Oregon schoolteacher fired for answering student who asked why he can't get married GETS JOB BACK

[Ken Burch]

http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/beaverton-gets-schooled/Content?oid=2983837

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SIX WEEKS AFTER the Beaverton School District canned him for candidly answering a student's question about his relationship status, gay student teacher Seth Stambaugh is back in the classroom. And district officials—worn down by community outrage, legal threats, and embarrassing national headlines—are promising to reform their approach toward LGBT issues.

The reversal was announced just before a planned school board "listening session" last Thursday, October 21. District leaders met that day with administrators from Lewis and Clark College, where Stambaugh, 23, is a graduate student, and unanimously voted for reinstatement.

"There have been various times when issues with LGBTQ individuals have come forward and the district has not moved in a straightforward way to right wrongs," Superintendent Jerry Colonna told a crowd of about 30 parents and citizens that night, citing staff and community pressure as a major factor in the district's backpedal. "In this crisis and response, I believe we have hit the tipping point where we will see safer, more inclusive schools."

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[sakabatou]

1. Yay!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. That's great news!

Recommended.

[Luminous Animal]

3. Good.

[cate94]

4. K & R

Good news. Thanks for posting.

[ejpoeta]

5. why should someone be fired for answering a student's question?

i am a firm believer in such things as answering questions of kids when asked. I wish I could say this somehow means gays will be treated fairly or at least more fairly, but I will believe it when I see it. It saddens me that the guy got fired at all. but the question from the kid says something..... young people are more open minded and accepting of GLBT and treating them equally. And at the very least that means that sooner or later there will be more people supporting them than against and they will finally have equality.

[The Doctor.]

6. The inexorable march toward equality. eom

[dsc]

7. what is particularly great about this is how it happened

he didn't sue to get his job back instead parents complained and the school reversed itself.

[FireAnt]

8. Actually - Student Teacher

I don't really understand this. The guy is a student teacher, NOT a school teacher therefore he wasn't fired, just removed. The school is doing both he and his college a favor by allowing him to student teach in the school and can basically remove the person for any reason even though this would have been a very poor reason.

Most student teaching experience only last 12 weeks. Looks like he's missed at least 4 weeks. Is the college just going to forgive the missing time?

[Ken Burch]

9. Alright, removed. That still doesn't mean it's ok.

Why are you unsympathetic about this? It goes without saying that the school district was wrong to do what it did to him. All the poor guy was guilty of was honestly answering a question asked by a student. The district had no right to expect him to lie to the kid.