Brooke Harris is out of a job as a Michigan teacher. But she’s not exactly sure why. All she knows is that her dismissal stems from encouraging her middle school students to raise money for the family of slain teenager Trayvon Martin. Lots of organizations are rallying not only for the arrest and prosecution of George Zimmerman, but to fundraise and defray the legal expenses Martin’s parents have accumulated just trying to bring their son’s alleged murderer to justice.
This is where good teaching came back to bite her in the hindparts: Harris initially gave her journalism students at Pontiac Academy for Excellence an editorial-writing assignment on the shooting. But the kids felt led to do more, and Harris says she asked the school's administrators if the eighth graders could pay $1 for a dress-down day, a popular fundraising tactic at schools that require uniforms.
Only the kids were going to wear hoodies in honor of Trayvon Martin and a show of solidarity for the cause.
The 26-year-old teacher says she approached school administrators with the idea but Superintendent Jacqueline Cassell gave her plan the thumbs down. Harris broke the news to her students, then reportedly urged them to make their request to Cassell themselves to follow the proper chain of command. Next thing she knew—badabing. She was suspended. I guess too many teenagers in a too small office pushed the super’s buttons, not her bleeding heart.
"I didn't tell the kids, 'Let's go and do it anyway,'" Harris said about her students’ plan. "I was actually, literally, in the process of talking to my kids about what we could do instead when (Cassell) requested the meeting with me and told me that I needed to let it go." When Harris showed up to show to give students prizes, that sealed her fate. She was called into the office and canned shortly thereafter.
Now I’ll admit that if she was told to stay her behind home, she probably should’ve parked her rear at her residence, just to avoid unnecessary drama. Still, Cassell’s defense of her decision to fire Harris is what really irks my soul. "I'm a child of the civil rights movement," she said, adding, "but this is not the time in the school year" to distract students from academics and that she wanted the kids to “focus on learning, not activism.”
And that therein lies the problem, lady. In silencing—then firing—their teacher, she inadvertently showed the students that there’s danger in speaking out, that it’s better to shut up about injustice rather than make a peaceful, collective effort to affect change. The kids wanted to do their part, to organize on their own terms and in their own push for social justice, and they not only got shut down, they watched the teacher helping them think through the process get kicked to the curb. Instead of being empowered, Cassell and her inflexibility actually showed her underlings to take a suck-it-up approach to situations they might otherwise feel incapacitated to change. She silenced their voice.
Personally, I want my daughter to learn more than complicated algebra formulas and grammatical sentence mapping (though both, especially the latter, are important elements for her to master). It's good for teachers to guide their students into activism—it teaches kids social responsibility, not just in high-profile, high-voltage cases like the Trayvon Martin story, though I’m sure that one especially hits close to home since he was a black teenager like many of them. But speaking out is a birthright of American citizenship. Find a cause you care about and contribute to it, and that includes kids.
I’ve been pushing Girl Child to follow the case and align herself with the details of the situation. Trayvon could’ve easily been her cousin or brother or guy bestie or boyfriend (if she was allowed to have one). And let’s not pretend that, even as a young black girl, it couldn’t have been her, too. This case happens to be about race and justice, but I want her to feel passionate about whatever she wants to feel passionate about—animal rights, voting, abortion, education, new taxes on shoe shopping, whatever—and then get used to speaking out in a constructive and effective way to push change. I’m sure that what the other Ms. Harris wanted for her students, too.
Was Harris out of line for encouraging the kids to get involved?
Image via Associated Press
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Comments 24
Maybe she should have been teaching the children more about the judicial system and how people are not charged with crimes until sufficient evidence is presented.
Making a decision on this or any case without knowing all the details and forcing the students to take HER PERSONAL point of view was not the right thing to do and the school acted accordingly.
She was absolutely out of line. What she did was both disruptive and inappropriate. With that said, I think that firing her was a harsh when a suspension would have made the point.
On the other hand, this was an issue that I bet the students brought up and an area that hit close to home. The writer implied that there were many black kids in the class and so they identify with Trayvon. What she was likely doing was allowing them a space to construct their questions, do their research and construct their opinions on it, a critical thinking excercise. Secondarily, I bet that the students approached her with ideas for what they could do to help and I would guess that she tried to guide them into constructive activities. Ie. don't just complain, do something, don't go take your anger out in a destructive manner, use the political system for justice. It's an excellent and relevant example for students to learn. I would love for my kid to have this kind of teacher.
@chocobunny-why would she teach her students about the judicial system when she is a journalism teacher?! Leave it to the government/civics teacher to cover that topic. She was well within her rights to assign an editorial writing assignment.
From reading both articles, they state that the teached gave her students the writing assignment and, as a result of what they learned, the STUDENTS wanted to raise the money. After the superintendent said no, she went to the students to explain why their request was denied and brainstorm ideas on how to appeal that decision and then she was fired.
Seems extreme to fire a teacher whose simple assignment lit a fire under her students, even if the school administration didn't agree with it.
Secondarily, I bet that the students approached her with ideas for what they could do to help and I would guess that she tried to guide them into constructive activities.
This is what I read as well. The original article even says that before this the students brought up the discussion on Trayvon Martin and because of that she gave them the writing assignment. It sounds to me like she was doing what teachers SHOULD do instead of just opening an old textbook and reciting it. The best teachers guide learning, they don't just "teach scholastic facts."
First off, she is no different than any other employee. If I went to my boss and wanted to use our company for some form of fundraiser and my boss said no, then I need to respect their wishes. There was no reason why she could've help them come up with an idea that the students could do on their own time after school. I think she was wrong.