Massachusetts Resort Town Approves Condoms for Elementary School

From Catholic World News

The town of Provincetown, Massachusetts has approved a new policy providing free condoms to students at public schools. The policy extends to both high schools and elementary schools. The policy requires school personnel to give out condoms on request, regardless of parents’ objections, and to keep the childrens’ requests secret from their families.

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• Condoms, secrecy for Provincetown pupils (Boston Globe)

Teacher Caught on Video Brutally Beating a 13 Year Old

The brutal beating of a 13 year old student in a Texas charter school this week, will be used by some as an argument against charter schools. But charter schools that fail academically, or because they do not operate in accord with their charter and state law can be, and often are, closed. Likewise, private schools that do not satisfy parents are also closed by the power of consumer choice. Public schools are never closed for criminal abuse or outright failure.

The kind of abuse seen in the following video, and far more frequently, sexual abuse, is rampant in public school systems. When discovered, the perpetrators are quietly removed from the classroom and might be subject to a closed-door review by the local school board and the state board of education. Without ever making public any findings, they may suspend or terminate the teacher. That process in many states can take more than a decade.

This shocking video should not be seen as an argument against school choice, but as evidence that education dollars should, in justice, follow the child to the school a parent chooses. Those parents, not district and state bureaucrats, have a God-given responsibility to protect, nurture and direct the education of their children.

Accused of Sexual Abuse, But Back in the Classroom

If you think this is unique to Los Angeles or other far away big cities, think again. The public education establishment is very good at hushing up this problem, but the South Carolina State Board of Education routinely deals with issues of child sexual abuse by teachers.

From Los Angeles Times
By Jason Song

The 13-year-old on the witness stand looked to be an ordinary adolescent, her diffident smile unveiling a set of braces. Her attorney began gently, with questions about her favorite band and trips to the mall.

Then he brought up "Mr. Ricardo" and second grade. The girl buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

When her mother took the stand, she testified that the girl had not been the same since the day the teacher's aide put his hands on her. "I just believe this whole thing changed her life," the mother said. "I don't see her so confident around people. . . . I believe she has no interests."

A jury late last year ordered the Los Angeles Unified School District to pay nearly $1.6 million to the families of three girls molested by Ricardo Guevara, who is now serving 15 years in prison for lewd acts with a child.

But there was something the jury -- and the public -- was never told: This was the third set of accusations that Guevara had molested students. Twice before, when law enforcement officials had decided they lacked the evidence to win a criminal conviction, L.A. Unified officials had quietly put him back in the classroom.

Guevara's case fits a pattern, a Times investigation shows: Repeatedly, the district failed to follow up on sexual misconduct complaints against employees once police or prosecutors dropped criminal actions. Some ended up at new schools. In at least one instance -- involving Guevara -- the new principal had no idea of his history.

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