Christine Rubino, Teacher, Under Fire For Trashing Students On Facebook (UPDATE)

The Facebook tirade that got a long-time teacher in trouble is yet another lesson to be careful what you post on Facebook.

From the New York Post

Veteran Brooklyn teacher Christine Rubino is fighting for her career after she vented her frustration with unruly fifth-graders by referring to the shocking death, the day before, of a 12-year-old Harlem school girl who drowned on a class trip to the beach.

"After today, I'm thinking the beach is a good trip for my class. I hate their guts," Rubino pecked on her BlackBerry last June, moments after leaving PS 203 in the Flatlands neighborhood.

A Facebook friend then asked her, "Wouldn't you throw a life jacket to little Kwami?"

"No, I wouldn't for a million dollars," Rubino said in response.

A fellow teacher, and one of Rubino's Facebook friends, showed the furious comments to the administration at PS 203, where Rubino has taught math for 15 years.

Rubino initially claimed that a friend, with access to her account, posted the comments. She now admits, she wrote the tirade out of "pure anger."

Rubino now faces termination hearings in which she is accused of "conduct unbecoming a teacher."

Marshall Bellovin, a lawyer who specializes in teacher rights, said Rubino has a right to privacy.

"There's an expectation that this posting is to be shared with friends, not the general public," Bellovin told the Post. "Therefore, any severe measure taken against a teacher, in my opinion, would be unfair."

Gothamist points out that students are allowed to harpoon their instructors on sites such as RateMyTeachers and RateMyProfessors without fear of punishment.

But the Post notes that a Pennsylvania professor was fired after posting on Facebook that she wanted to "kill" students, and asking "Does anyone know where I can find a very discrete [sic] hitman? Yes, it's been that kind of day."

A Doylestown, PA teacher is also facing termination after making negative comments about her students on a blog.

Rubino said the effort to give her the ax amounts to "a witch hunt."

"I like my job," Rubino said. "I'm good at it. That's all they should worry about."

This article has been updated to reflect that Ms. Rubino is currently awaiting termination hearings.

Comments

[Yeahok10]

09:01 PM on 04/07/2011

OH GOSH, I feel so bad for teachers. Everything they say, can be used against them. How can they even teach anymore. This is ludicrious. I am sure that this teacher said this out of anger and frustration. I would love to know the whole story because the newspaper article does not give away too much. I am sure that the comment was made hastily, and out of PURE FRUSTRATION! Could it have happened to be an error in judgement? MOST LIKELY! Im sure this story is just as convulted just like the MANY STORIES ABOUT TEACHERS ARE! For every rotten one, Im sure there are 1,000 GOOD ONES!!!

[Pembrokelib]

08:44 PM on 03/20/2011

No teacher stupid enough to post such remarks, even in jest, in print where everyone can read them should be be allowed to teach in
any school anywhere. Her post shows a total lack of common sense and of intelligence, two attributes every teacher should possess.
Anyone who uses Facebook is aware that it affords no privacy.

[Betsy Combier]

12:51 PM on 03/20/2011

First, I am attending Ms. Rubino's 3020-a hearing as a member of the public; second, Sue Edelman created quite a stir when she appeared at the hearing and asked the Arbitrator, Randi Lowitt, for all the documents submitted in this case, as was her "right" , before Ms. R's case was submitted, then had a photographer outside the building who stalked Ms. R, to get an article about how CR was "fired". C'mon, let's not be fooled by the agenda of this reporter. This case is a big one because the NYC Department of Education has no social media policy. This case most probably make them create one. And the biggest issue of all, the rights to free speech, no matter how odious, was just decide by the US Supreme Court...in favor of free speech. Finally, I have sat in on Randi Lowitt's hearings before, and she is an ultimate professional and I am sure that she was horrified by the actions of the reporter and will make a professional opinion that reflects the facts in CR's caseAlso, the principal thought nothing of the comment and put CR back in her class the following September. Even the principal saw the CR is a good teacher, dedicated to her kids.

[holyghostie]

09:33 PM on 03/17/2011

Many corporations keep tabs on their employees social networking too...and I see an article today that the Feds are spying on it too.

The teacher should have been more prudent in her actions and chosen better words.

[hashis rajup]

02:06 PM on 03/16/2011

In tough times like these, school district officials are probably looking for the slightest excuse to reduce the number of teachers in schools. Dear teachers, please do not provide them the excuse.......we need you for our kids.

[Nicole Dixson]

02:07 AM on 03/17/2011

You're right to a certain extent, although I do not believe anyone needs THIS particular teacher.

[LISUPT]

08:47 PM on 03/15/2011

Just think ,,, this teacher was being paidthe same salary as other teachers with 15 years of experience with similar degrees. The difference is that there are teachers with the same credentials and experience who actually care about their sudents. Who can argue against merit pay now?

[EmmaNYC]

12:44 AM on 03/16/2011

Non sequitor. What does merit pay have to do with this article, Rubino or her behavior on Facebook? In fact, what does her salary have to do with anything? Just using any old news about teachers to get in a good bash, huh?

[Kalil A Wilson]

08:15 PM on 03/15/2011

I vote her off teacher island and wish her the best in a new job with more room for love

[iLdoRight]

07:56 PM on 03/15/2011

Bulling is condemned by Our Creator. Leviticus 19:14 says even abusive speech to a deaf person is wrong. If one wants His approval listen to what He says and try to comply. "Child molestation" takes many forms, both mental and physical. How forgiving should one be in a case like this? Let the teacher plead her case to the children in her class ask for forgivness, with the parents staying out of it, and do what the children say, forget it and go on.

[Max Shaw]

04:06 PM on 03/15/2011

Gotta remember to click the lilttle 'privacy lock' icon before posting. Done wonders for my coworkers not knowing what Im actually saying about them. lol.

[Yam716]

03:51 PM on 03/15/2011

We just have to be more careful where we post our private thoughts Ms Rubino!

[paganmist]

02:31 PM on 03/15/2011

sdmcmla   12 hours ago (1:39 AM)
A little gallows humor among adults is not going to stunt anybody's growth.
-------------

I disagree, and with good reason.  Let me tell you about the Pygmalion effect, which is just one reason why this woman is not fit to be a teacher.

The Pygmalion effect shows that the expectations placed upon people actually affect those people's performance.  One of the most stark examples of this is an experiment where two separate groups of students take a test, passed out to them by a random adult.

With group A, the adult is told beforehand that the students have a high IQ.  With group B, the adult is told beforehand that the students have a low IQ.  Each adult then does nothing more than enter the room, pass out the tests, tell the students how long they have to complete the test, and then leave.

Time and again the results show the same thing: the students who were described as having a low IQ do worse on the test than the students who were described as having a high IQ - simply because the person passing out the test communicated - somehow - what their feelings and expectations were about the students.

Refer to the Oak School Experiment, in which 18 teachers are instructed to give an "intelligence" test to their classrooms.  They are told that the children who do well on the test are expected to "bloom" intellectually by the end of the year.  Experimenters then choose 20% of the students randomly and tell the teachers that these 20% showed an "unusual capacity for intellectual growth".  Remember - the students were chosen randomly, without any regard given to their actual test scores.

When tested again at the end of the year, those randomly chosen 20% showed SIGNIFICANT increase in performance.  The expectations and beliefs of the teachers actually affected student performance, because humans are simply incapable of being perfectly neutral.  There is no doubt that the teachers invested more time and positive energy into the children whom they believed were "special".

So when you say that this woman's "gallows humor" won't stunt growth, you are in fact incorrect, as shown time and time again with the Pygmalion effect in classrooms.  A woman who hates her students so much that she can even joke about them dying can't help but send subtle yet constant signs of contempt to students.

Even if her students were 100% unaffected by the fact that she seems to want them to drown to death (try explaining to a kid that this comment was "just venting"), her own negative feelings and expectations towards these kids will and undoubtedly already has had a significant impact on how they perform and behave.

[Hnorc]

01:56 PM on 03/15/2011

Do not, I repeat do not tweet, facebook, youtube or anything else when you are drunk, angry or near a video camera.

[Yam716]

03:41 PM on 03/15/2011

Obviously!

[realitybaby]

11:37 AM on 03/15/2011

is she kiddin? Who respects her after she jokes about the very sad drowning of that little girl? Brags about taking her class to the beach?

I know that school - it once had a GREAT PTA and principal - what happened?

[Widespread Panic]

01:34 PM on 03/15/2011

Exactly. I was extremely tasteless of her to post that, even jokingly.

[KDMac]

09:36 AM on 03/15/2011

Watch what you post on facebook -- not all of your "friends" are friends. I'd be curious to see how many people have lost jobs over facebook postings.