HS English Teacher Fired, Accused of Teaching CRT/Critical Race Theory By Parents: Missouri

[appalachiablue]

- Daily Kos, 'Missouri high school teacher loses job after being accused of teaching critical race theory,' April 8, 2022. -Ed.

Across the country, teachers and school board officials are facing constant threats due to GOP leaders and voters spreading consistent hate. From accusing school officials of taking away the parents’ rights to making fusses over masks in schools, conservatives are causing chaos. In some states, Republican officials are taking it even further by banning school teachers from teaching critical race theory and also allowing them not to use the correct pronouns for students.

Most recently, a Missouri school board voted not to renew a teacher’s contract after parents accused her of using critical race theory (CRT). According to the Springfield News-Leader, the vote came after Kim Morrison, an English teacher at Greenfield High School, was targeted for a worksheet she used as part of teaching the book 'Dear Martin.' Morrison told the outlet that it was her 2nd year teaching the award-winning novel in a contemporary literature elective. The difference this time around was that students were assigned a 15-question worksheet titled “How Racially Privileged Are You?”

After the sheets were distributed, Morrison said she was asked to meet with the school’s principal Jennifer Roberts, who told her there had been complaints from parents.

“That first meeting, when she showed me she had a copy of the document and wanted to know the background, she said the people she was hearing from had said it was CRT,” Morrison told the Springfield News-Leader. “I said ‘Well, it’s not CRT. I don’t know what CRT is because I didn’t go to law school & we didn’t cover that in graduate school. It’s not that.” She added: "I said discussing racism is not CRT & she said she understood but that this is what she is hearing." While critical race theory was developed decades ago by legal scholars to argue that race is a social construct & racism is a part of U.S. policies & legal systems, many officials have now taken to targeting it, claiming it fuels racism & “undermines academic freedom,” the newspaper reported.

As a result, GOP officials have banned the theory from being taught in schools. Speaking of these bans, Morrison said she explained the worksheet to Roberts, noting that she purchased it from a database of instructional materials that intended to help students examine their own experiences. She said the worksheet was not meant to prompt class discussion on racism. ​​"It was to prepare students for the conversation that was going to happen between two characters that we were about to read," she said...

More + Comments,
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/4/8/2090425/-Missouri-high-school-teacher-loses-job-after-being-accused-of-teaching-critical-race-theory

[Beartracks]

1. In White Snowflake Land, stifling discussion somehow fosters academic freedom.

Radical conservatives can't even define CRT, but luuuuuv to use it as a cudgel.

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[appalachiablue]

2. Racists on the warpath; revenge, fear & hate rising as planned

Dark waters and we've seen this vile show before.

[lees1975]

3. So this is a clear violation of the teacher's free speech and a great court case to overturn

this ridiculous law.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

4. Oh FFS

[lees1975]

5. If facts matter, here's what's actually being taught as opposed to GOP fear mongering lies.

https://baptistnews.com/article/i-teach-the-things-republican-legislators-are-trying-to-outlaw-heres-what-we-actually-teach/#.YlB7ZG7MJz8

There's no place in CRT where white people are made to feel guilty just for being white, and no place where some marxist principle is used or even hinted at.

What Republicans will do now is get a lot of teachers fired by accusing them of teaching anything related to racial respect and reconciliation and calling it CRT because they are not interested in having their prejudices and bigotry changed or called out and they don't want to be respectful or considered equal to African Americans, Latinos and others who aren't like they are.