Ethics Newsline®

KANSAS CITY, Missouri
Seven of 10 teachers in a small Missouri school district quit their jobs last week to show support for a colleague who was fired after protesting the punishment of a fourth-grader as unsafe.

Christa Price, who earned exemplary reviews during her four years of teaching, was fired for insubordination by Dan Doerhoff, school principal and district superintendent of East Lynne School District in Cass County.

Doerhoff reportedly was angry with Price because she challenged his decision to punish an 11-year-old girl by making her pick up rocks in a roadside playground monitored only by a security camera.

Price said she believed the punishment to be unsafe and asked Doerhoff to reconsider. When he refused, she spent her free period helping the girl pick up rocks in the playground, reported the Kansas City Star.

As the girl’s punishment continued over the next day, other teachers also spent time watching over the student. “Somebody could have nabbed her in 10 seconds,” complained teacher Jenny Neeman.

Neeman was among the seven teachers who quit last week to protest the firing of Christa Price.

“If a teacher who advocates on behalf of safety of a student is not fit to be a teacher at East Lynne or anywhere in Missouri according to this administration, then none of us are fit to teach at East Lynne,” they said in a statement.

Doerhoff said he will no longer impose a rock-picking punishment on students, but stands by his initial decision, noting that it was an alternative punishment to suspension. The girl was punished for not doing her schoolwork, according to press reports.

Doerhoff also refused to sign the certification renewal needed by Christa Price, blocking her from other teaching jobs, noted the Associated Press.

Jim Morris, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said a department official has offered to help Price with the certification issue, according to the AP.