ALBANY -- Two teachers at Achievement Academy charter school in Albany say they were out the door after they discovered a hidden camera in the classroom. School officials say videotaping lessons is a way to help teachers improve, and there was nothing hidden about it.

Ryan Marie Roberts, a new teacher at Achievement Academy, said she was fired two days after a student called her attention to a red light in the back of the room, and she found a camera with a sweater draped over it. Another teacher, Carol Connelly, said her students found a similar camera under a sweater last week. Connelly says she quit that day, in part, because of the camera.

School officials say videotaping classroom lessons is a way to help students, by helping teachers improve. They also say that the the teachers were told about it. 

"You can see how you're actually interacting with the students. It gives you an opportunity to sit with the instructional leader of the school and review what you're doing in the classroom. Let's go to the videotape. Let's see how that lesson went. Here are the opportunities to improve” said Chris Bender, the board chairman of Achievement Academy. “The entire staff knew that the tapings were to begin. They're done out in the open in the classroom. There's nothing secret about it."

Attorney Paul Derohannesian was asked if there are any legal issues involved in recording a classroom, with or without the teacher's consent.

"In a school situation, you want to ask: is there any expectation of privacy?  Now there might be an expectation of privacy in the restroom. But the classroom itself probably doesn't have an expectation of privacy. That's why there is probably little legal issue in a recording in a classroom setting" said Derohannesian.

Roberts did not want to speak further until she talked to her lawyer. Connelly was out of town and unavailable for futher comment.

The New York State United Teachers union, which does not represent teachers at Achievement Academy, says taping classes can have value, but the teacher needs to be aware and it should be used constructively.

Roberts did not want to speak further until she talked to her lawyer. Connelly was out of town and unavailable for futher comment.

Courtesy WNYT-TV/NBC News