DISGRACE: Entire staff of LA school replaced after two teachers arrested for child sex abuse
The shocking story of child sexual abuse running rampant in a LA elementary school has taken on a new twist. The Los Angeles school superintendent removed 88 teachers and 40 support personnel — the entire staff — at Miramonte Elementary School after Mark Berndt, 61, and another male teacher were arrested for sexually molesting children.
Martin Springer, 49, was arrested on Friday for allegedly fondling two girls at the school where the student body is predominately Hispanic. Springer’s arrest occurred a year after Berndt was removed from the school for feeding his body fluids to his students in a bizarre “tasting game.”
Child molesters frequently choose careers in the education or child care fields to gain access to innocent children. Public schools, in particular, have gained a reputation for being a safe haven for child sex predators.
Gay group pushes training video to teach school children about Gays and Lesbians
A gay activist group is pushing a training video to teachers and parents featuring school children between the ages of 6-12 discussing what it means to live a gay lifestyle.
According to CNSnews.com, The Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual advocacy group, has produced a “professional development film” through its website called the Welcoming Schools project.
On its home page, the Welcoming Schools project states that it “is an LGBT-inclusive approach to addressing family diversity, gender stereotyping and bullying and name-calling in K-5 learning environments. … Additionally, it offers a wide range of resources for school administrators and educators to support students who don’t conform to gender norms.”
CNSNews.com says questions to the Human Rights Campaign — “including inquires about whether the training sessions are taking place in schools, how many schools are participating, and whether or not the video will be viewed by children — were not answered before this story was posted.”
Gingrich: why are blacks offended by his plan to put children to work?
During Monday night’s GOP debate in Myrtle Beach, SC, presidential candidate Newt Gingrich once again spoke on his much-derided plan to put school children to work. Sometimes it isn’t what you say but how you say it. So Gingrich was careful to couch his controversial plan in more acceptable phrasing.
Gingrich insists that black kids don’t need handouts from President Obama — they need jobs. Gingrich says schoolchildren should be given janitorial jobs because, in his opinion, janitors in the NYC public school system earn way too much money.
The average annual salary for a NYC public school janitor is $80,000, compared to a teacher who earns $45,000 annually.
According to the NY Daily News, Gingrich argued the best thing public schools could do for students – particularly black students – was to give them a broom.
“Can’t you see that this is viewed at a minimum as insulting to all Americans, but particularly to black Americans?” asked Fox News questioner Juan Williams, who is part Hispanic and black.
“No, I don’t see that,” Gingrich responded, with rousing applause from the majority white audience.
Education Leaders: Teachers Should Not Be Fired Over Slavery Beatings Math Lesson
The unorthodox teaching methods of teachers at a Norcross elementary school have caused a national uproar. The teachers gave 3rd grade students at Beaver Ridge Elementary a math lesson featuring slavery questions such as figuring out how many beatings a slave would get if he was whipped twice a day for 2 weeks.
Over 100 students were sent home with the math lesson, which featured about 20 questions on slavery. Some parents reacted with fury, accusing the teachers of blatant racism. But education leaders dismiss the allegations of racism.
According to the AJC, Calvine Rollins, president of the Georgia Association of Educators said “the slave math lesson created by a teacher to reinforce a lesson on Frederick Douglass may have used poor judgment, but it shouldn’t lead to the termination of those who wrote or handed it out without reviewing it.”
“This is an unfortunate incident,” Rollins said. “I don’t believe the teacher wanted to expose those kids to anything offensive. Gwinnett County teachers are dedicated. They work hard and try on a daily basis to do the right thing.”
Eddie Long’s New Birth Christian Academy Closes
Bishop Eddie Long’s New Birth Christian Academy is closing its doors after 18 years in operation. The private school’s 200 students learned about the school closing in a letter sent home to their parents and signed by Carlton Donald, the board’s vice-chair.
“We have operated New Birth Christian Academy for several years with substantial deficits in hopes that the national economic climate would change, however, that change never materialized,” read the letter. A few years ago the academy boasted of having one teacher for every eight students.
The school’s tuition ranged from $5,253 for New Birth members to $6,198 for non-members, according to the Atlanta Journal.
The school’s closing is just another step toward the dismantling of Eddie Long’s church empire in Atlanta. The church has laid off staff after losing hundreds of members since Long settled a sexual coercion case filed against him by four former New Birth members who were heterosexual and gay.
Additionally, Bernice King, daughter of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, stepped down as a church elder in May. And 10 former parishioners filed a $1 million lawsuit against Long and the church alleging they lost their life savings in an investment scam.
Long, who temporally stepped down as the church’s senior pastor this month, reportedly used the school as a hunting ground for young males to satisfy his sexual appetite. In court documents, Long was accused of coercing the young men with Bible passages and plying at least two of the boys with cash, trips, gifts and cars to loosen their sexual inhibitions.
Earlier this month, the embattled preacher’s long-suffering wife, Vanessa, announced she was filing for divorce.
Braylon Edwards Gives $10,000 Each to 79 College Students
In 2005, Cleveland Browns rookie Braylon Edwards made a promise to 100 eighth graders — a promise that he would keep 6 years later.
Edwards announced that he’d give $10,000 in scholarships to 100 area eighth-graders if they could graduate high school with at least a 2.5 grade-point average and 15 hours’ community service.
According to the LA Times, 79 of those students met the criteria and began their first year of college in campuses all across the country, including Harvard.
“Without this scholarship, I probably wouldn’t be here,” Bowling Green freshman David Gholston told ESPN’s Rick Reilly.
Now, most people would think writing $790,000 in checks would be enough, but Edwards went one step further. In addition to the $10,000, he provided each of the students with a laptop computer.
“I’m supposed to give people a chance like I was given a chance,” Edwards said.
But that’s not the only amazing part of the season. Edwards is now a member of the San Francisco 49ers. His salary for this season? $1 million. In other words, he has donated almost his entire salary this season to help those 79 kids. Source
The Real Story behind Justin Bieber, a school, and that $100,000 check
Last week, Justin Bieber made headlines everywhere for donating $100,000 to a high-poverty school in Las Vegas. But the real story is not Justin’s benevolence (although it’s noteworthy), the real story is the woman behind the school — and how that check might not have found it’s way into the school’s coffers were it not for her.
In a segment of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, scheduled to air on Jan. 4, 2012, Bieber is shown handing a $100,000 check to Whitney Elementary School Principal Sherrie Gahn. In addition to donating the money, Bieber also performed for the kids and handed out Christmas presents.
Reporter Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post notes that 85% of the students attending Whitney Elementary live at or below the poverty level. “Many live in houses without heat, electricity and running water,” she writes. But the students’ standardized test scores have gone up significantly since Sherrie Gahn has been the principal there.
She arrived at Whitney about eight years ago and promised Whitney parents that she would help them with their bills — and even help pay college tuition for any students who went — if they would work with her to raise children “of character.”
Here’s what she told Ellen DeGeneres that she told parents: “I’ll pay your electrical bill, your utilities, I’ll give you food or clothes, whatever you need, as long as you give me your child and then help raise that child as a person of character.”
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