A pompous probationary public-school teacher who was overly proud of his Ivy League education sniffed in front of his students that he didn’t “go to Cornell so I could take care of a bunch of animals.”
But Steven Clarke got taught a lesson – first by Principal Richard Levine, who fired him, and then by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Marilyn Shafer, who ruled he can’t get his job back.
Clarke was working as a teaching fellow at the Global Enterprise Academy in The Bronx when “it was alleged that he called a class of 10th-graders ‘filthy animals’ who belonged in a ‘f- – -ing zoo,’ ” says Shafer’s decision, which was made public yesterday.
“Clarke did not deny the allegations or apologize. He stated that he had been talking to a teacher in the presence of the students, not to the students directly, and said, ‘My parents did not sacrifice for me to go to Cornell so I could take care of a bunch of animals,’ ” the decision says.
As for the cursing, Clarke said he was just repeating the words of a student who had told him to “get the f- – – out of my face,” the decision says.
Levine, wasn’t moved by his explanation, noting his “complete absence of contrition.”
“Accordingly, I am forced to conclusion that you are unprepared for the responsibilities of teaching. You are hereby terminated, effective today,” Levine wrote in the Oct. 24, 2007, letter.
Clarke filed suit, calling his canning improper. But Shafer said since he was a probationary employee and not an “appointed teacher,” the principal had the power to fire him.
Additional reporting by Yoav Gonen