School Board Trying to Terminate Austin High Art Teacher for Nude Photographs

Would you fire this woman?

The AISD board voted yesterday to begin the termination process of Austin High art teacher Tamara Hoover after partially nude photos of her appeared on Flickr.

A fellow teacher was apparently bad mouthing Hoover recently in class when one of her students said something to the effect of, "Yea, well if you don't like her now, you oughta see these photos of her on the internet." The fellow teacher then asked the student to show her and the class the site. The student went to the the Flickr page of photographer Celesta Danger and showed the entire class artistic photos of Hoover posing both fully-clothed and partially nude. In some photos she appears alone and in others she is with another model. Of course, putting up the nudes of the beautiful teacher, along with dozens of nudes of other models, sent shockwaves through the school.

The board says it's justified in seeking termination due to a moral turpitude clause that prohibits "base, vile, or depraved acts that are intended to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of the actor." Call us silly, but we don't believe these photos warrant the description of base or vile, and certainly none of the acts are depraved.

This is a story about one teacher apparently not liking another and then being stupid enough to ask that a student show the entire class pictures that would lead to a scandal. Hoover, a teacher at Austin High since 2000, has been recognized by the board throughout her career as being an exemplary teacher who inspires her students. Hoover has hired an attorney to appeal her dismissal and has defended herself on a blog, saying that she did not tell students about the site and the pictures, nor did she have control over the pictures appearing on the site.

As the Statesman points out, one of her students anonymously defended the maligned teacher on Ms. Hoover's MySpace blog. "You do not deserve this," the student wrote. "It was my grandma's dying wish that I did something in the arts. . . . I feel like me being in your class would've made her very happy, and I know it made me very happy."

A quick postscript: we've met Ms. Hoover several times and can attest that she is a very kind and creative person who cares about her students. While we do think teachers must be careful to control their image, considering the often-hypocritical moral outrage of parents and fellow teachers, we don't believe that Ms. Hoover losing her job is justified. Neither does Education Austin, a 4,000-member group that represents teachers.

"Teachers need to be cautious because they are held to a higher standard," AE President Louis Malfaro said. "However, I think it's outrageous the way Tamara has been treated, and I'm glad she has herself a good lawyer... You can walk into most art galleries in this town and see the kind of artwork that was depicted on that Web site."

What do you think?

*Image (c) Celesta Danger from myspace*