Two Teachers

Sidney McGee, a teacher from Frisco, Texas, who are being suspended because her students saw nude art in the museum during a museum field trip.

After I read the articles, "Museum Field Trip Deemed Too Revealing" and "Suspended Teacher Defends Book Assignment", which were about Sidney McGee, a teacher from Frisco, Texas, who was being suspended because her students saw nude art in the museum during a museum field trip, and Connie Heermann, who assigned "The Freedom Writers Diary," a collection of at-risk teenagers' essays containing swear words and sexual overtones, to her 11th-grade English students in November.

Ms. McGee, an art teacher was being suspended by the school principal after one of a student’s parents complained that his children saw nude art in the museum, even though the tour had been approved by her, and the tour was accompanied by 4 teachers, 12 parents, and a museum docent.. McGee was being suspended, even though the other children and parents were happy with the tour trip. The principal explained to the parents that this wasn’t only about a field trip to a museum, but also about Ms. McGee’s performance concerns and other criticism of her work.

For another suspended teacher in the article, “Suspended Teacher Defends Book Assignment,” Connie Heermann, was a teacher who assigned a collection of at-risk teenagers’s essays containing swear words and sexual overtones to her 11th-grade English students. The Perry Township school district said that Heermann assigned the book before the administrators could answer her request for permission to use the book. She had tried to ask permission to the administrators, but nobody answered her request. She assigned the book to her students after she got permission from the student’s parents. Ms. Heermann realized that the administrator’s fear of their school board is one of the reasons why they didn’t answer her request. So, no administrator took responsibility because everyone was afraid of being fired by the school board.


After reading of these 2 cases, I realize that the culture in America is that people have the right to complain if they're not happy, especially about a teacher. Teachers have to be really careful, because they can receive complaints anytime for any small reason. It seemed unfair for McGee and Heermann since they both are very good teacher, and they had been teaching for many years. She was being suspended after a parent complain, even though the other children and parents were happy with the tour trip. Heerman was being suspended after she assigned a book containing swear words and sexual overtones to her students. Nobody answered her request, even though she had tried to ask permission to the administrators. The principals weren’t being fair because they didn’t look at their dedications to the school for many years.