Music Teacher Suspended for Taking Students to Hooters

An AZ music teacher took her group of about 40 students to Hooters for lunch after some carolling. She said it was the only place that would take a group of that size. One boy of a certain religion opposed & a couple of students offered to go w/ him to a nearby Subway, but he said he was fine, but apparently he told his parents who complained about the teacher.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-12-17-students-hooters_N.htm

I mean come on, teachers need to have more common sense than that. If there's any doubt that something's questionable, don't do it. I would have done something like called & ordered several pizzas so the delivery guy can meet us back at the school.

 

What!! There was no where else to eat???!!! Really?

 

Their wings are really really good though....

 

Or so I've heard of course.

 

In downtown Phoenix, I believe her when she says there was nowhere else that would accommodate 40+ people. This is a nationally recognized teacher who made a stupid mistake. I don't think it warrents administrative leave, though. Its just a restaurant.

 

I don't think she should have been suspended, either. That stinks.

 

I don't think she should be suspended either. Stupid mistake, but it's not that big of a deal.

 

Suspending her went a little far, I think. Its not like hooters girls show anything more than what you see on the beach. I can see parents getting upset because of the general intent of the place, but lunch and dinner are two totally different atmospheres. Yes, she should have thought better of it. Heck, she should have planned better. Any restaraunt is more than happy to accomodate any size group who calls in ahead of their expected arrival. But I don't think this is a suspension worthy offense.

 

I, for one, feel the consquences were warranted.

 

Oh, no! It's HOOTERS again!

 

The boys at my school can stare at the cheerleaders who wear their uniforms to school on game day and see as much as they would with the waitresses at Hooters.

 

And I have issues with that as well, MuggleBug.

 

lol....wow...

 

hahaha. That is hilarious.

Another place couldn't have put a bunch of tables together and have a few waiters?

 

Food costs are controlled primarily by preparing only the amount of food projected for a certain shift. 50 additional people could put a place like subway in a real bind. They'd run out of food. All restaurants decide on staffing based on typical business. That many unexpected people could really throw them into a real bind. Between being understaffed to serve them, and possibly not having enough food, it's reasonable to think that quite a few places would say they couldn't be accomodated.

This teacher's biggest mistake was failing to think ahead. Almost every restaurant will accomodate that many people if they get enough warning. If she had called even the day before, most places would have made sure they had enough food prepared and staff in place to serve them.

 

God forbid that school ever have a pool party or go to the beach

 

You're not the only one. I think she should have been fired.

 

Downtown Phoenix - there should have been plenty of other places to go.

 

I don't see the big deal about Hooters. It's not a bar, it's a dining establishment. What the girls wear is no different than what swimmers, cheer and dance teams, even volleyball teams and track runners wear on a regular basis to perform. It's a uniform like they wear a uniform. If she tried to get the students in other places and couldn't, I can see going there. Maybe there was no available room to feed that many students at the school. Maybe she tried to get reservations and couldn't. I've had to reschedule field trips because there was literally nowhere that could take a group of more than 20 for lunch. I think people are being way too hard on her.

 

Most of the eating places in downtown are smaller cafe-type restaurants, which literally could not hold 40 people.
The response from people in Phoenix has been pretty much in her favor. In her favor that yes, it wasn't a good choice, but doesn't require this much attention.

 

I'm just glad those hungry high school kids were fed.

 

Oh! No! It's HOOTING time again!
Rebel1

 

Apparently this teacher wasn't a member of AtoZ, or she would have known NEVER take your students to HOOTERS!!!

 

Hooters is advertised as a family restaurant here .

 

There are a couple places here where waitresses wear similar outfits (short shorts and tight shirts) but because it's not Hooters nobody makes a big deal about it.

Now what if the high school students were all girls? Would it still be a big deal, or is it more because there were young boys there? I don't get it.

 

She knew they were going caroling.

She knew they would be hungry.

She knew Subway was open. While I've never been to "downtown Phoenix" I find it hard to belive that Hooters was the only option available, particularly for lunch.

She made a bad choice.

Should she have been suspended? It depends on the culture in the area in which she teaches; stuff like this varies widely from one part of the country to the next. But she was in an area where it's OK to take a group of kids CHRISTMAS CAROLING. So she could probably assume that there's some sort of a Christian ethic present.

But would I hire her?? Probably not. I think there are lots of teachers out there capable of making much better choices.

 

What a stupid mistake. I thought she was just a newbie teacher, not a veteran of 23 years. She surely should have known better and planned better.

I do a lot of field trips in a year's time and with the permission note I always include where we'll be eating.

 

I've never been to Hooters-but I have seen kids (like 3-year olds) wearing their logo on t-shirts-so parents are buying those things for them without issue.

We were planning a field trip recently and had a good number of kids more than 40, but could not find a place anywhere to take them. Lunch is already such a busy time for restaurants, especially if they are the only ones in the area. We ended up doing a sack lunch at the park. I would never have taken a class there, but I do think the media attention for this error in judgment is a little uncalled for.

 

On the other hand, I have called up a McDonalds on my way back from a theatre trip and said, Hi, I have a bus that will be there in 20 minutes, and they said Ok!

I am also surprised there is no food court or anything like that. Next to the theater I always took kids to, there was an old warehouse converted into a market. There were probably 10-15 food stands with seating all over the market. It wasn't a huge place, so I would let students walk around, find what they wanted, and find a place to eat.

Even still, I think suspension was a little far

 

Also, I don't think they were "carolling" but had a performance at some kind of center.

 

We used to take 40 middle school students to Subway a few times a year. All we had to do was call ahead first so they could make sure they had an extra staff person available.

She could have given enough notice.

 

One, many people wouldn't make a fuss over going to other similar establishments because they wouldn't know to. I can't name another such place, so if my child told me they went to (insert similar eatery here), I would be ignorant to the fact that it was a Hooters-like establishment.

Two, even if the group was all female I would still have the same opinion.

As with so many other decisions teachers must make, this is one that can have varying consequences or none at all. Where I live? Not okay. Like putting up a Christmas tree in the classroom...totally unacceptable in some schools, absolutely great in mine. We have a large one in our lobby. Our Christmas program includes the chorus singing "Jesus songs", we have guest speakers who stress the importance of God...these things may cause suspension in other public school districts, just as taking a group of students to Hooters would be quite frowned upon here. While recognizing that it's rare that as a teacher you can please everyone, you must know the overall culture of your community.

 

I agree. I'm a big planner in my work & personal life, so whether I was a newbie teacher or not, there's no way I would have not planned out days (or wks) ahead of time where or how we'd all have lunch...plus other details & plan for what could happen, etc. And in this situation, she was a veteran teacher?! Outrageous! I mean we all make little mistakes, but come one, this was a big one! I'm glad she got suspended...one's stupidity & lack of common sense will catch up w/ him/her eventually.

 

I disgree. I don't think it is a big mistake, and I don't really thing that her "stupidity and lack of common sense" finally caught up with her. The same argument can easily be made in the other direction, as in "It's stupid to make such a big fuss about Hooters. It's a family restaurant, with fully clothed women serving food. Common sense would tell you that cheerleaders at the very same school this kids go to wear less than those Hooters employees."

Was it the wisest choice this veteran teacher could have made? Probably not. But as a veteran teacher, one who has been invited to the Presidential Inauguration to perform with her students, and one who has never had a discipline problem in her 23 years of teaching, I have to believe that she used her best judgment in a tough situation. Could it have ended up better? Absolutely. But it also could have ended up worse. I would be more upset if she didn't feed the students even though there was a wide open Hooters that was willing and able to receive the whole group. Common sense tells me to feed the kids first, and then learn from this experience and move on.

 

I am fairly conservative, but don't think Hooters is that bad. Consequences seem severe to me. Now, had it been a strip club......

 

I don't think Hooters is that bad either. I wouldn't have taken kids there myself without permission, but I still don't think it's something to be suspended over. Like someone else said, in a lot of places they are known as family restaurants.

 

These are high school kids! There's no age requirement to get into Hooters. It's a perfectly legitimate restaurant.

 

This thread is a real hoot.....er......eye opener.........uh......
lesson in poor judgmentalness.........hmy:

 

I don't think it's appropriate. Everyone knows what "hooters" really means. If the restaurant was flat out called what "hooters" is referring too, it would be flat out not okay. And even if these kids see more skin during math class, and on their classmates- doesn't mean that behavior should be condoned or supported. Where I am, hooters is a cheap place to eat and clearly has sexual overtones as an atmosphere. I think the suspension was warranted.

 

I'm not conservative by a long shot, and I would NEVER bring kids to Hooters. Everyone knows that Hooters has a reputation for being racy. I realize that technically, it's similar to many other restaurants, but it's famous because they hire "hot" girls who wear t-shirts advertising their Hooters! How could any teacher think this is a good choice???????