Posted by Koala Bear, a resident of the Cuesta Park neighborhood, on Jul 1, 2009 at 10:46 pm

My take on this whole situation is that outside intervention may be necessary for teacher removal. This reminds me of domestic violence pre-1980, where a woman could call police, then refuse to press charges, and the cops would walk away. Another metaphor is that of church heirarchy moving an abusive priest from one parish to another without notifying the proper authorities, allowing inappropriate acts towards children to continue for generations. It seems, in these cases of a verbally or emotionally abusive teacher, that the proper authorities are in fact NOT the school board or teachers unions (quite obviously), but either the State Children's Protective Services, or law enforcement. The incidents may be reported confidentially, and these agencies, who have YEARS of proper training and legal authority, can decide whether the adult in question should be left alone for 7 hours a day with a room full of 9 year olds (or now 11 year old), unsupervised. I don't think I would allow my child to go on a playdate at Ms. P's house, never mind be in her classroom, and I think it's time for concerned parents to notify some authorities with some actual authority--to protect the children in question!