Teacher Removed
She Appeared on Howard Stern
By Daniel Muniz

Marie Jarry, a second grade teacher at Thalberg Elementary School in Southing Connecticut called in sick to work. But instead of being ill at home, Jarry really was in New York City wearing a bikini during a Howard Stern radio broadcast participating in the "Hottest Wife, Ugliest Husband" contest.

So calling in sick was a lie.

But worst of all, this was a type of lie that was very difficult to conceal especially when it was part of a national radio broadcast heard by millions.

Next, wearing a skimpy bikini in a sexually oriented adult program is not exactly the kind of image that a school district wants its faculty or staff to have. Our public school system has the local community to answer to particularly because they are entrusted with the care of their children. That means that our schools have to be very careful who they hire as their employees because it is these people who are with our kids on a day-to-day basis.

If Marie Jarry had appeared in a bikini on Oprah Winfrey or Tyra Banks, then perhaps the local community wouldn’t have had a problem with it because those television programs are not trashy. However, Howard Stern has made a vast fortune by being a raunchy shock jock with a sexually explicit format. As a result, it is easy to get the impression that Jarry must be some kind of a bimbo because nearly all the girls who show up in a bikini (or wearing a heck of a lot less than that) on Howard Stern’s show are there to provide sexual entertainment.

And finally, this second grade teacher wasn’t in Stern's Manhattan studio to talk about children’s bedtime stories. The "Hottest Wife, Ugliest Husband" contest was all about titillation. Jarry’s husband had to strip down to show how overweight and unattractive he was because the whole point of the contest was to demonstrate an ugly man having a hot, sensually appealing woman as a mate (which is why she wore a bikini).

So in other words, the contest had a strong sexual theme.

Lying and being a part of a peep show was just too much for the school district to handle.

But instead of firing her, which is very expensive in our public school system, the educational leadership pressured the teacher to quit instead of dragging her through a termination process. Jarry reluctantly agreed and resigned.

Unfortunately, Jarry still doesn’t think she did anything wrong.

She agrees that lying may not have been a good idea but she felt that it shouldn’t be held against her.

Somehow, her brain cells are not connecting properly because that same action would be a justifiable cause for termination in the private sector. Many companies are starting to offer “personal days” which is in between a sick day and vacation time so that an employee can get whatever personal stuff done.

Overall, employers simply do not like their staff abusing sick leave which is why some companies mete out stiff penalties.

But one problem that Marie Jarry has is so intrinsic for far too many governmental employees is that they sincerely believe that they cannot ever be fired and that they can keep their job regardless of whatever kinds of stupid stuff that they do. Sadly, such a belief is too true for so many local, state, and federal agencies. That is why “government” employees have such an awful reputation as being slackers.

However, education is different.

First, there are too many scandals that have garnered national attention involving attractive young female teachers having sex with boys. Accordingly, school districts have become increasingly proactive in trying to get rid of faculty, staff, and administration that do not exercise sound judgment or make good decisions.

But also, it is imperative that our teachers be some kind of decent role model.

It is not that our educational leadership wants perfect employees but they are looking for individuals who exhibit a level of professionalism that matches the enormous responsibility of their jobs. And just like with most private sector employment, school districts don’t care what people do on their free time because that is their business. However, when certain activities involve raunchy adult entertainment, then that person may not be cut out to be a teacher. And there is nothing wrong with that because there are certain standards that the local community expects from its educators.

But there is definitely something wrong with the expectations of Marie Jarry.

She was caught in an embarrassing lie. Thinking that it is “easier to beg for forgiveness instead of asking for permission” may work for most of society but there is a standard of integrity that our education system wants to uphold because children are involved. But more to the point, any time a teacher participates in a very public sexually explicit activity, the educational leadership and the local community will question the judgment and decision making skills. And in today’s environment, that is not something that is going to get swept under the rug.

Overall, Marie Jarry can rant and rave all she wants and pursue a lawsuit to try to get her job back (along with monetary compensation) but her school district did the right thing.

Any opinions or views expressed herein belong solely to the author and does not represent any employer, organization, political party, governmental agency, or any other entity and do not necessarily reflect the views of the site owner or its participants.