Katie Rinderle, a 5th-grade teacher in Georgia, received a notice of termination for reading My Shadow Is Purple to her class. She had purchased the title from her school’s Scholastic book fair. Rinderle said,
What happened to me is not just about me.
It’s the impact of what is being communicated to students — that it is acceptable to prioritize behaviors and attitudes rooted in bias and discrimination rather than ensuring that students’ backgrounds, experiences, and identities are seen, heard, connected, and honored in their learning experience.
Censorship is not only a threat to our students, teachers, and public school classrooms — but to our democracy at its core.
These kind of attacks are why we organized the Teach Truth Day of Action. We ask everyone to speak out to defend teachers committed to teach outside the textbook.
Read more about this story in an article from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
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