Learning about Mexican culture and history is entirely appropriate in a Spanish language class because it offers context and because Mexicans are going to be the majority of Spanish speakers that an American student will encounter. A little bit of culture ain't gonna kill them.
I'm not sure I totally agree. The student obviously took exception, and she seems pretty astute.
She also lives there, and is thus likely more sensitive to the regionally associated hot-button issues there like illegal immigration and both liberal and conservative incitings.
A similar Bosnia, Serbia, etc. situation in Eastern Europe a decade or so ago, well, "ain't gonna kill them" is a bit insensitive, being an outsider's view of someone else's insides.
Pledging allegiance to a foreign nation inside our schools that have been paid for with our money, however, is completely inappropriate and the teacher should be reprimanded.
Interesting perspective, one worth considering.
Is it the "recitation", the "foreign pledge" or the inappropriate use of your "money" that bothers you most?
However, the article also notes that the teacher offered an alternative assignment-- a report on the Mexican revolution-- that was entirely appropriate and which the student likewise refused to participate in. Her poor grade is a proper reflection of her refusal to participate in class, and should stand.
A report on the Mexican revolution obviously is far more work than merely reciting the Mexican pledge of allegiance. Better and more equal would have been to simply recite something other than the pledge but that is also topically appropriate.
It thus appears that the teacher was responding punitively. Maybe the teacher didn't like being implicitly called on the teacher's own bias on the regional hot-button issue. Maybe the teacher was angry for being innocent and falsely accused. Maybe the teacher was embarrassed for not being more sensitive to the "reciting", "foreign pledge", and "money", and was irritated that a mere student would dare to call the teacher on the matter.
Regardless, it is apparent that, by virtue of the substitute assignment being more difficult, that the teacher did not take the matter as well as the teacher might have.
The student appears to have valid grounds for refusing to do the substitue assignment.
I would enjoy getting more facts in the matter before passing too much judgment, though.