Tamara Hoover Update

(Austin, Texas) There has been a flood of media and public interest in the case of Austin High School art teacher Tamara Hoover. As previously reported here and here, Hoover is being fired from her position with the school district because her nude photos, taken by her girlfriend Celesta Danger, were found to be published on the Internet and available for viewing by her students. It's now been disclosed how the issue became public.

From AustinChronicle.com:

Danger posted a dozen or so nude photos of Hoover on her photography Web site, where they sat among thousands of portraits of friends and fellow hipsters (Danger is a photographer for the Texas Rollergirls).

[ ... ]

The photos, however, took on a very different context when they were viewed in a high school classroom. That happened in mid-May, after Hoover and fellow Austin High art teacher Gayle Andrews got into a spat over a shared kiln. Shortly afterward, a student told Andrews about a way to get Hoover in trouble and brought up the Web site. The news reached the administration and Hoover was escorted off campus. The district soon began the process of firing her.

So, it all started with a "spat over a shared kiln," or two women being catty. Seems stupid, eh? Nevertheless, Hoover has vowed to fight for her job.

Hoover is requesting a hearing, which will give her the chance to argue her case in front of an independent hearing examiner. Her lawyer, Jay Brim, says the district's vague justifications about "standards of professional conduct" give it some wiggle room.

It appears to me that the issue has become political in nature, largely due to media coverage, and it will be decided in favor of the side with the most muscle. My bets are on the school board.


[Update 06/28/06]

Tamara Hoover interviewed on Fox.


[Update 08/17/06]

Tamara Hoover resigns.