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.
Robert Vandenbulcke
Sixty-two-year-old culinary arts teacher Robert Vandenbulcke was recently arrested on suspicion of sexual assault against a 15-year-old student. The student alleges Vandenbulcke dropped a towel in front of him, and while picking it up, rubbed the back of his hand on the student’s groin. Vandenbulcke allegedly made eye contact with the student while assaulting him. He has been arraigned on charges of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14.
Elizabeth Ann Schneider
Thankfully, this bad teacher kept the students out of the scandal, even while acting irresponsibly. The teacher, who The Smoking Gun identifies as 24-year-old Elizabeth Ann Schneider, reportedly shot pornographic videos of herself in the classroom. Schneider did not film while students were present, nor did she share the videos with any students. Still, it’s easy to see why parents wouldn’t appreciate Schneider’s actions.
She currently faces no charges but has been fired and banned from the school campus. While Schneider’s private movies didn’t hurt any children, the questionable decision to film them on campus lands her a spot on the worst teachers in recent history list.
Anthony Chidester
Here’s another school employee who got way too physical when a student wouldn’t return a basketball in P.E. class. In response, Anthony Chidester grabbed the boy and slammed him into the wall, then to the floor. Other students, reportedly concerned for the eighth grader’s life, fought to pull Chidester off of him. The school fired Chidester after video footage of the incident surfaced, and he’s now being charged with misdemeanor assault.
If this list of worst teachers in history is driving you to drink, you’ll be excited to meet this next teacher…
Brook Ellen West
This substitute teacher in Kentucky picked the worst way to prepare for a middle school class. Back in April, West threw back four shots of vodka just before class started. Students immediately noticed she was unsteady on her feet and smelled of alcohol. As class continued, West proceeded to yell and curse at the middle school students. The kids alerted administration, who quickly removed West and called the police. During her arrest, West blew .317 on a breathalyzer test — nearly four times the legal benchmark for intoxication. West now faces charges of alcohol intoxication in a public place and endangering the welfare of a minor.
Deidre R. Smith
In an unthinkable act of abuse, charter school teacher Deidre R. Smith allegedly carried out a sexual relationship with a 10-year-old student. Police arrested her last May after receiving a complaint from an unnamed school administrator. Smith is facing charges of first-degree rape and felony indecent behavior with a juvenile.
Deonte Taylor
According to police, Taylor molested a seven-year-old student in 2015 and avoided any consequences for the next three years. Then, a year after DNA evidence led to his arrest in 2018, Taylor allegedly tried to hire a hitman to kill his now-10-year-old victim. Thankfully, this scheme to prevent the victim from testifying went nowhere. Taylor — easily one of the worst teachers of any year, much less recent history — is currently incarcerated and facing charges related to both crimes.
Federico Vargas
While many school activities foster the competitive spirit, this California high school teacher took it to extremes by creating a “fight club” for students. Police say Vargas refereed fights between high school students in his class, causing at least one teen to require medical attention. Police arrested Vargas in March, and he now faces charges of child endangerment and contributing to the delinquency of minors.
Alexis Boberg
This Maryland substitute teacher was arrested on charges of fourth-degree sex offenses. An underage student confessed to police that the two had been carrying out a sexual relationship. Boberg, 25, allegedly initiated the relationship by sending the underage student her number, contacting him on Snapchat, and supplying him with alcohol.
Aaron Zuniga
This past March, Florida teacher Aaron Zuniga was charged with having a sexual encounter in his home with a student. Allegedly, Zuniga invited the student to his house, where the two engaged in intimacy while Zuniga’s baby slept. Zuniga, who claimed to police he had an “emotional relationship” with the student, is facing charges of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and offenses against a student by an authority figure.
Tierra Lewis
When 5-year-old Hailey Turner returned home from kindergarten with a mark under her eye, she said her teacher hit her with a ruler. However, Turner’s teacher, Tierra Lewis, claimed the mark was Turner’s eczema “acting up.” Meanwhile, one adult who was present testified to hearing a “pop” sound, allegedly from Lewis striking Turner. While Lewis is still in her position at Cummings Elementary, Turner’s parents have decided to move their daughter to a different school. Though no charges have yet to be made, Lewis still makes the worst teachers in recent history list.
Jeremiah Triplett
Speaking of worst teachers in history, not only was former music teacher Jeremiah Triplett guilty of sexual abuse — for having sex with a high school student in his office — but also of providing marijuana edibles to numerous students. Triplett, who is also accused of inappropriately touching another student, was sentenced to three to nine months in prison this November.
Mary Agbehia & Shavonda Willis
Two teachers who took discipline way too far, preschool teachers Mary Agbehia and Shavonda Willis had an especially humiliating way of punishing students. When preschoolers misbehaved, Agbehia and Shavonda forced them to strip naked and stand in a closet for several minutes. Authorities learned of this from a parent who’d heard about the punishment from her son. Agbehia and Willis now face one count each of aggravated battery and unlawful restraint.
