The parent who addressed her concerns with a teacher regarding a 9th Grade “Book Banning” English assignment followed up with the school principal. The principal agreed that the assignment, the teacher’s classroom discussions, and the teacher’s response were inappropriate. She told the parent that she spoke with Mrs. Albaugh about her email response, but wasn’t going to address the appropriateness of the assignment. She explained that she has nothing to do with the curriculum or materials that are taught in the classroom. Those decisions are made by committees at each grade level by subject. All curriculum decisions are led by the district Director of Educational Services, not building principles.
Unfortunately, teachers bringing their personal views and beliefs into the classroom is an ongoing problem. In this case the teacher was not only pushing her personal views, but trying to create discord between her students and a parent group using misinformation to do it. This is abuse of power.
It was suggested that one way to combat these types of issues is to help students learn to advocate for themselves. If they can recognize when personal opinions are being presented, are adept enough to distinguish propaganda, and have the confidence to stand-up to their teacher, this is a good solution. More likely however, expecting children to police their teachers will result in parents being further removed from the classroom. Then those in authority will be able to push whatever narrative or agenda they have and parents will never know about it.
In this case, further resolution will have to be pursued through the district office. If you have been following this website, then you already know that nothing is likely to happen. If the parent chooses to elevate this matter, it is the district office that will be involved and it’s likely that the district office will echo the exact views of the teacher. As a concerned parent and taxpayer, I think it’s not too much to ask for our teachers to withhold their personal political views from their work and quit undermining the lawful right of parents to “determine and direct the care, teaching, and education of their children.”