A Central California school district has allowed a high school newspaper to publish a profile of an 18-year-old student who works in the porn industry earning as much as $475 in three hours from selling nude images.
The Lodi Unified School District didn't stop the story from running Friday in the Bear Creek High School paper, The Bruin Voice, where Caitlin Fink says the only hard things since leaving home after a fallout and moving in with her friend's parents on New Years' Eve is earning enough money.
'I used to sell my content first before receiving any sort of payment, and when I asked for the payment, [buyers would] save my content and block me,' Fink said in the article Friday. 'I've also had to put my name on pictures sometimes because people would try and sell them, claiming them as theirs.'
Lodi Unified School District didn't stop a story about Bear Creek High School student Caitlin Fink's porn career from running Friday in The Bruin Voice
Lawyer who represents teacher Kathi Duffel and student writer Bailey Kirkeby concluded that the story didn't violate education codes
The paper's adviser, English teacher Kathi Duffel, had accused district officials of censorship after they demanded to review and approve the article before publication.
In an April 11 letter, district Superintendent Cathy Nichols-Washer warned of possible discipline, 'up to and including dismissal' if she refused.
Duffel refused on free speech grounds, and officials in the San Joaquin Valley district, which has about 31,500 students, agreed to let an attorney review the story.
Matthew Cate, who represents Duffel and the student who wrote the article, concluded that the story didn't violate education codes.
A lawyer for the district, Paul Gant, wrote to Cate Wednesday to say the district wouldn't prevent publication of the story. But Gant also called Duffel insubordinate for refusing to submit the article for review, and said, 'There is no question that the article could be lawfully reviewed or censored,' the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Duffel refused to let district review story she oversaw before its publication
The district warned of possible discipline 'up to and including dismissal' for refusal
California English teacher, Kathi Duffel (pictured), could lose her job after overseeing a high school newspaper story about senior, Caitlin Fink, 18, who is working in the porn industry
'Because the district has been denied an opportunity to preview the article, the district does not endorse it,' the district said in a statement. 'Because we are charged with the education and care of our community's children, we will always be diligent in our efforts to provide a safe learning environment for all students, while complying with our obligations under the law.'
The Bruin Voice tweeted Thursday that Duffell said: 'This is a whole new level of district administrators who have lost their minds, quite frankly.'
Duffel, who has taught English for 33 years in the Lodi School District, believed that Fink should be able to tell her own story.
Fink says in the piece: 'When I first started selling, it was just for money. But then I liked
