Court Opinion

ID: 9577747
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:37:37.676853+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:21:10.559830
License: Public Domain

CANE, P.J.
(dissenting). I conclude that it was appropriate for the State Superintendent of Public *703Instruction to consider Thompson's ability to serve as a role model as a factor when determining whether there was a nexus between his immoral conduct and the health, welfare, safety or education of pupils. Therefore, I respectfully dissent.
Thompson does not dispute the superintendent's finding that he engaged in immoral conduct. It is uncontroverted that Thompson sexually assaulted two men and has been twice convicted for that immoral conduct. The first act resulted in a disorderly conduct conviction, and the second act resulted in a sexual assault conviction. It is also uncontroverted that he was discharged from his teaching position in Oshkosh because of this immoral conduct.
The superintendent found there was a nexus between Thompson's immoral conduct and the health, welfare or education of any pupil. He did not find a nexus for the safety of pupils. He therefore revoked Thompson's license to teach. Unlike the majority, I would hold that whether there is a nexus between the immoral conduct and the health, welfare or education of pupils is a question of fact. Appellate review of the superintendent's findings is governed by § 227.57(6), STATS., which provides that we are not to substitute our judgment for that of the agency as to the weight of the evidence in any disputed finding of fact. Additionally, we are not to set aside any agency action if the agency's findings are supported by substantial evidence. The substantial evidence test requires this court to affirm the agency if, after examining the entire record, the evidence, including reasonable inferences therefrom, is such that a reasonable person might have reached the same decision. Kenosha Teachers Union v. WERC, 39 Wis. 2d 196, 204, 158 N.W.2d 914, 918 (1968). The *704issue on appeal becomes whether there is substantial evidence to support the superintendent's finding.
Thompson's ability to serve as a role model was one of numerous factors the superintendent considered when he determined there was a nexus between his immoral conduct and the health, welfare or education of any pupil. In his conclusions, the superintendent stated, "The testimony of the teaching professionals offered by the Department is probative of the underlying character traits, role model, leadership, and other qualities properly considered for determining the nexus between the immoral conduct of Mr. Thompson and detriment to the health, safety, welfare, or education of any pupil."
The majority rejects considering the factor whether a teacher may serve as a role model, but this factor has been accepted in other jurisdictions and is not something new or startling. In Pettit v. State Bd. of Educ., 513 P.2d 889 (Cal. 1973), the California Supreme Court affirmed the revocation of a teacher's license and applied a reasoning similar to the superintendent's rationale in Thompson's case. In California, a teacher's license may be revoked if the evidence discloses that the teacher's retention within the school system poses a significant danger of harm to either students, school employees or others who might be affected by their actions. In Pettit, the California Supreme Court reasoned that a showing of significant harm could be based on adverse inferences drawn from the teacher's past conduct and the likelihood that the publicity surrounding the past conduct may, in and of itself, substantially impair that person's function as a teacher. Id. at 892. The court went on to hold:
*705"A teacher ... in the public school system is regarded by the public and pupils in the light of an exemplar, whose words and actions are likely to be followed by the children coming under her care and protection."... [T]he board and the trial court were entitled to conclude on the basis of the expert testimony . . . and the very nature of the misconduct involved, that Mrs. Pettit's illicit and indiscreet actions disclosed her unfitness to teach in public elementary schools.
Id. at 894 (quoting Board of Educ. v. Swan, 261 P.2d 261, 265 (Cal. 1953), overruled on other grounds by Bekiaris v. Board of Educ., 493 P.2d 480 (Cal. 1972)).
The United States Supreme Court has also recognized that teachers serve as role models in the school system and, as such, the state has a legitimate interest in ensuring that teachers can perform as a role model. It stated:
Within the public school system, teachers play a critical part in developing students' attitude toward government and understanding of the role of citizens in our society. Alone among employees of the system, teachers are in direct, day-to-day contact with students both in the classrooms and in the other varied activities of a modern school. In shaping the students' experience to achieve educational goals, teachers by necessity have wide discretion over the way the course material is communicated to students. They are responsible for presenting and explaining the subject matter in a way that is both comprehensible and inspiring. No amount of standardization of teaching materials or lesson plans can eliminate the personal qualities a teacher brings to bear in achieving these goals. Further, a teacher serves as a role model for his students, exerting a subtle but important influence over their percep*706tions and values. Thus, through both the presentation of course materials and the example he sets, a teacher has an opportunity to influence the attitudes of students toward government, the political process, and a citizen's social responsibilities. This influence is crucial to the continued good health of a democracy.
Ambach v. Norwick, 441 U.S. 68, 78-79 (1979) (footnote omitted).
All teachers have an obligation to promote civic virtues and responsibility in their classes, regardless of the subject taught. The superintendent must be able to take into account the teacher's function as an example for students. In fact, in § 118.01(2), STATS., our legislature has mandated that all public schools provide instructional programs designed to give our pupils a commitment to the basic values of our government including the United States and Wisconsin Constitutions and the ability to construct personal ethics and goals. It is the obligation of teachers to impart these basic values through instruction and by example.
The superintendent in this case properly recognized that teachers do more than teach subject material in the classroom; they also influence students by their conduct. It recognized that teachers' actions outside the classroom can also affect their fitness to teach. The superintendent stated:
For approximately seven hours a day, five days a week, nearly half of a child's waking existence, the children of our state are captive audiences for teachers certified by the department. During the impressionable school-age years, teachers are not merely instructors of curricular content. They are authority figures, role models, behavioral examples and surrogate parents. Children learn more from *707their teacher than music, mathematics, and reading. They learn important values and morals.
When the immoral conduct is so severe that it affects the students' health, safety, welfare or education, then it is a basis for revocation of the teacher's license. In this case, the superintendent did not survey public attitudes to determine the effect of Thompson's immoral acts before deciding whether to revoke his license. Instead, it reviewed Thompson's immoral conduct and considered its effect on the education of students, as well as the effect on teachers, parents and the public. In considering the effect on the school community, the superintendent properly considered the role a teacher plays in the education system. This is simply a way of measuring the seriousness of the immoral conduct and whether it affects the person's effectiveness as a teacher. It is especially appropriate when the immoral conduct does not involve an interaction between the teacher and pupil.
Here, the superintendent concluded that Thompson's repeated criminal and immoral conduct was serious, open and notorious. It involved crimes against the sexual morality of this state as the people of Wisconsin denounced in ch. 944 of our statutes. See ch. 944, STATS., Crimes Against Sexual Morality. Was Thompson's function as a teacher impaired by his immoral conduct when he openly sexually assaulted two men against their will? Absolutely. At Thompson's revocation hearing, educational experts testified that in their opinion Thompson could not function as a teacher and that his conduct had an adverse impact on the school community. Thus, the record supports the superintendent's findings.
Thompson's propensities and personal qualities exhibited by his repeated criminal and immoral con*708duct are manifestly inconsistent with the responsibilities and qualities that the students and public have a right to demand from teachers. I see nothing wrong with the superintendent considering the effect of the immoral conduct on the students, teachers, parents and the public as a factor in its consideration of whether there was a nexus. In fact, the superintendent did exactly what the majority recommends on remand. He examined the severity of the immoral conduct and its impact on the health, welfare, safety or education of the pupils. To say that the superintendent cannot look at the community's likely reaction to the immoral conduct ignores reality and what the community reasonably expects from its teachers.
I would therefore conclude that there is substantial evidence to support the superintendent's conclusion that there was a nexus between Thompson's immoral conduct and the health, welfare or education of pupils. Whether Thompson is now fit to teach is a matter better addressed at any reinstatement proceedings. Accordingly, I would affirm the superintendent's decision to revoke Thompson's license and reverse the judgment of the trial court.