When Education Fails Freedom
As I write these words, recently unemployed in our new home in Florida, I watch as my two-year-old daughter plays with her toys. We moved here just over a month ago from Arizona for a job that nearly begged me to interview for a social studies position instead of the English position I applied for, which had been filled as I waited to update my Arizona teaching certificate. What happened, you might ask? The failure of the education system is what happened, especially when parents and politically motivated leaders are allowed to let their personal emotions infringe upon an educator’s First Amendment right to free speech.
As an educator, my purpose and passion are to enlighten, empower, and equip students to think for themselves instead of jamming useless facts into their brains in preparation for a test that they don’t even care about.
These are too often the goals school systems because they see students as grades on a spreadsheet or numbers and percentages in a graduating class. But are they truly prepared for a life outside of high school? I would like to say yes, but this recent experience has illuminated many things about the state of our education system. Especially one that has prided itself on being the best. I can attest from firsthand experience that many of the kids who attend VHS (The Villages High School) have been coasting along, coddled and babied, expecting to be included in that 100% graduation rate. Even if it means passing them just to pass them, not because they actually earned it. This isn’t education; it’s a factory to pump out the best, often inflated, numbers. But the truth is far worse.
As part of an introductory assessment regarding their reading and writing skills, I used a program to measure the level of my students’ previous education. I was shocked to learn that those who had actually completed it had between a 3rd and 7th grade reading level, and those who had not been able to finish my assessment fared even worse. Keep in mind, these students are juniors and seniors in high school, nearing the end of both their adolescence and public education. This data shed light on a system that merely pushes students through without any regard to the actual quality or substance of their learning to be another number or percentage point. And for what? Funding? Pride? Bragging rights?
The crux of this entire ordeal hinges on my immediate termination without warning on September 28th, 2023, fifty-one days after having driven three days straight across the country with a packed car and two dogs to start a new teaching position. To start a new life and a new opportunity. To be closer to family and teach students who were seemingly highly motivated to learn.
September 25th. The beginning of Celebrate Freedom Week in Florida. As instructed, the entire social studies department was instructed to educate students on the Declaration of Independence for a required 3.5 hours. I was
looking forward to this since I really enjoy the Colonial and Revolutionary eras of American history. President John Adams is a near direct ancestor of mine, and I have seen the Declaration of Independence itself on display in Washington DC. I was beyond excited to teach kids about this time in our history when the values of freedom and liberation, free from persecution, sprouting from the Enlightenment began to take hold in our founding documents.
Later in the day, I decided to provide a visual example for one group of kids who were beginning to get unruly. This particular class meets just after lunch, so it’s no wonder that this would be my rowdiest group of teenagers. But I understood where they were coming from: a boring history class with bodies full of sugar, pent-up energy, and raging hormones. My example was to take the American flag off the wall, place it on the floor, and step on it. This immediately quieted down and even shocked the students. Picking it back up and returning it to the wall, I explained that we celebrate Freedom Week because we have certain freedoms in this country. Men and women have died protecting the values we hold dear, even if we might not agree with the exercising of them. This was part of the lesson, and I reinforced that stepping on a flag was not my own personal opinion or protest nor would I ever condone anyone doing something similar lightly. I made the connection to the Declaration of Independence that states overthrowing or replacing a faulty government should not be done “without good reason.” The reason was embedded into a lesson highlighting the reality that we have these freedoms, and when groups or governments attempt to strip them away, it becomes problematic to the very foundations of freedom itself. Many students did not like this, and upon returning home, they shared their thoughts about this demonstration with their parents.
September 26th. I received an email from the principal scheduling a meeting for the end of the day. I wasn’t totally sure, but I had a general feeling what it was going to be about. My nerves were shot all day, but I continued to teach the importance of the Declaration of Independence, breaking down its preamble, the colonists’ beliefs, and the grievances held against the English monarch. At the end of the day, I went to speak with the principal who had inquired about the incident. With nothing to hide, I explained with honesty the context of my demonstration. It was merely part of my lesson. In response, he said, “I had a feeling that’s what happened, but I’ve received many correspondences from parents expressing how disrespectful your actions were.” There were two other vice-principals present in the room, and one remarked, “I was a military man for nine years, so you know how I feel about this.” Continuing on, the principal expressed adulation for my creativity in presenting the lesson, but he also “personally” felt that it was disrespectful. I was already receiving mixed messages as I stood in his office. The discussion ended with a suggestion to address the incident with students and offer a retraction or apology. Understanding how my actions could negatively affect parents and students, I immediately agreed, wanting to make amends. The principal and vice-principal also expressed an idea to properly burn the flag as a “peace offering” to parents who felt disrespected since the American Legion (according to the principal) states that a flag must be burned after having touched the ground. While I felt this course of action might be excessive, I was on board with whatever they wanted to do. As the meeting concluded, the principal stated that, “We want you here for a long time.”
September 27th. I addressed what had happened with all of my students, even in classes where I had not used the flag demonstration. Many students were completely unaware of the entire situation, but some knew and even informed me that other students I didn’t teach wanted to “jump” me in the halls. Most students understood the context of the lesson and felt no disrespect. At this point, rumors were spreading like wildfire that I had “ripped the flag off the wall and stomped on it repeatedly or walked across it.” None of this was true, but what could I expect from third or fourth-hand accounts? When my 6th hour class approached, the one in which I had demonstrated this First Amendment-protected action, I personally pulled a student who had expressed his anger toward me the day before, saying, “how can I respect someone who disrespects the flag?” The vice-principal had joined our class at that time to observe the material being taught for Freedom Week. I took this opportunity to have another set of eyes and ears present as I spoke to the student in the hallway. With her there, I personally apologized, further explaining the message I had tried to convey. I emphasized that it may not have the been the best choice, but my intentions were good. The student seemed to understand and appreciated the conversation, which ended in a handshake. The vice-principal even said, “We believe in second chances here, and BOTH of you have good hearts and good intentions.”
September 28th. After an amazing day of teaching and interacting with students, and finally getting my name plate on the door, I received an email from a parent expressing their resentment towards me and my “criminal” actions under the US Flag Code. It was a rather lengthy email, but it concluded with a promise to include our Director of Education and all principals within the district. About two hours later at 6:00pm, the principal called to inform me in a very melancholy tone that I would be “terminated effective immediately because I was not a good fit for VHS.” Asking why I was being terminated, all he offered was, “I’m not at liberty to divulge that information, but we don’t feel you’re a good fit for VHS.” I thanked him for the opportunity and hung up.
You can imagine my confusion after being nearly praised for my creativity in addressing a powerful issue to being fired a mere two days later for exercising a protected First Amendment right, especially as a state employee in a public charter school. This experience has highlighted the blind eye that this administration and school systems in general have, forcing teachers through hoops while students are corralled through the system like cattle. Cattle ready to be proverbially slaughtered in the real world because they have little if any real-world experience. The most unsettling thing about this ordeal was the lack of reason for my termination without any prior warnings or documented issues of any kind. It is no secret that the decision came from the Director of Education, forcing the principal to terminate me immediately. While I may never know the official reason, I learned an email would be sent out to ALL parents explaining my departure, meaning they’re at liberty to explain the reasoning of my termination with them, but not me.
At the end of it all, I would not be living by the very concepts I teach if I didn’t voice my disgust for this blatant infringement of a right which has been constitutionally protected in the United States since 1789. This is what happens when politics and personal beliefs disrupt the education of children, teenagers, and young adults. It has been made painfully clear to me that certain school systems only want obedient, subservient, mindless drones that would sooner ridicule or harm you for exercising a protected right than to question the actual system that desperately needs changing. When did it become acceptable to protect a piece of cloth over the very rights the flag was meant to protect? When did it become acceptable to protect a flag over living, breathing, Americans who love this country and only want to teach about the rights everyone has? What does it say about a nation that is slowly devolving into nationalism under the guise of patriotic pride? I daresay we might not like the answer.
