US Teacher Is Suspended For Letting Pupils Read Bestseller

I want to thank everyone for their comments regarding the story about my wife, Connie Heermann, and her 18-month suspension for using the Freedom Writers Diary in her classroom...

Connie and I have been in a struggle with the Perry Township School Board since January of this year (she was removed from the classroom last November).

When we began this struggle, we had no idea how it would resonate with the public. Media coverage began with an "above the fold" front-page story on January 22, in the Indianapolis Star. Then all the local newspapers and TV stations covered her removal from the classroom.

Erin Gruwell herself took the red-eye and testified in the second day of the Board hearings. Each day of hearings lasted 6 hours each.

At the outset, we were pretty sure we would lose. The Board attorney, Jon Bailey, had made several disparaging comments before the hearings, including "she will never teach again," "she has zero chance with this board," etc.

But through all this we have felt we have touched a nerve with the public -- not only locally -- but internationally. Connie's harsh suspension has been covered by CNN, Newsweek (Anna Quindlen), The Huffington Post, The L.A. Times, The Guardian (U.K.) and The Telegraph (U.K.), to name a few. But what is most exciting, is the coverage that caring publications like CommonDreams have done. I google "Connie Heermann" several times a day. I see publications/blogs/forums in different languages discussing Connie's plight. News doesn't die today like it did not so long ago: it lives on and gets redistributed by bloggers, etc., via the internet. It is a great mechanism for grassroots movements. It's hard to cover up things anymore, isn't that marvelous?

We are now working with the local teachers union to see if we take the matter to court. The union is now reviewing the case. Nothing much will happen until at least October.

Meanwhile Connie is teaching this fall at a local community college. She is being asked to speak on censorship at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in August.

When all this insanity began my sister said: "something better will become of this." I consider that ironic. Those exact words were spoken by Erin Gruwell in Connie's hearing.

Thanks again.

P.S. Recently Connie was covered by local WISH TV as she was going to California to receive more training from Erin Gruwell. The reporter also interviews the new board president. Instead of commenting on Connie's continued dedication to teaching by attending the workshop, the board president just complains about bad media coverage. I urge you to see it.

http://www.wishtv.com/global/video/popup/pop_player.asp?ClipID1=2708996&...

Tom Heermann
Better known now as "Connie's Husband"
10:24 PM

"No teacher's career should be subject to the whims of local politics which are virtually never driven by concerns for educational quality. -jj"

ridiculous assertion

as is the suggestion that some national head knows best, this is authoritarian myopia.

Nicely put, Lairderg. Honestly, what a crap society and civilization we live in. This is supposed to be the 21st Century and yet we have Dark Ages values and ignorance exhibited at the highest levels and in the most important of institutions. No wonder homeschooling and other independent means of learning are on the rise.

I am an adjunct professor in a community college, and I see the students who come from No Child Left Behind. They cannot read anything but text messaging and comic books, cannot write a proper sentences. The "suburban" ones demand a good grade whether they work for it or not. On the other hand, the "urban" students work hard, despite being put down so long by this f**ked up society. Most of my students are planning to get a degree in business administration to "make lots of money." I try to teach them to write essays that work independent thought into a basic essay with good sentence structure. Most of them make it to English Comp I, but some do not. I'm not blaming the teachers, who, I'm sure, work hard to do more than be atrociously paid babysitters. I'm blaming the indoctrination of our children to be good workers or business owners, but forget about being intelligent, free thinking, creative people. I do battle to free their constricted minds every day. Blessings to all teachers who believe in their students' inherent humanity and creative ability. Blessings to you, Connie Heermann.

I can see another Thomas Frank book coming out. What's the Matter with Indiana? - to go along with his other two - What's the Matter with America? - and What's the Matter with Kansas?

Ain't America great?

Is Barbara Thompson, a bush licker or the bad type of communist? there are 2 types of communisism, one that wants to conquer the world, the BAD one, like W Bush and the GOOD form of communism which is Socialism, that takes care of the people, like China does. I Back Up Heermann the Teacher.

The biggest danger in American public education is the ignorance of the vast majority of the public who went through this public education. Teaching to the lowest common denominator is bearing fruit, and probably has for decades. We, as a society, have become too stupid to recognize an education when it bites us in the butt. The curriculum is a reflection of the fear and ignorance that pervades our society -- and the biggest deterrent to fear is education. Looks like the logical outcome is: "We're screwed."

So there is not going to be a lawsuit? One would think, if that union wasn't totally worthless, they would already be in the process of going through the motions to see what can be done.

What a total waste of an apparently decent teacher, all for retarded pretended morality on the school board. It's about time younger people started running for the school boards of the nation; while I don't know the age of the people on that board, they're certainly older, small town conservatives who frown at the idea of intellectualism. Many great books have "swearing" in them. Who gives a shit? Do these idiots not think those kids probably swear all the time themselves? I've got a ten spot they do. Would they ban her from having her students read 'Of Mice And Men'? That has swearing in it. Does that not teach their standard of "morality"?

I agree with some others, that this is just one more example of why "local control" in education is a bad, bad idea. It smacks of that conservitard favorite "states rights" nonsense, and leads to a gap in quality in education.

*ackhem* excuse me for being so...untactful.

I've been harrassed out of a job over religious differences (my team lead, supervisor, and HER supervisor all went to the same congregation when they found out I was pagan. Suddenly there was an alarming focus on my work errors - no more than they made themselves - and being 1 minute late for lunch here and there, etc.). I quit six months later. Throwing up bile everyday before you go to work is a sign that you are in the wrong job.

Oh yeah, this was under the auspices of SEIU Local 30 in San Diego. They had accountants classified as "data entry" staff and basically collected dues and did whatever management told them. Management says "Fuck you" and they roll over and say "Okay, goodie goodie!"

If unions weren't so toothless these days, everyone would be better off.

So hell yeah I'm bitter on the subject of unions. The most innovative and original people who could really bring change to organizations ARE NEARLY ALWAYS THE FIRST TO GET SNUFFED OUT OF THEIR PROFESSION.

And teachers and education is needed MORE THAN anything else in our nation. We need to reroute about 80% of pentagon money to the educational system and kill No Child Left Behind. Then we'll have a semblance of a chance for equal footing in global politics for the next generation.

I can only hope that we invest in SOCIAL PRIORITIES rather than senseless WARS soon enough to save ourselves.

Someone needs to find out what local chapter of which union is SO FUCKING GONADLESS to not take this to court.

Then we need to have their website, mailing address, and phone number posted so we can all call and tell them that IF THEY DON'T TAKE THIS TO COURT THEN THEY AREN'T WORTH THEIR FUCKING DUES!!!

Yeah, I guess inspiration empowers, and the powers-that-be can't be havin' a bunch of empowered poor kids running around! That would be scaaary. Like, maybe they'll start to see the big picture and find solidarity with others who are disillusioned, disadvantaged, and disenfranchised.

Neanderthals had bigger brains than ours. They may have been 'dumb' in the sense of not having spoken languages (that is recently being argued with the discovery of a hyoid bone in a Neanderthal fossil), but they survived for hundreds of thousands of years so i don't think they were stupid. It is a mystery to me why we are not more interested in these recently disappeared hominoids who were really our closest relatives . . .

'Entrenched Reptiles' would be my choice of describing who is on the school boards, as well as pretty much every other board i can think of . . . anyone who has been a board member has a pretty good idea of the type of people you can expect to meet . . . the board i am on now is presided over by a lonely older single woman who thinks of the board members as her (dysfunctional) surrogate family . . . since this particular board is self-selecting and has not bothered to set any term limits you can imagine what it's like, i am the vocal newbie and they are already trying to run me off so they can go back to sitting around with their collective thumb up their collective you-know-what . . .

Teaching sounds a lot like medicine, you start off with good intentions but then end up sucked in by the system . . . i know a lot of teachers who are bailing for other occupations . . .

Several here have written about the poor state of public education, one even calling public schools "government schools" - Implying a support for privatization of education - or home schooling.

But by doing so, you are falling into exactly the trap the corporate, "libertarian" capitalist right has set for you.

It is a deliberate project of sabotaging the public service by filling it's management with people who are tasked with destroying it. Then once the service is bad enough, people associate it with "big government" and accept privatization. It works the same whether it is a public utility, public transportation, or public education.

Free public education is the fundamental in any democracy. The answer isn't privatization or home schooling, it is taking the schools back from the capitalists and the dumb neanderthals in the school boards.

If there was any justice, the kids in that school would leave and refuse to come back for 18 months. If the school board wanted to know where they were, they could find them at Teacher Heermann's house, getting an education for a change.

Soeharto said: "I think Connie Heermann's using her students as a political football in this way.."
Wow. Someones been hit by one too many footballs...

Insubordination?

Cleic your heels as you obey our commands!

Insubordinate to education is what that so-called "school board" is.

Another one of many little acts. Next come the jackboots.

Lemme guess... the sole dissenter to the book was a Christian, right?
I thought so.

"How come this is a US school, but the issue is reported in a UK newspaper?" There is a great deal about the "US" that is better reported, or simply reported as opposed to ignored, in UK and other foreign presses, than in US papers.

God forbid, any teacher should do more than teach the Bush politics and the party line to her/his students. In conservative America, teachers aren't really permitted to teach-it's all propaganda or out the door they go! It's GOP all the way-and it's their way or the highway. Sad.

What was the problem/reason for objection about the book?
How come this is a US school, but the issue is reported in a UK newspaper?

A case of law being followed minutely but without meaningful justice of any kind.

This seems to be case of a system power play to crush the smallest ounce of insubordination and creativity. If teachers do not have a little latitude in these professional matters, then their is no freedom at all, and such teaching might be a joyless task. If experimentation and variation is not allowed, there is no development or evolution.

The mere fact that a teacher felt the necessity to undertake such boot licking approval outside of the class room situation, to introduce worthy and uplifting material speaks volumes about a intolerant and overly rigid and authoritarian supervision of education.

The by-laws used here are are far too rigid. If no one is allowed to bend restrictions and take small liberties with instructions under advisement without fear of career retribution, then both US education and society are due to break and shatter.

Sticking to the truth when confronted with power is the most courageous thing one can do (when the power insists you do otherwise).

For her insurbodination, she should receive a medal, and she should be used as an example for others to follow.

Who am I kidding, things don't work like that anymore, right?

Makes sense. If students read about freedom, first thing you know, they'll all want some.

Oh, so many stories I could tell about working in the hallowed halls of public education. My husband as well. Some really really good folks that dig kids knocking themselves out in those tight ass places. Reminds me of the end of the year, same year I picketed against the war in Iraq, that I had two flat tires when I went to get in my car or how about when I resigned rather than be fired for trumped up crap.
Oh yes, they can do whatever they please to you. Being a public school teacher/employee is like sizzling in a frying pan on low heat.
The good ones aught to be sainted.

Soeharto:

How is stimulating students to learn using them as political footballs?

You are so right though! Under McCain Ms. Heermann likely would be jailed for subversive activities.

A dolt like you would fit well on the Perry Township school board!

I smell politics. Someone laid in the weeds and complained after the school year was well under way to make a big splash. I actually believe in parental control of the school and any parent that wanted to keep this away from their kid should be able to do so.

The teacher took great pains to get clearance and should not be severely punished if at all. The administration should be reprimanded for not notifying the parents of all curriculum prior to the school year. The administration is at fault here and are covering their highly paid asses with a UNION teacher.

With McSame as President we can look forward to his appointing a couple of "real conservative" judges to
the Supreme Court. Then we can look forward to having our reading material selected for us by some old perverted Republicans and approved by that court. If anyone thinks they have problems with closed minded people in Indiana, they should live in Texas.

Hey off22 - awesome book!

I assume you already know about Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States"? If you don't, check that one out too!

I tip my hat to all you subversive teachers!

I think Connie Heermann's using her students as a political football in this way would be less likely under a McCain administration than an Hussein Obama one.

Thank goodness we live in a "free" country, huh? Nudge nudge wink wink.

Why is failure an option for our kids? Because some want it to be so. What other reasonable explanation can there be for allowing a single board member voice his or her displeasure and then having the "weight" to convince 6 other miscreants on the board that he/she is right and the book shouldn't be used.

Education, the public variety at least, in America is doomed.

I regularly go against the grain and speak truth to the principal's power. He can't do anything about it. But when he gives a directive you must comply or they can get you for insubordination. It's better to find a way of complying but still be a thorn in the side.

If a violation of the teachers' contract is committed then you can file a grievance. In my district insubordination is grounds for termination so better not go there or you'll get permanently neutralized. Better to lose a battle but live to fight again than go down for good.

Sounds like she did it but she can still make a good case in court because it sounds like McCarthyism.

Why aren't there 18 and 19-year olds on these school boards, if it's just a matter of getting elected?

Gather all the people in Perry, Indiana in a single place. Ensure that they have brought their checkbooks. Each person to empty one bank account and give the proceeds to the good teacher.

Irma and GKL, Thanks. I too loved "Teaching as a Subversive Activity."

I'm not pushing an ideology, but teachers are not in the army. One shouldn't be "punished" for "insubordination."

I speak as one who has spent a lifetime in schools
as either student, teacher, or administrator.

I think a teacher should be given the syllabus on the things a student should learn in his/her class and the time to teach them free from micro management.

Another sad day in America's Institutional Learning Facilities!

Let Ms. Barbara Thompson know how you may feel about this decision to suspend a teacher for teaching.

Barbara Thompson Contact Information:
227 Huddleston Dr. South
Indianapolis, IN 46217
Phone: 317-888-0073
E-mail: bjthompson@msdpt.k12.in.us

"In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made School Boards."

- Following the Equator; Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar
by Mark Twain

The hidden curriculum is always indoctrination and conformism. When people begin to think the kingdom of the crooks begins to fall.

bizona July 3rd, 2008 4:23 pm

"Is our children learning?"

Are they?

When I was a beginning teacher and taking grad classes at night, a linguistis prof introduced me to Noam Chomsky and Neil Postman. I think that Postman's TEACHING AS A SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITY was the most influential book of my career. (I did get punished for it too!) So you active teachers out there, keep up the good work. You are the real heros in the fight against Holy Ignorance!

Seems to me that this teacher has been handed a rare opportunity.

She has been shown that public education is about the dumbing down of the sheeple by a constant barrage of left brain indoctrination. Including "higher education".

Teacher pounds information into students head.

Student is tested to insure that information stuck.

If info. stuck student becomes teacher or leader in dumbed down society.

Repeat proccess.

DO NOT USE THE CREATIVE SIDE OF YOUR BRAIN .

IT MAY SET YOU FREE FROM THE BULLSHIT.

So to the teacher in question I say run away as fast as you can and become a true teacher .One that helps others to learn their potential.

The problem is not local school boards, and schools should be able to evaluate teaching materials. The real problem is A SINGLE ZEALOUS MEMBER who cannot see the value in the materials simply because they can't relate to the material. One zealous member convinced the rest of the board that these materials were objectionable to that member and therefore should be banned.

The problem is that the teacher was never given the access to pleas her case before this board. They never gave the materials or the teacher a hearing. Especially after all the parents have given their permission.

I've taught this material in the past, and without exception, it engages at risk students unlike anything else I've seen with the possible exception of The Diary of Anne Frank.

Yes, this teacher should get full backing of her union, but she may be forced to relocate to another district eventually.

Just wait until I start teaching James Loewen's "Lies My Teacher Told Me". I can't wait to get fired.

Wise comment, irma.

Insubordination is a vague term that can be applied to any resistance to orders, legal or illegal, moral or immoral, sensible or silly, reasoned or arbitrary. The charge of insubordination should be used sparingly if ever.

The teacher is a trained professional who obviously thinks and cares about her students. She chose a book that she thought would serve the purposes of developing literacy and developing the students as people.

The union should back this teacher up. (I know, a preposition at the end of the sentence.)

Is book burninng the next "logical" step for the stamper-outers of free expression? Isn't there great benefit from learning from one's peers? One has to wonder if these Board Member's and their spokerperson are trying to keep their children from hearing words they probably already use when gathered together amongst themselves. Certainly these kids have heard the language before.

By the way, an act of "subordination", you will find, has a whole different meaning than the one applied by the Board Members. Hopefully the Union will serve that spokerperson and the Board a good lesson in that definition. In the meantime one has to wonder at their (the Board's) response to a tenured teacher with 27 years of service. Surely this community can elect better representaion than what they presently have.

It's because the idiots are running things in this country, and they want us all to be as stupid as they are. My father was a Republican misogynist and never attended college because there wasn't the money. Then he actively stood in my way to attend college because he couldn't stand the thought of his daughter being more educated than he was. That kind of backward thinking is sick and demented.

It's about time we pull the idiots up by their extra-long boot straps and tell them we're not gonna take it anymore. We're going to read what we want when we want it and they can stay stupid.

Kudos to this teacher for wanting to better the chances in life for her students. She should be given an award instead of a suspension.

This is what happens when small minded people are given a bit of power. It would be funny if it wasn't so scary that these small people who probably haven't even read the book decide to ban it and then blame the teacher.

I think the school board should be removed and a new board set up. I find a huge lack of confidence in a group of six who allowed ONE person to persuade them to go against their own beliefs. Parents & educators in this school system should be raising their own voices in support of this teacher and against a whimpy school board who could not find within themselves to stand on their own convictions and instead capitulated to one lone board member. The school board itself was and is insubordinate to the needs of it's students and it's educators......fire em all and get those on "board" who can be strong leaders who truely care about the students and their educators.

Well, this IS Indiana we're talking about. So we can be outraged--but not surprised.

Amazing... The teacher's union has to take time to "decide" whether to pursue this in court. One thing that should be universal in all of our nations schools, pubic and private, is teaching the Bill of Rights. I only went to public school and there was only a brief overview of the entire Constitution and scant attention to the amendments, Bill included. How can the powers that we "elect" expect to encourage REAL patriotism when they themselves don't much about the founding documents of our country? Real patriotism, for this country, is about questioning authority. The teacher did the right thing in going forward with the book and the fact that the "union" behind didn't immediately jump to her defense and immediately file court papers says a lot about what pathetic sheep We the People have become.

I support subversive teaching. The trick is to do it without being noticed. Always appear to be teaching the curriculum, and make sure you can support everything you do by citing specific objectives.

My comments are based on 22 years of teaching English in an Oklahoma high school.

I don't know if it is true today. I graduated from high school in 1947. But in those days the Blacks in my school were adamant that Huckleberry Finn was a racist book that belittled Blacks and they avoided it like the plague. I don't know if they still do, but reasonably well-read people understand that Mark Twain's masterpiece was a complete put-down of the American Whites' prejudices against Blacks, exactly the opposite of the general Black feeling.

School Superintendents and Board Members are good at taking the bulk of the money available for employment in their school districts. The teachers, the ones in whose custody we place our children, are poorly paid, poorly treated and tortured by having to listen to the drivel put out by the "leaders."

This is simply another case of Ignorance over Learning. Most of our schools won't let the students learn. Too bad.

And too bad Mark Twain isn't here to write a book about the stupid shit-heads. But then, they wouldn't read it anyway. It would have words with more than five letters in them.

Simple minded self serving busy-bodies, the same morons who wave the flag for an illegal war in Iraq, and give willing assent to the war on drugs and the building of more prisons. Yuck! This culture thrives on ignorance and enemies. Yuck!

sizzling logic

A) the book is not banned
B) the charge is insubordination (teaching the book)

see A)

the Board isn't fooling anybody

As a beginner, teaching college-bound high school seniors in Florida many years ago, I included LADY CHATTERLY'S LOVER on a list of recommended books--not required. The local paper "found out" and ran a strong editorial condemning the book and me. But I wasn't suspended or fired, even though I did not have tenure. I was asked to write an explanation of why I had LADY CHATTERLY on the list; I did. Copies went to the board, the principal, and the paper that day. I heard no more of it.

But I must add, even though the principal whom I deeply respected was himself caught in accusations, I have to assume, though he never told me, that he was the one who persuaded the others that I was not a pervert, trying to push "dirty" books on innocent youngster.

As a matter of fact, in spite of the nasty publicity, most of my students did read the book, and exclaimed that it should have been required after all.

There must be a message in this for those who want to protect our students from the tree of knowledge--which most of them know about anyway. But for educational "leaders," principals, superintendents, and school boards to savage a teacher, with lengthy experience in the classroom who probably knows a lot more about learning than they do!...

TAKE IT TO COURT! What should they be reading---"My Pet Goat"?

I'd rather my kid learn English from a book with a few bad words than by listening to some of our public officials.

Is our children learning?

I always find it ironic when schools try to censor 'bad language'. Yet, they don't care when students go home and hear more cussing from their own parents than they'll ever read in a single book.

First of all I disagree that Catholic schools are better than public schools. I have attended both and found much more open-mindedness in public schools.

On the other hand, NativeSon's observation that sometimes Catholic schools are paradoxically less-repressive for a different set of political standards.

Sure the Catholic church is repressive but it's CLASS INTERESTS are nto the same as the government's.

Excuse me please, a sore finger made me do it----
that should read above---Dumb as a door KNOB.

Thanks

Unfortunately the Teacher in this story was controlled by a "conservative education bloc" where the Tax payers money is used to promote the same faulty approach that has made the American people some of the most ignorant people of power ------in history.

Had she been better represented by her "union" she would have either been prepared for a conflict or prepared to pass off the conflict to other better organized "Union" teacher representatives. She is a member of a Teachers Union that no matter how powerful, is not allowed to follow directions from anyone other that the school board----all of which are elected officials---beholden to the "voters", who most often are under educated themselves ..........
Her Union could have been prepared to take the system to task. Instead under the Bush administration's (and the voters on a National level) "No Child Left Behind" program------those teachers , Union members, are forced to spend an inordinate amount of time preparing students to take tests, the material of which is comprised by very few educators, and provided by "friends and associates of the Bushs" for millions of tax payer $$$$$$$$(don't take my word for it---research it yourself).
The "education system" has always been under the control of the politicos-----or the religious organizations *, and for very good reason. From the conservative stand point of view---and they have been in control for several generations now----an " educated mass" is easier to control, easier to convince ( of even the most mind numbing philosophy), and much easier to manipulate---when that "education" is "selectively applied" and "controlled" by them---the conservatives.
Being a former educator (former because I could not fit in well with the politics, and believed that the only future human kind has is with a LIBERAL EDUCATION---since a CONSERVATIVE EDUCATION is ineffective, and contrary to an intelligent approach and hazardous to the future)---------
Since the "Conservatives" under the "Great Communicator" (Reagan) broke the back of organized labor, teachers who should be considered the first most important profession in our society, even the medical (who teaches the Doctors), are powerless to intervene in the stupidity they are forced to promote---because their union is only a union in name---it has no power that is effective, or can be used to better the profession or
the product, i.e, educated people.........
They cannot strike for better working conditions, so that they can deliver a better product. The Labor Unions were and are the only true representatives of a Democratic Society---they are in the hands and control of the PEOPLE.....not big business, not religions, no "special interests"---the PEOPLE. But now they have no POWER excepty in a limited capacity----for limited purposes.

This approach has been very successful for the conservative element, since the people who vote the school board members into power, are under educated themselves.

Even though the conservative element is under educated and in many cases just outright ignorant, the approach they have taken thus far has been exactly what they wanted........

*In most parts of the Country, people who can afford the expense send their children to "private schools" most of which are "religious schools". For the fundamentalist Christians/Jewish schools there are not as many people who send their children to them as the Catholic schools-----my question is simple---how can the Catholics develop more desirable schools than the public arena? The answer is simple. They are not subject to the same political influences as the "public" schools..............
Which is amazingly contradictory given the Catholic doctrine----or any "religious doctrine" in general.............go figure.

Then one must consider that Mr. Bush, (just one example) attended private grade school, then private "prep" school, then TWO highly regarded Universities, Harvard and Yale, and still is as dumb as a door nob.......he can barely speak his own language "Englush" and his Spanish is laughable and insulting to the Hispanic world--------yet he will spend this his last 4th of July----in office, still the most powerful moron in history..........go figure that one!

I'm a teacher who taught the Freedom Writers Diary in my class. I'm sure glad I live in Massachussets and didn't get fired. I shudder to think what would happen if I taught a truly progressive book (oh wait I'm teaching Zinn's People's History too)

My students chose the book. I wouldn't have chosen it because I didn't like it and didn't find Ms. Gruwell's teaching style somewhat less than progressive. Gruwell did empower her children to confront their realities using literacy skills, however she did not seem to question her own elitism and inherent prejudices. She was the rich white teacher who saw her work as a kind of charity. She doesn't ask the students to question the power structures that hinder them. Racism for example seems to be understood as a personal vice and not a systematic problem.

If you watch the movie with even a slightly critical eye, I think that racist viewpoints are reinforced under the guise of anti-racism. It really is a disturbing film.

In any case my students had a good experience with the book and really enjoyed reading a book that was by students with whom they could relate.

Anyone who would punish a teacher for teaching such a good book does not deserve to be on the school board. The politics of reading books in school is out of control and is unamerican. Maybe that is why our kids are so cynical about everything. They are denied factual info on their bodies and its processes, they are denied a proper scientific education and now, they are denied an experience in learning from others on how to deal with problems. How sad is this? Thank god, I went to a Catholic school in the 1960's and the nuns taught us much; more than that, a lot of it was not politically correct at the time; very valuable lessons were taught and I have benefited from those lessons well over the years. My best to Ms. Heerman.

For more information:

http://www.takebackperryschools.com

Makes me think of "...Harper Valley PTA..."

I saw the interview. There is one important detail. 149 out of 150 parents signed the permission slip!

Here in Indiana, this is rather old news. The events that led to Ms. Heerman's suspension occurred last November, and the suspension itself was imposed last March. Sort of odd that the Guardian is just picking up on this now . . . For a bit more detail, you can go here http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=8060931.

What's truly bizarre is that, according to press reports, the high school where Ms. Heerman taught had not just one, but ten, copies of the book in its library at the time she was being "insubordinate."

"neglect of duty"

A teacher's "duty" should be to the students that have been forced to be there and to No one else.

A+ for workreno - Government education is called Indoctrination.

It is not at all surprising that this article is found in a foreign newspaper, because most people, including most ignorant and/or indoctrinated Americans, would find this to be just plain wrong.

"Teachers' union officials say that a single board member objected to swearing in the book. The school board member allegedly persuaded the other six officials to ban Heermann from teaching the book. It remains available in school libraries."--

The language that teens use in high schools around the country is a real hard pill to swallow. Educators must override their squeamishness in order to educate youth about language. Did that board member think the students had not heard or said them before? Why even the VP has been quoted extensively using the F word.

Here is where the compassionate genius of the late George Carlin can teach us a thing or two about neutralizing the affect that words have on us, to get down to the business about exploring our humanity.

You may rest assured that defenders of this punitive action will confine themselves to self-righteous letter-of-the-law arguments:

Teacher Broke the Rules; violated duty to the employer to serve, in part, as Role Model to define and enforce Respect for Authority, Taking Personal Responsibility, Coloring Inside the Lines, Not Rocking the Boat...

There are other variations on a theme of blaming the victim and avoiding the larger and more profound implications of this sort of petty repression-- but why make their case for them, eh?

Indiana, is the Klan still 6 deep? Beyond that, inner city kids are supposed to fail. They are universally chosen as our de-humanized scapegoats and cannot be allowed to rise in any way. America drinks their blood and likes having a steady supply. A teacher, holding these children up, NOT as creatures to sneer at, mangle, or to spit on, BUT presented as humans who grow and change - THAT WILL NOT BE ALLOWED. Our collective Cruelty demands our victims receive no aid.

And ONE guy got everybody else to go along? Very persuasive fellow. I'll bet he looks like Karl Rove and shares several of his 'higher' attributes. Americans always see the truth and sincerity of fist pounding and snarling.

I don't see it as "local" being the problem I see it as the "school board " attempting to censor education.

Public education is a sick joke.

I am bartering with a friend of mine to educate my 12 year old son .

She just took a portfolio of my sons work up to the school district to show them what he had learned . The superintendent was amazed at what they had accomplished.

I'll be getting a copy of "The Freedom Writers Diary" .I don't intend on allowing a bunch of brainwashed morons to tell me what my child needs.

By the way I don't believe in religious fairy tales either .

I just think that children should understand that education isn't going to a building and having shit jammed into their brain, rather a life time of intellectual evolution.

Government education is called Indoctrination.

One board member?!! A personal friend of Bush or Cheney? This is disgusting that her firing was allowed to happen! Those poor students. I indeed worry about kids these days when this kind of thing happens to someone legitimately trying to help and inspire some troubled kids. ..the book. It remains available in school libraries. Whatsup with the fascist rubbish in Indiana?!

Not sure of the point of not saying ok to the school board. Try to stop anyone from doing anything they really want to do. She could have simply stated that the school board said this book can not be read in school and told the students they would have to read it at home. As to the school board. What do expect, we live in America were the youth can view and participate in the obcenity of war but nothing else.

Forgive Forgiveness for he knows to not

Reading for me is like swimming in an ocean of thought, it feeds when nothing else can, it loves when all else is lost.

The more I read, the less I need. It's a good antidote to the poison of materialism and power.

Here, where I live, we have a radio talk show host who is similar (but not nearly as well paid) to Aerica's Rush Limbaugh. One day, this guy asked the question, "In this day and age of easy accessability to books, do we still need public libraries? When I heard that, the image of a bloated, ignorant, hateful fool popped into my head. Man I was pissed.

Read til you bleed!

Fucking stupid shit jackasses getting upset about some bad words in a book that can fucking help kids grow up into better people.

Fucking retarded.

Yep... Can't teach those kids anything that'll help them grow... gotta keep em dumb so they can be good little consumers and fodder for the military machine. God forbid that you teach them to THINK. The board member who objected to the book because of "swearing" should come down out of their ivory tower and listen to how the kids speak. I'm sure they'd come away with a whole new outlook on swearing... that the kids already know all those naughty words and it's not gonna hurt them any to see them in print.

The other thing that I find ridiculous, and this a bit off topic, is this... At the local video store, I'm looking at movies to rent... there's one that bills itself as "Disgustingly Graphic Violence", pretty much violence porn... and it's rated 14A (have to be 14 or older to rent it)... now, on the same shelf is a movie that has some nudity and sexual scenes, but no violence and it's rated 18A (have to be 18 or older to rent it)... so what message does that send? Violence and murder are ok but sex and the human body are bad? Talk about mixed messages! No wonder this generation of kids are growing up much more screwed up than ever!

The Writers Diary, a series of true stories written by inner-city teenagers, must never be read by other inner-city teenagers.

stupid pro-lifers.

This situation points up the principal weakness in American public education: local control of schools.

"Insubordination" is a blanket charge that is generally used to conceal the true reasons for action against a teacher. In this case, those reasons are ignorance and intolerance.

Public education in the US is bad and getting worse because good teachers - those for whom their students' education is the most important factor in their teaching - are constantly being fired for standing up to the stupidity and narrowmindedness of local school board members.

As a former teacher myself, I can testify that the teaching of writing is one of the most difficult tasks in the classroom. Anything that gets students motivated is worth trying.

No teacher's career should be subject to the whims of local politics which are virtually never driven by concerns for educational quality.

jj