We put a lot of faith in teachers to both educate our little ones and keep them safe and secure while they’re out of our hands. That’s why it’s so troubling to hear stories of negligent or abusive educators — any breach of trust is worse when the safety of our children is at stake. Whether it was child abuse, recklessness, or worse, here are just a few of the very worst teachers in recent history.
UPDATED: Scroll down to see some of the more recent worst teachers in history.
Lisa Rothwell
Authorities caught this assistant principal from Cramerton, NC, sharing explicit texts with a 17-year-old student. During the ensuing trial, testimony revealed Lisa Rothwell had carried on an intimate sexual relationship with the student for months. She faces six counts of felony sexual activity between a teacher and student.
Sara Damyan
One of the most recent stories surrounds Sara Damyan. The 33-year-old former special education teacher is accused of having given a 14-year-old boy marijuana-laced tea and candies, then sexually assaulting him as they watched movies at her place. The boy was not one of her students, but someone who went to her for after-school tutoring. The Sun-Times reported that Damyan told of her exploits to a friend who reported the event to authorities. Her trial is still pending.
Elizabeth Temple
Even substitute teachers can make the worst teachers in history list. While substituting in a North Carolina elementary class, Temple made a number of inflammatory and racially insensitive remarks. These included spreading a lie that Martin Luther King, Jr. died by suicide rather than assassination and telling the kids they would end up in jail because of the athletic merchandise they wore. She resigned after students told their parents about the incident.
Kendall Burke
Twenty-three-year-old science teacher Kendall Burk carried out a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student over summer break, authorities say. During this time, the pair had sexual relations on four occasions, two in Burk’s car and two in her home. She’s currently facing four counts of rape and four counts of sodomy.
Kristen Thompson
This disgruntled teacher from Hillsborough, NC was heard by coworkers making several threats to “shoot up the school.” She even gave some teachers a code she would use to warn them so they could stay home when she did it: “the squash is ripe.” Thompson quickly resigned when the threats became known. Authorities are charging her with “communicating a threat of mass violence.”
The teacher on our “worst in history” list brought a beat down like you’ve never seen…
Tiffani Lankford
As worst teachers in history go, this one was epic. This case gained national attention after a video of Lankford viciously beating a student went viral. The substitute can be seen punching a 15-year-old several times before throwing him on the ground and stomping his back. Lankford has since been fired by the school and charged with aggravated assault.
Kristen Lynne Boyle
Another all-too-common case of inappropriate contact between student and faculty, this story involved a California school psychologist initiating a sexual relationship with her patient, a minor. “This betrayal of trust is even more egregious because she used her position to gain her victim’s trust and then exploited the therapist/patient relationship to prey on one of the very students she was entrusted with helping,” Orange County DA Todd Spitzer said of the case. Boyle now faces statutory rape charges.
Brittany Zamora
One of the most high-profile cases of 2019 was that of 28-year-old teacher Brittany Zamora, who was found guilty of having sex with a 13-year-old student in a classroom while another student kept watch. She then carried out a relationship with the first student, and even tried to convince his father to not go to police. Zamora will spend up to 20 years in prison for her crimes.
Think she’s the worst of the worst teachers in recent history? Keep going…
Vivian Noirie
This Maryland High School Teacher was caught on camera brawling with a 17-year-old student. While the footage shows the student possibly provoking Noirie by bumping her and stepping on her foot, Noirie’s violent response earned her charges for child abuse and second-degree assault. The incident goes to show however much a kid might be acting up, its an adult’s role to handle it maturely without taking the bait.
Kelly Lewis
This Georgia preschool teacher took discipline too far when she wouldn’t let a 5-year-old special-needs student use the bathroom. After the student defecated in his pants, Lewis forced him to sit in it for two hours. This horrible act of neglect has earned Lewis a charge of second-degree cruelty to children.
Heather Matheison
A troubling number of this year’s worst teachers have used technology to facilitate sexual contact with students, including middle school employee Heather Matheison. She was caught using Snapchat to send sexually explicit videos of herself to a 14-year-old student. Matheison admitted knowing the boy’s age to authorities, and was charged with submitting electronic material harmful to minors.
While Heather looks too sweet to make a list of worst teachers in history, she’s not the only one…
Madeleine Ruth Schmaltz
Madeleine Ruth Schmaltz, a 30-year-old teacher in Duluth, Minnesota avoided jail time after engaging in sexual activity with a 16-year-old boy who had been her student several years earlier. She pleaded guilty to a felony charge of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2020, but only received three years of supervised probation. She had previously resigned from the school board when the police discovered her crime. Get the full story here.
Dorothy Bancroft Veracka
She may look sweet and innocent, but she’s far from it. High school teacher Dorothy Veracka was arraigned earlier this year on charges relating to obscenity and child pornography after being caught exchanging nude photos with a 15-year-old student. Their correspondence allegedly lasted for months, from last September to March 2019.
Crystal Smith
While it can sometimes be hard to get kids to stop acting silly, this school librarian went too far when she found a child hiding in a bookshelf. Video shows Smith jerking the toddler out of the bookshelf before giving her a kick to the back. Later, the child’s parents found red marks on her arm from the encounter. Since then Smith has been fired from her position, while the girl’s parents plan to pursue a civil suit against the librarian.
Nicholas Federico
Thirty-eight-year-old football coach Nicholas Federico was arrested in October following persistent rumors of misconduct. An Instagram video featuring sexual acts between himself and a student was discovered by police, who promptly arrested Federico. He was also found to have sent explicit videos to students via Snapchat and carried out a relationship with the student from the Instagram video. He was charged with sex abuse, misconduct and online corruption of a child.
Think that’s gross? Check out these women teachers…
Kirstie Rosa
Florida teaching assistant Kirstie Rosa made the big mistake of involving students from her school in her nightlife activities. Rosa is said to have taken students to a house party and provided them with alcohol and marijuana. Next, she allegedly brought them to her home and performed intimate acts with them. She also may have carried out a sexual relationship with a third student, as well as providing students with nicotine vape cartridges at school. Rosa is now facing charges related to sexual abuse and the distribution of drugs to minors.
Brooke Wright
A teacher and school administrator from Delaware, Ohio, 39-year-old Wright allegedly took part in an ongoing sexual relationship with a 13-year-old she was tutoring. “The inappropriate sexual acts took place in multiple locations in Franklin County,” Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said in a statement, “and if convicted of those charges, Wright faces numerous years of incarceration as well as registration as a sex offender.”
Susan Weddle
In this unsettling case, Weddle is accused of carrying out a sexual relationship with her son’s teenage friend for over a year, during which her son estimates the two had sex “several hundred times.” Weddle, a 40-year-old special education teacher, was arrested in December and charged with lewd and lascivious behavior, sexual assault and committing a felony with a two-way communication device.