By: Doug Miller
Steven Jackson, who teaches social studies at Long Beach Middle School, was found guilty Jan. 19 of 10 counts of violating school policies by a New York State Department of Education mediator. He was fined $15,000 and ordered to undergo 90 hours of training, including anger management and a course on dealing with special-education students' needs.
The ruling did not, however, include revocation of Jackson's tenure, which is what the trustees said they wanted.
The vote to appeal the ruling was 3-2, leading board Trustee Franklin Alvarado, who voted in favor of the appeal, to ask in disgust, "How can we as a board not agree on this? Why would we put somebody like this back in a classroom?"
Voting against the appeal were Ruth Kaleko and Roy Lester. Lester, an attorney, said his experience with appealing arbitrators' rulings led him to believe that pushing the matter further would be a futile waste of tax dollars, and that the district had already spent more than $60,000 on the case.
Trustee Steve Weitz incurred the wrath of teachers' union head Frank Volpe by reciting the charges into the record during the public-hearing period of the meeting. Volpe ran to the microphone and demanded that Weitz stop. When Weitz refused, Volpe said, "It's not right to read these charges in a public forum. Whether it's legal or not, it's not right."
A student later addressed the board, and told of being "humiliated" by Jackson. "I was at the point where I didn't want to go to school anymore because of him," said the student, who is enrolled in special education. "I was scared to go to his class. He publicly humiliated me because of my [Individual Education Plan] and traumatized me to the fullest."
Volpe responded, "I'm not going to get into the cost or the effect on the students. This [public discussion] is an affront to teachers as a whole."
Jackson has not taught since the charges were brought against him more than a year ago. The ruling stated that he must pay the fine himself and pay for the counseling himself, which includes anger management, management of and dealing with students with disabilities, dealing with difficult students and student discipline.
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