Center School class complaint
A student's family brought a complaint against the integrated humanities class at The Center School and, until the complaint has been resolved, the teacher has been instructed not to discuss race or gender in the class.
More information here, from The Stranger.
More information here, from The Stranger.
Comments
From the comments at The Slog, many parents think highly of this teacher. But talk of race can be uncomfortable.
Again, whenever a teacher ventures down these roads, there should be prep for both students and parents. Maybe he did send something home. I hope so but it would helpful to know.
-IMHO
This article on the blog, Creativity Not Control, suggests this as one of the strategies for pushing past the traditional pitfalls for driving change in education.
http://creativitynotcontrol.wordpress.com/2013/02/28/in-the-wake-of-the-testing-boycott-a-10-point-proposal-for-teacher-self-organization/
Solvay Girl
Georgi Krom
I'm not sure what difference it makes to a junior or senior who might go to college in a year and hear the same thing.
I wonder if there was any mediation between the school and the family or did the family just escalate to the district?
The parent should have the right to appeal a local decision, but the process for resolving issues like should be transparent and fair--and involve input from the broader community that will be impacted by the decision. It will be a real disappointment if Banda turns out to be just like everybody else when it comes to this soul-crushing top-downism.
want traqnsparency
I wish this could have been worked out in house.
Why do I get visions of Alexander Haig as I read Wippel's statement...
Look around the district senior staff and tell me which of them were on the senior staff even two years ago.
Heath's boss Tolley was there as well. Why would someone who is two layers of middle management below him have final say?
He is being accused of creating an intimidating environment. Really? The hundreds of students involved - going back over 10 years of him teaching this curriculum - are not speaking out in support of him because they felt intimidated. Shouldn't these students' opinions have as much weight as one set of parents?
The district is trying to say that curriculum about race and gender is a high priority as long as it is taught in a way that does not make people uncomfortable. The students are saying: the curriculum works because it is uncomfortable - it gets us talking and thinking about things we have not dealt with. That is why students use the word "transformational" when describing the impact of this class. Please let the district know that this is how you destroy quality education.