her termination is official
District looks to fire Austin High art teacher
Teacher, who posted nude portraits online, can appeal decision to begin termination proceedings.
By Raven L. Hill
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
An Austin High School art teacher who posed partially nude in photographs posted on the Web could soon be out of a job after the school board voted Monday to begin termination proceedings.
The teacher, Tamara Hoover, 29, has been on paid administrative leave since May 19 because "inappropriate material" was posted on a Web site, according to the district. A student notified school officials about the site's content, namely several portraits that show Hoover nude from the waist up.
The district's attorney, Mel Waxler, said he could not comment, citing personnel and legal concerns.
Hoover defended her actions in a blog by saying that the pictures are not pornography but "artistic photography" and that she neither knew nor had any control over which photographs were posted by the photographer.
The school district's policies regarding employee behavior include a moral turpitude clause that prohibits "base, vile, or depraved acts that are intended to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of the actor."
Hoover may appeal the board's decision, with the board making a final decision in August.
Although Hoover has declined commenting on the matter, she protested the district's decision on her blog entry dated June 9. "They are firing me for pictures of me being on a website . . . and claiming the website is pornographic," Hoover wrote. "The district isn't even asking to hear my side."
Louis Malfaro, president of Education Austin, a 4,000-member group that represents teachers and staff members, said he thought the district's handling of the matter was inappropriate.
"Teachers need to be cautious because they are held to a higher standard," he said. "However, I think it's outrageous the way Tamara has been treated, and I'm glad she has herself a good lawyer," he said. "You can walk into most art galleries in this town and see the kind of artwork that was depicted on that Web site."
The pictures — hundreds of photos of Hoover posing clothed and partially nude, alone and in company — were posted on a photo-sharing Web site that does not require a password.
"I never told kids to 'go see me' at the web site," she wrote.
The blog also contains Hoover's account of the events leading up to her removal:
"That morning a fellow teacher was talking poorly about me to her class. A student said, 'Well, if you really dont like Ms. Hoover, you should check out the website she is on.' . . . So she told the student to pull it up. He did so in front of a class full of students."
Hoover said the district is pursuing criminal charges and determined that she was an ineffective teacher.
"I have been recognized by the board year after year (2 weeks before May 19 board recognized me again) for outstanding achievments as an art teacher," she wrote. "A report came back from the investigation saying that I am well liked on my campus and have a good reputation of being a caring teacher who tries to help each student find their own artistic voice."
Hoover was recognized during a May 8 school board meeting after one of her students won first place in a statewide compe ion. Another student, who did not give a name, posted an encouraging message Hoover's personal Web page.
"You do not deserve this," the student wrote. "It was my grandma's dying wish that I did something in the arts. . . . I feel like me being in your class would've made her very happy, and I know it made me very happy."
Hoover has taught at the Central Austin school since 2000.
I dont think there were grounds for termination if she did not have improper conduct with a student.. discuss
Boo...I thought the link was to the website.....
If she's fired, I hope she can qualify for unemployment.
That's just bull .
This is insane. Apparently the school districts don't want students to learn from artists that do their own work or participate in others' work outside of class. Censorship is such . Had it been a painting they probably wouldn't have even suspended her, but because it's a photo it's "wrong".
that's ed up.
I would represent her and fight the bas s.
I can't say without seeing the pics but if an art teacher was photographed nude in artistic prints.....
Ax and ye shall receive...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/celestadanger/tags/tamara/
http://www.myspace.com/mshoover
(Props to the Dudley and Bob webbies for the linkage...)
Last edited by AlamoSpursFan; 06-14-2006 at 09:13 AM.
Those photos are really no "big" deal... ...TPark has bigger s...
Actually, they removed a bunch of pics...apparently there were some S&M shots and pics of her mugging down with another chick along with the nudies. If D&B hadn't mentioned it, they'd probably still be there...oh well.
And for the record, after seeing some of the garbage she considers "art", I support her firing. A teacher should at least know a little bit about the subject they teach, I'm thinking...
Thats completely ed up.
It's non of the districts goddamn buisness what she does on her free time. She wasn;t breaking the law, ign a student, or posting instructions on how to make a suicide bomb.
She never informed nor directed her students to the site.
Plus she was being used as a subject in a peice of ART.
Austin school district = ing idiots!!!!!
and ASF - art is completely subjective.
The CHILDREN! Won't somebody PLEASE think of the CHILDREN?!?!
As a student in school, I have found that the parents are sometimes the worst thing that can happen in a school.
the pictures suck...... fire her.
She has an odd face. In some of the pics she's hot and in some of them she looks like Ms. Hathaway from the Beverly Hillbillies.
this reminds me of Slovenian teacher with porno pictures.
You could have mentioned this before I scrolled through the 18 pages of that .
I was thinking the same thing.She has an odd face. In some of the pics she's hot and in some of them she looks like Ms. Hathaway from the Beverly Hillbillies.
Hmmmmm. It's a little fishy on the part of the district, and I imagine that on those grounds, it'll be overturned.
However - there was a moral turpitude clause in the contract she signed and agreed to. Therefore, she can be terminated over these photos, artistic or pornographic.
On one hand - what people do in their free time is their business, but on the other hand, if they sign a contract which allows their actions in their free time to be possible grounds for termination, then they need to be careful what they participate in and allow out their with their names available.
How she thought in Texas that nude photos wouldn't cause an outcry, art or not, I can't imagine.
There are really two debates going on - whether or not teachers should be subject to 'a higher standard' in their personal lives (or, does a teacher's personal life impact their abilities to perform their jobs) and whether or not the actions in this particular case are grounds for termination.
Once again I'll ask, where were these hobag teachers when I was inschool
If that's art, I'm a Hottentot.
You have to watch what you post online. As a college student with both a facebook and a myspace, I know that. I've seen stories of people getting fired or expelled from school for what they've posted on their pages. Its the same thing here. Its fine for her to take the pictures, but as soon as they were posted online she was taking a gamble.
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