Rotten Teachers: What should be done with them?

I think we have all experienced having a bad teacher in our classroom at one time or another but very few students have experienced what some of the students in Ontario had to go through.

The Toronto Star, one of Canada’s biggest newspapers did an investigation on school teachers who in my opinion are best described as being rotten to the core. I am copying some of the news items directly from the Star for accuracy but my article on this subject will be sprinkled throughout with my own commentary.

There are many smart, hard-working and decent teachers in Ontario's school system. The ones you are about to read about are not among them.

First of all, let me tell you that there are two governing bodies that judge teachers. They are the local district school boards and the Ontario College of Teachers. It is up to them to judge and if necessary, dismiss teachers from the local district school system or/and even remove their teaching licences if the teacher’s conduct warrant it. It is important to know these facts because I will be writing about what these two supervising bodies did and didn’t do when they learned about the conduct of these rotten predator teachers.

Locally elected school boards play a vital role in Ontario’s publicly funded education system. The decisions made by boards across the province can have a significant and direct impact on teaching, learning and student achievement in our schools. Historically, local school boards have been responsible for determining the educational facilities, services and other resources that would be made available to the community’s schools and students. Every public school board in Ontario is governed by a board of trustees. They are elected by public school taxpayers every four years during municipal elections and are directly accountable to the community. Trustees are responsible to their communities for the quality of education provided in local schools. School boards can dismiss teachers from schools in their district if dismissal is warranted.

The Ontario College of Teachers is the regulatory body for the teaching profession in Ontario. It was established in 1997. The college's mandate is to license, govern and regulate the practice of teaching. It is also responsible for developing standards of teaching practice, regulating on-going teacher certification and professional development, and accrediting teacher education programs. The College of Teachers also has the responsibility to investigate claims of misconduct made against teachers.

The College has three committees that deals with the conduct of teachers. First, there is the investigation committee. They probe complaints about misconduct and/or incompetence. If there is a case of misconduct or incompetence to be looked into further, it is turned over to the discipline committee. That committee then will decided what should be done about the teacher. The College also has a fitness to practice committee. It rules on the physical and mental capacity of teachers.

The discipline decisions are made by committees comprised of teachers elected to the College’s governing council and members of the public. Typically, a three-person panel has two teachers and one public member.The chairman of the committee, Jacques Tremblay has just resigned from the committee and the College. It appears that he co-wrote a novel that depicts soft pornographic acts amongst teens and teachers including much fondling and orgasms.

The Star found that most teachers on the panels were previously members of a local bargaining unit of a teachers’ union.

The panels hear cases, decide if punishment (anything from an admonishment to revocation of licence) is necessary and determine if the teacher’s name should be published.

It is the school boards and the first two committees of the college that in my opinion, failed to stop the abuses against the students by the predator teachers in Ontario.

A Toronto Star investigation has found this to be a serious problem that nobody — not the teacher’s watchdog, (the college) school boards or teachers' unions — has been able to curb. Quite frankly, I don’t see how the teachers union could do anything to stop the abuses. They would presume and quite correctly that it is the responsibility of the school boards and the college to deal with there problems.

Twelve years ago, retired Judge Sydney L. Robins took aim with Protecting Our Students, a provincial review that was supposed to be a road map to help the education system identify and prevent sexual assault by teachers.

As it has turned out, the Star investigation has found the number of known sexual assaults has held steady or increased most years, and most importantly the severity of the attacks has increased. Grooming — the term used to describe adults who charm, flatter and court children for months or years before the assault — is a factor in many of the cases that were investigated.

The teachers I am going to tell you about have left a trail of abused students across Ontario. Teachers, mostly male but some female, have sexually abused some of Ontario’s students.

Antonio Raco

In what teachers commonly refer to as “passing the trash,” the Windsor-Essex Catholic District Board moved this 53-year-old Grade 6 teacher between at least four schools from 1991 to 2005. You may recall this same thing was done with priests who sexually abused children. They were transferred to another parish.

College prosecutors allege his assaults on girls from Grades 6-8 included taking students into the supply room and groping them; pulling a student close and thrusting his pelvis against her from behind; playing a game he called ‘Red Light’ and moving his hands all over a girl's body until he touched her vagina; touching their breasts and hugging them so he could feel their breasts; and sitting on the floor in gym class and pulling girls against his groin. Raco swore at students, threw desks and played favourites. When one parent complained he told all the students he was going to “shun” her daughter. He was also, the college alleges, a dreadful educator.

One day, he told his young students never to share classroom discussions with parents: “This is Raco's circle — whatever happens in Raco's circle stays in Raco's circle.”

Raco was convicted of three counts of sexual assault in 2009 and sentenced to six months in jail. He is appealing his conviction. The College began a hearing two weeks ago but adjourned it because it was worried Raco (who was not in attendance) had not been properly notified.

Thomas Powers

Another Windsor teacher (with the Greater Essex County District School Board), Powers, had a sexual relationship with one of his high school students. During one sexual encounter in the school he told her she would not have to write the final exam and her mark would go up. He was convicted of sexual exploitation, jailed six months and lost his teacher's licence.

Terrence Lithgow

This 54-year-old York Region high school gym teacher died in jail in 2009 (the cause of death has not been released) after both the criminal courts and the College found him guilty of abusing his position to gain a young girl's trust beginning in Grade 9 at Woodbridge's Father Bressani Catholic High School. It began with emails, drinking together and progressed to touching and finally intercourse on many occasions — in the school, a park, a car and a hotel. Lithgow told her he loved her, gave her gifts, acted as her tutor and made her promise never to tell anyone about their activities. This teacher repeatedly tried to have intercourse with the Grade 9 girl until he finally succeeded. Students say he gave A's for oral sex.

The court sentenced Lithgow to 15 months in jail and the College took away his licence in 2008.

Jeremy Raymond Pike

An elementary teacher in Oshawa, Pike sexually assaulted eight young boys between the ages of two and 14 and made child pornography. Police raided his home and found DVDs and CDs showing the 36-year-old teacher engaged in “fondling, masturbation, acts of fellatio and anal intercourse.” Some of the boys were restrained during the attacks. Pike was licensed to teach primary students in 2002. The courts found he began his attacks in 2001 and they lasted until 2005. Pike was convicted of sexual interference and making and possessing child pornography. He was sent to prison for 14 years and his teaching licence was revoked.

Scott James Keen

The math teacher at West Humber Collegiate in Etobicoke had his licence revoked for a sexual assault in his classroom while he was alone with a 16-year-old student. A staff member walked in and reported Keen. In 2007, Keen pleaded guilty in criminal court to one count of sexual assault; the prosecutor withdrew the more serious charge of sexual exploitation. He was put on probation for three years.

Scott Thomas Wells

This Hamilton teacher was “grooming a student for his sexual gratification” starting in Grade 9 at the Catholic high school where he taught religion and Canadian literature. Wells frequently had lunch with the girl and her friends, discussed oral sex and then invited her to babysit his two young children. The College found that beginning in Grade 12 he had sex with the girl in motel rooms, using the ruse that he was going to teach her to drive. The girl became pregnant so he married her and then he divorced her. Wells, who was not charged criminally, was prosecuted by the College and its disciplinary panel revoked his licence in 2009 calling his behaviour “reprehensible.” Why he wasn’t charged criminally is beyond all reason.

Mark Baggio

“You have taken so much from me, more than just my virginity, my soul,” one of two female victims of Mark Baggio wrote to the teacher before his arrest. Baggio, 34, a former Windsor teacher and guidance counselor was once a track star at the same school, part of the Windsor Essex Catholic District School Board.

The young student and another girl were groomed by Baggio beginning in Grade 7 at elementary school. The tall, bald-headed Baggio followed them to their high school and took a position teaching there. Beginning in Grade 9, he separately told both girls he would one day “put a ring on your finger.” Over the next four years, at the school, in his truck or at his home he made them give him oral sex and finally had intercourse with them. With one girl he tried numerous times before he was able to have sex with her.

At Baggio's trial, evidence emerged that other teachers knew something odd was going
on and apparently they did nothing to stop it.

During what is now known to be when one assault occurred, another teacher witnessed Baggio enter a storage room with the girl during a basketball tournament, then saw Baggio pop his head out before retreating back inside. The teacher did nothing at the time, according to his testimony at the trial. The girls swam in Baggio's pool and slept over. Other teachers at the school knew that Baggio, who taught religion and was a guidance counselor and coach, was frequently driving the girls home.

When the police arrested Baggio he broke down and cried. He was sentenced to four years in prison in 2005, appealed and was free on bail until the appeal was denied earlier this year. He began serving his sentence in January, 2011.

The family of one victim is suing the school board alleging that it failed the protect her. The case will go to trial within a year. The school board has denied the allegation. Why they denied the allegations is beyond me.

Alexander Clachers

In Peterborough, a former student spoke recently in court of the pain the now 58-year-old Alexander Clachers caused. “They rob you of your soul, I guess. They leave you physically there but they murder your soul,” said a young man who was one of many victims (most male but one female) of Clachers, a teacher at a technical school.

The young man, beginning at age 11, was molested repeatedly by Clachers, who taught him and lived nearby. During sleepovers at Clachers' home the boy, who was Clachers' student, would wake up to find Clachers molesting him, his mouth over the boy's penis.

The school principal in Peterborough was well aware young boys were hanging around Clachers' home, and knew Clachers was driving them places and that the teacher was frequently absent from his class, according to testimony at Clachers' trial and yet he did nothing to stop it.

In Clachers' classroom, other young boys were grabbed and their genitals fondled over the years.

He was convicted of sexual assault and sexual exploitation, a charge used when someone in a position of power (a teacher over a student) sexually abuses a person. Clachers was sent to prison this year. His sentence was 10 years for sexual assaults on seven students and was designated a long-term offender.

He and Baggio are still listed as teachers because the College, which regulates and acts as a watchdog, has such a backlog of hearings that they will not deal with these two cases for many months or even years.

Richard Burdett

This 40-year-old teacher wrote 1,200 intimate sexually charged instant messages to a female student and he wrote a vivid description of how he had dreamed of performing oral sex on her.

While he was on a Grade 11 and 12 school trip to England, this teacher also brought four pajama-clad female students into his dormitory bedroom and invited all of them onto his bed in an activity he called ‘spooning’. This is a form of affection between a couple where the man lays front to back with the girl. They fit together like spoons.

I for one would be horrified if either of my two daughters were lying in bed with their teacher whether they were spooning or not.

Because of this teacher’s terrible breaches of trust, he was given a 30-day unpaid suspension in 2007 and then he was transferred to another parish—Oh! They only do that with priests who sexually assault children in their own parish. No. They transferred this sex twerp to an adult school instead. Do you think he will reform now that he can have sex with adults? It’s still a breach of trust if he does. In February 2011, he was again suspended but this time it was for 12 months but he was told that if he completed a ‘boundary violation course’ he could return to teaching by September. He is now listed as a member of the College in good standing and as such, is cleared to reach again.

Dwight Oliver Stewart-Ajamu

This teacher had somehow obtained a clear criminal record check with a birth date a year and a day off his real date and a birthplace of Ottawa (he was really born in Jamaica.) This kept the College from learning that in 2000 its new teacher had been convicted of defrauding the regional municipality of Ottawa-Carleton of $34,995. Stewart-Ajamu was hired by the Dufferin-Peel Catholic school board, told them he had no criminal record, and started working as a teacher in 2004. He told them he had a doctorate and a law degree, and nobody checked that story out.

His disciplinary record shows escalating problems over the next three years. Stewart-Ajamu frequently swore in class, threatened a student and boasted the classroom was “my Kingdom and I can do as I please.” A religion teacher, he could not cite the seven sacraments when his principal tested him. Still, he kept teaching.

In his first year of teaching, he started having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student, driving her home a few times a week after school club meetings. Soon after, he was telling people he was the girl’s legal guardian.

A police officer who investigated (no charges were laid) told the College that the young woman “wanted to tell somebody, but didn’t have the courage and was embarrassed.”

Records show that Stewart-Ajamu left Dufferin-Peel in 2007 and applied to the Ottawa Catholic school board, submitting false information. Around that time, he was convicted of forging his initial police record check and received a suspended sentence with six months probation.

The College revoked Stewart-Ajamu’s teaching license in 2009, stating that he “engaged in grooming behaviour designed to get close to the student, coerce her into having sexual intercourse with him and shame her into not disclosing the incidents for several years.”

Presented with the Star’s research, College registrar Michael Salvatori agreed there is a problem with relying on the criminal record check. “We know it is not enough,” Salvatori told the Star. One way to stop the forgeries of criminal records checks is to have the police send the documents directly to the school boards.

In his 2000 report, retired judge Sydney L. Robins suggested that each school board do a thorough background check, including a detailed interview with the teacher before hiring. Many years ago when I worked for a private investigation firm, my job was to go over the applications of people seeking employment with our clients to see if what they put in their applications was the truth. Many of them had given false information.

Somewhere in Ontario, the following teachers were disciplined over the last two years. In most cases the teacher, who is not identified by the College, was told to attend a course on “boundary violations” in addition to other, typically minor, penalties.

• A male teacher used the spectre of being abused by a pedophile “without vaseline” to discipline students. He also frequently told sexual jokes to students and made “inappropriate remarks.” Penalty: Caution.

• A teacher at the Toronto District School Board locked Grade 8 students in a storage cupboard at the back of his classroom on at least three occasions to discipline them. He also gave his math students a bizarre test he called “City of Los Angeles High School Math Proficiency Exam” with mock questions using words like “pimping” and “knocked up” and asking them to tally drive-by shootings, drug trafficking, prostitution, theft and murder. Penalty: 20-day suspension without pay from his school board and a reprimand for professional misconduct from the College.

• A York Catholic District School Board teacher defied warnings from his principal and repeatedly photographed Grade 8 female students with his cell phone. The local children’s aid society was called in and determined “there was some cause for concern.” Penalty: A suspension (length unknown) by school board and reprimand by the College.

• A teacher admitted to the college that he got drunk and sexually assaulted a store clerk. Penalty: He was admonished in writing by the College. It is not known if he was convicted of sex assault but it was a police force that notified his school board.

• A male Toronto Catholic District School Board teacher was a chaperone for Grade 6 girls on a three-day outdoor residential trip. The teacher played a game with the students called “predator and prey” during the day. That night he drew two pictures depicting the death of one student and posted them on the girl’s dormitory window along with disturbing limericks he penned. The girls saw them, became terrified, and screamed, alerting a female teacher who calmed them. The teacher said he was trying to “entertain and amuse” the students. Penalty: Admonishment.

• A principal and a vice-principal learned that a student alleged she had been sexually assaulted and did not report it to the local children’s aid society as required by law. The College found that they may have put a child at risk. Penalty: Both were cautioned by the College. No information is available on the case or what happened to the student.

• A female teacher in charge of school trips to Europe was caught stealing money from students. She put money donated by students into her own bank account and to one student she sold a trip donated by a travel company, then pocketed the cash. Penalty: The teacher was suspended for one year and must not handle student monies when she returns to work.

• Over a three-month period, a London, Ont. physical education teacher at the Conseil scolaire de district du Centre-Sud-Ouest (French public school board for the area) dozed off in class on the gym mats, frequently failed to show up in class, left his class unsupervised for long periods of time, and showed up to a teacher-parent meeting smelling of booze. Penalty: A three-month suspension to be served unless the teacher completes several teaching courses at his own expense.

• Four Toronto District School Board elementary teachers (in separate cases) were reprimanded for using force on young students. In one case, a female teacher was found to have “abused” students over a two-year period by pulling their ears, and grabbing their wrists and hands when they did not listen to her. The teacher, and two others in unrelated but similar cases, received reprimands and were told to take a course.

Here are some other rotten teachers licensed in Ontario to teach children.

A teacher who disciplined students by warning they would “spend time with a pedophile” and if the behaviour got worse it “would be without vaseline.”

A high school teacher whose female students said he called them “sluts,” “pole dancers,” “whore” and commented that tongue studs were for “oral sex.”

A teacher who shut Grade 8 students in a storage cupboard to discipline them.

A teacher who stole money students deposited with her for school trips to Europe.

A teacher who scared female Grade 6 students by drawing pictures depicting one girl’s death and tacking them to her dormitory window during a three-day outdoor education trip.

A principal and vice-principal who did not report a child’s allegations of sexual abuse, as required by law.

In its investigation, the Star also found teachers who help students cheat on provincial EQAO tests; a teacher who ridiculed students’ religious beliefs; a teacher who repeatedly hit or manhandled students; a teacher who flirted with a Grade 7 girl, sending her what a judge ruled (though the teacher was acquitted of sexual assault and exploitation charges) were “sexually charged” text messages including “lots of love” and “can’t stop thinking about you, I didn’t want you to leave today.”

The details of the cases — many with multiple victims — are disgusting. In addition to sexual assaults, some teachers have been caught making and possessing child pornography.

The identity of scores of bad teachers and dozens more each year is kept secret by the profession’s watchdog — the Ontario College of Teachers. That’s because the watchdog — a self-regulatory body — granted them anonymity after the teacher pleaded guilty or “no contest” to certain allegations. Typically, the teachers received a reprimand or short suspension. In my opinion, their names should be made public. Parents have a right to know who they are. The students in their classes certainly know who they are.

How many rotten teachers are teaching our students in Ontario who have not yet been discovered by the authorities? Just how many predators like Clachers and Baggio are in Ontario classrooms is impossible to know. Former Justice Robins, in his 2000 report, concluded the known cases (where someone was caught) were the “tip of the iceberg.”

This summer, in the course of an investigation that began in the spring, the Star raised numerous issues with the watchdog, the Ontario College of Teachers. Just before Labour Day, the College quietly announced it had hired retired Justice Patrick LeSage, one of Canada's most respected judges, to probe its disciplinary system and report back next May.

The College only rules on a teacher's professional fate after any court action ends. Since College hearings often take three, four or five years to be held from the date of the complaint it is impossible to determine annual trends based on the year the college delivers a ruling.

The College's own data show that in 2010 it began investigating 48 serious sexual assault complaints and that number has been rising steadily over the past three years — 28 in 2008, 44 in 2009 and 48 in 2010.

Not all completed College cases could be obtained by the Star. Of just under 400 found over the past seven years, more than one-third dealt with sexual assault or pornography (a teacher being caught using school computers to access pornography and, in some cases, make child pornography). Many other College cases are not made public. There are also an unknown number of discipline actions at the local board level. The Star contacted several large school boards, including Toronto, Durham and Peel, but they could or would not say how many times teachers or principals had been disciplined.

In the case of teacher sex crimes, what struck the Star was the seriousness of the cases and how many had multiple victims over years with missed opportunities to stop the teacher. One senior education official told the Star, on condition of anonymity, that pressures from teachers' unions have created a chill — no teacher wants to rat another out. Principals, the source said, are sometimes scared to take action because “everything is grieved these days.”

In an interview, College registrar Michael Salvatori said he could not discuss any individual cases. The Star had hoped Salvatori would answer questions about whether students were let down by the College or the school boards in cases where it appeared better screening or earlier detection would have saved a lot of pain. “We are confident we have processes in place to protect students,” Salvatori said. “We can always do better.”

Asked about cases where it appears a teacher did not warn authorities of unusual behaviour (Baggio is one), Salvatori said, “there are very few cases where (teachers or principals) do not carry out their duties.”

The College relies on boards of education to screen teachers with a thorough background check. The College requires a police check before the licence is approved; boards require a police check, as well.

Salvatori said the College does speak to educational groups and parent groups from time to time about what the College does.“The heart (of the College) is the public interest and safety of students,” said Salvatori, who added the College is concerned about “the welfare of students and ensuring teachers are well qualified and competent.” I am not convinced.

School boards contacted by the Star typically would not give interviews and provided generic responses to questions, saying they follow all College rules about prompt notification of problem teachers. Again I am not convinced.

In some cases, a summary is published on the watchdog’s website and in its quarterly newsletter, without the teacher’s name or school. Some of the cases — particularly those dealing with incompetence — are never published at all.

The Star has found that three years ago the backlogged Ontario College of Teachers began making more and more of these secret deals. These are not the worst of the worst — cases where a teacher was convicted of a criminal sexual assault on a student — but they are still serious abuses of trust. The Star reported on the more serious cases October 1st and the teaching profession’s inability to reduce the attacks 12 years after retired judge Sydney Robins probed that problem.

When it comes to keeping secret the names of some offenders, College Registrar Michael Salvatori said it is done if the teacher had a “momentary lapse of judgment.” Salvatori said that they make the decision in “the public interest.” Salvatori said College rules prevented him from commenting on any of the cases.

After the Star raised this and other issues with the College this summer, it hired respected retired judge Patrick LeSage just before Labour Day to examine its disciplinary practices. One of LeSage’s jobs is to “consider whether the College’s communication and publication practices prior to and following a hearing meet current standards of transparency.”

To determine how many teachers’ identities are kept secret, the Star first obtained all published decisions of teacher wrongdoing.

Each year, the Ontario College of Teachers makes a finding of wrongdoing in about 90 cases. The Star obtained copies of all decisions that the College makes public on its website or in its magazine. The College said it publishes these decisions to educate members and show to the public that it is doing its job of protecting students.

More and more, the problem teachers are shielded from the public. Of the 49 cases published in 2010, 35 did not identify the teacher. Of the 43 cases published in 2009, 20 did not identify the teacher. Of the 38 cases published in 2008, 5 did not identify the teacher.

In most of these cases, the College also did not identify the school board and the school was never named. In addition, between 40 and 50 College cases per year are not published at all.

If Ryan Geekie was your son's or daughter’s teacher you would not know that a very serious investigation was carried out into his conduct. You would have no way of knowing that a summary report the College published in April 2010 about a teacher who used profane language was related to 36-year-old Hamilton teacher Ryan Geekie.

It took time but the Star was able to identify Geekie. The Star’s investigative reporter was then able to obtain a copy of the College’s original allegations and an agreed statement of facts between Geekie and the College.

Geekie was licensed by the College to teach in 2001. A well-known hockey goalie (Ontario Provincial Junior League) in the Hamilton area, Geekie attended McMaster University for his undergraduate degree and teachers college at Brock University. He became a high school English teacher at the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board.

Geekie was a foul-mouthed Hamilton high school teacher who crossed the line in dealing with his young charges, according to an investigation by the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board and allegations later made by the Ontario College of Teachers.

According to a school board investigation done in 2008, and allegations subsequently made by the College, Geekie was an abusive, lecherous teacher from 2003-2008 who:
• stuffed rolled paper balls down the shirts of female students
• called students “retarded,” “hooker,” “pole dancers,” “slut” and “whore”
• challenged a female student to a fist fight, then made a sexual suggestion that he would “find something for her to do with her fists”
• asked the class if an absent student’s mother had died of a sexually transmitted disease
• gave a female student extra marks for work she did not do
• told a female student with a tongue stud that they were for “oral sex”
• spoke in class about having sex in the back of his car, drank with students at parties, swore constantly in class and called people “gay” if he thought they were “stupid,” slapped female students on their buttocks with sticks or his hand, took showers with the boys hockey team and brushed a female student’s breast with his arm.

A student reported that he referred to her as a “stripper,” a “slut” and a “pole dancer.” Students said he called them “hon” and “babe,” and used derogatory labels such as “retard,” “ditsy,” “gay” and “whore.” They said he swore in front of them, told female students that tongue studs were for oral sex, and slapped one young woman on the back of the thigh with a metre stick.

At a disciplinary hearing Geekie was found guilty of professional misconduct in relation to most of these allegations after pleading no contest. He was reprimanded, suspended for a month and directed to take a course on “boundary issues.”

The Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic school board had heard complaints about Geekie over the years and they were dealt with at the school level, said board chair Pat Daly. In 2008, following an investigation into more serious allegations Geekie was put on paid “home” duty in February 2008. He was fired by the board just before the 2008-2009 school year began.

The case went to the College’s discipline committee and a deal was reached. Geekie pleaded no contest to a modified list of allegations (a perception among female students that he leered; that he questioned girls about their relationships; that he suggested female students stop talking about tongue studs “as they were for oral sex”; that he slapped the thigh of a female student with a metre stick; that he swore often and called students “whore,” “retard,” “gay” and “ditsy”). The committee said it published a summary of the case, keeping Geekie’s name secret, to “demonstrate the transparency of the discipline process” and as a “general deterrent” to teachers.

The committee kept Geekie’s name secret due to the contents of two “teacher evaluations” it received (the College does not say what was in them). The committee also heard from lawyers on both sides that his actions were “on the low end of the spectrum” of problem teachers. Finally, the committee noted that Geekie is likely not to re-offend because he has been told to take a course on “boundary issues.”

But the college never did publicly identify Geekie after lawyers argued — astonishingly — that his actions were “at the low end” of the spectrum of teacher problems. It merely published a summary of his case, without naming him, as a caution to other teachers. A parent with a child in his class might never know.

Geekie did not respond to three interview requests. He is listed as a teacher in good standing in Ontario after serving a one-month suspension in 2010. It appears he has taken a break from teaching and is now delivering mail.

In a second case the Star was able to identify Peel District School Board teacher Massimo Tallarico, who was acquitted in 2009 of sexual assault and exploitation charges by a criminal court. The College’s own process found that he committed professional misconduct related to a female student in her Grade 7 and 8 years.

According to the College, Tallarico, who hung up when the Star contacted him, engaged in “an inappropriate relationship” with a student who was shy and introverted and suffered from a social anxiety disorder. He frequently emailed and instant messaged her, saying things like “lots of love,” “miss you lots,” “I wish I could talk to you all the time,” “can’t stop thinking about you, I didn’t want you to leave today” and “I always love it when you come and talk to me.” At his trial (two years before the College hearing), the judge called his communication with the girl — which he initially denied to police — “flirty and even sexually charged.”

The judge said she could not find that any sexual touching occurred (the student alleged it had) but she chided Tallarico for his behaviour. She said he was seen as “young and cool” and he “cultivated his image of being the most fun and popular teacher in the school.”

In his defence, Tallarico said his emails were innocuous and sent as a way to encourage a shy girl to communicate.

The judge found that Tallarico’s online chatting with the girl “did a grave disservice in her quest to become an adult.”

The teacher was reprimanded by the College and told to complete a course on appropriate boundaries.

The discipline committee voted two to one not to name him. One committee member argued he should have been identified because “publication of the findings and order without the member’s name amounts to suppression of information and raises questions in the minds of the public regarding the transparency of the process.”
One teacher the College did identify was a teacher whose only crime was to break their secrecy rules.

James Black, a teacher and former discipline committee member, was publicly named by the College and suspended for two years because the College suspected he leaked information to the media.

The committee suspected (but could not prove) that Black gave information to a CTV reporter in 2006 who was probing the College’s practice of allowing teachers convicted of sex crimes to be reinstated after their licence was revoked. The College claims Black leaked information to CTV News about a teacher convicted of sexual exploitation in 1990, who was jailed 15 months and later sought reinstatement.

In 2009, the committee fined its former member, Black, $1,000, and suspended him for two years. The College ruled that Black was guilty of a serious “breach of confidentiality” which “may have damaged the professional image of the College and its members. The need for a strong general deterrent is imperative in this matter.”

The teacher in the case that led to Black’s suspension, Rodney Palmer, was suspended in 1991 and reinstated in 2003 in a closed-door hearing. He taught for a time east of Toronto and then he retired.

This is just one troubling example unearthed by Star reporter Kevin Donovan of the teachers’ college taking a relatively benign view of behaviour most parents would find reprehensible, if not outright alarming.

There was the teacher who disciplined Grade 8 students by locking them in a closet. Another who stole student funds for a school trip. And a principal and a vice-principal who didn’t report a child’s allegations of sex abuse. None were publicly named. Nor was a teacher who sent sexually charged emails to a student during her Grade 7 and 8 years.

On the face of it, this is outrageous. It falls far short of the openness and tough action that parents expect and students need.

Granted, problem teachers account for only a tiny fraction of the 215,000 college members who work in Ontario’s school system. The college has made about 90 findings of wrongdoing annually in recent years. But few though they may be, they can cause enormous hurt given the position of special trust that teachers hold. The vast majority of hard-working, ethical teachers would surely support firm measures to hold the few rogues in their midst to account.

As the Star series reports on Saturday, the police and courts have dealt with appalling cases of sexual predation, assault and pornography that have left a trail of wounded students in their wake. The college has named and shamed hundreds of offenders over the years in reports on its website and in its newsletter, and has revoked many teacher's licences.

Even so, lesser cases such as Geekie’s that are veiled in secrecy inevitably raise concern that the college, which regulates teachers “in the public interest,” may be too prone to shield errant teachers who don’t engage in outright criminality, or whose misbehaviour doesn’t warrant taking away their licence. Out of 49 problem cases published last year, the college did not identify the miscreant in 35. Is that degree of anonymity truly warranted? And just how clear are the rules?

Former judge Patrick LeSage, one of Ontario’s most respected legal experts, is reviewing the college’s investigation and discipline procedures at its request. Over the next eight months he will determine whether “processes and procedures protect the public interest,” and whether they meet “current standards of transparency.” That’s far from evident now. Tougher, consistent action is needed.

Young students are a precious and vulnerable group. They need teachers who will bring out their best, encourage them to excel, and serve as role models. Verbal and physical abuse, sexually suggestive flirting and harassment aren’t part of the job description.

Parents have a right to expect that teachers who behave disgracefully will be named, at the very least. Secrecy and quiet reprimands behind closed doors don’t cut it. Our students deserve better. Unfortunately, the identity of scores of bad teachers and dozens more each year is kept secret by the profession’s watchdog — the Ontario College of Teachers.

That’s because the watchdog — a self-regulatory body — granted them anonymity after the teacher pleaded guilty or “no contest” to certain allegations. Typically, the teachers received a reprimand or short suspension.

In its investigation, the Star also found teachers who help students cheat on provincial EQAO tests; a teacher who ridiculed students’ religious beliefs; a teacher who repeatedly hit or manhandled students; a teacher who flirted with a Grade 7 girl, sending her what a judge ruled (though the teacher was acquitted of sexual assault and exploitation charges) were “sexually charged” text messages including “lots of love” and “can’t stop thinking about you, I didn’t want you to leave today.”

In some cases, a summary is published on the watchdog’s website and in its quarterly newsletter, without the teacher’s name or school. Some of the cases — particularly those dealing with incompetence — are never published at all.

The Star has found that three years ago the backlogged Ontario College of Teachers began making more and more of these secret deals. These are not the worst of the worst — cases where a teacher was convicted of a criminal sexual assault on a student — but they are still serious abuses of trust. The Star reports on the more serious cases Saturday and the teaching profession’s inability to reduce the attacks 12 years after retired judge Sydney Robins probed that problem.

When it comes to keeping secret the names of some offenders, College Registrar Michael Salvatori said it is done if the teacher had a “momentary lapse of judgment.” Salvatori said that they make the decision in “the public interest.” Salvatori said College rules prevented him from commenting on any of the cases.

After the Star raised this and other issues with the College this summer, it hired respected retired judge Patrick LeSage just before Labour Day to examine its disciplinary practices. One of LeSage’s jobs is to “consider whether the College’s communication and publication practices prior to and following a hearing meet current standards of transparency.”

To determine how many teachers’ identities are kept secret, the Star first obtained all published decisions of teacher wrongdoing.

Each year, the Ontario College of Teachers makes a finding of wrongdoing in about 90 cases. The Star obtained copies of all decisions that the College makes public on its website or in its magazine. The College said it publishes these decisions to educate members and show to the public that it is doing its job of protecting students.

More and more, we found, problem teachers are shielded from the public.

Of the 49 cases published in 2010, 35 did not identify the teacher.
Of the 43 cases published in 2009, 20 did not identify the teacher.
Of the 38 cases published in 2008, 5 did not identify the teacher.
In most of these cases, the College also did not identify the school board and the school was never named.

In addition, between 40 and 50 College cases per year are not published at all.
The discipline decisions are made by committees comprised of teachers elected to the College’s governing council and members of the public. The college has three main committees that sit in judgment — investigation, discipline and fitness to practice.

Typically, a three-person panel has two teachers and one public member.
The Star found that most teachers on the panels were previously members of a local bargaining unit of a teachers’ union.

The panels hear cases, decide if punishment (anything from an admonishment to revocation of licence) is necessary and determine if the teacher’s name should be published.

If Ryan Geekie was your son or daughter’s teacher you would not know that a very serious investigation was carried out into his conduct.

You would have no way of knowing that a summary report the College published in April 2010 about a teacher who used profane language was related to 36-year-old Hamilton teacher Ryan Geekie.

It took time but the Star was able to identify Geekie. The Star was able to obtain a copy of the College’s original allegations and an agreed statement of facts between Geekie and the College.

The Star’s investigation found great disparity in how the College disciplines teachers. Burdett was named and suspended for his sexually charged and inappropriate conduct. Other teachers who treated students cruelly, verbally and sometimes hurt them physically were not named and received only a reprimand. A principal and vice-principal who did not report allegations of child abuse to the children’s aid society, as required by law, were not named.

The College requires all teachers to abide by ethical standards. It does not spell out prohibited activities, but requires teachers, “in their position of trust, to demonstrate responsibility in their relationships with students, parents, guardians, colleagues, educational partners, other professionals, the environment and the public.”

Every profession has bad apples and some of the bad apples are rotten to the core. It is indeed a sad commentary of our times that many of our students who are in their formative years are subjected to the abuses of rotten teachers who should have been kicked out of our schools years ago. I blame the school boards and the College of Teachers for this fiasco. They, like the Roman Catholic Church. have turned a blind eye to the crimes committed by those who are supposed to care for the children in their care.

What it took for one Ontario principal to rid her school of an incompetent teacher is a process she’s not fond of revisiting. It began in September 2007, when she inherited a teacher whose performance was already under review. Despite a file thick with evidence of inadequacy, the principal helped draft an “improvement plan”—a requirement in the provincial Education Act—and dipped into school funds to pay for substitutes while the struggling teacher attended workshops. But, says the junior school principal, it soon emerged that there was “a serious, basic problem of not understanding”—which continued even after the teacher knew she was under review. Students shuffled through reading levels without proof of assessment. Parents complained about spelling test words that weren’t sent home. And the teacher submitted grades for computer class when, in fact, her “inability to use technology” meant the monitors “were rarely turned on,” says the principal. Still, it took months of paperwork and meetings with union representatives before she was able to inch even one step closer to dismissal. “It was very upsetting,” she says. “I wouldn’t choose to do it again unless I absolutely had to.”

Inadequate teaching has been shown to contribute to dropout rates, low test scores and a dislike for school. So severe are the implications, says Brendan Menuey, an assistant principal in Virginia, that poor teaching is tantamount to “educational malpractice.” Yet in Canada, teacher incompetence prompts so few administrators to pursue termination that the Ontario principal insisted that not even the name of her school board be published, because it would almost certainly identify her. According to Barrie Bennett, a professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, the dismissal process is so onerous, the risk of reprisal from teachers’ unions so great, that “most principals find it’s not worth the effort.” Instead, they approve transfers, or hide struggling teachers where their deficiencies can go unnoticed. The result however, is this: a system that keeps incompetent teachers in the classroom.

Our school systems need reform, of that there can be no doubt.