He began in Illinois and ended at a Tennessee middle school, where he was making about $60,000 a year. A typical class involved about 10 minutes of instruction, he said, "and the rest of the time putting out behavioral fires." On two occasions, students threw scissors at Staley's head. One male student pushed a classmate through a glass window, stabbed a teacher with a pencil, and made death threats against a sixth-grade girl. The boy was issued in-school suspension, but administrators never considered stronger sanctions because he had a learning disability and the school feared civil rights implications, Staley said.