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BREAKING: Beaverton Student Teacher Says He Was Fired for Mentioning in Class That He Would "Choose to Marry a Man."

Posted by Sarah Mirk on Thu, Sep 30, 2010 at 4:51 PM

A student teacher in the Beaverton School District who has been summarily dismissed from his work suspects that his sexual orientation is the reason he has been booted from the school district.

• Seth Stambaugh
  

Seth Stambaugh, 23, a graduate teaching student at Lewis and Clark college, was placed in Beaverton Student District as a student teacher in a 4th and 5th grade class at Sexton Mountain, a public Beaverton elementary. He worked there for a couple weeks preparing for the school year.

But just after school started, Stambaugh's teaching partner called him aside told him a parent had filed a strange complaint: that Stambaugh was dressed inappropriately. On the day of the complaint, says Lake Perriguey, a lawyer who is now working pro-bono of Stambaugh's case, Stambaugh was wearing pressed slacks, a button-up oxford shirt, and a cardigan that was a gift from his grandfather. The principal did not take any action.

Later in the week, Stambaugh was leading a journaling activity in the classroom when one of the students asked whether Stambaugh was married. Stambaugh said he was not and, when the student asked why, replied that it would be illegal for him to get married because he "would choose to marry another guy." The student pressed further, asking if that meant Stambaugh liked to hangout with guys and Stambaugh responded, "Yeah." That was the end of the conversation.

After that, says Perriguey, word of the short conversation apparently got back to parent who had previously complained about Stambaugh's appearance. The parent called the school and threatened to remove his child from the classroom.

On September 15th, the principal of Sexton Mountain called the Beaverton School District and told them that Stambaugh was barred from teaching in the district. Stambaugh was told that the comments he had made about his marital status were "inappropriate."

"There's no factual dispute about what happened," says Stambaugh. "The question is whether we tolerate what happened in this state and this culture."

Beaverton School District spokeswoman Maureen Wheeler stresses that Stambaugh was never technically an employee of the school district,since he was working through Lewis and Clark, and therefore it's not accurate to say he was "fired." "It’s not an employee issue, we requested a change of placement for this teacher," says Wheeler. Lewis and Clark, she explains, made the final call on what would happen to Stambaugh. (SEE UPDATE BELOW)

Wheeler said she did not know the specifics of the conversation or why it was deemed "inappropriate" and would say only, "There were the concerns about the conversation with a fourth grade student." "The district’s policy and practice is nondiscrimination. We seek diversity in our hiring and we create safe and inclusive environment for students and staff," added Wheeler. In 2008, a former theater teacher sued Beaverton School District for allowing a work environment that "harassed, intimidated and humiliated" him when he produced "The Laramie Project."

Lawyer Perriguey says there was an effort to reinstate Stambaugh, since he had done weeks of prep work for the specific class. But over recent weeks, Beaverton has defended their action as justified and Stambaugh remains on the blacklist. "It was a real loss not just for him but for all his students who have been denied their student teacher," says Perriguey. Right now, Stambaugh's looking at trying to get a new student teaching job, maybe in the Portland school district. "He's looking at all of his options right now. His primary concern has always been to be a good teacher and pursue his education," says Perriguey. "Hopefully, he'll find a place at a school that doesn't discriminate."

UPDATE 10/1 9 am: Lewis and Clark spokeswoman Jodi Heintz says there's a "discrepancy" in Beaverton School District's characterization of the incident. "We categorically deny that we had the final call on what happened with Seth," says Heintz. Instead, Lewisand Clark received a phone call that Stambaugh had been removed from the school. Usually when there is a conflict between a student teacher and a school, someone from Lewis and Clark sits down and talks it outwith the school. In this case, there was no discussion, says Heintz."The fact that we were completely cut out of the process was an aberration," she says.

Source: http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2010/09/30/breaking-beaverton-teacher-says-he-was-fired-for-mentioning-in-class-that-he-would-choose-to-marry-a-man

There is no way this was "inappropriate". If he were straight & answered "why yes I've been married to a wonderful woman for 3 years" NOTHING would have happened. The mindset that homosexuality is wrong or should be kept secret needs to be overcome. There's nothing wrong with his answer. I wish him all the best fighting this because it's the only way things will ever change.

So ridiculous that someone would get fired just for that. When I was in school, my teachers would regularly talk about their husbands and wives and kids. How is this any different? The school should have stood behind the student-teacher and just let that bigoted parent pull their kid out.

Discrimination at its worst! Absolute shame. I'd sue the hell out of that school district (or whoever the hell they are pointing the finger to for getting this guy fired). He did nothing wrong!

It is such a shame that in 2010 a teacher of students that age had to watch wording. It is not like they are in pre-K.

LOL, how hilariously sad. Guess we can't have no 'gay boys' teaching school kids huh?

He shouldn't have been let go, but I do think he may have responded a little too flagrantly for gradeschool level. If this was a classroom full of high school sophomores or juniors, his reply would have have been no big shakes, but I can't say that I'm that surprised that a parent of a 4th grader would take issue with his casual answer to this question.

Impact wrote:

He shouldn't have been let go, but I do think he may have responded a little too flagrantly for gradeschool level. If this was a classroom full of high school sophomores or juniors, his reply would have have been no big shakes, but I can't say that I'm that surprised that a parent of a 4th grader would take issue with his casual answer to this question.

Like you, I thought of the age. And really, by fourth grade, I hope that most kids are aware that same sex couples exist and hopefully if they are raised right, believe they should marry. I could see the parent of a kid maybe aged 4-6 getting bent out of shape at this. Because it wasn't said in an educational manner, but more in passing. So, for young kids it would have been a no. But by that grade, they are around nine.

RedBedroom wrote:

Like you, I thought of the age. And really, by fourth grade, I hope that most kids are aware that same sex couples exist and hopefully if they are raised right, believe they should marry. I could see the parent of a kid maybe aged 4-6 getting bent out of shape at this. Because it wasn't said in an educational manner, but more in passing. So, for young kids it would have been a no. But by that grade, they are around nine.

By fourth grade boys are already calling each other "faggot" in school. Every 4th grade boy is a "faggot" at some point or another (whether they are gay or not). That's the ultimate male on male insult from about the 4th grade up to high school graduation. I knew that some people were gay at 9 years old, hell I probably even knew that I was by then. So any 4th grader who asks the marriage status of a teacher is old enough to know whether or not the teacher is gay or not. It's not the like guy was advertising that, the kid asked him a question and he was fired for answering honestly.

Capt, I wanted to make sure you knew I meant age4-6 and not grade. The point I wanted to make is that for kids in pre-K/Kinder. should not be exposed to this because it is up to their parents to explain homosexuality at that age.

"No I'm not married", followed by changing the subject back to teaching should have been how he handled that.

When I was in the 3rd grade, my teacher left about 2 weeks before the end of the school year to get married. What this guy said was no more innopropriate for kids to know than us knowing our teacher was marrying her fiancee.

He was asked a simple question by a student and answered in a way that was both truthful and "lite" (age appropriate.) Far as I'm concerned, the guy is a role model and I applaud his way of handling the situation. Hope he finds another job, at the middle or HS school level in a more progressive district and he continues to be open and truthful. Maybe if one of those six gay teenage boys who committed suicide in September had had a teacher like him, they would have been inspired to not take their own lives.

Wadsworth wrote:

"No I'm not married", followed by changing the subject back to teaching should have been how he handled that.

Apparently, Wadsworth, you missed the part of the article wherein the student asked the student teacher why he wasn't married. He answered that question simply, honestly and in a way appropriate to the student's age.