A sad end
I too am a school teacher. Until very recently, teachers were told not to confront parents, fellow faculty members, etc., they suspected of abuse or neglect. Protocol dictated that if you suspected someone of these transgressions, they should be reported to your supervisor (principle, dean, etc.). That person was to act on that information by taking it to people who make decisions about hiring and firing and who have access to the legal machinery of the institution. This policy was instituted to protect teachers and others from legal action resulting from what might turn out to be false accusations. This is exactly what Paterno did.
Where he failed was in not questioning why Sandusky was still on the sideline with him after he had reported what he knew to his superiors. It's very hard to believe that his actions in what would become a national scandal ended there. Was there no follow up? Didn't anybody get back to him to let him know what any type of investigation determined? Was there even an investigation? Regardless of what his superiors did or didn't do, Paterno had the ultimate responsibility for his program and his staff, and even if Paterno thought a hint of what Sandusky was accused of might be true, Sandusky should have been fired. That was Paterno's failing and his downfall.
Shakespeare, speaking through Mark Anthony in "Julius Caesar" wrote: "The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones."
Unfortunately, he could have been writing about Joe Paterno.
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