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Resa Woodward teacher sacked after porn star past was discovered.
A DALLAS teacher who was fired when her past as a pornographic actress was exposed on social media says she was a teenage victim of “sex slavery†and that she wants her teaching job back.
The Dallas Morning News reports that Resa Woodward, 38, was dismissed December 13 from her job at Balch Springs Middle School. The dismissal letter cites her work in “adult content media†that’s available online. The material “casts the [school district] in negative light and adversely affects the districtâ€, the letter said.
Texas teachers’ code of ethics requires them to have “good moral character†and be “worthy to instruct or supervise the youth of this stateâ€, the paper reported.
Ms Woodward appealed to the Texas Education Agency, saying she was in an “abusive relationship†with a man who forced her into pornography.
She has appealed for her job back.Source:Supplied
“Young, stupid and afraid, I complied to avoid his wrath,†she wrote. “Only a woman who has been through such a horrifying experience could fully understand, but I’m asking you to understand and reconsider the terrible charges being brought against me, the victim of an abusive past.
“Please tell me this is not the end. Do not penalise me for a dark saga in my youth that was not of my making.â€
The agency is reviewing Woodward’s case. An ethics code requires Texas teachers to have good moral character. Woodward’s lawyer, Calvin Johnson, told WFAA-TV that she should be commended for bouncing back from adversity.
Clay Robison, spokesman for the Texas State Teachers Association, told The Dallas Morning News school districts have leeway in determining whether teachers have broken the code of ethics. “The district can claim that something a teacher does has undermined her ability to be effective as a teacher,†he said. “A teacher can fight it, but that usually involves significant costs.â€