Posted May 31, 2010
Recently, I heard of a bill sponsored by Ms. Phyllis Mundy (D) of the
Pennsylvania State House of Representatives. The bill dealt with the rights of foster children. Ms. Mundy wanted an amendment
in the bill which would have protected the "Sexual Orientation" of foster children. The amendment failed. I heard
a press release on the local radio where she said she was heartbroken over this because sexual oreintation is the
reason so many children are in foster care to begin with.
I have dealt with dozens of abused children in foster
care over the years, and I doubt Ms. Mundy can produce a single child who was taken from their home and put in foster care
because of their sexual orientation. The sexual orientation these children have comes from the truama of being abused, most
often sexually. There is no sane adult who can observe abused children acting out their sexual abuse and believe it is
anything other than a cry for help. It is not an expression of their sexual orientation.
Instead
of political grandstanding, why can't Ms. Mundy and other politicians do something that would really benefit children, like
addressing the sharp rise in predatory teachers sexually abusing students? A May 15, 2010 front page article in The Press
Enterprise is about former Southern Colombia teacher Matther Shane Harvey. He abruptly resigned in January 2009 after
an educator misconduct complaint was filed against him with the state Department of Education. The allegation has now
surfaced that he was having an innapropriate relationship with a female student, something the article states he
denied at the time of his resignation. There are currently no criminal charges being persued against him. The article
also notes that he worked at another school out of state, where he was twice voted teacher of the year before resigning for
"personal reasons" and moving back here to Pa. The article states that he resigned from Southern Colombia
for "personal reasons" last year before the allegation came out.
How is that an entire school district
can know about an abuse allegation and Children and Youth do not have to be notified? Again, the article states that no criminal
charges have yet been filed in an alleagtion over a year old. When I went to my own school baord, Central Colombia, and confronted
them over massive evidence that teacher abuse of students was out of control, I was placated by the superintendent. I informed
of them recent large scale studies which showed that teacher misconduct is often covered up and teachers are often allowed
to resign and move on. I was told this would not be possible at Central, since he (the superintendent) is required by
law to report abuse or he will lose his job. Southern Colombia is right next to Central Colombia, so obviously this is not
true. No one is losing their job so far at Southern, even though this allegation is a year old. Even though it is obvious
a teacher resigned over these allegations, noone from any where in the state, including Ms. Mundy's office, is beating down
the door to demand answers.
The laws protecting our children in school are a sham, and it is time that someone had
the courage to stand up do something about it.
Joseph Martin, Project Administrator
