In the midst of a national teacher shortage and a day before the start of the new school year, special education teacher, Michael James, resigned. He claimed in a letter to both Gov. DeSatan and the school board that staff from the district removed posters of black heroes from his classroom walls he thought inspired his students who come from a predominantly black neighborhood. James noted the images he had on his walls were “age inappropriate;” a term DeSatan has overused while promoting his ‘Parental Rights Bill’ he signed into law.
The images that staff removed include “depictions of Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, Colin Powell and George Washington Carver” and a copy of the Pledge of Allegiance.
“It really floored me,” James told the News Journal. “I’ve been teaching special education for 15 years, and it just really floored me when she did that.”
Superintendent Smith said teachers are permitted to decorate their classrooms with educational materials and he was unaware of any policies that would prohibit a teacher from displaying pictures of inspirational American heroes on their walls.
Smith said a full investigation of the incident, which he called an “anomaly,” has been launched.
Charlie Crist, who is running for the Democratic nomination for governor to challenge DeSantis in November, stated the following:
“This is the sad reality of Ron DeSantis’s Florida — a teacher, in a predominantly Black community, comes into their classroom to see posters of historically Black American heroes, including President Obama, taken down for being ‘inappropriate’,” said Crist in a statement by his campaign.
“DeSantis’s culture wars are infiltrating every corner of our state, and it’s Florida’s students who are paying the price.”
