Michigan Teacher Fired for Supporting Trayvon Martin

[Modern School]

While the nation grapples with the tragedy of Trayvon Martin’s murder by a white vigilante in Florida, a Michigan middle school teacher, Brooke Harris, has been fired for trying to educate her students about the case, according to Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Harris is not some knee jerk activist teacher who slapped together a seat-of-the-pants lesson on racial profiling or pushed her students out onto the barricades. Good Education reports that she was named teacher of the year for two of the last three years at Academy for Excellence Middle School in Pontiac, Michigan. Harris even asked her principal for approval before organizing a fundraiser in which students would donated $1 and wore hoodies to school. Taking action wasn’t even her idea, initially. The Teaching Tolerance website says that her students were so impassioned about the case that they wanted to do something to help the family.

Superintendent Jacqueline Cassell refused to approve the plan, despite having previously approved other “dress down” fundraisers. Several of Harris' students asked to accompany her to meet with Cassell, which so enraged the superintendent that she suspended Harris. Two weeks later she was fired.

Harris taught at a charter school and had no union, due process rights, or recourse for appealing her firing.

There is a change.org petition calling for Brooke Harris’ reinstatement.

Modern School
http://modeducation.blogspot.com/2012/04/michigan-teacher-fired-for-supporting.html

[immoderate]

1. Reinstatement? How about the superintendent's resignation?

This is the kind of student generated interest that motivates a class. It makes teaching about 900% easier.

--imm

[Teachers Advocate]

2. Arizona Teacher Being Fired for Reporting Bullying, Racial Discrimination

Harris taught at a charter school and had no union, due process rights, or recourse for appealing her firing.

Even when state laws protect teachers, there's no guarantee that union, due process or recourse figure into the equation. There's a case in Gilbert, Arizona where a National Board Certified Teacher is being fired after reporting bullying and racial discrimination.

The discrimination was proven by judicial findings.

The president of the local union (it's an "association" in Arizona) betrayed the teacher in ways big and small. The president advocated for giving the teacher a letter of direction rather than making any effort to help the students who had been victims of bullying. Later, the president approached a school board member and said "great teacher, just not suitable for the Gilbert environment." The board member posted this information on the Arizona Education Association Facebook page (AEA is not really a union, either).

Even though Arizona has a new anti-bullying law, no child is safe in school if teachers can be intimidated into not reporting bullying, as the law requires.

As far as due process, Gilbert Public Schools was in a big hurry back in December 2011 to make public the 20 charges lodged against the teacher. She has been on admin leave (full pay and benefits) awaiting the public hearing she demanded. So much for the hurry. The district managed to send the Statement of Charges to a parent before the teacher or her attorneys received a copy of those charges, which include such zingers as:

"donated five copies of her book to the library" (Charge #8),
"sent the Technology Services Help Desk an email" (Charge #11), and
"referred to efforts to monitor her as 'double secret probation.'" (Charge # 15)

[TruthTeller]

3. since MI no longer has tenure...

this can happen to any educator in the state--union or not.