Substitute teacher Shawn Loftis was fired earlier this year from Florida’s Miami-Dade County Public Schools, due to his off-campus work. A Florida principal discovered Loftis had previously worked as a pornographic actor.
He was let go for breaking a School Board rule in his district that said teachers “are expected to conduct themselves both in their employment and in the community in a manner that will reflect credit upon themselves and the school system,” according to a CBS Miami report.
The story has sparked controversy in the media, but also brought an interest in the side jobs of local teachers.
At Southfield High, some teachers have other jobs and activities after the bell rings. Vernon Burden, a mathematics teacher, is one of those teachers. On the side, he helps coach the football team and the wrestling team. He is also paid to play on an arena football team called the Saginaw Sting.
Andrew Green, who teaches history, sells campers six days a week during the summer for V.P General R.V. in Lansing. Green says, “During the summer, I work longer hours than I do as a teacher, so it’s tiring, but I have no choice because the bills have to get paid.”
Science teacher Ken Urban not only teaches at SHS, but also teaches science at both Oakland Community College and Rochester College. He says that it supplements his income and that it helps to put his daughter Paula through college at Michigan State University.
Steve Sharp, a Calculus and Pre-Calculus teacher, indulges in coaching baseball and girls golf. At other times he tutors students from the metro-Detroit area at his house for $25 an hour. “I enjoy tutoring because I like helping kids, in and outside of school,” Sharp says.
But some teachers volunteer their time. Virna Hobbs-Calhoun orchestrates the Poetry Club in her room every Wednesday after school, for which she is not paid.
“Students should have a vehicle for self-expression,” she says. She is, however, paid to sponsor the Class Board of 2012.
As far as The Souhtfield Jay can determine, Southfield High’s teacher’s have legitimate second jobs that enhance their teaching careers.