Teacher On Leave After Slapping Student

[The Straight Story]

Teacher On Leave After Slapping Student
Raul Montes Was 2010 Teacher Of The Year Finalist In Brevard County

COCOA, Fla. -- A Cocoa High teacher who last year was a finalist for Brevard Public Schools' Teacher of the Year has been put on an unpaid leave of absence, starting Wednesday, for slapping a student.

Raul Montes, a science teacher in the district since 1978, will be suspended until April 27.

According to a typed explanation of the incident, which happened March 9, Montes said he noticed one of his female students kissing a male student in between classes. One of the school's deans also saw the kiss and asked Montes to remind the student that if she "displayed public affection between classes" again, the pair would be disciplined.

"I was not mad, nor upset with her, but for some reason, I slapped her right cheek," Montes, who makes about $56,000 a year, wrote in the report to the district. "This act was not malicious on my part. I am still trying to understand why I acted in this manner."

http://www.clickorlando.com/education/27290510/detail.html

[speltwon]

1. This would be legal in my state, but still against any public school district policy

and certainly justifies leave and punishment (short of dismissal certainly imo if he has a good record otherwise)...

Under the RCW, a teacher has the same legal authority to physically discipline as a parent

[Modern_Matthew]

2. Going to get a lot of heat for this, but incidents like this should be automatic termination. nt

[hamsterjill]

7. No heat from me.

I agree with you. Teachers MUST lead by example. This type of behavior is not acceptable.

Perhaps in this case, the teacher has some medical/mental issue that needs to be explored. If that's the case, I hope he gets whatever help he needs, but he should not be working in a classroom again.

[NashVegas]

3. Is It Me Or Is There a Paragraph or Two Missing?

The paper doesn't say he walked up and immediately slapped the student without any sort of altercation, but it's implied.


Odd.

[Bunny]

4. What a weird incident.

The guy's with the same district for over 30 years, nearly spotless record, nominated for teacher of the year, and then he slaps a girl in the face for kissing a boy? That's a very odd reaction.

[deutsey]

5. And he claims not to know why he did it.

That's very puzzling.

[Bunny]

11. I bet he really doesn't know why he did it.

There must have been something else going on, though. It's hard to imagine him going from zero to face slap for no apparent reason.

[erinlough]

6. Many years ago I taught with a terrific teacher

And one day she was talking to a student about how he was harassing a special education student and calling them names. She was in the right and usually a very even person, the student she was talking to was a very troubled child (now permanently housed in prison as an adult). What he said to her hit some trigger in her and I watched in horror as she quickly slapped him, not hard, more out of shock at what he had said. I have been teaching Special Education for 36 years and I can tell you that although this has never happened to me, I can see how it is possible.

[Spike89]

8. Lacking information, but I think this does show some things

This is an odd story, but a teacher with more than 30 years experience and awards makes $56,000?!?! I know that seems like a lot to people who are truly poor, but it isn't very much for someone with at least a masters degree and that level of experience. It is NOT an easy job. There are certainly many rewards, but dealing with teenagers every day must be stressful and messing up even once can get you fired and talked about on internet discussion boards.

[petronius]

12. I was wondering why it was necessary to mention his salary, especially the way

it was awkwardly crammed into that sentence, but my guess is that the reporter was intending to get the opposite reaction from yours - it's probably there to show how well-paid the teacher is...

[deutsey]

13. I thought the same thing

With all this rightwing crap about overpaid teachers going on.

[seabeyond]

9. i find what he says really interesting. seems honest. curious. nt

[aikoaiko]

10. "I am still trying to understand why I acted in this manner". WTF

Stupidest thing I've read in a long time.

[Spike89]

14. Really? Sounded sincere to me

As I noted in an earlier reply to the OP, I don't feel I have nearly enough information to make a lot of judgments. However, I have raised a few teenagers and although I've never physically struck any of them (well, they did get the occasional swat on the behind as toddlers) there have been numerous times when I over-reacted to seemingly minor incidents. Only much later was I able to reflect and realize my over reaction had been to the culmination of events, some quite unrelated. By no means is this limited to interactions with teenagers.

In my experience, it's not uncommon for people to blow up over trivia, only to eventually discover that the real problem had been festering for a long time and the little thing that set them off may not have even been related. Totally hypothetically, perhaps this teacher has seen a number of his most promising students have their academic careers derailed by unplanned pregnacies...maybe his own daughter is entangled in an abusive relationship and the young man this student was kissing resembles the dude hurting his daughter? The point is that I certainly don't know what set him off, and I'm inclined to believe he might not know that either.

Again, I don't know if the teacher in this instance was a huge jerk or a great guy. I don't think a snapshot of behavior can provide that information. Certainly it isn't appropriate behavior, but it is possible for good people to do inappropriate things and be confused as to why.