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October 8, 2011 in Washington Voices
U-Hi teacher to be jailed
Michael Cronin has history of drunken driving charges
University High School teacher Michael Cronin was placed on paid administrative leave in August and has been sentenced to serve nearly a year in jail after being found guilty of two criminal charges in September.
Additional charges from a separate incident in Pend Oreille County – resisting arrest and obstructing a law enforcement officer – are still pending.
It’s the second administrative leave for the teacher. Cronin, 44, was placed on administrative leave for several months in 2009 while Central Valley School District officials investigated claims that he had inappropriately touched a female student and a female staff member while allegedly drunk at school. He received a letter of reprimand for his actions and went back to work at the beginning of the 2009-’10 school year.
The most recent arrest in Pend Oreille County was on Aug. 29, a few minutes after midnight, when Cronin was the passenger of a car stopped near Newport on suspicion of driving under the influence. He interrupted officers and interfered in their duties, then refused to get out of the car when told to, said Pend Oreille County deputy prosecuting attorney Jeremy Schmidt. “He wasn’t allowing himself to be taken into custody,” Schmidt said.
The two arresting deputies wrote in their reports that Cronin told the driver not to cooperate and told law enforcement officers that he was the driver’s attorney. Deputy Dan Dice wrote that Cronin was “highly intoxicated” and admitted he had been drinking. Deputy Matt McKay wrote that Cronin jumped back in the car and attempted to crawl into the driver’s seat when he was told he was being arrested for obstructing a law enforcement officer. McKay wrote that he and another deputy struggled with Cronin to get him out of the car and handcuffed.
Cronin used to be a practicing attorney, but his status as a member of the Washington State Bar Association is “inactive.”
On Sept. 29, Cronin was sentenced in Spokane on a 2010 charge of “physical control,” which is similar to driving under the influence but applies when an arresting officer doesn’t witness the impaired person driving. He was found guilty and sentenced to 364 days in jail with 94 days suspended, 150 days of electronic home monitoring and 12 months of monitored probation.
According to the police report on that incident, officers were called to the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Cedar Street at 1:43 a.m., Aug. 4, 2010, after someone reported a dark Jeep Wrangler stopped in the middle of the road with no lights on. When an officer arrived Cronin was standing next to the Jeep with the door open, the report said.
Cronin admitted having two drinks and his speech was slurred, but he refused a blood-alcohol test, the report said.
Cronin has three prior arrests on suspicion of driving under the influence. Two charges were amended to first degree negligent driving, a common change for first-time offenders. In the third case Cronin applied for and received deferred prosecution, which meant that the charge would be dismissed if Cronin didn’t violate his probation by having a similar charge in the next five years. He was also forbidden to consume alcohol.
At a hearing on Sept. 2, Cronin’s deferred prosecution was revoked and he was sentenced to 364 days in jail with 229 days suspended and five years of probation, Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Brian O’Brien said. Cronin is appealing that sentence, O’Brien said.
Cronin was also facing a misdemeanor assault charge from an incident that occurred on June 4, but it was dismissed as part of a plea agreement. Witnesses told police that Cronin hit a neighbor in the face and also spit tobacco juice on him, according to a police report. The witnesses also said that Cronin appeared to be drunk.
He was put on paid administrative leave on Aug. 29 when Central Valley School District learned of the new criminal charges against him.
Remembering heroes 
atietge12 on October 08 at 10:43 a.m.
Mr. cronin was my teacher for three different classes
Kivaari on October 08 at 11:25 a.m.
Why was his teaching certificate still active after his first “hands on episode”? Another sterling example of a lawyer turned teacher.
gslfan19 on October 10 at 9:26 a.m.
Short of actually killing somebody while teaching class it is impossible to lose your job as a teacher. Have to just love unions.
The_Seer on October 10 at 12:17 p.m.
gslfan: Your statement is simply untrue. I’ve known plenty of colleagues who’ve lost their teaching jobs it’s just that you don’t hear about most of them because their contracts aren’t renewed prior to obtaining tenure. The original allegations of misconduct of Mr. Cronin were investigated by the OSPI and they found no wrongdoing. In addtion, Mr. Cronin’s offenses are related to alcoholism, a recognized disabilty under federal law. To fire a tenured teacher for actions related to a recognized disability would be unlawful and place the school district in the position of defending themselves against a wrongful termination lawsuit. I believe the city of Spokane is currently defending against similar litigation involving an alcoholic ex-cop.
In addition, our professional organization treats alcoholism and other drug abuse as a medical issue that is best treated by medical professionals. We don’t punish people because they have illnesses but get them help to treat their ailments.
Don’t get me wrong, I abhor teachers who give our profession a black eye or poor name. We have enough worries about efficacy in the eyes of the public (mostly unfounded and not reality based).
Evenstar on October 10 at 6:34 p.m.
I agree, it’s simply unfair to place all the blame on unions in this particular situation, but I think this illuminates a few key problems. First of all, I’d like to know how the heck he got tenure in the first place. I was a student at U-High when he was first hired, and it was very well known right from the get-go that he was blatantly incompetent. How he ever got a job with the district would be a mystery to me if I didn’t know that a relative of his happens to be a teacher at U-High and probably put in a good word for him.
Second, while I also believe that we shouldn’t punish people for having mental illnesses and disabilities, I also don’t think that their jobs should be preserved at the expense of educational quality and the safety of our children. Let’s face it: we wouldn’t stand for a schizophrenic serial killer teaching our children, regardless of whether or not his/her behavior stems from a mental illness/disability. Clearly Cronin’s actions are not this extreme, but if he had touched my daughter, I would have very little sympathy for his alcoholism and I’d want him out of that school immediately. I don’t think you can blame any of the parents of U-High students for feeling this way. As for your professional organization helping teachers get the assistance they need, forgive me for not having a lot of confidence in its efficacy. If this is the end result of its efforts at intervention, clearly a new system is needed.
In the end, I hope this will be a wake up call to the administration at U-High and within the Central Valley School District. We need quality teachers in our schools so that our extraordinary students can be the ones making headlines, NOT drunk, molesting teachers. Also, I hope the district realizes that if they want the voters of Spokane to approve bond measures in the future, they need to demonstrate an ability to better use educational funds. Paid administrative leave for teachers accused/convicted of criminal misconduct is unacceptable (although I’m sure their hands are tied by union contracts in this instance.)
The_Seer on October 11 at 12:44 p.m.
evenstar: The allegations Cronin touched anyone were unfounded. The “end results” of his treatment are not included in this article. In fact, since he was only recently convicted and sentenced his education association hasn’t taken any action because we wait until due process has taken its course. The constitiution is a messy thing, eh? In addition, treament is voluntary and I am pretty sure you don’t have the expertise to judge the efficacy of any type of drug/alcohol treatment.
Inferring Cronin is a drunk and a molester in the work place could subject you to libel charges, especially when the state body delegated the authority to investigate such allegations arrived at the exact opposite findings.
Evenstar on October 11 at 8:53 p.m.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say unfounded. Just because the OSPI could not/would not confirm the allegations, this does not mean that the allegations are untrue. Forgive me for feeling that there might exist a slight conflict of interest here, given that it would reflect poorly on OSPI to find that they gave their stamp of approval to a teacher who committed such wrongdoings against students and fellow school employees. Not exactly the best way to inspire confidence in state institutions, is it?
As for libel, I believe I’m just as entitled to express my opinions as you are to insinuate that the individuals who accused Cronin of wrongdoing are liars by asserting that the claims against him are “unfounded.” Luckily, a comment “honestly made in belief of its truth and fairness and upon reasonable grounds for such belief” is excused from libel under RCW 9.58.020. I think that the information provided by the SR on this issue over the years (supplemented with additional knowledge of the issue) is more than enough to justify my opinions (and they are just that: opinions, not facts.)
kennyhuston on October 12 at 2:30 p.m.
@ atietge12 - Regarding your statement that he taught 3 of your classes ~ Did you ever see any evidence of these allegations about him? Just curious, did you get good grades in his classes? Do you feel he was incompetent?
The_Seer on October 12 at 6:28 p.m.
evenstar: Let me see if I get this straight. The OSPI protects education professionals from being responsible for their actions because they certified the professional in the first place? So an agency can’t certify a person who possesses the credentials, clean record and other requirements to obtain a teaching license because of what that person might do in the future? You need to talk to detectives who handle cases like the one involving Cronin and the alleged improper touching. More than 90% of the investigations reveal the minor was lying. I heard those words from a working detective while completing teacher training during a lecture concerning professional conduct.
I’ve never excused Cronin’s conduct. His behavior outside the classroom, which has been granted due process in courts, brings discredit to our profession and he’ll be terminated in due time.
gslfan19 on October 13 at 10:10 a.m.
Alcoholism does not absolve one from being convicted of alcohol related offenses. Nor does it prevent a person from being convicted of committing a crime. The OSPI investigation did not clear him, since the key witness was not available to testify and he was given a letter of reprimand for something related to the investigation.
This is the wrong guy to defend. Hopefully this gets him off the street long enough for him to figure out he needs to change before he kills somebody. But knowing him nothing will change.
And your more than 90% statement is foolish and a little broad. In this case was the staff member involved in this investigation lying as well? Why did the district reprimand him? I do not believe the OSPI was covering itself, but it does have a vested interest in protecting teachers since they are responsible for approving them as teachers in the first place.
Either way using a person like Cronin to defend your position is not good, had he not been an attorney with connections to the prosecutor’s office he would have been convicted of felony DUI the first or at least the second time he was arrested. He is the poster boy for how unions protect the worst part of the of the workforce and why unions have a bad reputation. This is a bad guy who should have never been allowed to be around kids. I have known him for 20+ years and the fact that he was a teacher has always amazed me.
Evenstar on October 13 at 11:02 a.m.
…so you’re saying that the institutional assumption is that 90% of students are lying when they accuse teachers of misconduct? Well, thank you for easing my suspicions about the fairness of OSPI’s investigative process!
I’m not saying that OSPI is guilty for not owning a crystal ball, I’m saying that it looks really bad when teachers are found to have grossly violated their code of ethics (Code of Professional Conduct, in this case) and thus I’m not surprised when the OSPI puts the interests of their teachers above the interests of the students of Washington state. The allegations in Cronin’s case were unconfirmed. This does not mean that the incidents never happened. We all know that there is a big difference between not guilty and innocent.
Also, let’s remember that there were two allegations of inappropriate touching against Cronin, and one was by a fellow staff member. I find it really hard to believe that the two were in cahoots to sabotage his career, or that a staff member would risk her job and the public humiliation, shame, and scrutiny that often follows an accusation of sexual harassment or abuse in the workplace, just to accuse an innocent man of wrongdoing.
The_Seer on October 13 at 11:41 a.m.
evenstar: The 90% figure was from a detective who works for a police force that is independent of the OSPI. How did you miss that? It is not an assumption, it is a fact gleaned from decades of statistical data. When it comes to either telling the truth or lying under oath the alleged victim 90% of the time choses to tell the truth rather than risk perjury charges. The last thing teachers want is someone in our ranks who makes our profession look bad and we trust the organization tasked with investigating such claims. You are free to base your OPINION on INNUENDO but luckily for education professionals we have due process. In addition, you might (mistakenly) believe that teenagers don’t lie, but they do, and they do so all the time, no matter the seriousness of the situation. It’s part of being an adolescent.
The staff member and the student in this case could have pursued criminal charges against Cronin but declined to do so. Do you care to provide a rationale for why they didn’t?
gslfan: You obviously have an ax to grind. I never excused Cronin’s behavior, I just detailed why he wasn’t terminated. Citizens are entitled to due process and that is all Cronin has received. Would you rather he be terminated without due process and then have your tax money be spent on a multi-million dollar lawsuit/settlement for violating the terms of his contract with the district? Our union does not protect the likes of Cronin. If we had our way he’d have been drummed out long ago but there are these pesky notions like innocence before proven guilty, due process, et.al. In addition, unions neither hire nor terminate our members, the district does. That is who your beef is with, not our union.
Evenstar on October 13 at 1:41 p.m.
No, I don’t really think I missed anything, actually. As part of your teacher training detectives were brought in to conduct a lecture in which they taught you that 90% of minors are lying when they allege improper touching? And I’m assuming that the OSPI accepts the legitimacy of this claim, or else they wouldn’t have made this lecture part of your training, no? So, basically, the teachers are taught to believe this 90% rule as part of their training? How is that not operating under the assumption?
Let’s remember, statistical data isn’t always perfect and can be skewed to reflect bias. I’m assuming you’ve taken some sort of basic college stats class at some point in your life so I’m sure you know this. Tell me, did you ever personally look into the methodology of the statistics? Or was it simply a bullet point on a PowerPoint? Regardless of the data, it’s unfair to assume that the student in question is lying just because 90% of the students before her did. Obviously teenagers and adults alike lie…are you suggesting that from now on if a minor alleges abuse by a teacher, pastor, parent, etc. we should just assume they’re lying because, hey, they’re going through that adolescent phase where they like to lie?
As for the adult accuser in this instance, there can be many factors and reasons why she decided not to press criminal charges that have absolutely nothing to do with the validity of the allegation. Clearly you’ve never been touched inappropriately yourself or have worked with victims of sexual harassment, abuse, or assault before, or you’d probably have a little more insight into the complex psychological responses to different kinds of abuse. You’d probably also not to be so quick to blame the alleged victims in this case.
gslfan19 on October 13 at 1:56 p.m.
No Axe to grind at all just thankful my kids are not exposed to him. You also fail to acknowledge the fact that the reason he was let off by the OSPI was the failure to get testimony from the witness. He was not found innocent. Also why was he written up by the district? You must have helped Cronin with his defense since he blamed not only his accuser but also some other phantom student for smelling of alcohol. But I am sure you are ok with it since 90% of kids lie.
My original comment about this centered around how hard it is for a bad teacher to lose a job. This point still exists. Look at what the district had to go through with this clown and he still has a job. You are correct that the union does not fire/hire it’s members. But it is because of the union contact the district could not terminate him sooner. The union does not fire/hire but they sure do their best to protect him. I guess you just have to show up and work your 7:30-3 shift and only be sober some of the time. And if you show up drunk or high it’s OK because the union will get you treatment because you are disabled. How did the unions treatment work for Cronin? Maybe his time in jail will go towards his pension.
And no I am not anti-union having worked for two different unions during and after college. This is a bad guy who is hiding behind a union, working the system and giving all teachers a bad name. The staff at U-Hi knows about this and other issues, but they can’t do anything for fear of getting on the wrong side of the union (which I may guess could be the reason the other teacher did not pursue charges). It is the bad teachers that drag down the good ones. And the union is responsible for these issues.
The_Seer on October 14 at 8:53 a.m.
The “union” is not responsible for “these issues.” The administrators at the school and district level are. Our education association has bargained in good faith to provide our members with due process as guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. Now that Cronin has been convicted and received a lengthy sentence he will be terminated for misconduct. Whether you like it or not, that’s how it works and it is not the fault of the union because that is what unions are for: Negotiating workplace conditions and rules for their membership.
I’ll trust the word of one of my fellow professionals any day over the word of a teenager. Anyone who believes differently is foolish.
The detective who spoke to our classroom didn’t use Power Point for his presentation. He was the lead detective for investigating sexual abuse/harrassment claims made by children in the Seattle P.D. for nearly fifteen years. His department compiled the data independent of any involvement with OSPI. The main point I received from his lecture was to just never place yourself in a situation where a student can fabricate charges against you. Don’t ever touch them, even handshakes and certainly don’t ever be alone with them in any setting.
It is simply ridiculous to claim the teacher who was allegedly touched improperly didn’t pursue charges because she was afraid of union repercussions. The education association would have supported her to the nth degree. Her failure to follow through after staining the name of one of her fellow professionals is what she should worry about and rightly so. The district reprimanded the teacher because they were covering their arses and accumulating material that can later be used in Cronin’s termination process.
Evenstar on October 14 at 1:47 p.m.
I don’t think either myself or even gslfan asserted that she didn’t press charges because of fear of union repercussions. As I understand, the alleged victim is a staff member, not necessarily a teacher, and so it’s entirely possible that two separate unions would be involved. Regardless, I can think of numerous professional reasons an individual would choose not to press charges. Especially if they had unsupportive coworkers like you who would be so quick to accuse them of lying.
As for me, I’ll take the words of two unconnected females at U-High, numerous students and staff members who can attest to Cronin’s behavior in the classroom, at least one complaint (that I know of) to administrators by a mother regarding Cronin’s behavior towards her daughter, etc. over the words of a “professional” with numerous arrests, at least protective order filed against him, and now a criminal conviction.
The_Seer on October 14 at 1:58 p.m.
Anyone can file a protective order. Did the judge grant the order? Be honest, evenstar.
Where were these “numerous students and staff members” when OSPI conducted their investigation? Did they also decide to change their story once they knew they’d be placed under oath and charged with perjury should they chose to lie? That’s what happened with the female staff member. She was all set to give her version of the events and when notified that her statement would be sworn she declined to talk. To me, that says loads about her character and what she was going to report.
Everything that’s has happened to Cronin is his own fault. Yet it is nonsensical to claim he ever received preferential treatment simply because he is a member of the teacher’s union.
valleyman on October 14 at 1:59 p.m.
@the_seer: The fact you “teach” any of our young people when you hold the radical ideas you do about our country and history further proves to me our educational system isn’t about teaching anymore, it’s about creating the future 99%ers…
Evenstar on October 14 at 5:04 p.m.
Well, the students I personally know are no longer students at U-High and like me, probably had no idea that the OSPI was conducting an investigation until Saturday when the article ran.
“Court records also show that three women have received restraining orders against Cronin, saying he repeatedly harassed them after they had broken off dating relationships. One of the restraining orders was granted shortly after Cronin was put on paid administrative leave in January 2009 while the district investigated allegations of Cronin’s behavior on the job.”
The following is from a 2009 article in the SR. I was able to confirm one of them in a 30-second search of the Washington Courts website.
Honestly, I think I’m less disturbed about Cronin than I am about teachers like you who still have jobs working with our kids, given the opinions you’ve voiced on our youth. What if one of your students trusted you enough to come forward with allegations against a colleague? Are you going to tell them flat out that they’re a lying teenager and not believe them? I understand that it can’t be easy to be a teacher in today’s world and it’s hard to stay positive, but perhaps you should take your cynicism and disdain for our students to a different profession. We need quality teachers who believe in our children and want to help them succeed, not teachers who believe that our children are hopeless liars.
gslfan19 on October 15 at 9:35 a.m.
SEER you feel that the employee stained Cronin’s reputation by making these allegations. Maybe she did and the administration told her they would investigate and left it at that. . Read the paper today, yet another complaint and it stopped at the administration of the school. If this is proven true, it is time for people to be removed from their jobs. The actions of Cronin and idiots like yourself have ruined the teaching profession and turned it into a haven of incompetence.
Cronin became a teacher because he was a drunk who was going to lose is license to practice law. Seer what drove you to being a teacher, especially since you appear to hate kids? Keep defending your pal, maybe you can get together and have a few cold ones before he goes on his vacation.