A Sarasota, Fla. special education teacher who allegedly hit, kicked and pushed her students with disabilities will keep her job.
Diana O’Neill was arrested on four counts of child abuse for hitting students on the head with water bottles and kicking them, among other offenses. But the elementary school educator was acquitted of the charges earlier this year.
The local school district wanted to fire O’Neill for the behavior that reportedly spanned months before two classroom aides called attention to it. But this week an arbitrator determined that they could not terminate the veteran teacher since school officials knew about O’Neill’s actions prior to her arrest, but did not proceed with disciplinary action against her. The school principal says she told O’Neill not to hit her students, but never gave the teacher an official verbal warning.
O’Neill has been out of the classroom since her arrest in February 2008. Under the arbitrator’s decision, which is binding, O’Neill will be suspended for four weeks and will undergo counseling. She will then be allowed to return to her teaching position or to a similar one, reports The Sarasota Herald-Tribune. To read more click here.
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In Atlanta teachers suspected of abuse (with suspicious injuries occurring) or who were not smart enough to teach special education were often sent to regular education. One was sent to hospital/homebound because there would always be an adult around and the kids could talk (The rest of us were upset because that was an extremely desirable position that rarely came open.) However, she had serious connections, including a first cousin who was an associate superintendent and so could not be fired even though she was also a racist and could barely read. In fact she was not reported for years until an itinerant teacher who was not based at that school finally refused to fear her power. She had hit a totally innocent child. It is often the case that abusers are highly connected and so feel they can get away with things. Often they are also incompetent or lazy and frustrated in their jobs so they take it out on the children.
Another suspect got sent to 4th grade. That is about as bad as it can get to go from Severe/Profound to regular education. A suspected molester finally touched a high school student who could talk and got reported by the student and a friend who was a witness. He was also reported by a verbal Severe child for hitting him. It is very rare that a Severe can advocate for himself. He quit.
A lot of the problem is that the victims are cognitively or multiply handicapped and cannot talk or would not remember what happened long enough to go to a hearing. The best thing to do with a tenured hitter is to move her to a bad position, such as regular education, EBD (this happened to a paraprofessional in New Orleans who came for her teacher) or Inclusion where she will be closely observed.
Verbal abuse and bullying of co-workers or students can also be a problem. However, often the bullies present one face to the administration and another to co-workers and students and/or are having intimate relations with a principal or are otherwise highly regarded or connected at the school–such as being a cheerleading coach. They tend to be good paper pushers, popular, active in things the principal consider important and involved in the school as a whole. These abusers are even harder to get rid of than the physical abusers because the administration protects them and thinks they are wonderful.