Shool House Blues

Teacher Threatened With Firing Over Disciplining Students Who Used Gay Slurs To Keep Job
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

(West Milford, New Jersey) For teacher Cheryl Bachmann there was no question of what to do when two students in separate instances used gay slurs in her classroom.

Both, a boy and a girl, were sent to detention.

On the way out of her classroom at West Milford High School the boy hit her in the head with a rolled-up gum wrapper. Later, the girl was heard threatening to kill her.

But Bachmann, who had previously received good performance reviews suddenly found herself in danger of losing her job. She had been recommended for tenure but that was suddenly withdrawn.

School administrators accused her of poor class management skills and recommended she not be tenured. That would mean at the end of the school year she would be without a job.

With the help of Lambda Legal she appealed. Students at the school also became involved.

About 200 walked out and at a school board meeting earlier this month hundreds of people showed up to show their support. Students, parents and fellow teachers called Backmann a role model and said that the board should be supporting her and other teachers coping with disorderly students.

Several speakers referred to the Virginia Tech shootings, saying Bachmann's actions may have prevented an incident that could have escalated over time.

"More teachers should be doing what she did," said teacher Sean Cosgrove.

"Schools have a responsibility to create a harassment-free learning environment and Cheryl Bachman was trying to fulfill that responsibility by disciplining a student for using threatening language --- now she is in danger of losing her job," said Hayley Gorenberg, Deputy Legal Director at Lambda Legal.

"Denying Ms. Bachman tenure for protecting her students from harassment would be reckless example for the West Milford Board of Educations to set."

Wednesday night, at a board meeting that dragged on close to midnight, the school trustees voted 5-4 to offer Bachmann tenure.

"I want to make sure students are safe in the classroom," said Board President Midge Touw.

"Our board doesn't take lightly that a teacher was threatened."