Letter of rec question for troublesome student

[Kron3007]

Awright, some of the stuff the OP has described do seem very problematic for being a teacher.  I am assuming that in fact the OP has actually heard the kid say these problematic things, or seen him put such views in writing.  It would not be acceptable to take the word of some (almost certainly female) student who said she had heard him say these things. 

And now, well, ahem, to the teacher training program.  Like it or not, k12 ed in this country, esp public k12 ed, has become an overwhelmingly female dominated profession, and many of the women in it are less than fond of, well, traditional American masculinity, some even more or less hate men/ boys, or at least view femininity as superior to masculinity.  Overt prejudice against men/  male teaching applicants is common, though not thankfully as common as it is in American librarianship.

You sound like the student requesting the LOR...

[apl68]

I can't speak to attitudes toward men in the K-12 teaching profession, but I've not found prejudice against men too pervasive in the library field.  I've seen a little of it here and there, especially in children's services.  But not all that much.  The primary prejudice I've seen male librarians working in children's/youth services have to deal with comes from members of the public, who sometimes look with suspicion upon men who work with children.  Male librarians in children's/youth services tend not to last too long due to such issues.  But it's only secondarily a problem with colleagues.

[fizzycist]

I didn't read the entire thread, but I would just tell them no.

Writing letters of recommendation is actually not part of my job description; I write them as a favor and decline if I can't recommend them for the job.

That said, I almost always say yes because  I am happy to help the vast majority of my students.

OP's student sounds like a rare no. Their academic achievement is already reflected in their transcript and all the extra stuff you would add would be negative.

[artalot]

I do want to say that maintaining a good working relationship with the school/school system is important. Jerseyjay mentioned something about it up thread. In my experience, if I recommend someone wholeheartedly who doesn't work out, I'm less likely to be successful the next time. You don't want to burn all other applicants trying to give someone a supposedly 'fair shot' when it sounds like you know he don't make a good teacher. You are being asked to evaluate him, and your evaluation is that teaching is not right profession for him.