otoh

I wonder if this is making headlines outside of the Central Florida area? A local teacher resigned yesterday. She was suspended without pay last week. This followed the publication in a local Spanish-language newspaper of a letter she apparently wrote addressed to an unnamed Congressman. The letter includes these statements:

“I believe we must close the doors to all foreigners for a while until we get this economy and the schools back on their feet.”

“…foreigners are the largerst users of our taxpayers’ money.”
“Foreigners are taking all of the jobs that poor and little-educated Americans could have.”

“Schools are dealing with too many problems with language differences, and time is lost to our American children who have parents who pay taxes.”

“…jobs that poor blacks and poor whites used to take are filled by Mexicans, who I am told bring in drugs and diseases, such as incurable TB….”

The rhetoric is flying fast and furious from all sides on this one. There are undoubtedly people who share the opinion about the influx of “foreigners” on our economy and schools. (They conveniently ignore the fact that ALL of us are foreigners here, some are just more recent than others.) Some members of the disparaged minority communities called for Ms. Hall’s immediate dismissal. An unscientific opinion poll the the Orlando Sentinel website was running about 70% that she should not be fired.

Florida, like most border states, has a very diverse population. All public school teachers in Florida are required to attend training for strategies in teaching students with limited English proficiency. (That requirement, by the way, is part of a settlement of a class-action lawsuit.) According to the most recent figures on the OCPS website, “Students in Orange County schools come from 230 countries and speak 165 different languages and dialects.” Slightly more than 38% of our students are classified as white.

There is also the question of her right to freedom of speech. Did the school system have the right to suspend her, much less fire her, for writing that letter? And they apparently took action before they even had a copy of the letter. What about due process? By most accounts, she was a good teacher receiving very good evaluations and she does have over 25 years experience. Does the system owe her the benefit of the doubt until after an investigation? And how did this letter become public? No member of Congress has admitted receiving the letter. Did expressing these sentiments in any form violate the state’s professional code of ethics?

None of these questions will be answered quickly or easily except, perhaps, for the people who have already made up their minds.

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