The 10 Worst Teachers and Principals From Pop Culture
From Ferris Bueller’s Day Off to Mean Girls, on-screen educators have a talent for causing trouble. Here are the worst offenders.
- By Eleanor Barkhorn
- Smithsonian.com, April 15, 2013
Like many teachers, Ms. Halsey feels tremendous pressure to ensure her students do well on their high-stakes standardized tests. (Unlike most teachers--hopefully--she wants her kids to succeed so she can get a bonus to pay for breast implants.) She crosses the ethical and legal line, though, when she poses as a journalist to gain access to the state test questions and answers.
Movie-world consequences: Ms. Halsey’s students ace the state test, she gets the bonus, and though a fellow teacher accuses her of cheating, Ms. Halsey is never punished. In fact, she gets promoted to guidance counselor the following year.
Real-world consequences: As teachers and administrators in the Atlanta school system have learned, the punishment for cheating on state testing is severe. 35 district staff members allegedly involved in a multi-year cheating conspiracy were recently indicted on a total of 65 charges, including racketeering, theft, influencing witnesses, conspiracy and making false statements
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