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Jewish World Review
Feb 6, 2012/ 13 Shevat, 5772
Safeguarding Kids No Match for Following Procedure
By
Arnold Ahlert
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The train wreck known as our unionized public school system has regurgitated some especially disturbing news from time to time, about some seriously disturbed people. But the stories recounted here, which range from the truly annoying to the mind-numbingly horrifying, demonstrate two realities. First, there are some genuinely twisted individuals in classrooms who manage to elude all the purported safeguards designed to protect the kids. Second, the combination of union clout and inept bureaucratic procedures have produced a system of public school education that doesn't need to be reformed. It needs to be blown up and re-configured from scratch, starting with one non-negotiable element: public service unions must be entirely eliminated from the equation. When you read these stories, bear in mind the oft-repeated slogan of unionized educrats, along with their bureaucratic and political enablers: the kids come first.
Beginning on the East Coast, we have Exhibit A for everything that's wrong with unionization. Alan Rosenfeld, 66, deemed a "danger to kids" keeps getting a paycheck ten years after being removed from the classroom. Seems Al liked ogling eighth-grade girls' butts at IS 347 in Queens. The Department of Education bungled their case against him, so he can't be fired. What does Al do all day? He manages his real estate portfolio, reportedly worth $10 million. And for those who think teachers are underpaid, it should be noted that Al pulls in $100,049 a year in salary--in addition to health benefits, a pension that increases $1700 a year for each year he remains in the system, vacation pay, and 100 days of unused sick pay for which he will be compensated when he retires.
And Al's the good news. Two parents from a kindergarten class in Washington Heights have filed notices of claim against the city for $5 million apiece. They allege that a group of 5-year-olds removed their pants and engaged in sex acts under their desks. All of it occurred despite the teacher being present in the classroom. "They were exposing themselves and showing their body parts to each other. From what I understand, they were kissing and touching," one of the parents told the NY Post.
The other parent said her son told her about this activity last October. She reported it to the school, which documented it in a December report. That same report noted that the school did not notify the NYPD or the school superintendent, and that parents of the other kids involved weren't notified until Jan. 3. "They didn't notify the parents immediately or stop it from occurring for months," said Marc Held, lawyer for both moms.
In the world of unionized education and sclerotic bureaucracy this is what is known as "following procedure."
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Perhaps one needs a little more convincing. Let's move to the West Coast. Two teachers at Miramonte Elementary School have been accused of things that make one's skin crawl. Martin Springer, who was arrested Friday, is suspected of fondling two girls over a period of three years. Each of the girls was reportedly 7-years-old, and the fondling allegedly took place in a classroom.
And, hard as it may be to believe, Springer's small potatoes compared to Mark Berndt. Berndt has been charged with 23 counts of committing lewd acts on boys and girls, ages 6 to 10, from 2005-2010. Accusations include taking more than 400 photographs of blindfolded, bound and gagged children, some of whom were posed with giant cockroaches sitting on their faces and mouths. He is also accused of of feeding his semen to blindfolded children in a "tasting game" and possibly as a coating on cookies. How do investigators know it was semen? A detective found a blue spoon apparently hidden in a trash can that appeared to be the one seen in the photographs. Analysis determined there was semen on the spoon and DNA testing matched it to Berndt, authorities said.
Sadly, investigators had recommended a sex charge involving a 10-year-old girl be filed against Berndt back in 1994, when he allegedly tried to grope the girl's genitals during class then, but prosecutors decided not to pursue the case.
The good news: Berndt is being held on $23 million bail and faces several life sentences if convicted. The bad news: although the school board dismissed Berndt a year ago, he was never officially fired. Like any good unionist, he challenged the board's findings and, while awaiting a hearing, he resigned. Thus, he gets to keep his lifetime health benefits, along with a lifetime pension worth $3,891.17 per month, earned through contributions and length of service in accordance with the California State Teachers' Retirement System regulations. On top of that, in order to protect Berndt's rights, parents, other than those of the victims, weren't notified that a former teacher was taking pictures of students to satisfy his sexual urges, until a year after it happened.
Miramonte Principal Martin Sandoval told reporters that he followed proper school district procedure.
I'll bet he did. But it gets even worse. Two former Berndt students told the LA Times they reported behavior to a school counselor back in 1990 that included Berndt moving his hands under his desk, near his lap, at the front of the classroom. They also told the counselor that they had seen a jar of Vaseline in one of his desk compartments.
The counselor's alleged reaction? She told the girls "it's not very good to make stories up" and that it was their "imagination" that led them to make the report. "It was never talked about again," one of the witnesses told the newspaper.
Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. John Deasy told the LA Times he was struggling to determine how the alleged behavior went undetected for so long. "How do I make sense out of the fact that this took place over a number of years and no one seemed to know about that?" Deasy asked. "I'm definitely trying to understand how someone could not have known."
But "they" did know, John. In 1990, a counselor blew off three young girls because they were "imagining things" and in 1994 the prosecutors decided there was insufficient evidence to prove a crime had occurred because, while the alleged incident took place in September 1993, it wasn't reported by the girl's mother to school officials at until the following January.
No doubt they were all following procedure.
Can it get any worse? Maybe not, unless you're one particular young girl. She was in Mark Berndt's second grade class in 2008. One day she came home from school and showed her parents a picture of her eating a cookie with a "gleaming, light-colored substance visible" that we now know wasn't icing. So what happened? She was transferred to Martin Springer's class, where her father alleges Springer touched her on her leg and thigh. Incredibly, the LA Times revealed that the two teachers knew each other--and took school children on at least two field trips together.
Give New York City an atom of credit regarding Alan Rosenfeld. At least they got him away from the kids. What the hell were the school officials in LA thinking, regarding Mark Berndt? At the very least, they knew something wasn't right with this guy 17 years ago, but they let him stay in the classroom regardless. Why?
Bet your life "procedure" had something to do with it.
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Comment on JWR Contributor Arnold Ahlert's column, by clicking here.
Previously:
01/29/11: 2016: R.I.P. GOP
01/26/11: Obama's Happy Talk Versus Bernanke's Action
01/23/11: South Carolina Goes for the Media-Masher
01/17/11: Nuking the Strait of Hormuz?
01/09/11: Coercion and Incentive Are Not Interchangeable Terms
01/06/11: Will We Retire Obama --- or the Constitution?
01/03/11: Dumb -- or ‘Disabled?’
12/27/11: Islamists ‘Celebrate’ Christmas
12/19/11: A Deficiency of Decency
12/16/11: Better a A War On Whiners Than Christmas
12/12/11: Anybody But Obama
12/07/11: Connecting the Feckless Foreign Policy Dots
12/05/11: Can We Keep Our Republic?
11/28/11: Cyber Crack-heads
11/21/11: Water Water Everywhere, But Not a Drop to Think
11/18/11: Walking along Avenue J(ew)
11/09/11: Military Scandal, Media Blackout
11/09/11: Open-Mics and Closed Minds
11/07/11: Back in the EU--SSR
10/31/11: Camping Out in La-La Land
10/14/11: Bagman Tim
10/13/11: Are Colleges Too Big to Fail?
10/11/11: Why aren't they upset when their child is mugged in school?
10/07/11: I Stand With the ‘One Percenters’
10/03/11: Can We Legalize Assassination?
09/29/11: Tim, Liz and Bev Equals Moe Larry and Curly
09/26/11: No Acknowledgment of Israel? No More Money
09/19/11: ‘Jobbing’ America
09/16/11: Carville knows a few things about ‘crazy’
09/12/11: Contemptible Krugman
09/09/11: Solving the 9/11 Invitation Controversy
09/06/11: Our Progressive Economic Wrecking Crew
09/01/11: Summer Swoon
08/29/11: The Real American Fanatics
08/24/11:The Five Stages of (Progressive) Grief
08/22/11:The Inevitable Descent From Progressivism to Nihilism
08/22/11: Perry Stands Firm. Obama Stands Mute
08/15/11: Give Me a Flatscreen TV, or Give Me Anarchy!
08/11/11: Resign, Mr. President
08/08/11: Facts? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Facts
08/03/11: Manufactured Crises
08/01/11: Stay Healthy, America --- or else!
07/28/11: Existential Crisis, Part 2
07/25/11: Three-Out-of-Four Americans Are Radicals
07/21/11: What Does Two Plus Two Equal?
07/18/11: News Nuggets
07/13/11: The ‘Write Stuff’
07/11/11: Completely Expectable ‘Unexpectedness’
07/07/11: Organized Cheating
07/05/11: Stimulating Disaster
06/30/11: Progressivism Masquerading as Education
06/27/11: America: Greece With Better PR
06/23/11: NBC-ya Later
06/19/11: One Man's Conversation About Race
06/10/11: An Exhibitionist in an Exhibitionist Age
06/07/11: NAACP Betrays Black American Schoolchildren
06/02/11: For the First Time in My Adult Life . . .
05/31/11: If I Were President
05/25/11: California Dreamin'
05/23/11: On Wisconsin!
05/20/11: Obama's Farewell to Israel Speech
05/16/11: ‘Krauthammering’ Amnesty
05/11/11: Bounce, My Backside
05/09/11: The Epicenter of Progressive Contempt for the Rule of Law
05/03/11: SEALing Osama's Fate
05/02/11: The Education plantation
04/24/11: The Bell May Toll for Jersey Toll Collectors
04/19/11: From Medical Dependency to Dependency on the Welfare State
04/14/11: Trumping the Debate
04/06/11: It Takes a Bigot to Expose a Death Cult
04/04/11: Charlie and Snookie --- and Barack
03/30/11: ‘Disabling’ America, One Lawsuit at a Time
03/28/11: The MSM Kills the ‘Kill Team’ Story
03/23/11: Another Military Scandal
03/21/11: Barry, Joe, Helen and Wisconsin Teachers
03/16/11: The Inevitable Viability of Conservatism
03/14/11: Progressives in Their Own Words
03/09/11: $61 Billion in Cuts --- Vs. $223 Billion in One Month of Spending
03/07/11: Bean Bag B.S.
03/02/11: A ‘Green’ Catastrophe in the Making
02/28/11: Ain't Noting Like the Real Thing
02/23/11: Progressive Rot vs. the ROTC
02/21/11: Wisconsin: Progressivism in All its Ugly Glory
02/18/11: News reporters --- or Narrative Shapers?
02/16/11: The Presidents Budget Proposal: An Obamination of Progressive Profligacy
02/14/11: Only Another 9/11 Will Alter the Illegal Immigration Status Quo
02/10/11: Is O'Reilly losing his touch or is he just irresponsible?
02/07/11: Tossing Britain Under the Bus
02/03/11: Starving the World In Order to Save It
01/31/11: Walking the Middle East Tightrope
01/27/11: Small-scale Terrorist Attacks: Big Strategy?
01/24/11: Jeffery Immelt: A Crony Capitalist In Charge of Job Creation
01/20/11: An ‘Intimate’ Prime-time Interview
01/17/11: Progressives: Always Angry, Newly Desperate
01/12/11: Twain vs. the Totalitarians
01/10/11: Politically Correct Passports?
01/05/11: Showdown at the Fiscal Corral
01/03/11: Reading the Constitution Aloud is a Good Start
12/30/10: Getting Our Moral Mojo Back
12/27/10: PC Airport Safety is an Oxymoron
12/23/10: Getting America Back On Track
12/20/10: A Collectivist Coalition of Convenience
12/15/10: The President Who Wasn't There
12/13/10: Tech-No!
12/08/10: A Lethal Military, Inclusive or Not
12/06/10: The ‘Unexpected’ Consequences of Progressivism
12/01/10: Leakers and Losers
11/29/10: ‘We Won’, Part One
11/22/10: Keep Your Hands Off My Constitution
11/17/10: Grope and Change
11/14/10: Taking Back Our Country, One School At a Time
11/11/10: Checks (and Balances), Please
11/08/10: Curtain Up, Progressives Down
11/04/10: Last Chance, Republicans
11/01/10: By Their Own Words Shall Ye Know Them
10/28/10: Progressive Determination to Undermine American Elections
10/25/10: Shock, but more importantly, action: De-Unionize Public Schools now
10/20/10: Multiculturalism? Check, Please
10/18/10: Healthcare: ‘Alice in Wonderland’ vs. The Constitution
10/11/10: Vote for Restoring the Rule of Law in November
10/11/10: Dems: Running From Clarity
10/07/10: Hypersensitive Hogwash
10/04/10: ‘Comprehensive’ Con Artists
09/29/10: Why Dems Are Going Down in November
09/27/10: The Unholiest of Unholy Alliances
09/22/10: Two Words for Republicans to Remember: ‘I Won’
09/20/10: Purging ‘Me First’ Politicians
09/17/10: No More ‘Lesser of Two Evils’
09/15/10: ‘Recovery’ Arms Race
09/13/10: ‘Bigots’ in the Majority --- Again?
09/09/10: Giving Voters Something to Vote For
09/07/10: Irresponsible Dems, Incomprehensible Bills
09/02/10: War Weary Americans vs. Implacable Islamists
08/31/10: A ‘Dream’ Debased
08/25/10: American ‘Bigots’ Versus Media Propagandists
08/23/10: Recovery Bummer
08/19/10: An Unholy Alliance of Radicals
08/16/10: You've Lost America, Mr. President
08/13/10: The Twin Towers of Progressive Disconnect
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08/09/10: It's ‘Only’ One Dead Nun
08/06/10: Incremental Tyranny
08/04/10: Ground Zero Mosque: Context Counts
08/02/10: The Arizona Ruling: a Gift for November
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07/26/10: JournoList: ‘Coordinated’ Ideological Bankruptcy
07/20/10: Go For Broke Or Get Out of the Way
07/14/10: You're a Liberal/Progressive if You Believe…
07/12/10: $33-an-hour--For Sleeping On the Job
07/08/10: Extortionist Government
07/06/10: ‘Commerce Clause’ Totalitarians
07/01/10: Another Public School Travesty in MA
06/30/10: Calling YOUR Bluff, Mr. President
06/28/10: A Trifecta of Progressive Corruption
06/23/10: Plug the Darn Hole --- In Our Border
06/21/10: Our Empty-Suit-in-Chief
06/16/10: Betraying Our Children
06/14/10: Who Gets the Benefit of the Doubt?
06/07/10: Politically Correct Warfare
06/01/10: Bill Maher's ‘Black’ President
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05/23/10: Libs Stand Tall --- For Mexico
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05/12/10: Union Audacity: Yes We Will!
05/10/10: Greeks, Leaks and and Double-Speak
05/05/10: Twelve Million Illegals --- or Thirty?
05/02/10: Republicans: Playing Not to Lose Doesn't Cut It
04/28/10: Arizona: Progressivism's Waterloo?
04/26/10: Son of Amnesty
04/22/10: Mortgages and Moral Meltdowns
04/20/10: Bashing Christians — Or Gays?
04/15/10: Personal Integri-‘tea’
04/12/10: Fools, Tools and Ghouls
04/08/10: (Tea) Party On
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03/22/10: I Want My Country Back
03/18/10: A Perpetual Process
03/17/10: American Exhibitionists
03/15/10: A Light Bulb Moment of Clarity
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02/03/10: Budgetary Fork in the Road
02/01/10: Liberal Economic Illiteracy
01/27/10: ‘Roe-ing and Wade-ing’ Back to Reason
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01/20/10: Connecting the Educational Dots
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01/15/10: The Myth That Keeps on Giving
01/13/10: Airport Security Begins Away From the Airport
01/11/10: Secrets and Lies
01/08/10: Embracing Bigotry — or Rejecting Bullying?
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01/04/10: Our ‘Wonderama’ Bureaucracy
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12/28/09: Dangerous Myths
12/25/09: I, Me, Mine
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12/18/09: The Party of Repeal
12/15/09: Privileged Exemption
11/30/09: ‘Settled’ Science and Unsettled Children
11/30/09: American Sharia Law
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09/30/09: Iran: Bad Options and Unpreparedness
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09/11/09: 9/11 Cannot Be Sanitized
09/08/09: ‘Truthers’ and Consequences
09/01/09: A ‘Paper Trail’ Challenge for the Mainstream Media
08/31/09: Drowning in Amorality
08/26/09: The Republican Recovery Program
© 2011, Arnold Ahlert
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