Libertarian Librarian

Okay, I figured that was a catchier title than "Parents' Knee-jerk Reaction." And, quite frankly, I never, ever, ever had a teacher in high school that looked like this (the link is fragile-- you may have to refresh to get there). I would've remembered that.

So, here's the story (you can watch the local TV coverage of the issue here-- scroll down a bit). Erica Chevillar is a first-year West Boca, Florida social studies teacher who posed (under the name, Erica Lee) for some racy photos back in college. A few years later, those photos come to the attention of the parents of Chevillar's students and, not unsurprisingly, there's a kerfuffle.

All of which is likely much ado about nothing, since Chevillar/Lee broke no laws and isn't planning on teaching next year-- she's going into real estate. But before we leave her to her new pursuit-- and I suspect she'll do very well in it-- I wanted to point out one particularly inane response from a parent:

Some parents feel the images are inappropriate for a teacher.

"She's very attractive and she's very pretty but she could be using her assets in a
different way."

Ummm... what does this woman think Chevillar is trying to do as a teacher? I mean, what "different way" was the parent suggesting for Chevillar? Movies? Prostitution? What? I can see being upset if she was posing while she was teaching, but the photos were taken several years ago. What better way to "be using her assets" than to educate children? Was the parent saying that no attractive people be allowed to teach because they might distract their students?

What a maroon.

UPDATE: John Neyrot may have the best job in America. Who says you have to suffer for your art?