Florida Teachers (3) Show Bad Behavior

(Volusia County, Florida) Three area teachers have been cited by school officials for bad conduct, two high school coaches and a middle school teacher.

A teacher at Silver Sands Middle School in Port Orange, Teresa Volkman, was suspended for one day without pay for putting a bungee cord around a student's neck and instructing his classmates to lead him around like a dog. The leash tactic was a form of punishment.

The names of the two coaches were not reported but they teach at New Smyrna Beach High School and Seabreeze High School, respectively. Each was suspended for three days without pay for emailing a lewd video using school computers last December.

Arguably, the lapses in judgment of the three are relatively minor and hopefully isolated instances. However, taken together, they should be viewed by the education establishment as indicators that every teacher's performance is watched very closely by parents and the media.

Figuratively, every un-dotted "i" and un-crossed "t" is likely to be reported worldwide on the Internet. There is little tolerance of unprofessionalism in teachers.

Tip: slwlion