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School exercise not poetry to mother's ears

A Dunedin middle school teacher is under investigation for using an adult-themed poem as a proofreading exercise.

By MEGAN SCOTT, Times Staff Writer
St. Petersburg Times Online
Published November 13, 2003

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DUNEDIN - A teacher who used a poem containing crude humor and adult language as a classroom exercise at Dunedin Highland Middle School is under investigation by the school district.

The poem, which was given to 25 eighth graders, contains words and phrases such as: "douche," "there is no prostitute for careful editing," and "Sleazy Street." Students were asked to correct the poem in class using editing symbols.

One parent filed a complaint with the Office of Professional Standards last month about the assignment, saying she found the poem to be "offensive and sexually harassing," as described by the Pinellas County Code of Student Conduct. Lisa Porthouse also has pulled her 13-year-old daughter out of the school.

"This piece does not belong in any classroom, at any time," Porthouse wrote in a letter to the St. Petersburg Times. "It is written as an adult spoof on spell-checking. We have lowered the bar for our children by intending to shock and titillate them."

The teacher, Deborah Stieglitz, 48, a three-year veteran in Pinellas County schools, declined to comment. She has received exemplary evaluations, according to personnel records, and is still teaching pending the outcome of the investigation.

The assignment came from a poem called "The the impotence of proofreading" included in the book What Learning Leaves by Taylor Mali, a former teacher and a full-time professional poet. Mali gave the keynote address at the Language Arts Mini-Conference on Sept. 12 at Pinellas Park High School. Stieglitz purchased the book at the conference.

Mali said his poem was not written for eighth-graders. He wrote the poem to show that spell checking is not a substitute for proofreading.

"I would say that the poem is written for kids 18 and above," he said. "A little bit of judicious editing on the teacher's part would have kept this a great assignment."

Darian Walker, the district's supervisor of secondary language arts, organized the conference and chose Mali to motivate teachers.

Stieglitz was apparently the only teacher to copy one of the poems for her class, Walker said, and no other teacher is using the material.

"Taylor Mali was our inspirational guy," she said. "He wasn't material to use in our classrooms. He's got a poem on proofreading. That is clearly not classroom material, and it wasn't presented as classroom material."

More than 750 secondary teachers attended the conference. There were breakout sessions on topics such as substance abuse and motivating your students. Mali read the proofreading poem at an afternoon session. The book that contained the poem was also on sale at one of the booths.

Walker said she saw Mali perform in New York and had read a few of his poems. He is one of the original poets to appear on Def Poetry Jam.

"The teachers loved him," Walker said. "Teachers who have been teaching for 25 years wrote notes. He makes you feel wonderful about teaching because his poems are so beautiful."

The poem also contains phrases such as "the red penis your friend," "anal community colleague" and "laughed at pubically."

Porthouse saw her daughter's proofreading assignment on Oct. 16. She immediately called the school and spoke with one of the assistant principals. The principal, Peggy Landers, said she and one of the assistant principals then spoke with Stieglitz about the exercise.

"The teacher picked the phone up and called the parent and apologized," Landers said. "My assistant principal then followed up with a phone call to the parent. It went well."

Porthouse, however, wasn't satisfied with the school's response and complained to the district. She also has hired a lawyer.

Sherwood Coleman, the Clearwater attorney representing Porthouse, said his client is awaiting the outcome of the investigation.

"It's definitely sexually improper," he said. "That part is clear. The second part is what are you going to do about it? That's what we're waiting to see."

In the meantime, Porthouse has moved her daughter to a private school.

"A lot of parents don't know what's going on," she said. "It's very important that they do."

Stieglitz was in the news in 1992 when she and her husband sold their house in Belleair to movie and wrestling celebrity Hulk Hogan, whose legal name is Terry Bollea. The house was demolished and rebuilt.

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