keyboard hands
Three Edison teachers are in tenure trouble after they allegedly participated in an inappropriate online chat. KRT-Dallas Morning News photo illustration
(KRT-Dallas Morning News photo illustration )
Parents of Edison special education students are furious in the wake of accusations that Edison schoolteachers participated in an online chat that insulted the types of kids they've spent their lives advocating for.
"This is my district, and it hurts even more," said Andrea Siragusa, an advocate for special education students like his son, a 7th grader in Edison's schools. "What is the rest of the class learning from a teacher like that?"
The Edison Board of Education will decide tonight on the fate of the teachers' employment after the schools chief filed tenure charges against Tyler Van Pelt, Maria Weber and Maryellen Lechelt. Tonight's meeting will take place at Woodrow Wilson Middle School at 7 p.m.
The three elementary-school teachers are accused of participating in a chat on Oct. 23 that speculated about their colleagues' sex lives and disparaged lower-performing students in their classes. The teachers apparently believed the chats were private. They were not.
Siragusa, the founder of a support group for parents who have children with disabilities, said he hopes the district fires the teachers.
"If that’s your opinion about kids with special needs, you don’t belong in a classroom," Siragusa said. "You can’t change a personality."
Tara Murphy, whose son was in Edison schools during elementary school and is now in private school for kids with autism, called the teachers' alleged comments "appalling."
"You kind of just have to roll your eyes at all the sexual innuendo and say, thankfully my kid isn’t in that classroom," Murphy said. "Even though it was a very short section in the transcript about the way they referred to special ed kids, it’s upsetting in a number of ways."
In one instance, Lechelt allegedly wrote to the other teachers that she wanted to name a group of her students, "jesus christ, why the f— did they place you with me?"
Murphy said she'd like to show up to tonight's Board of Education meeting with a sign that says: "Jesus Christ, why the f— are these teachers in my district?"
Murphy said she had a meeting just this morning with other moms who have kids in special education programs. Some of the anger from Friday has worn off, Murphy said, and one of the parents said that Lechelt was in fact a great teacher of special education students. She won the 2012 classroom teacher of the year award in Edison.
But much trust in those teachers, crucial in sending a child with special needs to school, has evaporated, Murphy said.
"To see those kinds of comments, even if they were just showing off for each other, it’s a real betrayal," she said. "It’s another burden that we put up with. Because now you question anytime you entrust your child to somebody."
Weber, Van Pelt and Lechelt are suspended with pay pending tonight's actions. The state teacher's union also declined to comment. A lawyer for Lechelt said that the punishment, termination, doesn't fit the alleged transgression.
Brian Amaral may be reached at bamaral@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bamaral44. Find NJ.com on Facebook.