"Write and Wrong" Article

Today in class we read an article about a teacher named Mrs. Heermann who was fired for handing out "The Freedom Writer's Diary" in class. Although she did this before waiting for the school board to get back to her, she did get the parent's permission. In my opinion she should have never been fired from the school district, let alone forbidden from contacting those students. Yes, she should have waited for the board's approval before continuing, but the book was a piece of literature that her students could relate to. Her students were similar to Erin Gruwell's students in the book, and Heermann herself seemed to want to take on the same approach to teaching her at-risk students as Gruwell did. Having her students read the book could have produced the same outcome that Gruwell's students did by writing them. The controversy over the text seems to be in the racial slurs in the book. But these racial slurs begin to diminish as the student's diaries progress, showing that Gruwell's students began to have more respect for themselves and others, therefore those racial slurs could have been used as a learning tool. I am just personally shocked that a school district was allowed to fire a teacher of 27 years just for handing out a book. I think that it is ridiculous that a teacher was fired for trying to be like Erin Gruwell because she was an inspiration for teachers. I guess I can only hope that the publication of this article makes people question that school board about their harsh decision.