Activist Teachers - Is There a Line? If So, Who Decides?

The first item really brings into focus one big issue for ALL districts. Teachers have the absolute right to be who they want to be outside of school but if you have a teacher who is extremely outspoken on an issue that could involve students and their families, what can/should a district do?

This comes on the heels of my story about a social studies teacher at Chief Sealth International High School who appears to be bringing in some personal opinion into his classes. 

Case in point that is traveling around on local Twitter.  There are at couple of SPS teachers who appear active in protesting Israel's actions in Gaza. 

One is Lauren Holloway, a Special Education teacher at Franklin High School who on Saturday was caught on camera vandalizing a Starbucks with pro Hamas graffiti. It said: "Boycott Starbucks end the occupation now."

SPS comment:

"Seattle Public Schools does not condone vandalism, including unauthorized graffiti, on public or private property. SPS will not be commenting on this personnel matter." 

Of course it was vandalism but it could also be viewed as civil disobedience. Of course that begs the question of how far civil disobedience can go before it is viewed as destructive rather than obstructive.  

The other teacher is James Parker is a paraeducator at Franklin High School. (On Twitter he goes by Benjamin Ovitz.) He was part of the group that shut down I-5 for 6 hours, and appeared to brag on Twitter about not getting arrested. Parker was also part of the group that shut down the Space Needle and the University Bridge on the last night of Hannukah to support Hamas which caused backup traffic for a lengthy period of time.

Days after the Hamas massacre before the IDF operation in Gaza began, he was part of a sit-in at Senator Patty Murray's Seattle office. 

SPS comment:

"SPS will not be commenting on this personnel matter" 

Holding a sit-in is a time-honored move for protesting but shutting down public thruways is not something I would support (if only for the safety issues). 

I note that it appears that neither Governor Jay Inslee nor Mayor Bruce Harrell have said anything publicly about the freeway shutdown. Hmm

My only concern would be if these two teachers were bringing in their activism to their work. I think the Israel/Palestine issue is clearly fraught with difficulties, even among adults, and I'm not sure how teachers who feel so deeply for one side could talk about it with objectivity in a classroom. 

I don't know if anything like this is addressed in the teachers contract. Do principals or district administrators have the right to say anything?
 

Comments

Anonymous said…
2023 activists are too young to understand the groundwork laid by the civil rights movement in the 1960s. The whole point of civil disobedience was to get arrested and find a platform to speak about your issue. It’s not to cry “free speech!” and get a free pass for what you did. These teachers allegedly broke the law and shouldn’t be treated any differently by their employer. SPS or anyone else shouldn’t condone any behavior by a teacher that they don’t want to see show up in their students.

Softball Question
1/9/24, 3:04 PM
Another Name said…
It seems to me that the Chief Sealth teacher would take issue with any student that does not fall in line.

I have always taught my children not to destroy the property of others. Halloway should be made to pay to clean-up her mess.

New York and other cities were able to clear highways. And, yes, I did see an emergency response vehicle trying to get through the mess.

Lastly, what is going on at Franklin. They lost A LOT of teachers last year.
1/9/24, 3:37 PM
Benjamin Lukoff said…
Let them do what they want outside of work as long as that doesn't cross over into antisemitism, racism, or what have you. As for what they do in class... tell your kids that even if they don't feel comfortable raising objections in class, that they should tell you, and if something is done that needs to be reported, then report it, and don't let go of it.

I would be perfectly fine having my kid taught by an anti-Zionist... as long as they didn't spread misinformation, or treat my kid differently because they were Jewish, etc. If I caught wind of inappropriate behavior, though...
1/9/24, 9:06 PM
Unknown said…
There is no line. There is only "don't embarrass us in the media."

My school flies a BLM flag on its flagpole, under our national flag. BLM chapters have sided with Hamas, and BLM national is silent, so, per their rules, they support Hamas.

Gay marriage is political. Most SPS classrooms have Pride flags. And my school library has more books about LGBT identity than canonized classics.

Greta Thunberg is regularly lionized in my school. She doesn't work for The Party of Reagan.

Abstinence only is a political position. So is giving kids condoms.

My point is that SPS actively pushes a center left to full left ideology that supports these teachers' ideology and most of their praxis as long as they don't wind up on the pages of Jason Rantz, KIRO, MyNorthwest, etc. These radicals took it a step too far.

Much better to make memes, flexing on any tepid moderates who question you.

SP
1/10/24, 4:46 AM
Anonymous said…
@Benjamin, one person's anti-Zionism is another’s anti-genocide, or whatever. We’ll never agree on intent, but a crime is a crime - vandalism, blocking traffic. The schools have a background check standard for staff who interface with students, so apply that. It is true that jail/court time can result in educator absences, in which the usual policies would apply.

There’s no need to reinvent the wheel.

Apply Standards
1/10/24, 5:51 AM
Anonymous said…
Teachers inserting their own politics in the classroom is a great way to undermine support for public education.

SPS Parent
1/14/24, 2:05 PM
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