Wednesday, December 17, 2003

NOW THAT'S WHO WE NEED TEACHING...

A former biology (I'm not making that up) teacher has pleaded no contest to "disturbing the peace" after being arrested for prostitution. Now she wants back in the classroom:
Shannon Williams, 37, a former biology teacher who became a field-trip coordinator last year, was arrested in August in her Oakland apartment. Police say she agreed to have sex with an undercover cop for $250 an hour.

Williams has defended her moonlighting career as a prostitute, comparing herself to Martin Luther King Jr. in her fight to decriminalize the vocation.

"As a feminist, I believe in every woman's right to self-determination, and that includes sexually and economically,'' she told the San Jose Mercury News in August.

You see, she's really only interested in the life of the mind:
"I realized that doing this I could work one or two nights a week and really focus on my studies," she told the Mercury News.

Williams said that prior to her arrest, she carried out her work in a rented condo, earning enough to buy a vacation home in the mountains near Yosemite National Park.

"It pays well, and I like the work," she told the San Jose paper. "I consider it to be a healing profession, in line with therapy and bodywork, kind of a combination of the two."

Ah, of course. And now the head of the Alameda County PTA would like to see her back in the classroom, too:
the head of the California PTA for Alameda County, which includes Berkeley, said she personally might be open to Williams coming back.

"As long as she's not bringing it into the classroom, maybe it's not a problem," said Carol-Ann Kock-Weser, according to the Mercury News.

She emphasized, though, she was not speaking for the PTA.

I can't imagine how our public schools got in the shape they're in.

My favorite, though, is that Williams not only has a degree in biology (really, I'm not making that up), but also religious studies. *sigh*

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