The Education Wars: Administration as a Hazardous Job

An elementary teacher shot a principal and an assistant principal today at a Knoxville, Tennessee, school after the students were excused early due to snow.

An Inskip Elementary School fourth-grade teacher faces prosecution tonight on two counts of attempted first-degree murder in the shootings of the school's principal and assistant principal.

Mark Stephen Foster, 48, of Clinton was taken into custody minutes after the shootings at the school, 4701 High School Road in North Knoxville.

Principal Elisa Luna and Assistant Principal Amy Brace were shot in the school office area at 12:49 p.m., about an hour after classes were dismissed early because of snow showers.

Luna is in critical condition at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, and Brace is stable, according to a hospital spokesman.

Reportedly Foster's teaching contract was not being renewed, which means this guy wasn't likely "tenured." I wonder if he was a target of harassment by the administrators, who are 41 (Luna) and 40 (Brace) by the way, and I doubt they are first-year administrators. Of course financial worries could have played a role.

The only surprise is something like this isn't more common.

Video:



Another video:



Still more details:

Tennessee Department of Education spokeswoman Rachel Woods said Foster received an apprentice teacher license for grades K-6 in the summer of 2007. An apprentice license is issued when someone first starts teaching, before they have tenure, she said.

...

The administrators had been praised for their work at the elementary school, where Luna had been the principal since 2004 and Brace had been assistant principal since July 2008.

"These are two outstanding educators," McIntyre said.

Sen. Jamie Woodson, R-Knoxville, said the Legislature honored the principal in 2007 for her work leading the school off the state's list of schools not meeting the goals of No Child Left Behind program. The school of more than 300 students in grades kindergarten through 5 has met annual goals every year since 2004.

"It's obviously a very disturbing situation," Woodson said.

Luna is the daughter of former state Sen. Jerry Cooper, Senate Democratic Leader Jim Kyle said. Cooper couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

It appears Foster has had a history of erratic behavior which raises questions regarding his "fitness" to teach students:

Mark Foster works in Knox County Schools but lives in Clinton. Neighbors to his mobile home expressed shock that he'd be a suspect in this shooting.

But he does have a list of past complaints against him with the Anderson County Sheriff's Office.
A neighbor filed a report saying he was driving erratically, on multiple occasions, to harass her. She indicated she'd seek an order of protection against him.
A complaint from his brother indicated he was walking down the road, causing a disturbance by yelling at people as he walked. Another complaint from his brother resulted in is brother taking out an order of protection against him.
A complaint from a hair stylist indicated Foster had contacted her residence and shop, making threats over a bad haircut.
Police reports indicated he was known to carry a handgun and a baseball bat, and that he did not have a permit to carry a gun.

The sheriff's office's files including Mark Foster also have several entries in which Foster is the one making a complaint, including a suspicious person at his home, the theft of a chainsaw from his home, and threats made against him by others.

There are many questions which I am sure will be answered. The most important question is why the guy was hired if he was fingerprinted and a criminal background check was done on him. He had a police record.