I am reading with incredulity the Guardian report about an Indiana teacher suspended without pay for reading a particular book with her pupils for which she had written consent from all 150 parents who took her course. I find it incredible that she felt that she had to go to the trouble of getting written consent for a book written by teenagers for teenagers that apparently contains some swear words, only for this to be overridden by a particularly vocal member of the school board. Land of the free? Richard Lea, who writes for the Guardian points out that over there they have a track record for this kind of crazy decision.
Tha fact that the moral minority can overrule the expressed wishes of 150 parents doesn't surprise me that much (I wish it did), but the fact that the school board have the power to suspend someone for eighteen months without pay I find really shocking.
Thanks to Vicki Davis, an American teacher for highlighting this story via Twitter (she is coolcatteacher on Twitter.
