i am so pissed off for those parents because they let that one guy go on for YEARS, that is insane. I'm sorry, if my child came home and told me anyone did those things to him/her, you would see the crazy come out real quick. how some mother or father didn't take actions into their own hands is beyond me.

Who knows if it's pupils and parents jumping on the bandwagon or not. I do believe that there could have been abuse somewhere, somehow.  School is the most dangerous place we send our kids and we do so 5 days a week.  Between other students, staff and others associated, our children are at risk, period the end.  I remember once in elementary school there was a rumor going around that one of the moms who ran the after school scouting meetings did "something" to one of the girls in the bathroom once.  As a kid I didn't think anything of it and it was whispered at the lunch table, in line for gym class to start, in the bathroom, on the playground.  Teachers heard the whispers too.  No one ever investigated, every adult kept it hush hush.  Back then, it's what you did.  Whether it was true or not I will never know.  But.. fact is, our children can easily become victims through the schools and they do, often.  That is so sad.  

http://memoryofron.blogspot.com/2012/02/quick-post-fundraiser.html

I kind of like the school board for canning the entire staff... simply because if there were two teachers and one paraprofessional in abusive roles in this school, I find it hard to believe there was not a single other staff member privy to the crimes... and WHY THE HELL did it take so long for it all to come out?  I think that it would be prudent for any teacher that had ever heard anything or noticed anything regarding this abuse to come forward immediately... How could they live with themselves if they didn't?

I am sure there are staff members who know nothing, and I feel bad for them that they have lost their jobs... and if the school offered them a lie detector test or some other way to prove they are innocent, then I guess they should keep their job... but how is the admin supposed to figure out who was right and who was wrong here?

I agree with you. After working in two different schools, I find it hard to believe that no one had any knowledge or suspicions. The teachers and staff in my schools were all up in each other's business and the rumor mill was every bit as prevalent among the adults as it was with the kids. I don't think they should all be fired without pay, just removed and the entire situation investigated.

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Jody said ...
I kind of like the school board for canning the entire staff... simply because if there were two teachers and one paraprofessional in abusive roles in this school, I find it hard to believe there was not a single other staff member privy to the crimes... and WHY THE HELL did it take so long for it all to come out?  I think that it would be prudent for any teacher that had ever heard anything or noticed anything regarding this abuse to come forward immediately... How could they live with themselves if they didn't?

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If it's true, then fire them all.  But  I can't help but wonder, if ALL this was happening, why it took so long for anyone to come forward.  I gotta say, if a 50 year old woman sent my 4th grader a love letter, I wouldn't wait a few years to report it.  And the rest?  Why did NO one do anything for years, then they all rush forward NOW?

Heather said ...
I agree with you. After working in two different schools, I find it hard to believe that no one had any knowledge or suspicions. The teachers and staff in my schools were all up in each other's business and the rumor mill was every bit as prevalent among the adults as it was with the kids. I don't think they should all be fired without pay, just removed and the entire situation investigated.

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I agree.  Even if the other teachers hadn't actually hurt any of the kids, there would be no trust left with the students and parents. I know that if one of my kids was a student there, I'd be pulling them out.  Getting rid of all the staff and starting with a clean slate could be the only way to save the school at all.  

As for whether it's true or not...  I hope it's not.  I hope that it's like the McMartin Preschool fiasco where it's just a case of hysteria.  It just makes me really ill to think of the alternative.. 

There were allegations from another girl against Berndt in 1994 and the article wasn't clear on whether or not this was the first time the letters from the aide has been brought up. Who knows about the other teacher, he could be totally innocent or the students might not have come forward earlier for a variety of reasons, fear or not being clear on how an adult/authority figure should or shouldn't touch their bodies. 

Keeslermom said ...
If it's true, then fire them all.  But  I can't help but wonder, if ALL this was happening, why it took so long for anyone to come forward.  I gotta say, if a 50 year old woman sent my 4th grader a love letter, I wouldn't wait a few years to report it.  And the rest?  Why did NO one do anything for years, then they all rush forward NOW?

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The thought of someone innocent being accused is just horrible, but I always prefer to err on the side of protecting the children. 

Since I live in California this is on our news all day long. It makes me absolutely sick. What that man did.. so unbelievably disturbing. What people need to understand is that the school is a very low income and predominantly non native speaking children with parents who don't speak English at all. The school is 97% Hispanic/Latino. I don't doubt for a minute that those men worked there for that reason because that population tends to be easier to victimize. There tends to be a language barrier amongst the child and the parent since they are immersed in English all day and the parents tend not to speak English. In addition the parents tend to not be able to report things either out of fear if they are not necessarily here legally, out of communication barrier, or because in a lot of cases the Hispanic community is very hands off with school. I have worked with large populations of Hispanic students and often times the parents believe that the teachers are very high above them and that any questioning or suggesting on the behalf of the parent is disrespectful. They teach their children to do what the teacher says always and not question it. I have been given permission by a parent to spank their child if I felt he was out of line, obviously I didn't do it but I think it is important to keep these factors in mind when questioning why they didn't report sooner. These men chose this school, these men chose these victims because they knew they could get away with it because of these factors.

That being said. With everything that has come to light it was the right choice to move the entire staff and keep them away from kids for now until they have all been investigated. However, when I taught kindergarten in a brick and mortar I rarely saw the other staff because I had a different start and end time. It is possible that they did not see each other frequently because of how big the school is, considering the fact it is made up of 92 teachers alone tells you it is a large school. So I do think there is a possibility that there are teachers in there that had no idea what was going on. I believe until proven innocent however should be the way they continue to deal with this situation. But I don't think we can blame all the teachers.

In the end it's just a horrible and disgusting and disturbing situation.

I think it also should be mentioned that many of the parents are fighting to bring the other teachers back. So while I understand that many of you feel that the whole staff should be fired these parents love these teachers, many of these teachers are unbelievably dedicated. The Los Angeles School District is a hard one to work in. It is filled with poverty and gang violence. Many of these teachers work longer hours than they are paid for, bring food for their students so they don't starve and essentially have to start every year teaching the children English before getting to teaching them the standards they are required to learn. They should punish those involved..but not everyone was. The parents love many of those teachers and are very heartbroken over the loss of them. Obviously this is not in regards to the ones who were sexually abusing children but many of the others.

Elle, good point!  I'm in So. Ca, yet not living close to this school, but the story is on all our news channels - they interviewed a father of a first grader, both he and his daughter were crying because she was not going to be able to say goodbye to her teacher.  It is halfway into their school year and now to have to start with someone new for everyone is an awful situation all around.

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Elle said ...
I think it also should be mentioned that many of the parents are fighting to bring the other teachers back. So while I understand that many of you feel that the whole staff should be fired these parents love these teachers, many of these teachers are unbelievably dedicated. The Los Angeles School District is a hard one to work in. It is filled with poverty and gang violence. Many of these teachers work longer hours than they are paid for, bring food for their students so they don't starve and essentially have to start every year teaching the children English before getting to teaching them the standards they are required to learn. They should punish those involved..but not everyone was. The parents love many of those teachers and are very heartbroken over the loss of them. Obviously this is not in regards to the ones who were sexually abusing children but many of the others.

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