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Teacher loses job over fund raiser idea for TM

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joko104

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Teacher says lesson on Travyon Martin investigation cost her her job

Students wanted to do a fundraiser for TM - that if a student paid $1 the student could wear a hoodie to school rather than the school uniform. The teacher, twice teacher of the year - an English teacher - took it to school administration. They said no and then fired her over it claiming she instigated it. She says it was all the students' idea. Not sure how this topic would be a school topic in an English class.

Whatjathink?
 
joko104 said:
Teacher says lesson on Travyon Martin investigation cost her her job

Students wanted to do a fundraiser for TM - that if a student paid $1 the student could wear a hoodie to school rather than the school uniform. The teacher, twice teacher of the year - an English teacher - took it to school administration. They said no and then fired her over it claiming she instigated it. She says it was all the students' idea. Not sure how this topic would be a school topic in an English class.

Whatjathink?
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Too little details to form an opinion.
 
joko104 said:
Teacher says lesson on Travyon Martin investigation cost her her job

Students wanted to do a fundraiser for TM - that if a student paid $1 the student could wear a hoodie to school rather than the school uniform. The teacher, twice teacher of the year - an English teacher - took it to school administration. They said no and then fired her over it claiming she instigated it. She says it was all the students' idea. Not sure how this topic would be a school topic in an English class.

Whatjathink?
Click to expand...

Complete over-reaction. I'm with the teacher -- whether or not the fundraiser was her idea. Teaching about current events...newspaper reporting...editorials...I can definitely see that as part of an English class curriculum. I have no problems with that. If they fired her, there must be more to the story. That's something I learned in English class when it came to newspaper reporting. ;)
 
There are many extenuating circumstances that could be involved here, so it's hard to take a side. All we have heard is the fired teachers version or things and not what the school has to say.

Off the top of my head, there is one thing that bothers me about the teacher endorsing that idea though.

In my opinion, it contradicts in a sense, what children should be taught. The United States justice system is centered around a principal most of us were taught as children, that people are considered "innocent until proven guilty" in America. By endorsing the kids idea, she's telling them that it's ok for them to determine who's guilty and who's innocent without the benifit of a trial. In my view, it's a teachers job to not only teach children that principal from a textbook, but to instill it upon them by example. Raising money for the families of victims is a wonderful thing, but in this case we just don't know as of yet whether TM was the victim, or the perpetrator. So endorsing the kids fund raising idea, tells them it's ok to determine guilt and innocence without the benifit of a trial.


In my opinion, that teacher should have said to her students something like... "Now I know most of you feel that TM was an innocent teenager who was shot and killed for no good reason, and you all would like to raise money for his family... That's a very nice gesture, but let me ask you all something... How do you know TM was innocent in all of this and did nothing wrong? How do you know TM didn't attack and try to kill GZ and was shot in self defense? The fact is, you really don't know what happened that night, so it's wrong for you or anyone else to pass judgment until there's been a trial in a court of law. In America, everyone, including GZ, is considered "innocent until proven guilty"... So you might want to wait until after the trial, when you have all the facts about what happened that night, before deciding whether or not to raise money for TM."

Don't get me wrong... Even though I feel the teacher should have done things that way, I don't believe she should have been fired because she didn't.
 
MaggieD said:
Complete over-reaction. I'm with the teacher -- whether or not the fundraiser was her idea. Teaching about current events...newspaper reporting...editorials...I can definitely see that as part of an English class curriculum. I have no problems with that. If they fired her, there must be more to the story. That's something I learned in English class when it came to newspaper reporting. ;)
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She came to ask the administrators to allow children to abrogate the rules of their own charter school for a dollar.

I''d fire her for being stupid enough to even ask the question. It has nothing to do about "current events".
 
This was stupid, but it wasn't termination stupid.
 
Viktyr Korimir said:
This was stupid, but it wasn't termination stupid.
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I agree, unless there is more to it.

It isn't the fund raiser topic I suspect, but the "wearing hoodies" as a protest express for paying $1 (which is nothing of course) in a school that has a uniform dress code. What was the teacher doing carrying that desire to eliminate the dress code rules specifically and only to wear hoodies?

The kids could have gone and asked anyway, but the teacher as their spokesperson? No.
 
I don't think a Teacher Of The Year should have been fired for suggesting something to the administration....but....if the school has a violence problem that racial tensions could aggravate, I can understand administrators saying "no".

Not "you're fired". Just "no".
 
Pinkie said:
I don't think a Teacher Of The Year should have been fired for suggesting something to the administration....but....if the school has a violence problem that racial tensions could aggravate, I can understand administrators saying "no".

Not "you're fired". Just "no".
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The idea was abysmally stupid on multiple levels, but good people make mistakes-- it would have made a lot more sense to simply point out all of the various reasons that this 'fundraiser' would be grossly inappropriate and detrimental to the school's function. Costs a lot of money to replace a teacher, and replacing a good teacher with a pig in a poke just strikes me as cavalier.
 
Viktyr Korimir said:
The idea was abysmally stupid on multiple levels, but good people make mistakes-- it would have made a lot more sense to simply point out all of the various reasons that this 'fundraiser' would be grossly inappropriate and detrimental to the school's function. Costs a lot of money to replace a teacher, and replacing a good teacher with a pig in a poke just strikes me as cavalier.
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I'd "like" this post, if the system allowed me to.
 
should have been an option so it wasn't so one sided
for the same dollar, the students could be like zimmerman and bring a hand gun to school
 
joko104 said:
I agree, unless there is more to it.

It isn't the fund raiser topic I suspect, but the "wearing hoodies" as a protest express for paying $1 (which is nothing of course) in a school that has a uniform dress code. What was the teacher doing carrying that desire to eliminate the dress code rules specifically and only to wear hoodies?

The kids could have gone and asked anyway, but the teacher as their spokesperson? No.
Click to expand...

From the facts we have, I think she should NOT have been terminated and I think the idea was a splendid one.

Here's why..The children would have learned a valuable lesson in civic participation.

They do have the right to an opinion.. if they behave peacefully.
 
sharon said:
Here's why..The children would have learned a valuable lesson in civic participation.

They do have the right to an opinion.. if they behave peacefully.
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They have the right to their opinion, and to express that opinion in an appropriate time, place, and fashion. Allowing them to engage in acts of political protest within the school itself is none of these; it disrupts the educational process and lays the groundwork for further disruptions down the line.

And you'll notice that they were only being offered the chance to express one side of the argument. Where's the fundraiser to support Mr. Zimmerman? It isn't much of a lesson in civic participation when their side is already chosen for them and they're not being encouraged to think about their opinions before expressing them.
 
Viktyr Korimir said:
They have the right to their opinion, and to express that opinion in an appropriate time, place, and fashion. Allowing them to engage in acts of political protest within the school itself is none of these; it disrupts the educational process and lays the groundwork for further disruptions down the line.

And you'll notice that they were only being offered the chance to express one side of the argument. Where's the fundraiser to support Mr. Zimmerman? It isn't much of a lesson in civic participation when their side is already chosen for them and they're not being encouraged to think about their opinions before expressing them.
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For children to express empathy for a dead teen-ager may have had profound positive effect.

I was in Europe when Kennedy was shot... in school... and I have never forgotten the response of the Swiss and their treatment of Americans.
 
Pinkie said:
I'd "like" this post, if the system allowed me to.
Click to expand...

I did it for you (and myself).
Sometimes the system won't let me post a like and it is annoying when that happens.
 
sharon said:
From the facts we have, I think she should NOT have been terminated and I think the idea was a splendid one.

Here's why..The children would have learned a valuable lesson in civic participation.

They do have the right to an opinion.. if they behave peacefully.
Click to expand...

Would you say the same thing if those kids decided to sell tee shirts saying "I support the second ammendment" to raise money for George Zimmerman's legal defense?
 
sharon said:
For children to express empathy for a dead teen-ager may have had profound positive effect.

I was in Europe when Kennedy was shot... in school... and I have never forgotten the response of the Swiss and their treatment of Americans.
Click to expand...

You are comparing Trayvon Martin to JFK?:doh

IF the defense is correct and TM did violently assault GZ for which GZ was acting in self defense, it would be totally outrageous for the school to break the dress code to allow students to wear hoodies!! in support of the violent assailant - and, of course, to otherwise continue banning students using dress to support or oppose any other issue they may care about.

Even without that, TM was NOT a teenager that other teens should try to mirror image. He was on his 3rd suspension from school, caught with a pot back in school and school vandalism - for which of ALL the victims of crime HE is who they show empathy for with the school's unique exception to allow? MLK Jr T-shirts are out, but TM hoodies are in? Absurd.

That is not to even consider the potential violence against students who refused to wear hoodies. The idea was so absurd the reasons against it are too long to list.

This also again shows how much your hatred of GZ and evolved worship of TM has become.
 
Grim17 said:
Would you say the same thing if those kids decided to sell tee shirts saying "I support the second ammendment" to raise money for George Zimmerman's legal defense?
Click to expand...

Yet another to deny the teacher's request: the Zimmerman trial is incendiary.

Still not a good reason to terminate a quality teacher, though.
 
Grim17 said:
Would you say the same thing if those kids decided to sell tee shirts saying "I support the second ammendment" to raise money for George Zimmerman's legal defense?
Click to expand...


Or a T-shirt with a Confederate flag and wearing KKK hoods and white robes? Free speech is free speech once allowed.
 
Grim17 said:
Would you say the same thing if those kids decided to sell tee shirts saying "I support the second ammendment" to raise money for George Zimmerman's legal defense?
Click to expand...

If the class asked for that, yes.. It certinly would be an opportunity for discussion.

But, remember that the NRA has dumped George as an irresponsible gun owner.
 
Pinkie said:
Yet another to deny the teacher's request: the Zimmerman trial is incendiary.

Still not a good reason to terminate a quality teacher, though.
Click to expand...

Unless there is more to it, I completely agree. The worse I could see is a transfer if the teacher started this and her presence meant it would inflame.
 
joko104 said:
You are comparing Trayvon Martin to JFK?:doh

IF the defense is correct and TM did violently assault GZ for which GZ was acting in self defense, it would be totally outrageous for the school to break the dress code to allow students to wear hoodies!! in support of the violent assailant - and, of course, to otherwise continue banning students using dress to support or oppose any other issue they may care about.

Even without that, TM was NOT a teenager that other teens should try to mirror image. He was on his 3rd suspension from school, caught with a pot back in school and school vandalism - for which of ALL the victims of crime HE is who they show empathy for with the school's unique exception to allow? MLK Jr T-shirts are out, but TM hoodies are in? Absurd.

That is not to even consider the potential violence against students who refused to wear hoodies. The idea was so absurd the reasons against it are too long to list.

This also again shows how much your hatred of GZ and evolved worship of TM has become.
Click to expand...

I am speaking of developing a civic conscience.
 
joko104 said:
Or a T-shirt with a Confederate flag and wearing KKK hoods and white robes? Free speech is free speech once allowed.
Click to expand...

WTF are you talking about? Oh, I get it... If you support Zimmerman, you must be a racist.

Nice.
 
sharon said:
I am speaking of developing a civic conscience.
Click to expand...

Even if I believed this was a proper use of the public schools, there are plenty of dead teenagers to mourn without choosing one that has become a lightning rod for racial tension.

What high school hasn't lost a kid to a car crash? A dread disease? In the military?
 
justabubba said:
should have been an option so it wasn't so one sided
for the same dollar, the students could be like zimmerman and bring a hand gun to school
Click to expand...


Or for a dollar the girls wear a burka to protest treatment of women by many Muslim theocracies.

Or dress and makeup like vampires to protest the portrayal of vampires in movies.

Its a school. Not a political media event platform. Nor a circus.
 
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