The Ad

This is our 2/27/2000 ad in the Maine Sunday Telegram. We are adding signatures of those who did not get to sign the original ad. 



WE WILL NOT SUBMIT TO BEING FINGERPRINTED 


We, the undersigned Maine educators and school support staff--each after long and difficult consideration--believe we have no choice but to refuse to be fingerprinted under the provisions of the current state law which requires all school workers--tens of thousands of them--to submit to national FBI criminal history background checks. We are supportive of reasonable and prudent background checks for individuals being considered for employment, and for improving them in a variety of ways, but mass fingerprinting, with all of its negative fallout, is not one of them. As a result of our refusal to comply, we regrettably will no longer be employable in the schools of Maine. 




We believe this law was passed quietly and with virtually no debate by a well-intended Legislature led to believe in a quick fix for a serious, complex problem. We have not seen any sound statistical argument for its implementation. We believe it will do almost nothing to stop the infinitesimally rare abuse of children in schools, but will falsely lead people to believe otherwise. We call for these same millions of dollars being thus wasted to be spent--and more--investigating the literally thousands of cases of suspected child abuse elsewhere in Maine society each year, which the State is informed of but does not commit adequate resources to deal with. 




At an even deeper level, we view the law as an insidious violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. The citizens of Maine should realize that it is the stated intention of the current governor eventually to fingerprint all members of Maine society who work with children. We see this repressive law, therefore, as a dangerous first step down the slippery slope of lost individual freedoms. We believe that history is filled with warnings about the dangers of hysterical campaigns that promise personal or sometimes national security by removing personal and sometimes national freedom. 




For these reasons and more, we are compelled to call for the complete repeal of the current fingerprinting law, and to urge that equivalent energy be put toward non-repressive measures to guarantee children's safety, at the same time preserving their and all Maine citizens' constitutional freedoms. We believe this so strongly that we feel we must resist this misguided law, even to the loss of our careers in education in Maine. We will resign, retire or make our school employers fire us before we will submit. And as our poll of 1000 educators indicates that 7% of them hold this same position, this list is but a fraction of the actual numbers. 




Readers interested in seeing the data and arguments upon which we have based our decision are directed to our website: www.slipperyslope.org 




Paid for by Me. Educs. vs. Fingerprinting, 1 Stone Ridge Dr., Waterville, ME 04901 


        Suzanne Malis-Andersen   Brewer Middle School           14 years
        Bernard Huebner          SAD 54                         20 years
        Don Robbins              Cony HS                        37 years
        Nancy Robbins            Gilbert School                 35 years
        Lisa Grant               Blue Hill Consolidated School  10 years
        Diane Chick              Kents Hill School              10 years
        Caroline L. Bond         Ctr. for Teaching & Learning   15 years
        Barry R. Morse           South Portland Schools          3 years
        Amy A. Watson            Van Buren Distr. Sec. School    2 years
        Paul Bilotta             Old Orchard Beach HS           16 years
        Genie Wheelwright        Mt. Ararat HS                  13 years
        David Tiemann            Morse HS                       21 years
        Eunice Cox               Woolwich Central School        10 years
        Chuck Whitney            Ellsworth HS                   10 years
        Mary L. Cayford          Margaret Chase Smith School    30 years
        David Solmitz            currently tchg. college level  30 years
        Sebouh DerSimonian       Cony HS                        24 years
        Paul D. Donovan Jr.      Thornton Academy               15 years
        Dick Parker              Thornton Academy               36 years
        Don Mendell              Nokomis HS                     26 years
        Richard Maguire          Morse HS                       41 years
        Ted DeMille              Ctr. for Teaching & Learning   20 years
        Judy Robbins             George Stevens Academy          5 years
        Carl A. Chase            George Stevens Academy         35 years
        Thomas Holland           Kents Hill School               2 years
        Carl Smith               Augusta Schools                31 years
        Jane Hubert              Pittston School                32 years
        Barbara Franklin         Mt. Ararat HS                  28 years

                       NEW ADDITIONS
        Mary Ella Bergmann       Pittston School                33 years
        Lori Hill Albert         Cony HS                        14 years
        John H. Hunt Jr.         John Bapst Mem. HS             13 years
        Nancie Atwell  	         Ctr. for Teaching and Learning 27 years
        Dorothy Smith  	         Gardiner Area HS               32 years
        Col. Bruce M. Mac Laren  SAD 34	                        14 years
        (USMC Ret)
        John Ford, Sr.           Waldo Cty. Reg. Voc. Ctr.       1 year
        (Deputy Sheriff Waldo Co. [Former Sheriff])	
        Marie Twitchell          Hall-Dale Elem.                22 years 
        Catie G. Dean            Oxford Hills Comprehensive HS   5 years
        Maryli Tiemann        	 Morse HS                       27 years
        Kathryn Armstrong        Wiscasset School Department    26 years
        Lynn Gifford             Prescott Memorial School       20 years
        Stu Silverstein          Waterville Alternative HS       1 year
        Mike Schaab              John Bapst Memorial HS         27 years
        Karen Johnson            SAD 63                         30 years
        Bob Salesi               Hampden Academy                30 years
        Donald Stover            Consultant, Lewiston Schs.     45 years
        Deena Weinstein          SAD 4--Guilford                25 years
        Steve Smith              Belfast Area High School       21 years
        Robert Brown             Belfast Area High School       28 years
        Rep. Rosaire Paradis     Madawaska High School          36 years
        Steve J. Martin	         Gr. Houlton Christian Academy   3 years
        Steve Veit               Grad. Stud. intended to teach (MEd)
        Richard C. Sheldon, Jr.  Brunswick High School           3 years
        Harearl C. Moore         Lee Academy                    15 years
        Bob Melaragno            Freeport Schools               34 years
        Lucie Boucher            Currently in higher education  11 years     
        John Robbins             Hall-Dale Middle School         8 years
        Wally O'Brien            School Union 93                32 years
        Juan Mendoza             School Union 98                 5 years
        Karen Blaisdell          Hancock Grammar School          8 years
        Janice Mellyn            Brunswick Schools              37 years
    	Eileen Campbell          Rose Gaffney Elementary         5 years
        Erin Small               SAD 11                          8 years				
        Tristan Roberts	         Peaks Island School             1 year
        Maureen Davis            Madison High School            14 years