court of Appeals, Division 2 in Tacoma, which is set to hear arguments at 9 a.m. Sept. 9 in Tacoma.
The Washington Education Association decided to file its amicus curae brief “because the decision could affect our 81,000 members,” according to Wood.
Retired Hoquiam teacher Betsy Seidel, who has sat in on just about all of the Hirschfelder hearings thus far, said her mouth about dropped when she heard about her former union’s filing.
“That is absurd!” Seidel simply said.
Added Hoquiam Police Chief Jeff Myers, “Under Washington law, the actual age of consent is 16 years old, so at what age do we expect these high school students to become ‘consenting adults?’ Can the WEA actually argue that this sort of conduct is professional and acceptable? …
“Thank God I only have one child left in high school.”
Wood said that the union believes that teachers should not have sexual intercourse with their students, regardless of age, and teachers caught doing so should go through the proper state investigation to see if they should lose their teaching license. Teachers should not, necessarily, face felony charges, he said.
“While a school employee may knowingly risk their certification and their employment for engaging in acts that are clearly prohibited by the (teacher’s) Code of Conduct, it is obviously much more serious for the same employee to face criminal charges based on an ambiguous statute that has neither been clearly defined by the Legislature nor clearly articulated by the relevant professional organizations,” writes attorney Harriet Strasberg, on behalf of the state union.
Strasberg was also the union attorney who helped stop the Hoquiam School District from terminating Hirschfelder after the sexual misconduct allegations came to light. The superintendent had fired Hirschfelder. Strasberg appealed through the grievance process and both sides decided to allow the choir teacher to resign.
Also filing a friend of the court briefing is the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, who also argues that two adults engaged in a consenting sexual relationship should have a right to privacy, under the Washington State Constitution, regardless of whether one of the adults is an 18-year-old student.
The Hirschfelder case takes on an added significance because a superior court judge in Benton County ruled that the law was too vague in the case of a 58-year-old Richland High School teacher having consensual sex with an 18-year-old student.
The defense attorney in that case had argued that both the student and teacher had a right to privacy, concerning their sexual relationship.
A decision by the Division 2 Court of Appeals won’t have much of an impact on the Eastern Washington case because they are under the jurisdiction of the Division 3 courts. However, the case may eventually reach the state Supreme Court.
The Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys has said they will pursue a “legislative fix” on the issue next year.
(Well, because the clergy scandal was prelude to the gay marriage ruling in Massachusetts, the left wanted to pull the teeth of the strongest opponent to gay marriage).
Can someone on the right or center right or anyone make a huge fuss over teacher-student shenanigans to pull the teeth of NEA? They have a huge influence ofer our elections.
Not at all. It’s clearly an ethical violation and apparently in this case a legal one.
Outstanding post! Killing the NEA is without a doubt one of the best things that could happen for education and it would kill the WEA as well, two birds with one stone.
In many states, there are special penalties for people who abuse positions of authority. Lots of states have similar statutes (Official Misconduct) for example police who plea bargain tickets in the back seat of patrol cars. I don’t see this as a school issue or even a questionable issue. The felony is one of professional misconduct. Just think if there were such statutes for politicians.
Since when is the teacher’s union in charge of defining state laws?
So parents aren’t allowed to educate their kids at home but the teachers can have sex with them. Typical Leftist BS. Another reason we may have to elect McCain.
Yes it is, a person of authority, etc, etc.
It’s a crime because the state MAKES it a crime. Read up on the job of the legislature sometime.
Already answered throughout this thread.
If a person is in a position of authority over someone, you bet your butt they should be held to a higher standard. If this teacher was too hot for student then he should have quit. He used his position as a teacher to get close and have his fun. For that he should pay.
unions suck, the teachers unions sucks bigtime. unions are adversarial in nature against the company.
in the case of the teachers union, the company is the children and the taxpayers!!!
Well, if post-birth abortion is legal...
Besides, if having sex with the 'customer' becomes a union activity, won't this cause teachers to slack off doing it?
tax write- off for condoms...
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