Posted on 05/24/2010 4:00:59 PM PDT by madprof98
A history teacher in Dahlonega was placed on administrative leave Monday after she let four students wear Ku Klux Klan outfits in a historical reenactment.
Catherine Ariemma, a five-year veteran with the Lumpkin County school system, teaches an advanced placement history class at Lumpkin County High. Her students were filming reenactments of various historical periods last week, and four donned Klan outfits, superintendent Dewey Moye told the AJC.
Students from other classrooms saw them as they walked through a hallway while wearing the costumes to an outdoor shoot, he said, adding that the parents of an African-American child later complained about it.
"We determined, obviously, that she used extremely poor judgment," Moye said.
Ariemma did not return a message left on her home phone. Her husband, John, declined to comment when he was reached on his cellphone.
Ariemma is an award-winning teaching. Last year, the Georgia Senate passed a resolution lauding her "dedication to her students and her profession" after she was honored as Lumpkin County High School's 2009 STAR Teacher. The Student Teacher Achievement Recognition program is sponsored by the the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators and recognizes teaching excellence.
Moye said Ariemma has never been reprimanded for missteps and that she has always been an "outstanding" teacher. But he said he could not ignore this incident.
She could lose her job over it.
"In my opinion, it was offensive," Moye said. "The other part of it is some people have jumped on it and said, ‘You're racist.'"
Moye said he placed her on leave with pay pending the outcome of an investigation. The school system attorney will interview the children involved to determine what happened, he said.
Historical reenactments can be an effective teaching tool, but must be used with discretion, one local history professor said.
Eugene Van Sickle, an assistant professor of history at North Georgia State College and University in Dahlonega, has required students to research the world views of historical figures and then defend their positions in a debate.
"You're in the moment," he said, "and based on what you know about the person, it becomes a teaching moment."
But Van Sickle said he would not use the technique with emotionally charged topics, "and I think the Klan would certainly be a charged topic."
The U.S. Constitution's free speech guarantee is limited in schools, and may offer little or no protection for Ariemma, according to a legal expert.
The U.S. Supreme Court has determined that the constitution only protects speech in schools if it does not "disrupt" the educational mission, said Lynn Hogue, a law professor at Georgia State University and a First Amendment specialist.
There is nothing inherently wrong with allowing students to wear Ku Klax Klan outfits for an educational purpose, Hogue said. But it would be unprotected by the constitution if it interrupted learning.
"All these things turn on whether or not it's going to be disruptive," Hogue said. The best way to avoid a disruption, he said, is to ensure that everyone who could be affected knows what's going on beforehand.
"The answer is not necessarily to not do it," he said, "but rather to be sure that everybody is reasonably informed about it so that people aren't caught off guard and it doesn't backfire."
But the “teacher” who criticized the drawing of an American flag . . .”administrative leave”?
If you’re doing a historical reenactment that includes klansmen, seems like they should be dressed for the part.
We did a play about the holocaust when I was in school and we had kids dressed as nazis for the play.
If a Republican symbol been on the back of each it would
have been OK.
There are black students in Lumpkin County? I know this school and area. Rural mountain area of Georgia.
Still stupid on the teacher’s part though in my opinion despite the history lesson.
I don’t see how the teacher was being stupid, except perhaps in underestimating the stupidity of others. As another poster said, if you’re doing a historical reenactment of WWII, you might have people dressed as Nazis, and if you’re reenacting the Old South, you might have people dressed as Klansmen or playing the part of slaves. That doesn’t mean you’re endorsing the KKK or approving of slavery.
PING
Remember we are dealing with a society that demands people lose their job over the use of the word “niggardly” in a budget hearing. You have to teach toward the lowest common denominator, which is why our education system is in such a shambles. If I were that teacher I’d work on my resume and look for a private school that wants high achievers.
Why anyone would teach in a public school today is beyond me.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Gold plated benefits and retirement. Long vacations. Minimal academic competition to become a teacher. Low SAT scores. Inability to pass any other ( more rigorous) degree program. Pedophilia tendencies.
Lots of reasons.
There is only **one** thing that government schools do very well! They make groups of citizens **FURIOUS** with each other.
Why?
Reason: Fundamentally it is impossible for any school to be religiously, culturally, and political neutral...therefore....Government schools ( being schools) will establish the religious, cultural, and political worldview of the most political powerful, and trash the worldview of those who are not.
**ALL**government schools are a freedom of consciences and First Amendment abomination!
Solution: Abolish **all** government K-12 schools. Conservative must work to get our nation’s children into private conservative schools.
OMG!!! LOL! That was the first thing I thought of!!! But you did notice that it seemed like “1” African American parent complained......LOL!!!
With THIS regime in power now, if you sport an American Flag, carry a Bible, or horror of horrors, wore a Christian symbol, you would be punished for sure....
I guess Georgia never had the Klan around so the sight of these costumes shouldn’t have scared or offended anyone.
Okay, back to reality. The teacher should have told the Principal about the reenactment ahead of time, but to be fired over this is beyond ridiculous. It is stupid and is going to cost the school an excellent teacher, which classification of is found on the Endangered Species List.
This is what you get when liberals ruin, er, run, schools.
The U.S. Constitution's free speech guarantee is limited in schools
where is the Supreme Court ruling for this?
Whenever I read something like this, it reminds of the scene from Planet of The Apes when Charlton Heston shouts, “It’s a madhouse!” This woman is an award winning teacher who’s never been in trouble before. She’s doing a historical re-enactment of a disgusting part of U.S. history- ostensibly to teach her students just how disgusting it was. And now she’s in big time trouble. This is insanity. I’d be willing to bet dollars to donuts 90% of the kids who saw the “klan” outfits had no idea what they were. I hope some private school is sharp enough to grab this teacher for their school.
Funny thing is that we think of the south when we think of the klan but I believe it was Illinois that was considered to be the klan capitol of the USA in the early 1900s. Their greatest power appears to have been here in the north.
A few years back we had a big blowup here in one of our Michigan schools because one parent threw a fit about the students reading Tom Sawyer with its “offensive hurtfull words”.
Lord!! The wussification of America.....doesn’t it make you wonder how these people actually live day to day? Jeez....
They were actually making fun of the KKK in their lesson - Ariemma spoke to our local paper.
http://www.thedahloneganugget.com/articles/2010/05/24/news/01%20kkk.txt
Times do change. How many Mexicans are there now? I grew up running around the mountains and my grandparents lived near Turners Corner in White County.
Never saw any blacks anywhere near Cleveland until maybe 1980.
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