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submitted 1 year ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

A Missouri high school teacher says she has been placed on leave after officials discovered that she was performing on a pornography website to supplement her salary.

Brianna Coppage, 28, who taught English at St. Clair High School, says her teaching days are probably over, but she acknowledged she knew the risks.

Coppage told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that she was put on leave on Wednesday after being interviewed by two administrators. Her access to school email and other software was suspended while the district investigates, she said.

“It was kind of always like this cloud hanging over my head, like I never knew when I would be discovered,” Coppage said in an interview. “Then, about two weeks ago, my husband and I were told that people were finding out about it. So I knew this day was coming.”

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[-] PugJesus@kbin.social 117 points 1 year ago

M... maybe we could try paying teachers enough so that they don't have to open an OF to make ends meet?

[-] Salamendacious@lemmy.world 104 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

What frustrates me is schools are frequently very willing to spend money on sports related expenses. A librarian left a a New Hampshire school $4 million dollars. They spent $100,000 on the library and $1 million on a new scoreboard (source) In the vast majority of states the highest paid employee is a football coach (source). Local governments don't really care about education and because local governments are typically elected to me that means American citizens don't really care about education either.

[-] semibreve42@reddthat.com 90 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The school you’re talking about is my alma mater, what they did is even worse then you describe.

That librarian was neurodivergent and left his savings to the university at which he worked with no specific restrictions.

The university execs wanted to use the money on sports, and directed the advancement department to create a narrative to support that decision. They found a mention he enjoyed watching sports at the nursing home during the last months of his life.

Close friends said he wasn’t interested in sports at all - he loved numbers and statistics, and at the end of his life at a nursing home the only numbers he could get to were baseball statistics. He couldn’t care less about the sport, he just liked the math.

UNH rewrote his life and personality to justify spending his gift on athletics.

https://deadspin.com/how-unh-turned-a-quiet-benefactor-into-a-football-marke-1819064622

[-] Salamendacious@lemmy.world 18 points 1 year ago

That's a frustrating read but I'm glad I got to see a glimpse of the man who was just a random bit of trivia rattling around in my head. I'm going to try to remember Robert Morin as a kind man who loved learning and generosity. To me those are wonderful traits. And I'm willing to bet that the name Robert Morin will live on in that library for generations to come. Thanks for posting this.

[-] tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 year ago

Even sadder considering UNH is known for having a strong teaching program, whereas no one ever talks about their sports.

[-] PugJesus@kbin.social 20 points 1 year ago

Many Americans don't recognize the importance of paying attention to local politics, even when they care about education.

[-] Salamendacious@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago

We're at a point where, in my opinion, that's analogous to someone smoking and chewing tobacco their whole life and then being shocked when they're diagnosed with cancer.

I know that comes across as sanctimonious and that isn't my intention I'm just frustrated with amount of willful ignorance in our society.

[-] PugJesus@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

Oh, don't get me wrong, I agree. I just felt the need to point out that there are still a great many people who value education but are not part of the solution, due to ignorance (ironically), apathy, or hopelessness.

[-] Salamendacious@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I understand. I think I misunderstood slightly. I apologize if that came across abrasive.

[-] PugJesus@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

No, not at all! No offense taken, just felt the need to clarify, like I said.

[-] Maeve@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago

One is a real physical addiction, the other is willful obstinacy.

[-] PugJesus@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

I think the surprise is the key element being compared

[-] Maeve@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago

I don’t know of any addict of any substance, including food, who is surprised. I’m sure it happens, but in my underserved area, living to seventy or older is the real surprise.

[-] PugJesus@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

I don’t know of any addict of any substance, including food, who is surprised.

That's the point being made - it's as absurd as an addict to a known cancerous substance being surprised at getting cancer.

[-] Maeve@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago

Oh. Itt i fail sarcasm.

[-] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 15 points 1 year ago

It's worse than that. A lot of school boards are run by right-wing assholes because a lot of Americans are very concerned about education in the sense that they want to prevent children from learning anything about how the world actually works.

[-] eran_morad@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

I’ve seen worse over ~15 years of nonprofit management. Not that this isn’t bad. I’m just saying it gets much worse.

[-] Salamendacious@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Wow, I'm not going to lie. Out of sheer morbid curiosity I'd really be interested in seeing how that sausage gets made. You should consider keeping a journal and maybe writing a memoir someday. A kitchen confidential for nonprofits.

[-] eran_morad@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Here’s some of my most recent ones, they piss me off:

  • One useless parasite who hasn’t done any work in 15 years is on the payroll at $300K/year. Literally did no work for years. That person’s work now consists of organizing meetings (no more than 1 per week, often with months of no activity).

  • Similarly, one person who retired 10 years ago is still paid quarter time, which works out to about $120K/year. His sole activity is attending meetings once every few months.

  • Routine “housing allowances” paid to higher ups. $100K for a mortgage went to a completely worthless individual.

  • Higher ups expensing dinners for themselves with literally $200 bottles of wine. Any fucking occasion, gotta throw a party - “retirements”, someone joining, someone leaving, fucking birthdays, so-and-so won an award, etc.

  • edit: nepotism. Oh my fuck, the nepotism. Hire so-and-so’s spouse as a “consultant” when I myself could have done the work for no extra money and 1/50th the time. But no, let’s waste $60K on a worthless consultant that has no goddamn domain knowledge and possibly fewer than 3 firing neurons.

It comes down to flagrant elitism and rampant entitlement. “We deserve it because we’re so fucking awesome”. And it gets worse than what I’ve written here. I manage a fucking nonprofit that’s supposed to help people in dire need, people who will die without us.

[-] Salamendacious@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I honestly think a publisher might be interested in a book like this. You should consider it. They have people to help with the writing and if you're ethical and give a coauthored credit I bet there's a ghostwriter out there who would love to publish a good old fashioned muckraker with you.

[-] eran_morad@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Eh, maybe when I retire. I’m dependent on these assholes for my living. And I’m trying to move shit in the right direction.

[-] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago

Next Christmas season I am just giving money to random homeless people who ask me for it. At least I know 100% of that money will go to them.

[-] eran_morad@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I’ve stopped giving charity except to local food banks and schools (and I give the schools prepackaged snacks for the kids). Because I see how the money is used. And the assholes I work for have the nerve to ask EMPLOYEES to make contributions. As if I can’t see all this shit.

[-] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago

Yeah I stopped doing the corporate charity bullshit. No I won't round up my purchase to some foundation run by a nephew of the CEO. If this matters so much to this corporation they can pay for it.

[-] theodewere@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago

Americans only care about education if they can win at it

[-] andros_rex@lemmy.world 49 points 1 year ago

Also stop making us pay for our own supplies. We can’t write off more than $300 of class materials on our taxes too - maybe she could add some pencils to her routine to make them a legitimate business expense.

[-] makingStuffForFun@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 year ago

I can't fathom this is real. The US education system is destroyed in that case.

[-] eran_morad@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

Bruh. I live in a wealthy-ass community, in a wealthy-ass state, and i still bought school supplies for my kindergartner’s class. Like, not for my kid - for the entire class. Shit’s completely fucked. And education here is like 99th percentile.

[-] TowardsTheFuture@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 year ago

I get $300 a year for classroom supplies, etc. can’t spend it on xyz. Can’t buy a personal printer but can buy ink with it. Can’t buy candy/food/etc unless it is tied to a specific lesson plan where that is integral to the lesson and not simply a reward. Lot of it goes to napkins/tissues/pencils/etc. for students.

[-] jdadam@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

You get $300?! We get $150...

[-] TowardsTheFuture@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 year ago

Yeah I mean to be honest this is in an area of florida which doesn’t 100% suck ass money wise for teachers at least.

this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2023
278 points (98.6% liked)

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