Teacher Fired for Previously Appearing in Porn

[Pearl]

OXNARD, Calif. -- A middle-school science teacher fired after students learned she had appeared in pornographic movies had hoped not just to get her job back, but to set a precedent for people looking to escape an embarrassing personal history.
A three-judge commission put a decisive stop to both, saying firmly and unanimously that Stacie Halas should not be in the classroom.
"We were hoping we could show you could overcome your past," Halas lawyer Richard Schwab said Tuesday. "I think she's representative of a lot of people who may have a past that may not involve anything illegal or anything that hurts anybody."
Judge Julie Cabos-Owen said such a past matters in an age when technology makes porn easy to access and hard to bury.
"Although her pornography career has concluded, the ongoing availability of her pornographic materials on the Internet will continue to impede her from being an effective teacher and respected colleague," Cabos-Owen said in the 46-page decision issued Friday by the Commission on Professional Competence.
Halas, 32, was continually deceitful about her nine-month career in porn before she went to work at the school, the judges said.
Schwab said Halas "was being honest and forthright, but was embarrassed and humiliated by her past experience in the adult industry."
Halas was fired in April from her job as a science teacher at Haydock Intermediate School in Oxnard after online videos of her in porn were discovered by students and teachers.
Student claims that the teacher was moonlighting as a porn star were initially dismissed after school officials said they couldn't find any images of her on the Internet – but they were using the school's computers, which don't allow access to porn.
Teachers then showed administrators downloads of Halas' sex videos from their smartphones.
In hearings, former assistant principal Wayne Saddler testified that at the start of a sex video, Halas talked about being a teacher and he felt her effectiveness in the classroom had been compromised.
After rumors of her performance surfaced, profanity was etched on Halas' classroom window, a teacher testified.
Schwab has said Halas did not star in pornographic movies while teaching in any district. He said she took parts only during an eight-month period from 2005 to 2006 because of financial problems after her boyfriend abandoned her.
District superintendent Jeff Chancer applauded the commission's ruling.
Halas' decision to "engage in pornography was incompatible with her responsibilities as a role model for students," Chancer said in a statement.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/16/stacie-halas-porn-actress-teacher_n_2486138.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular


One one hand, I almost understand why it may not be a good idea for her to be teaching kids who are discovering sex and won't take her seriously as a teacher. But also, I find it unfair that the school is more upset about her past as a porn star than the kids downloading porn.

Should a line be drawn when it comes to second chances and starting over?

[MrPryck2U]

I read about this earlier today. My take on this is that if one decides to get into porn in any way, be it pro or amateur, they are putting something out for public consumption that can't be taken back. She was only in the industry for 9 months, but that might as well have been a lifetime. Plus, she even mentions she's a teacher in some of the videos. If she wanted to seek employment as a teacher, she should have never done porn. She showed no judgement at all in that regard. In this day and age, middle school kids are going to get their eyes on porn. Especially if they're left unattended in front of a computer or cellular device that gets the internet.


Obviously, the other big deal is the kids viewing the porn. I don't know if there's much anyone can do there except make sure to block these sites or stand over a kid's shoulder while they use the internet.

[BVS]

I'm with you, it's a hard line to draw... but in the end I understand the notion that teachers are role models.

I would say maybe she could teach younger kids, ones that didn't know what porn was, but there will always be some irate parents that thought she was somehow endangering their children.

There's just some professions that require cleaner records than others

[KhanadaRhodes]

i have to agree. maybe a college professor would've been okay, since all the students (aside from the rare child geniuses) would be adults and not minors. but even if it's a high school teacher, i don't think it's okay because the parents can flip out. and like bvs said, teachers are supposed to be role models. these days it's all too easy for a kid to hop on google and find out what miss halas did before she became a teacher, when the kid might not have even been trying to find the porn in the first place.

[BVS]

Originally Posted by KhanadaRhodes

these days it's all too easy for a kid to hop on google and find out what miss halas did before she became a teacher, when the kid might not have even been trying to find the porn in the first place.

Yeah, that's the one thing that makes me question the woman's thought process, according to the article I read, she didn't even use an alias, she used her real name in porn.

The first rule of porn is you change your name.

[KhanadaRhodes]

Originally Posted by BVS

The first rule of porn is you change your name.

exactly. it kinda reminds me of the episode of himym where ted discovers this guy he went to school with is using his name for porn as a tribute to him. the guy still changed his name - he picked a real name, but still.

[cobl04]

Originally Posted by KhanadaRhodes

exactly. it kinda reminds me of the episode of himym where ted discovers this guy he went to school with is using his name for porn as a tribute to him. the guy still changed his name - he picked a real name, but still.

When I got hypnotised in Vegas, the dude asked us all to come up with porn star names. Some bloke said "Lance Hardwood", referencing that episode. I wish I had said something good like that.

Anyway I think it's unfair she was fired/can't get another teaching job for something in her past, though a bit more tact may not have hurt.

[bono_212]

Honestly, Danny, if you were 12 and you found out your teacher was a porn "star" would you be able to just look past that?

I'm pretty much in agreement with most that's been said here, it sucks that she got fired for something legal in her past, but it's such a difficult situation.

[trojanchick99]

I almost think she'd be better off teaching much younger kids, but middle and high school is out.

[Pearl]

If she used her real name in porn, I take it the school district didn't Google her before hiring her? Isn't that what HR is supposed to do these days?

Yeah, she made a bad mistake and poor judgment, and she shouldn't be around adolescent students. I just think its a shame she'll be paying for her mistake for the rest of her life.

[MrPryck2U]

I think the shame is that she lacked the foresight to realize that if she got into the adult film industry there could possibly be consequences further down the road if she wished to continue to be a teacher. She would have been better off being a prostitute instead. There's usually no cameras around. Unless you're watching HBO's Cathouse (where it's legal) or (gasp) Hookers at Hunts Point.

[the iron horse]

From the article posted:

"A middle-school science teacher fired after students learned she had appeared in pornographic movies had hoped not just to get her job back, but to set a precedent for people looking to escape an embarrassing personal history."


She has stated that she is trying to escape this time in her life and to give others a chance.

How quick we are to throw stones.

[MrPryck2U]

I've got no problem with her having done porn in the past. I've got no problem with her trying to move on from her "embarrassing" history. I do have a problem with her thinking she would be able to continue as a teacher afterward. A side effect of doing porn is that it's out there forever and you can't take it back. Essentially, her decision to do porn immediately destroyed her future in teaching.

[BVS]

Originally Posted by the iron horse

She has stated that she is trying to escape this time in her life and to give others a chance.

How quick we are to throw stones.

Easy to say, but not easy to do. I would have no problems personally to give her a chance to move on from her past, but a lot of adults don't have that ability.

But knowing how many adults have difficulty with that kind of mercy and forgiveness, I think it's naive to ask that of a middle school child. Can you imagine a middle school girl, who is suppose to look up to her teachers, finding out about her past or even seeing the images? No matter how much you explain that it's the past, I think it's naive to believe that most middle school girls wouldn't be confused by that message.

[Pearl]

And what adolescent boy would take her seriously as a teacher?

[LuckyNumber7]

Something like this sounds a bit more appropriate to *not hire* her due to her history rather than to fire her after finding out. I know they're virtually the same thing... but the former sounds a bit more reasonable.

[BVS]

Originally Posted by LuckyNumber7

Something like this sounds a bit more appropriate to *not hire* her due to her history rather than to fire her after finding out. I know they're virtually the same thing... but the former sounds a bit more reasonable.

This is what's been bothering me the whole time about this story. Was this school that hard up for teachers(forgive the pun) that they didn't do a background check? Did her resume not have gaps?

I've been part of the hiring process before, and guess what the first thing I did was... Google, facebook, LinkedIn, etc.

[Axver]

It's only porn; it's not as if she did anything bad.

[iron yuppie]

Originally Posted by Axver

It's only porn; it's not as if she did anything bad.

I'd agree. This story is more evidence of a society ridiculously uptight about anything sexual.

[corianderstem]

Hey, look! A woman is being shamed for daring to display her sexuality! That never happens anymore.

(I know it's not really black or white, I do agree with some of what's being said, but I also agree with iYup just above me here. And while this was my gut reaction, I can't honestly say that the same thing wouldn't have happened had it been a male teacher.)