Former prostitute turned elementary school teacher Melissa Petro was apparently ordered removed from her teaching position by none other than New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. According to UPI:
“What our legal rights are, whether she broke the law in terms of applying and getting tenure or whether the system just broke down, that’s being investigated,” Bloomberg said in the Post report.
Ms Petro made the egregious mistake of admitting to having once been a prostitute in a column she wrote for the Huffington Post that criticized the war against Craigslist.
As an example of someone who has left her past behind and created a new future outside the sex busines, the rescue industry has been strangely quiet about the public attacks leveled against her and her suspension from teaching. One can only guess why none of those organizations who so strongly proclaim to be looking out for the welfare of women and children, and who insist that all prostitution is exploitation, wouldn’t be there standing by her side to proclaim that Ms. Petro was a victim and that she shouldn’t be condemned for a past that wasn’t her fault.
No one even knows if she’s broken any laws (although you can bet they’re working feverishly to pin something on her). It’s not like they suddenly discovered she misbehaved in her classroom and are acting to protect the kids. As it stands right now, she simply made the mistake of exercising her First Amendment rights. Do women lose their rights when they become teachers? Why aren’t woman’s rights groups raising a shit storm over her treatment?
Oh, wait. I forgot. Respect and free speech rights are reserved for women who have the right attitude. She sacrificed that when she spoke out against the wrong people. I’m pretty certain that her past history would be of much less consequence had she simply cowered under the pressure of popular opinion and adopted a more morally righteous stance toward the demon Craigslist. If the local school administrators suggested she write under a pseudonym, then they clearly knew of her history and didn’t consider it a problem. That leaves only her position on the topic that is making her a target for attack now.
I suspect she will ultimately be fired for giving voice to her opinions. It would be unfortunate if she were forced back into prostitution, but at least she would probably be in the company of a better class of people.