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Round-up: Bad Teachers on National Teacher's Day

By Christopher Coble, Esq. on May 06, 2015 | Last updated on January 05, 2022

Everybody probably has a story or two about a horrible teacher, a mean teacher, a strict teacher.

We know bad teachers are only a small minority among the thousands of wonderfully dedicated teachers doing a hard, underpaid job every day.

But, bad teachers are still pretty fun to talk about -- and we can even learn something from them and their bad behavior. So, here's a round-up of just a few of our best bad teacher stories:

1. The Barber of Classroom A

One Milwaukee schoolteacher let her frustration get the worst of her. Irritated that a student kept playing with her beaded braids, the teacher called the poor girl up to the front of the class, with the promise of candy, and cut the girl's hair.

The teacher got off with a $175 disorderly conduct fine, barely a slap on the risk.

2. You Scratch My Back, I Scratch Yours

One enterprising teacher thought up a scheme to get his students to buy his homemade soap in exchange for homework passes. School officials weren't happy to hear about the teacher's business plan, and fined him $4,000.

3. Teacher Bully

An angry father put his autistic son's teacher and aide on blast on YouTube for bullying, harassment, and verbal abuse. The father put a digital recorder in his son's pocket and recorded over 6 hours of evidence of the teacher and aide taunting and making the child cry. Such harassment based on disability is prohibited by Title II of the American with Disabilities Act.

4. NC-17 in the Classroom

A former substitute Spanish teacher, who spoke no Spanish, was sentenced to jail for 90 days for showing students the movie, "The ABC's of Death." The film was more gruesome and sexually explicit than all the seasons of Game of Thrones put together. The teacher was convicted under an Ohio statute that makes it illegal to show juveniles any obscene or harmful materials.

5. Cheating ... Teachers?!

Standardized testing puts pressure on students to do well and even more pressure on teachers to get good results. Over 30 Atlanta, Georgia teachers were caught cheating, coaching students, and altering answers. They were charged and convicted of crimes including racketeering under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corruption Organization Act.

Naturally, teachers always have something to teach us, even if it's learning from their mistakes. If you think your child's teacher is more bad-teacher than strict-teacher consult with an education lawyer.

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