A Florida Teacher's Poster of Black Historical Figures Was Taken Down, So He Resigned

[tulipsandroses]

This is outrageous. I am sad he’s resigned. Those kids need a teacher like him. And this is a majority black school. So apparently black kids shouldn’t learn about black history either.


The bulletin board, featuring Martin Luther King Jr. and Colin Powell, was allegedly deemed "not age-appropriate" for students.

A Florida elementary school teacher resigned from his job this week after a co-worker removed a bulletin board he made featuring prominent Black Americans like Martin Luther King Jr. and Colin Powell alongside the Pledge of Allegiance—because it was allegedly deemed “not age-appropriate” for students.

Special education teacher Michael James, 61, sent his resignation notice to the superintendent of Escambia County Tim Smith and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Tuesday explaining his reason for leaving O.J. Semmes Elementary School in Pensacola. James, who’s white, criticized them for creating and allowing an environment in school where the celebration of Black figures in the classroom is grounds for conflict.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/4ax3qp/florida-teacher-black-historical-figure-poster-removal

[happy feet]

1. I wish he would have stood his ground and fought back

Giving up is a win for them...it's exactly teachers like him they want to weed out and they don't care about getting a replacement given they're mostly black students. They will slow walk.

[ProfessorGAC]

2. In Theory, I Agree With Your Desire

But, the guy is 61 years old. There's a good chance that he's been at this 40 years and he's getting increasingly irritated with the routine interference with his teaching technique.
So, he may have just figured, "Enough, i'm retiring."
He may have been fighting the fight over many recent years, and is just fed up.

[Coventina]

4. It could be one of those "last straw" moments.

I can't fault him, if he felt it was better for him personally to resign rather than fight.

Teaching is a tough profession.
All those folks who love to armchair quarterback about it need to give it a try before criticizing.
It's tough on you financially, physically, emotionally, and mentally.

[ProfessorGAC]

6. The Only Teaching I Ever Did...

...was advanced organic chemistry in a school in Chicago, back in the 80s.
But, when i retired i started substitute teaching science and math, grades 6 to senior year.
I don't see too many teachers that aren't grinding hard, and i sub in 15 different schools.
My wife was in the special ed system, so i have that connection, but i've learned tons about the system now that i've been doing the sub thing for nearly 4 years, now.
Around here, there was a mass early retirement event due to COVID. I personally know 11 teachers in their late 50s to early 60s that just pulled the career plug, either because (before vaccines) they considered it too risky, or they had enough after 1 full year of Zoom and Google Meet teaching.
Overall, in our county,for teachers with over 35 years of experience, there were 80 more retirements in 2020 than in a typical year. Better in 2021, but still higher.
I think lots of people reached their last straw moment.

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

3. Racist fucks.

[OrlandoDem2]

5. This is the Florida of DeSantis and Trump. Teaching in Florida is a nightmare.

Just don’t even think about doing it. DeSantis has turned Florida into a shithole.