A Connecticut high school teacher has lost his battle to regain his job after he was let go over his MySpace page.
Jeffrey Spanierman taught at Emmett O'Brien Technical High School in Ansonia for about two years before his MySpace page became an issue.
in 2005, school officials asked him to pull it down, saying he had inappropriate interactions with student. He did, but re-posted under a different name. That's when he was suspended. At the end of the school year, his contract wasn't renewed. Spanierman filed a lawsuit, but after a three year court battle, a judge recently threw out his case.
The judge cited two reasons: first, because he wasn't a tenured teacher; second, because, 'All the evidence indicates that the action taken against the plaintiff resulted from his interaction with Emmett O'Brien students."
Many students said they see nothing wrong with a teacher and student interacting on line, but a retired school administrator said it can create a distraction in the classroom.
The court determined Spanierman went over the line in one online conversation with a sexually charged comment.
Spanierman wrote: "what makes you think I want any? I'm not jealous. I just want to have fun and goof on you guys."
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The Ansonia case is closed, but the question of teachers being on social network websites continues. An assistant superintendent of Schools in West Hartford said teachers simply need to use good judgment.
