Story: Teacher banned for using 'Freedom Writers' book
Here are the facts: 149 out of 150 parents signed a permission slip to have the book taught. The administration, however, feels that inspiring inner-city kids to achieve goals is not high on the priority list. They would rather prove a point by letting teachers know who is really in charge. Oh, and here's a little irony for you- the book is in the schools library!
Teacher banned for using 'Freedom Writers' book
Smells Like: 1st amendment, books, expression, Indiana, inspiration, teachers
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This is crazy! All of her students say she was one of the best teachers.
The correct approach would be for the parents to have convinced the school board to let her use the book. Instead, she defied the bosses--we can't condone that. The ends do *not* justify the means.
But do we think that a year and half suspension is too much? If students get disciplined for doing something they're told not to, it's usually a couple days suspension depending on the severity of it.
How long would it have taken to get the book approved by the administration? It would have simply been dragged on endlessly. If the book is suitable enough to be place in the school’s library where unsupervised children can check it out at their own freedom, there should be no band against children to read a book that was approved by their parents. Furthermore, I do not agree with teachers defying their superiors, but in this case the administration could have handled the situation more intelligently. This brings me to another point, when will teachers be allowed to teach? They are criticized if they teach outside the box and in most cases are coerced to teach towards standardized test.
This woman has shown that she is a very passionate teacher who wanted to do right by her students and to engage them to be better people. It seems to me that she is also standing by her principles.
149/150 parents gave permission to read this book. The parents spoke. The school board should listen.
As a teacher, one should follow the rules. The book and message being put forth is a good one, however, going against an administrator is wrong. Why is it that we as teacher preach to students NOT to break rules, then it becomes OK for adults to do so. I don't think so. If she was this passionate, she should have fought the correct manner, even if it did take years. A good teacher doesn't need a book to make learning fun. She could have incorporated the same concepts to get the message across.
Just another 'glowing example' of why Homeschooling is the only sane and necessary alternative to the socialist 'youth indoctrination camps'(gov. schools) that infest our once fair country. Read 'Dumbing Us Down' by John Taylor Gatto if you need insight into why 'public schools' are nothing more than training grounds for our young to fail in life. Yours In Liberty!
We should teach kids to follow the rules when they make sense and are congruent with their own beliefs. They should break them, and be prepared to deal with the consequences, if they strongly disagree with them.
This teacher set a great example.
Connie! Thank you! Thank You, Thank you, Thank you! You're the kind of teacher more people need!
Regardless of what the local rules say - you knew the big picture! You know that be it at school, or out on their own, these children will one day be subjected to the words and anger presented in the books.
What you've done for them is much bigger though! They are not minors, they are not little children, they are future leaders of this great nation! We are all leaders of this great nation!
The question is when will we as a group ever make the same decision? The answer is never! It's not suppose to be like that! The law is to remain neutral and support all walks of life keeping us ready for change!
Thank you! I know it seems the law is not on your side right now, but just remember the faith in people is worth more than a paycheck! I speak from experience when I was fired from my job in Sacramento, CA for similar reasons...only difference was with change itself.
Love and Peace my friend!
Oh yes, we should all listen to our superiors, they always know what's best for us even when they don't KNOW us. Just like the Nazis who passively obeyed their government. Their parents told them to listen to the government, so they did. Now, schools want us to do the same after the Nazis were such great examples. What about Martin Luther King, how dare he disagree with his authorities, they know better than him cause they are super-humans, right? What about George Washington? Should he have listened to the British and been a good boy and let them control us? Teachers should be able to teach us to obey a rule when it makes sense, not do whatever it said. If someone passed a rule saying we all must wear blue wigs and orange pants on Thursdays, should we obey it and do it despite it's lack of relevance?
This is ridiculous. What if they censored classics like Huckleberry Finn, Native Son, 1984 and/or banned them from being taught on school premises? Why should modern literature be any different?! Imagine if stories like The Color Purple were expurgated and then taught in classrooms, or banned altogether? There would be no lesson learned by the students!
What would happen to the education of future well-rounded citizens? They would lack culture, moral standards, and understanding for their fellow man because they were taught otherwise.
Maybe she could have just recommended it as a good read? But no, she clearly wanted her students to understand and discuss the issues at hand. Education should be left to the teachers, not the administration.
where has common sense gone? If the book is in the library and the parents have no problem with it why is this teacher being suspended for a year and a half? i think i would sue the school board for discrimination. They wouldn't have put a teacher who was a man thru this. This is just stupid.
Welcome to America.
Land of the free. Home of th...ose afraid of books.
She went to the parents - there is no higher authority for a child's learning than a parent. Breaking the rules for the right reasons is better than doing the 'correct' thing.
I think that those freeing slaves illegally and the Founders of America might have something to say about "the ends do *not* justify the means".
Hey Connie, if you need something to do for the next year, feel free to contact DetentionSlip. We'd love to have you write some exclusive stories and be heard by thousands of readers daily!
Funny, I just looked at the school website. They only provide a phone number, no email addresses which is standard for most school websites now.
Remedy..Immediate firing of the administrator who initiated her suspension, and immediate removal of the entire school board.
This is a public school system, and the public is ultimatly in charge.
Connie,
Thank you so much for all you obviously have done for your students. After a year of struggling with a group of middle school students who just didn't care what I tried to teach them, I showed them the Freedom Writers movie and IT REACHED THEM. Truly, this is a worthy resource for the classroom and students can and do relate to it. Your passion should have been rewarded, not punished.
Stay strong and continue to fight! You are an inspiration to me as a teacher.
You all should email the school board president and tell her what you think. Her name is Thompson. Here's her email address.
bjthompson@msdpt.k12.in.us
The teacher my have had a valid reason for teaching the piece of literature- and for not following the rules, but her decision making process needs re-evaluation. By choosing this route she is depriving the students she would have had for the next year and a half of the information and passion she brought to her profession. Instead those students will be taught by a substitute who will struggle to create curriculum and follow the rules in the hopes of obtaining a permanent position in the future. The teacher may have stood up for her beliefs- but in the end she is just depriving other students of learning opportunities- in order for her to make a point about her district's policies.
According to the The Southside Times (www.ss-times.com/archives/562) and The Indianapolis Star (3/27/08, available on NewsBank), Heermann had permission from parents and was negotiating approval with her department chair, principal, district curriculum director, and assistant superintendent. She handed out the books after the district's "initial failure to give...a prompt reply," and was suspended for disobeying "orders to take the books back from students and cancel any assignment." According to The Star's timeline, however, Heerman told students twice about the administrators' orders but students refused to give the books back. The Star also reported (3/12/08) that the school board's attorney had reached a settlement agreement that "would have allowed her to resign rather than be fired" and continue receiving "her salary of $1,032 per week through the end of this school year" but the proposal was cancelled after "Heermann's comments to the media...confirming her decision to accept the deal even before she had told school officials...rubbed board members the wrong way." Interestingly, The Star reported (3/25/08) that "a substitute teacher filling in for her has allowed students the option of using 'The Freedom Writers Diary'...this time, with administrators' consent." A board member said: "I'm very happy we have 10 copies [in the school library]...That's not what this (issue) has been about--not about the book, but about following the rules."
The Star also has coverage on a previous incident when this school board put their then-superintendent "on administrative leave in 2006 for alleged insubordination" (6/21/08). Five hundred people packed the meeting room, but the board "voted multiple times not to hear public comment" before deciding to place him on leave. Board Vice President Nancy Walsh said: "'The board has an absolute right to have a superintendent the board trusts'...to jeers from the audience." Superintendent Doug Williams commented, "'I do not think that this represents the wishes of the community,' as much of the audience stood and applauded." Dr. Williams had been named State Superintendent of the Year in 2003 (11/14/06). The district eventually bought out his contact for $470,000 (7/27/07). A federal judge barred VP Walsh "from voting in any actions related to Williams' future with the district because she showed bias toward him." Another board member noted: "the [4-to-3] majority will continue to cause problems within the district...They're very frivolous--they're trivial...We've lost so many administrators, principals, assistant principals. It's just wreaked absolute havoc here" (6/30/07)
This issue is more about power. The board is wrong in their choice of being far too extreme. The teacher perhaps is guilty of little more than not walking the straight line. There are times when one should "break" absurd rules to do the job of teaching.
This is just another wacky example of how messed up the system is. Shame on these board members!
She will go someplace else and teach. It will be the loss of the students thanks to the board. Congratulations to them. Hopefully, the parents will see this and vote them out.
Reminds me of the movie when an administrator wouldn't let the teacher use the Shakespeare books because the kids might damage the books. So the books just sat in storage.
Unreal. The teacher made some excellent points -- not only did this book actually make kids read, which is something that's hard enough to get kids to do, but the "strong language" is how kids talk anyway. Reading it in a book isn't going to make them start swearing -- they already swear up a storm. Who cares?
The school board's rebuttal was absolutely inane. "It sends a message to the kids that if you're told no, do it anyway," she says with smug satisfaction. You know, lady, I'm glad that Dr King, and James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson, and Mohandas Ghandi learned how to stand up for principles even when they were told "no". And there's another guy whose name I forget, but he supposedly lived about two thousand years ago, and had long hair, and also didn't do what people told him to do, so they punished him, too. I think there was a book written about him or something.
But anyway, in the end, that's what school is really about, isn't it? Schools don't want to turn out students who can think. They want students to learn blind obedience to authority, which translates nicely into blind obedience for state and corporation, the machinery that keeps America running.
Just another example of government schools of indoctrination.
People, what is *your* school board doing?
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