Teacher claims rights infringed

Wednesday, March 11, 2009
BY MONICA VON DOBENECK
Of The Patriot-News

Annville-Cleona High School science teacher Tom Ritter said he thinks armed teachers would be a better deterrent against terrorists than lockdowns, and that the Classrooms for the Future course was a waste of time.

In a federal lawsuit against the school district, Ritter said he thinks those opinions, and his tendency to express them, led to his "unsatisfactory" rating from the administration.

He is seeking $10 million in damages from the district for violating his civil rights.

Ritter said Monday that the district is not allowing him to teach and has stopped paying him. He said he is waiting to see if the school board fires him at the April meeting.

Superintendent Marsha Zehner was out of town and could not be reached for comment. District solicitor Bob Frankhouser would not comment on the case, only saying that "I can assure you" the district will defend the lawsuit vigorously.

Ritter, 61, of Orwigsburg, said he is a good teacher and has the support of many of his students. He has been teaching chemistry and physics in the district since 1997 and was chosen by the class of 2004 to be the commencement speaker.

In his lawsuit, Ritter said the district had a lockdown drill several weeks ago. Ritter said that he thought the drill was dangerous and "would not prevent terrorists from massacring perhaps several hundred children before the police could act."

According to the lawsuit, he said publicly that "a much more effective deterrent would be to allow teachers to possess guns in school, a position that got him a tongue lashing from the superintendent."

Ritter elaborated on Monday, saying lockdowns, in which students are kept in the classrooms during dangerous situations, might be useful in Columbine or Virginia Tech type shootings, but not against terrorists "who know that American schools are gun-free zones."

According to the lawsuit, Ritter also said in a fall survey that he thought the Classrooms for the Future course given to teachers was worthless.

He said his responses were "entirely honest and, in fact, shared by most teachers who were forced to take the course."

The director of technology said Ritter's response to the survey could jeopardize a $650,000 state grant, according to the lawsuit.

A few weeks later, Ritter received the unsatisfactory rating, which he said was to harass him for his political views.

It's not Ritter's first run-in with the administration. He was suspended in May after he refused to grade a retest the principal gave a student. Ritter had given the student a zero for allegedly copying from another student's test.

In May 2007, Ritter received some notoriety by claiming that evolution was bad science in a debate with a university professor.

MONICA VON DOBENECK: 832-2090 or mdobeneck@patriot-news.com
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