Missouri district knew nothing of teacher’s porn past | News Tribune

By The Associated Press

Thursday, March 10, 2011

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A St. Louis-area school district that placed a high school teacher on leave after learning she acted in pornographic films in the 1990s had no idea she was fired by a Kentucky school district for the same reason, a district spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Parkway School District officials had called the woman’s previous employer in Kentucky to check her references before she was hired four years ago, and nothing was said about her losing her teaching job there because of her work in the porn industry, the spokeswoman said.

The teacher spoke to her principal Friday, and the district accepted her request to be placed on administrative leave for the rest of the school year. She had previously told the district that she didn’t plan to return in the fall.

The 38-year-old woman was going by the name Tericka Dye when Kentucky’s McCracken County school system learned she had appeared in adult films in the mid-1990s. She was suspended, and the district later declined to renew her teaching contract.

The case drew national attention after she appeared on television with Dr. Phil McGraw to discuss what happened. She now goes by a different name.

McCracken County schools spokeswoman Molly Goodman said Wednesday that she could only confirm the woman previously worked in the district and that her contract wasn’t renewed. She said she couldn’t comment on whether details of her past were disclosed to the St. Louis-area district.

At the time the films were made, Dye has said, she was living in California, working as an exotic dancer, suffering from untreated bipolar disorder and desperately in need of money. She later joined the Army and served in a military police unit at Fort Lewis, Wash., before going to college at Murray State University and becoming a teacher.

Some Kentucky parents supported Dye after her past became known, but McCracken County Schools Superintendent Tim Heller said at the time that her presence in the classroom “would cause a disruption to the educational process.”

She fought to get her job back, saying that without it she was forced to live off child support.

Parkway School District is not releasing the teacher’s name, but state documents confirm the woman now goes by Tera Myers. Her phone rang unanswered Wednesday. Her teacher certification report in Missouri said she attended Murray State University and previously lived in Benton, Ky., about 20 miles southeast of Paducah, where the McCracken County school district is based.

She told The Paducah Sun that she “absolutely 100 percent regrets” participating in the films.

Her former attorney, Mark Blankenship, said in February 2007 that she had found work in another state and no longer was seeking her old job. He wouldn’t say where she was hired, but Parkway School District said she had been working there since August 2007.

Blankenship didn’t immediately return a message Tuesday from The Associated Press. Someone who answered the phone at his office said he hasn’t represented the teacher for years.

More like this story

JCsleeper 2 years, 2 months ago

Too many snitches these days..

him 2 years, 2 months ago

If everyone was fired for something in their past, we would all be out of jobs!

JCLifer 2 years, 2 months ago

Do you know how her students were performing on the state tests? She may have been a very good teacher.

JMO 2 years, 2 months ago

Somehow, I doubt she was bragging to the kids about her days as a famous p0rno actress. If the kids didn't know, she couldn't set a bad example.

JCLifer 2 years, 2 months ago

Good luck finding a teacher who is free of sin.

JCsleeper 2 years, 2 months ago

Might be an example of how one turns one's life around.

bluesfan13 2 years, 2 months ago

It was public school, why should you care?

She did something that some people think was questionable 20 years ago, and was totally unrelated to her job. Would your opinion change at all if the video was taken and sold without her consent? The act itself would remain the same.

bluesfan13 2 years, 2 months ago

School is not supposed to raise your kids or teach them morals. That's what parents are for.

(Public) School is supposed give your kids an academic education. If you or anyone else is relying on school to teach morals, then THAT'S the problem.

bluesfan13 2 years, 2 months ago

"It takes a village", but you don't seem to agree with the people you live near. IF society itself is decadent, is that REALLY who you want to raise your kids? I highly doubt you want ME to have any input into raising your kids.

JMO 2 years, 2 months ago

Yes, but apparently you'd toss her out of your village. Or maybe just make her wear a big red P on her bodice?

JMO 2 years, 2 months ago

Those passages speak to trying to settle your differences with someone who has wronged you PRIVATELY first, then seeking assistance if the person who has sinned against you doesn't listen. That doesn't appy here. This woman didn't sin against YOU, or anyone in the school. And clearly, she already has learned her lesson and regrets it. Seems to me that this is more of a "Let he without sin cast the first stone" situation.

JMO 2 years, 2 months ago

She would have been all of 23 years old at the time, assuming 1995 since it says "mid-90's". Old enough to know better for sure, but it seems unfortunate to me that she's being punished now for a bad choice made in her youth. It certainly doesn't mean she can't be a good teacher 15 years later.

JMO 2 years, 2 months ago

The KIDS didn't need to know anything about her past at all. Their business is learning what she's teaching, not about what she did in her 20's.

JMO 2 years, 2 months ago

Well I'm sure they know now since she's been canned, but the story didn't say the kids knew anything about it, but that the district found out and suspended her. There's nothing there that says the kids ever had an inkling.

bluesfan13 2 years, 2 months ago

So all those people who, as teenagers, participated in Senior Skip Day, and went to the party and drank alcohol can't be good teachers either?

bluesfan13 2 years, 2 months ago

We're all pron stars of one sort or another, Byron.

So, if she'd simply slept with a lot of men, but never appeared on camera, that would be more acceptable than perhaps sleeping with a single man 15-20 years ago?

Guess what. People have s3x for fun. They do it either for self gratification, or to gratify another.

pegassuss2525 2 years, 2 months ago

You are forgetting that she was formerly in the business and I don't think they mentioned anything about her being a star. Perhap she did it to pay for college? So once you make a questionable choice, you can't be forgiven? You can't turn your life around? I don't know anyone, including Mother Theresa who totally blameless of sin. The past should have remained there. There was no reason to bring it back. Now that it is, I agree that the district and teacher should part ways. This makes the respect from the students almost impossible. However, the moral outraged need to stop and think. No one has lived a perfect life. All of us have made bad choices.

JMO 2 years, 2 months ago

Maybe the message should be: Look how putting your life on track and getting an education can turn anyone into a valuable and funtional member of society. That's one I'd like my son to learn.

I concede that IF it became common knowlege among the students, it could be disruptive, especially if she taught older kids. But otherwise, no one's business as far as I'm concerned.

I would like to know how people even found out. Maybe the principal saw her on the cover of the movie when he frequented his favorite p0rno shop?

jdb 2 years, 2 months ago

Why should Christianity be taught in the classroom in a public school? Better yet, what brand of Christianity would YOU prefer in a public school?

There are many different brands of Christianity, so someone is going to feel left out if we don't cater to their particular secular beliefs. By making our public schools, Christian schools, won't that exclude non-Christians from attending? There ARE other religions besides Christianity. The people who have different religious beliefs than you or me are just as entitled to an education as we are. They pay taxes too.

I was taught in both private and public schools that one of the reasons our country was founded was not so much for freedom of religion as it was freedom FROM religion, the state religion of England. If you want your children to study in a Christian school, send them to a Christian school, not a public school. That is what my parents did.

pegassuss2525 2 years, 2 months ago

Christianity isn't harmful? The Spanish Inquistion, American Indians, Australian native people, the Crusades ring a bell just to name a few? Christianity has way too many sects and none agree exactly. Even if you did teach a general veiw of the religion, you would have one group taking issue. Religion is personal not something to be forced down one's throat.

pegassuss2525 2 years, 2 months ago

Those were all done by Christians in the name of Christianity. Are you saying these events mean nothing? Religion is very personal. Churches as buildings are a creation of man. As for Christianity being positive, you should also include Islam, Hindu, Buddhism, etc. I am not blaming the ills of man on any one religion. I am laying that at the feet of Man, Yes, even Men who act in the name of a particular religion.

bluesfan13 2 years, 2 months ago

Those were just as much Christian, as 9-11 was Muslim/Islam.

jdb 2 years, 2 months ago

Graceful posted: "Your teachers must have benen unionized. Maybe they should be sued for malpractice."

Maybe you should sue your teachers as well. More often than not, your posts contain grammatical errors, misspellings or typos. You claim to have a degree in law, but your lack of writing skills leads me to believe otherwise. Do you even bother to proofread your rants before posting them?

It is apparent to the readers on this board the only one offended about public schools not teaching Christianity as a part of their curriculum is YOU. As you stated, "The country cannot be concerned that a few people might be offended."

I will ask this question once again. What brand of Christianity would you prefer to be taught in PUBLIC schools?

I guarantee you how to offend a roomful of thirty adults. Stand on a podium and tell them that your faith is the only true faith and that everyone else whose belief system is different than yours is wrong. Then tell these same adults that your religious beliefs are the ones that will be instructed to their children in their public school. I am sure you would not like their reaction.

If you want your children to be taught religion in school send them to a religious school.

onlineidentity 2 years, 2 months ago

There is no reason that what you did in the 90's means you cant be a good teacher. A good teacher is a good teacher regardless of their past.

The only caveat I would add to this is if they molest then they should not be allowed to teach ever again. I would also argue that in this case past actions predict future action and therefore is a very different issue.

Hypothetically, if she was the highest performing teacher in the school based on standardized scores, grades, and dropouts she should be fired and replaced with another teacher who may or may not be any good at all?? How does this make any sense whatsoever or do anything to improve the school.

I really doubt this teacher was telling her classes about her past, or glorifying it in any way. In fact, when you read the article, you learn that she absolutely regrets that she made a mistake.

JMO 2 years, 2 months ago

Good enough to serve and perhaps die for her country, but not to teach its children. Nice.

JMO 2 years, 2 months ago

Of course she can't do whatever she wants. She can't commit crimes. She can't practice medicine or law without a license. But refusing her a job which she's trained and qualified for when she did nothing illegal is ridiculous.

pegassuss2525 2 years, 2 months ago

That is a very snippy comment about the US Navy. Tells us whay you REALLY think about our men and women serving in the branch of the Navy.

JCsleeper 2 years, 2 months ago

Might have been a good teacher. Article didn't say what she taught, but doubt if it was sex ed.

asb 2 years, 2 months ago

It's the local school board's job to decide if past jobs (legal in this case) should be considered. Once the kids know of her past, that fact could have a negative impact on her teaching effectiveness, but until they know about her past, there's not an automatic impact. Some would argue that her past means she couldn't possibly be a good teacher. That is moralistic tripe. Once discovered, maybe, but otherwise not.

soxfan 2 years, 2 months ago

she would be ok in a big city like ny not in a town in mo don l chicago

soxfan 2 years, 2 months ago

i guess i should have said she would be better off teaching in a bigger city like new york city rather then a smaller city Don l chicago

justaword 2 years, 2 months ago

Well, hkchas you make a good point. But to some, she is just a worker bee. They don't need a union, health, retirement benefits, or even a second chance. "The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America report card shows that 91 of the 94 lawmakers getting an A for helping vets are Democrats. Of the 154 receiving a D or F, 154 are Republicans." Nothing but the best for corporations providing the weapons of war, but not for the human resources that risk their lives using them.

This woman should have formed a corporation, whined for taxpayer funded economic development funds, and stayed in business. Hey, corporatons in Missouri this very year, while we are cutting state services again, are getting another break on the franchise tax.

muleman 2 years, 2 months ago

If she is bipolar, how did she get in the US army ? Anyone taking psych meds are automatically barred from military service. Bipolar cant be cured, only treated with meds

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