My grade school days are a distant memory, but something I vividly recollect is occasionally running into my teachers outside of their usual element. As kids, we tend to see people in one way, and one way only, which is why I'd always be a little shook to see my math teacher moonlighting at Golden Corral or my history teacher stocking shelves at Kmart. So I can only imagine what's going through the minds of parents in the Bronx, as a popular teacher just revealed some scurrilous information about a past profession.
Meet Melissa Petro -- the teacher who gives a new twist to the phrase "sex ed." The tattooed former hooker and stripper had been teaching art in a Bronx elementary school for three years, The New York Post has learned, before her past was publicly revealed by her own writings. Calling herself a "former sex worker," the well-liked teacher has been shockingly up front about her past -- posting online accounts of her sexcapades in Mexico and London. But in her boldest move, the 30-year-old posted an essay this month claiming she also had been a prostitute.
"From October 2006 to January 2007, I accepted money in exchange for sexual services I provided to men I met online in what was then called the 'erotic services' section of Craigslist.org," wrote Petro on The Huffington Post, using her real name and picture. The attached bio identifies Petro as a "former sex worker, researcher, writer, educator, and feminist."
It appears she managed to keep her shenanigans a secret from parents at PS 70 up until this point -- but then a co-worker had warned her that some of her colleagues were beginning to Google her.
And to think, I was puzzled to find out my teacher was serving breasts and thighs on Sunday nights. Imagine if you found out your teacher was selling breasts and thighs on Sunday nights. Their own. The horror.
If you read between the lines here, it appears that Petro outed herself to avoid being exposed by nosy a$$ed colleagues, but I'm wondering if that's such a good idea for most people. I'm not so sure snitching on yourself via one of the most popular sites in the world is the best way to resolve any work situation. After she outed herself, Petro was reassigned to administrative duties pending an investigation, but was just granted tenure as an administrator by the New York City public school system despite her sordid sexual history.
One thing's for sure -- by putting herself out there like this, Petro is probably guaranteeing herself an interesting career way beyond teaching. I certainly smell a book deal in the works.Clearly, her "didn't ask, do tell" policy did not hurt her future career prospects. But Petro was lucky.
Let's face it. We all have some stuff in our pasts that might come back to haunt us career-wise if presented at the wrong time, in the wrong way, to the wrong people. And as black people, we probably can't get away with this same level of mess. At the same time, it's interesting that Petro's bosses took a lenient position regarding her prostituting past. Is this a sign that in the future more employers will be forgiving regarding activities that would usually destroy an employee's reputation?
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Detroit recently joined other large municipalities when they decided to remove the "have you ever been convicted of a felony?" question from applications for city jobs -- so perhaps this is a growing trend. But is it good? This means you really might not have any idea who's working in the next cubicle, or running your child's PE class in the near future in more major cities. Petro's case, therefore, might not be as much of an outlier as you'd think. This case of the hooker turned school administrator might be the wave of the future.
How much of your personal life (assuming it doesn't involve a criminal record) is your employer entitled to know about? If your colleagues were getting nosy about something you did, would you out yourself to Human Resources or handle it directly with those co-workers?
Would it bother you to find out your child's teacher used to turn tricks to supplement her day job income? Would you be angry if that teacher received tenure, even as an administrator?