Aw, listen to how sweet these Michigan junior high kids are, you guys. They wanted to hold a fundraiser for Travyon Martin’s family:
[T]he students wanted to help Martin’s family and asked the school’s administrators if they could pay $1 each to wear hoodies instead of school uniform for a day, the [Southern Poverty Law Center] said. It said the school regularly has fundraisers in which students can “dress down.”
So yeah, the literature teacher who encouraged them to ask has totally been fired.
[Superintendent Jacqueline] Cassell rejected the request and she suspended Harris for encouraging the students to make their request in person, the group said.
Anything else to add, Frau Cassell?
“I’m a child of the civil rights movement,” Cassell said. But “this is not the time in the school year” to distract students from academics.
“In every situation, there are work rules,” she said. “When rules are violated, there are consequences.”
[...]
Harris then was fired for showing up at the school during her suspension, the group said. It said [totally fired literature teacher Brooke] Harris had gone to the school to drop off prizes for the students.
“I was told I was a bad teacher, that I was being unprofessional, that I’m being paid to teach, not to be an activist,” [totally fired literature teacher Brooke] Harris told the Detroit Free Press. “When I tried to defend myself, it was construed as insubordination.”
Totally fired literature teacher Brooke Harris is the worst kind of race hustler, obviously: THE KIND WHO DOES NOT UNDERSTAND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. Could someone please give her some civics lessons on what is proper race-hustling, and when in the school year is the right time to ask to pay $1 to wear a hoodie? [AP]
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I'm sure there are some schools in the dirty dirty south that would be more than happy to raise money for Zimmerman's legal defense.
He's doing it himself. Surprise, he is not only a racist tool but a media whore as well.___ _http://current.com/community/93735805_trayvon-martin-case-george-zimmermans-family-to-launch-fundraising-website-for-legal-defense.htm__
Zimmerman has won the Wingnut Lotto. He just had to do was shoot an unarmed kid and be protected by an insane statute. Now all he has to do is wait for the poorly-spelled checks to come pouring in. I'm amazed nobody else thought of it first. It's a lot faster than starting a church on public-access cable.
Of course! It's not political to support ole Zimmerman, but to support the blah in this case, why that is ultra radical and everyone involved should be fired and placed on a list of dangerous probably Muslin troublemakers!
Harris is, uh, kinda urban looking. Which is the scariest kind, you know. She doesn't look real blah. Just a little tiny bit blah. So she could be Muslin. She could be Eye-talian. But whatevz, she is certainly a radical fem Nazi trying to indoctrinate our innocent youth to her soshulis ways. I'm sure MI doesn't need the kind of teachers who stop by an after hours event to drop off prizes paid for out of her own pocket while serving her suspension.
Furthermore, the candy machine that sold skittles was forcibly removed from the school.
I hear it was frogmarched out of the school… and thrown on a bonfire with all those burning books.
…forcibly removed from the school and shot in the coin dispenser.
I call BS. There cannot possible be a literature teacher left in Michigan.
I think the only thing left is that that giant pawnshop on teevee.
We may not be Massachusetts, but we're not Mississippi, either. The nation still sends it kids to college, here. Too bad we send our's to other states.
What a beacon light of post-racial society this school is, firing that obviously racist teacher for being racist by supporting the family of a deceased black child!
Hoodie-wearing Skittle eaters are people too , my friends
Not in Sanford, FL, they're not.
Yes they are. Dead people.
“I’m a child of the civil rights movement,” Cassell said… "
So were David Duke and George Wallace…
and don't forget Augusto Pinochet, sorry, I mean Dick Cheney…
I saw the report on Channel 4, the NBC affiliate, and the principal is a blah, so I don't understand her at all. Don't worry though, I'm sure the teacher will get a good attorney to take her case and then the principal will be really sorry.
God, these people.
Yeah, I'm snarkless.
Michigan, where all idiots who fire good and caring teachers are just the right height and just the right color.
You know who else was a child of the civil rights movement…
Clarence Thomas?
I always assumed he was the child of a bowel movement.
Julia Child?
Lola Falana?
James Earl Ray?
James Earl Ray Jr?
Martin Luther King, III?
Barry O.?
The kids should all start drinking tea and eating Skittles in class.
They tried. It was a bloodbath. Special guest lecturer George Zimmerman has been in hiding ever since.
Blah blah "not the time for distracting the kiddies" blah is less born of civil rights movement legacy than of demoralizing-the-schoolteachers pedantry.
Man "Big Hoodie" has been taking it on the chin the last few weeks.
“I’m a child of the civil rights movement”
Did Martin Luther King Jr. bang Cassell's mom?
Well, you know those people will bang anything that moves.
They say he got around a bit.
The movement must've been HUGE.
LOL, you could just as humorously apply that response to my Clarence Thomas comment on the "You know who else…" thread a few comments above this one.
-Jacqueline Cassell
-MLK, Jr.
I mean, it's like they're twins, separated only by the years between them, right?
I wish I could double fist you up!
Appalling silence of the moderates, etc.
And the first student who quotes that MLK paragraph will be expelled.
Many fists for thee.
So it wasn't the protest that got the teacher suspended but that she had the temerity to insist the students ask permission?
Wait. What?
Oh no, it was because the kids were actually coming to her office. Which, judging from the 50-gallon drum of hand sanitizer on her desk, could be a touch problematic for Mama Cass.
Looks like she was running low, too.
"EWE! Filthy children are so dirty. Why did I get into this field????….Oh that's right I got into teaching because I can't 'DO' "
(SHHHHH Don't tell Baconz's lil' lady I said that. Her family is packed with teachers)
One of my bffsy's flipped the ever-loving fuck out when I half-mumbled the first half of that adage in front of her. God, physics teachers can be so goddamned touchy.
Those who can teach, do teach; those who can't teach, bitch about teachers.
That sure is a fancy eagle statuette. Five bucks says it has a glittery tear dripping down its cheek.
Yeah, my flabber is a bit gasted here.
“I’m a child of the civil rights movement…this is not the time in the school year”
Yes, civil rights expression time comes between football season and basketball season just before winter break but not past the valentine's day dance.
CHRISTMAS PAGEANT LIBEL!
Because if there's one thing the civil rights movement knew, it's that justice delayed is justice more awesomer, or something.
We shivered with an…..
.
.
.
.
.
.
…ticpation
It's too bad that Mr. Martin had the bad luck to get shot and killed at the wrong time of the school year for civil rights expression.
How inconsiderate of him.
What a Jac Cass.
But “this is not the time in the school year” to distract students from academics.
Well, duh! 'Black History Month' is February! The rest of the year is 'Forget That There Are Black People' Months.
And hey, we straight white men also give you little ladies March, the inscrutable Asians May, the flamboyant gays June, and the spicy Latinos September. See, we can condescendingly pretend to care about your 'history'! The other months of the year are all still straight white men's history months of course.
"…the inscrutable *Orientals* May,…." FIFY
Shut up! Sit down! Don't sass! No! Yes! Maybe! Don't you give me that look!
“this is not the time in the school year” to distract students from academics.
She is right; Trayvon should have known better than to get shot so close to midterms.
“I’m a child of the civil rights movement,” Cassell said. But “this is not the time in the school year” to distract students from academics.
Rigth, because I'm sure not one teen is taking advantage of the lovely Spring weather to cut class.
If they weren't, they probably are now.
I hate people. (present company excepted)
Oh, hell, I hate all of us, Katie.
“this is not the time in the school year” to distract students from academics…by firing their teacher and speaking openly to the press about it…
But, who's counting?
Easy. At football games. And soccer and lacrosse (if you're that kind of private school.)
Hmm… in my school days, we always did our civil rights protesting, right after the senior boys polo game. We were usually SO psyched after six chukkers…
I certainly wouldnt want to suggest that people write to Dr. Cassell and express their outrage, but I notice she has a webpage…perhaps we can understand her position better after carefully reviewing it
If she wrote the slogan, she, is certainly no English teacher. There were TWO comma splices. Bad girl!
Awesome! Just did it.
Junior high is about the right time for students to learn that being a decent person will get you ridiculed, fired, sued and maybe even killed in America.
Assholes win, kids.
The more you know.
Education is all about preparing children for the real world, after all.
I can't tell you how much I use the State Capitols and the pythagorean theorem every day at work.
Critical thinking is not encouraged. Now go learn to count change and flip burgers.
I think it perfectly appropriate in this case to blame the schools.
Here in socialist college land, we call these things "teachable moments", not "distractions". But ok, sure, pretend there's nothing happening beyond the school walls that could be remotely relevant to learning about how to live in and think about society.
And also that suspending and then firing their teacher is the way to reduce the distraction. Yeah, that'll work.
A picture of Superintendent Cassell, in case anyone got the wrong idea. Not that that excuses Ms. Harris' firing. I get the vague idea that a lot of majority-black cities are, in 180-degree contrast to the stereotype, totally in "don't piss whitey off" mode these days. I base this partly on a handful of vaguely-recollected news items, partly on a distant relative, age 90-something and of Jackson, MS, accidentally running someone over in broad daylight and not even losing his license over it. Even though he was a mean old cracker and everyone in Jackson gov't from the mayor to the dog-catcher is black these days.
She looks like she could be the mom of that Fox news reporter who was writing about that "civil rights group" now patrolling Trayvon's old nabe.
Having said that, it's possible what you said plays into it, and it's possible that she's desperately trenching since her charter school is close to going down in flames, as so many of them are turning out to be majorly sucky failures. I hope I'm wrong, but that seems to be the trend these days.
And if that is the case, it's also possible that there was already bad blood between the teacher and the superintendent, (happens a lot in failing schools) and this was just the final straw.
flamingpdog had linked to it last night.
http://www.tolerance.org/blog/teacher-fired-over-…
Jeebus, the school is a CHARTER so of course the fired teacher has no rights. Go, school reform.
Gotta draw the line somewhere–if they are allowed to organize to raise money for the Martin family today they might grow to up organize for equal pay for equal work in Wisconsin or some other unAmerikkkan stuff.
I weep for humanity.
Except for all those shitheads like Frau Cassell, assuming that they have any humanity left.
[Superintendent Jacqueline] Cassell rejected the request and she suspended Harris for encouraging the students to make their request in person
Yeah, that'll learn 'em. Now they know better, and will sneak around with the fundraising next time–just like good Republicans do.
Bitch.
Which Civil Rights Movement? I'm guessing she's from one the Faux Newz people favor.
I made the mistake of looking at the Yahoo comments on the same story. Every right wing trope out in force, from the idea the teacher was a "union thug" (at a charter school) to a "black racist" (no idea what her race is, but I'm not seeing the racism – still – in supporting the grieving family of a child) to claims she "got what she deserved" because "politics don't belong in the classroom.
NEVER, EVER EVER read the Yahoo or (shudder) Youtube comments. You've been online long enough to know that, young man. You have only yourself, and human Evil, to blame.
Left-wing politics don't belong in the classroom. Free-market, American-exceptionialist, theocratic politics are a-okay with these people.
[T]he students wanted to help Martin’s family and asked the school’s administrators if they could pay $1 each to wear hoodies instead of school uniform for a day, the [Southern Poverty Law Center] said. It said the school regularly has fundraisers in which students can “dress down.”
In what way does "the time in the school year" have *anything* to do with kids having a fundraiser that does not involve interrupting classroom instruction?
This person supervises the education of children. I am frightened.
Just to repeat what I said yesterday in response to flamingpdog's original post:
The Pontiac Academy for Excellence is a nonunionized charter school. According to Superintendent Cassell, Brooke’s contract makes no provisions for formal appeal, and Michigan is an “at will” employment state.
See, no union-thug contract nonsense, and no tenure. That's so they can fire the bad teachers. Or the ones that teach too well about stuff that the superintendent disagrees with.
I also note from the report of his link on this thread, Brooke Harris won Teacher of the Year twice in the last three years.
Clearly a trouble maker/activist.
(oops, that was supposed to say "repost", not "report")
My first question of course is when IS the best time of year to distract students from academics? Shame on Trayvon for being murdered so close to final exams…shame, shame, shame
It's Stanford Achievement Test week. Priorities kids, priorities.
If you don't take your tests you can't wear any hoodies!
How can you wear any hoodies if you don't take your tests?!?!?
But in the town it was well known
If you went home at night
A fat psychopathic man would shoot you
Then claim he feared for his life
Wooooo ooo oooo….
Has anyone else noticed this extremely weird connection between Michigan and Florida since this whole thing flared up? It's like a fucking time warp pulling them closer together.
The good thing is that both states are peninsulas (MI being in fresh water) and both can be sawed off the continent eventually.
Haven't been able to use this in a while, from the archives:
That cunt.
The Supe may claim she is a child of the Civil Rights movement but on the surface it sure seems like she must have missed class or didn't learn any of the lessons.
The Admin is a respected black educator with a Phd., the teacher is black and highly acclaimed, the students are predominately black. My former stringer gut tells me there is more to this story than one irrational decision.
Pfft, "Pontiac Academy for Excellence." If it was really excellent, it would be a Cadillac.
WELFARE QUEEN LIBEL!!111!
The children have learned a valuable lesson in the way the country works now.
That lesson is to just shut the fuck up and obey.
“When rules are violated, there are consequences.”
And when a kid gets murdered, someone gets arrested.
Funny how things change.
Count me in for the fundraiser.By sheer coincidence, I'm even wearing a hoodie today.
The parents of the civil rights movement are so proud of their 'child' today.
Am I rubbing your baconzgood?
I left a message for the Super at the school. I was respectful but firm.
248-745-9420
"Another brick in the wall…"
I'm sure Faux news will now have an entire day of programming dedicated to faux outrage that this teacher was fired….wait, what?
I looked at her picture and there appears to be a lot of Christiany-type crap on her shelves.
OT: On April 10, 2012 America has FINALLY run out of Santorum…
"Child of the Civil Rights Movement."
Children always rebel against their parents.
Because I am sure a school in that area can afford to lose an excellent English teacher. Teach needs to learn her place, just like the superintendent did- you don't progress by being an excellent teacher and helping your students understand the world- you progress by keeping a low profile and doing what the masters want.
Where is the teacher's union in all this?
Charter school. Another great benefit of the charter movement – empowering martinet administrators to fire whoever they feel like.
Some middle school aged kids were aware enough of topical news of the day and compassionate enough toward total strangers who lost a child in another part of the country that they wanted to hold a fundraiser to help, so they went to their teacher, who helped them follow proper protocol, including a request to be seen in person when the original request was denied.
Yeah, I totally see the problem here. Of course they fired the teacher. Clearly, she’s a witch and these kids are all victims of her brainwashing witchcraft. It’s the only thing that makes sense.
BTW, this story is less about Trayvon than it is about the dismantling of the public school systems of Michigan. Detroit is about to become a city within the next school year or two where more students will be in charters and privates (a whole helluva lot of them controlled by wingnut conservatives looking for profits instead of results) than in the public school district. Just over 50% of school-aged children go to Detroit Public Schools, which is why the school district is tiny for a city of its size (~60,000).
This is also a story about these schools teaching to the test. Apparently, there is no room for creative teaching and thinking in "academies". I'm tired of these blah administrators in charter schools being tight-asses because they bought into the lie that "these children" can't handle anything beyond rote memorization, that "these kids" can't walk and chew gum at the same time. We get enough of this shit from the general society, we don't need to be treating our own students as if they are in a juvenile detention facility.
I feel sorry for the poor students at this crap factory. May they always have fresh batteries in their bullshit detectors.
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