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Write and Wrong

A teacher who is psyched about engaging struggling students learns that bureaucracy is more important than pedagogy.

By Anna Quindlen | NEWSWEEK
Published Jul 12, 2008
From the magazine issue dated Jul 21, 2008

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  • Posted By: melbee1971 @ 08/22/2008 11:08:29 PM

    Comment: WARNING: Please, PLEASE.... Trust your children's teachers. Even if you don't always agree with them.

    Teachers, whether they are whatever box you want to put them in, are essential good people. We have got to learn to let them DO THEIR JOBS! If there are "cursed words" in contemporary literature, they have been trained to deal with it. They are working very hard and facing community, administration, union, and student pressures all at once: All for a relatively living wage.

  • Posted By: dfitzsimmons @ 08/04/2008 8:41:28 AM

    Comment: Once again I am beside myself as to the complete throw away society we have become. We throw away the old, the sick, the young, the impaired, and apparently we feel we have enough good teachers to just start throwing them away as well. Its time to wake up people in order to reach all the youth and give them an education they have to be in school for one and motivated for two. After all they are who will be here when we are all gone running things right! This book is fantastic and they can relate to it. I have a high school student who saw the movie and read the book and who has been reading and writing in a joural. It has improved writing skills and shows that hard work and dedication pays off. I have read the book and seen the movie as well. If people are afraid of a little cursing and true emotions of how someone is feeling then they are probally not dealing well with life in general. I thank Erin Gruwell and Connie Heermann and all the other teachers who have taken the time to make a difference to the youth of America who I feel have been screaming out to us for help for years! The Township Board has made a devistating mistake that has not only impacted its teachers but its youth and its future !

  • Posted By: MackintoshD1 @ 08/03/2008 9:11:48 PM

    Comment: Earlier this year, I registered with Freedom Writers Foundation after watching the excellent film. I bought a copy of The Freedom Writers Diary which I read at almost one sitting, such was its strength and integrity as a record of young people trying to make sense of their lives. In my 30 years of teaching high school English, I have rarely been as moved by a collection of writing as I have been by Erin Gruwell and her students' road to personal fulfillment and success. As a New Zealander, I can barely fathom the mind set which would deny anyone, let alone students struggling to know themselves, an opportunity to celebrate the growth and personal development which is manifestly obvious and evident in the diaries. I care very much about education, internationally, so I hope that once the USA has settled on its new president - Obama I hope - that somehow, sanity might filter into the ranks of local authorities which would ban books capable of helping students achieve the very things educators, and surely administrators , want them to achieve - making sense of themselves and the world they are asked to live in and, ultimately, to run. Don Mackintosh, Auckland, New Zealand.

  • Posted By: KeniRee @ 08/01/2008 4:59:40 PM

    Comment: I am currently taking college course to become a teacher. My 16 yr old son's english class read the book last year. Prior to the class reading it, the teacher sent out consent forms for the parents to sign. I did sign the consent but asked to have a copy to read prior to the class reading the book. Although the first couple of chapters were filled with a lot of hate and cursing, I must say I was completely blown away by the book. These students were speaking from the heart. Most had a lot to overcome in order to even attend class. It inspired me a great deal and after reading it, I found my son and his classmates all agreed they loved the book. Mostly because it portrays the REAL emotions of today's youth but also shares their lives in ways most books don't even compare. I'm in Wayne County Indiana and am ashamed to know that Perry Township is not far from me. Some people in the educational system have no clue as to what kids in today's society are actually going through but this book tells it like it is! These students all went to college, know that much inspired my son to attend college also when he graduates. He is LD and knows he has a long road ahead of him but kowing others in his same circumstances were able to do, wil help him mentally once he is there! I say wtg Freedom Writers, Erin and Ms. Heerman

  • Posted By: Lindsay Guerra @ 07/31/2008 10:27:24 PM

    Comment: Both Erin Gruwell and Connie Heermann are and should be an inspiration to us all...they are standing up for what SHOULD be done out there in the education world, and as a fellow teacher I am inspired by their work in a field most people would shy away from doing in a second. Perry Meridian High School administration should be ashamed of their ignorance and stupidity, and recognize that THEY are the reason these students' are missing out on wonderful opportunities.

    • Posted By: Frustrated in Indiana @ 08/03/2008 10:39:10 PM

      Comment: As far as I can tell, the Perry Township School Board is a "run-away board," or as others have called it, a "teflon board." They seem completely unaware of (or uninterested in) the storm of continuing world-wide public outrage over this issue of book censorhip and "cruel and unusual" sentencing of an obviously dedicated, caring teacher. This unforunately is the result of the structure of the board as much as the participants in it. Until there is more "checks and balances" or "oversight" to school boards, this outrageous behavior will continue.

      Outraged in Indiana
      Emil Francis

  • Posted By: tpurdue @ 07/28/2008 8:32:02 AM

    Comment: I was a student at Perry Meridian High School and am ashamed to hear about the injustice that has been served. I hope the newly elected Board will overturn this and give Connie Heermann her job back.

  • Posted By: Anna2007 @ 07/25/2008 4:31:38 PM

    Comment: This is exactly why I am afraid to go into the teaching field! America is no longer America. Few can battle the hypocricy.

  • Posted By: Krob @ 07/25/2008 11:51:23 AM

    Comment: It doesn't make any difference in the U.S.A. anymore if your right. It all must be politically correct!

  • Posted By: paleophile @ 07/25/2008 9:14:46 AM

    Comment: In the same issue that Jonathan Alter called for easier routes for administrators to fire teachers, Anna Quindlen gives us an example of how easy it is. Unions are not perfect, but teachers need to be protected from the capriciousness of administrators and bureaucrats

  • Posted By: real_large @ 07/21/2008 1:20:51 PM

    Comment: This is an outrage. Typical closed-minded censorship by timid, weak, hypocrites who don't understand kids and who don't give a damn about anything but their careers. Here is a link to Perry Meridian High School's web site, with photos of all the creepy administrators who committed this atrocity. I urge everyone to call them and tell them how shameful an act of cowardice they have committed.
    http://pmhs.msdpt.k12.in.us/administration.html



  • Posted By: lmmfumia @ 07/20/2008 3:26:03 PM

    Comment: Children are strong, competent and capable constructors of knowledge. They are fantastic learners. I wonder, what knowledge did they construct from this situation?

  • Posted By: lmmfumia @ 07/20/2008 3:24:36 PM

    Comment: Children are not dumb. They are strong, capable and competent learners. I wonder, what was the lesson they learned here?

  • Posted By: JudyHogan @ 07/20/2008 2:50:23 PM

    Comment: As a teacher for 24 years and as one who goes well above and beyond what is expected of me, Ms. Heermann is a teacher who I certainly look up to and admire! After just reading this article "Write and Wrong", I am angry beyond words. I just looked up the website for the Perry Township School District and found that e-dress for the Principal of Meridian High School is "not available." I wonder if it was yanked in response to this article? I hope heads are hanging low as a result of showing up the administrators and school board members to be the cowards and "glacial movers" that they are. I am furious that Ms. Heermann is on an 18 month suspension! I would hope that some school district will grab her up and pay her what she is REALLY worth!
    Administrators are the problem with American education. Legislators and administrators think they know what students want and need....rarely, if ever, do they ask the teachers! I am absolutely fuming right now about this injustice. Ms. Heermann is indeed a HERO!

  • Posted By: sec41273 @ 07/20/2008 11:43:33 AM

    Comment: As a teacher of children in the "at risk" population, it astounds me that the administration would take such a role. As a high school student, I lived in a gang infested area. My senior year Sociology teacher showed us the movie "Colors". What a highlight of the year were the uncensored discussions we held about that movie and life in general. When you trivialize the lives of students, you fail them.

    hero! !

  • Posted By: zhartvigson @ 07/20/2008 10:00:38 AM

    Comment: I read THE LAST WORD by Anna Quindlen, "Write and Wrong," Published Jul 12, 2008. From the issue dated Jul 21, 2008.

    In the essay she describes the experiences of Connie Heermann attempting to use ???The Freedom Writers Diary??? in her high school class. Her comments are excellent. I find myself becoming very angry at the kind of behavior shown against a teacher, Ms. Heermann, by school administrators. Originally I intended to become a high school mathematics teacher. While I was a married twenty-five years old student teacher I had an experience that caused me to decide to abandon secondary teaching as my goal. One of my ???remedial mathematics??? students came to me complaining that when he went to vote in the student body elections, the site where he was to vote was out of ballots. No alternative was available for him to cast his ballot: he was not allowed to go to another polling site in the high school, no additional ballots were obtained. He simply was told he could not vote. I shared with him the outrage of this treatment. I suggested that he challenge the whole election. He did. But no remedial action was taken. Instead, as a student teacher, I was warned by the principal to ???mind my own business.??? He said that if I persisted, I would be failed in my student teaching. I did not have the courage demonstrated by Connie Heermann. I kept my head down, completed my student teaching, and abandoned high school teaching. I went on to earn a Ph. D. in mathematics and on into university teaching.
    Is there some kind of flaw or error in the way administrators are selected that discriminates against people capable of courageous actions?
    Zenas Hartvigson
    Professor Emeritus of Mathematics
    Colorado University at Denver
    zhartvigson@cudenver.edu

  • Posted By: Indy12 @ 07/19/2008 7:01:06 PM

    Comment: Southside of Indianapolis.

    Connie has gotten just what she wanted. Her twisted story taken seriously.

    She was a terrible teacher, and if Anna Quindlen would have asked any of the teachers at Perry, she would have found that out before she wrote this story.

    • Posted By: reinadelaz @ 07/22/2008 10:21:12 AM

      Comment: If she is such a terrible teacher, how'd she get 27 years ewxperience? Is that how long it takes these administrative cronies to get rid of a bad teacher?

    • Posted By: CloseToSituation @ 07/20/2008 9:59:23 AM

      Comment: How sad that people have to take anonymous potshots at this great teacher. The story of Mrs. Heermann's removal from the classroom is now resonating all over the world. I think the reason is because of all the issues it peaks: wrongful removal from the classroom; a caring, innovative teacher censored; censorship of a great book; censorship of her students and her from the school newspaper; mistreatment by Administrators. All of this is a snapshot of what is typically wrong with education today. And I have news for you: it's not the teachers.

  • Posted By: joe4miki @ 07/19/2008 6:39:05 PM

    Comment: Where is Perry Township?

  • Posted By: mgerk @ 07/19/2008 1:45:26 PM

    Comment: Quindlen's essay was great reminder about where the real problems lie in education. Contrast that with Alter's essay in the same issue where he blames mediocre teachers and unions
    for the problems in public education. Let's be fair, dedicated teachers are hard to find and keep, but mainly because administrations and school boards make it difficult for them to really engage with students. I hope Alter read Quindlen's essay!

    • Posted By: reinadelaz @ 07/22/2008 10:22:38 AM

      Comment: The REAL problem in education in the US is all the finger-pointing!

  • Posted By: melbee1971 @ 07/19/2008 11:41:40 AM

    Comment: It's also interesting that the students were allowed to vote her "Craziest Person" in their newspaper. No censorship (or guidance about discretion) there. Now, if the students published a story in their newspaper that questioned the school leadership: principal, schoolboard, Classic case of controlling "the story" that is told about what "really" happened here.

    We wondering why bullying is such a problem in our schools. Voting a teacher the "craziest person" sounds like step one of a classic bullying situation. Single an individual out for ridicule. Keep your chin up, Ms. Heerman. People will see through this.

    • Posted By: CloseToSituation @ 07/20/2008 9:46:32 AM

      Comment: When they took Mrs. Heermann out of the classroom, she was banned from talking to her students. The school newspaper,FOCUS, posted a note that no stories or letters to the editor could be printed . Then several weeks later an editorial satirizing Mrs. Heermann (but not mentioning her by name) was allowed to be printed in FOCUS. The editorial was written by an AP student. But when scores of letters to the editor from Mrs. Heermann's at-risk students arrived, they were banned from the paper. Voices of weathier students can be heard. Voices of at-risk students were banned. A very sad situation. What's fair here.

  • Posted By: Jackbnimble @ 07/18/2008 11:02:21 PM

    Comment: I don't know the teacher's history and haven't see her file. I haven't spoken with the students or the teacher so I haven't formed an opinion yet on her firing, but I do wonder one thing....why is she not allowed contact with her former students? What's up with that? Seems odd to me that not only is she fired, but somebody has decided who she can contact and who she cant contact? That just seems fishy to me, and I wonder if it is even legal.

  • Posted By: wntrose0721 @ 07/18/2008 8:23:46 AM

    Comment: One would like to believe that when a school board hires a teacher, they hire someone they trust... yet time and again, teachers are shown distrust, and a distinct lack of cofnidence is shown in their abilities. It's no wonder to me, a teacher, that so many good teachers simply step out and leave the profession. Kudos to this teacher for trying. More of us need to stand up. As a group we can make a difference, especially when the individual is pushed down (and out).

  • Posted By: alan.lockett @ 07/17/2008 7:48:23 PM

    Comment: This type of administrative incompetence is endemic to a system which was created in truth not to educate but to prevent education, because an educated populace would not let any of the following happen in their society:

    1. The Federal Reserve creates bubbles that damage untold numbers of citizens by artificially depressing interest rates, and the same institution is now to be rewarded by gaining new authority to regulate investment banks.

    2. 2. Our government spends as much money on public health care as any other industrial nation, and yet indand yet that only covers a fraction of the populace, enriching doctors, pharmaceuticals, and many others along the way

    Etc. etc. ad nauseum. Our school system is designed to keep the poor poor, and to destroy the middle class. For an interesting read, check out John Taylor Gatto's writings on the educational system. Very enlightening. Like Heerman, he taught at risk kids, and was constantly in trouble with the administration precisely because of his independence and competence.

  • Posted By: stepmom @ 07/17/2008 3:51:02 PM

    Comment: As a middle school teacher of 20 years I can say I always purchase books, materials, even magazines for my students; anything to get them engaged in reading. I have used excerpts of "Freedom Writers" in my classes ever since it first came out. Students love it.

  • Posted By: REALTORINDIANA @ 07/17/2008 3:48:41 PM

    Comment: iF SHE WAS TEACHING THERE 27 YEARS, DON'T YA THINK SHE WOULD KNOW THE PROPER WAY TO GET A BOOK APPROVED. SHE SHOULD HAVE ENOUGH PRACTICE BY NOW OR AT LEAST A HOW TO SHEET LAYING AROUND OR MAYBE SOMEONE TO ASK???

    • Posted By: CloseToSituation @ 07/20/2008 9:49:10 AM

      Comment: The rules for getting books approved changed by the book. No written policy is known to exist on getting books approved -- it changes per Administration.

  • Posted By: stepmom @ 07/17/2008 3:48:12 PM

    Comment: As a middle school teacher of 20 years I have to say I have always purchased books, materials, even magazines for my students; anything to get them engaged in reading. We have a saying,"Most people"steal" from work and bring it home; Teachers steal from home and bring it to work! I have also used excerpts of "Freedom Writers" and shown the movie; Students love it!

  • Posted By: KennyF @ 07/17/2008 9:44:54 AM

    Comment: The parents who signed the ok for their kids should have gone to bat for her. Where is the teacher's union in this case? They should be in there as well.

  • Posted By: ervinst@hotmail.com @ 07/17/2008 7:18:53 AM

    Comment: what has happened to this teacher shows us all just what is wrong with our education system. Education of our children is falling way behind those of other countries. too much ploitics are involved .

  • Posted By: Jones746 @ 07/16/2008 11:08:13 PM

    Comment: Where are the parents in this equation? How did the students become at risk? Are there any ourside organizations working for the benefit of these children (Boys Club, local churches, local recreation departments)? Of course not, these are the forgotten children of our country! But to put all the blame on a teacher for the failure of the children is TOTALLY UNFAIR! There is only so much a teacher is able to do to motivate and teach children that see no reason to be in school. Lets put that responsibility where it belongs.
    IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD, not just a teacher. Susan J

  • Posted By: Indy12 @ 07/16/2008 7:47:36 PM

    Comment: Guess who was voted by students "Craziest Person" in the 2008 Senior Issue FOCUS (school newspaper)?

    Connie Heerman

    She was insubordinate. She deserved what came to her, and any informed Perry Meridian student or teacher will tell you the same.

  • Posted By: Indy12 @ 07/16/2008 7:45:43 PM

    Comment: Guess who was voted by seniors "Craziest Person" in the 2008 Senior Issue FOCUS (the school newspaper)?

    Connie Heerman

    She was insubordinate. She deserved what came to her, and now she's seeking attention from the media. Most informed Perry Meridian students and teachers will tell you the same.

    • Posted By: tamsabelle @ 07/18/2008 11:31:12 PM

      Comment: Far better to hire a bunch of drones who won't question and push the boundaries in order to open a young person's mind.

  • Posted By: EngJou @ 07/16/2008 4:44:20 PM

    Comment: I am also a Perry Township resident and graduated from the other high school in the township in 2006. And while I don't agree that the student body of Perry is a mirror image of the students in the book, I am so grateful that this apalling story is coming to national attention. As an English and Journalism major I do not agree with this kind of censorship. The language in "Freedom Writers" is not that much different than the language that the students hear everyday in the hallways and cafeteria of the school. I say if a book holds the attention of the students it can't be all bad -- and definitely not dangerous. Who, after all, is going to shield these teens from all the bad stuff in the world three or four years from now? I applaud the teachers bravery to stand up for what is right, rather than bowing to the administration's unreasonable demands!

  • Posted By: Hoosier Father @ 07/16/2008 4:11:36 PM

    Comment: As I am a resident of Perry Township, Indiana and given that my son is a student at Perry Meridian High School and was in Ms. Heermann's class I must disagree with the the following statement in this article, "whose students at Perry Meridian High School were not much different from the ones in the diary and who she hoped would see their struggles???and their potential???within its pages." As I read the book by Ms. Gruwell and the associated reviews for it I have come to the conclusion that there are significant differences between the students that helped write the book and the students that attend school with my son. One of the most significant is the difference between a general ed class in the suburbs and an "at risk" class in the inner city.

  • Posted By: Hoosier Father @ 07/16/2008 4:10:12 PM

    Comment: As I am a resident of Perry Township, Indiana and given that my son is a student at Perry Meridian High School and was in Ms. Heermann's class I must disagree with the the following statement in this article, "whose students at Perry Meridian High School were not much different from the ones in the diary and who she hoped would see their struggles???and their potential???within its pages." As I read the book by Ms. Gruwell and the associated reviews for it I have come to the conclusion that there are significant differences between the students that helped write the book and the students that attend school with my son. One of the most significant is the difference between a general ed class in the suburbs and an "at risk" class in the inner city.

  • Posted By: msindependent @ 07/16/2008 4:02:01 PM

    Comment: I find it appalling that a teacher must use personal funds to purchase books that will engage students! This situation highlights what is wrong with public education in the United States today! Instead of encouraging independent thinking, thinking outside the box, our public and often private boards of education are more concerned with turning out generic cyphers of politically correct attitudes. America's historical strength of individualism, is being educated into stamping out any thinking that appears to be not in lockstep with current "correctness". Teachers are charged with motivating their students to become successful, and are denied the support and tools to do so. This is just another example of bureaucrats more concerned with maintaining their 'self-importance' rather than encouraging students to question, think for themselves, and succeed in their future.

    • Posted By: Tzaia @ 07/16/2008 7:53:44 PM

      Comment: Ms. Heerman did not buy the books. They were donated.

      • Posted By: stepmom @ 07/17/2008 3:54:31 PM

        Comment: As a middle school teacher of 20 years I can say that I have always purchased books, materials, even magazines for my students; anything to get them engaged in reading. We have a saying,"Most people "steal from work and bring it home; Teachers steal from home and take it to work!

  • Posted By: Tzaia @ 07/16/2008 12:36:34 PM

    Comment: Let me see if I get this issue. This article is talking about a teacher with 27 years of experience who is just now, and only with the help of this book, getting psyched about engaging struggling students? So am I to assume that in 27 years, she has never been able to connect with struggling students? One book of excerpts from struggling kid's lives is not going to change every kid's life who reads it.
    I've kept up with this story and Ms. Heerman's amazement in using this book centers on the kids settling down during class and reading the book. I find that interesting in that instead of having the students read the book outside of class and discussing it during class, she essentially used the book as a pacifier. Was she at her wit's end in trying to deal with struggling students and threw this out because she knew the kids would get caught up in the coarseness of the stories? I would think that a truly gifted teacher could reach struggling kids without this particular book.

  • Posted By: Tzaia @ 07/16/2008 12:33:45 PM

    Comment: Let me see if I get this issue. This article is talking about a teacher with 27 years of experience who is just now, and only with the help of this book, getting psyched about engaging struggling students? So am I to assume that in 27 years, she has never been able to connect with struggling students? One book of excerpts from struggling kid's lives is not going to change every kid's life who reads it.
    I've kept up with this story and Ms. Heerman's amazement in using this book centers on the kids settling down during class and reading the book. I find that interesting in that instead of having the students read the book outside of class and discussing it during class, she essentially used the book as a pacifier. Was she at her wit's end in trying to deal with struggling students and threw this out because she knew the kids would get caught up in the coarseness of the stories? I would think that a truly gifted teacher could reach struggling kids without this particular book.

    • Posted By: tc125231 @ 07/16/2008 6:11:44 PM

      Comment: Since you asked, you don't get it.

      Since I don't get paid to try and educate the incorrigible, I'll leave it at that.

      • Posted By: Tzaia @ 07/16/2008 7:58:05 PM

        Comment: If you are a teacher, and you are paid to educate, then whether or not they are incorrigible is not the issue. You are paid to educate and figure out how to reach the incorrigible - within the boundaries of the law and meeting the state's educational requirements.

  • Posted By: jek47 @ 07/16/2008 11:36:30 AM

    Comment: Ms. Quindlan...please give a copy of your article to Jonathan Alter. He just doesn't get it. Teachers are not puppets of teacher's unions, they are too busy fighting for their students. There are thousands of teachers in situations just like those you describe. I work in a system where student Internet access is censored so severely that if a student does a search on the Iran Hostage Crisis, they are blocked from Internet access. The person in charge of the computer system doesn't even know what that incident is about, but he is given the power of censorship of student learning. We fight these battles every day and then we have articles like Alters that tell us we need to be replaced because our students math scores are not as high as Latvian students. How many people are immigrating to Latvia? Lack of support is the number one problem teachers face in the USA and Alter's article is a perfect example.

    • Posted By: stepmom @ 07/17/2008 3:57:42 PM

      Comment: Well, support and resources, and continuing education on best practices, huge class size, uninvolved parents, abuse, neglect, poverty... there are lots of number ones...

  • Posted By: sailorj77 @ 07/16/2008 7:52:13 AM

    Comment: * As a side note - I'd like to point out that 3 of the board members attended a conference in which Erin Gruwell was a speaker - all 3 board members have spoken out about how they were motivated by Erin Gruwell. There is absolutely no reason that this book would have been "banned" or not approved by the board/administration. I think patience is a virtue and if Ms. Heerman had patience - she would still hold her postition at PMHS...even with all the personnel issues.

  • Posted By: sailorj77 @ 07/16/2008 7:44:50 AM

    Comment: In response to the outgoing senior - Absolutely correct on all accounts. I also had Ms. Heerman three different times in my 4 years at Perry Meridian. She was constantly in trouble with the administration. She is not what I would consider a "teacher". My English class with her was spent watching A Few Good Men. I'm not really sure how that relates to English, but I definitley learned to love Jack Nicholson at that time! (Obviously censorship was not an issue then either). I also had the opportunity to have Mr. Potter my Senior year - THAT is a teacher. I learned more from him in one half of the year than ever learning in my three class with Ms. Heerman. Don't get me wrong, she is a nice lady - but she has always had personnel issues with the administration - she has never actually "taught" a class that I have experienced - and if anything she was cold and distant to her students. I also encourage Anne Quindlen to contact Mr. Craig Potter or anyone of the administration and look at Connie Heerman's personnel file. That will tell you what a great teacher she is.

  • Posted By: lkl001 @ 07/16/2008 7:22:23 AM

    Comment: It's been stated by a couple former students at this school that the error in Mrs. Heermann's ways lay in the fact that she did not follow appropriate channels for approval of the book, not in the book itself. I find this to be a pathetic excuse for the way things happened. Maybe this woman isn't a martyr, as one former student pointed out, but if she could get her students excited to read a book, what is wrong with that? If, as was stated, she had waited another month or whatever and the book was approved, this would not have happened? If the school board was in ultimately going to approve the choice of literature for her class, why is this even an argument? Chalk it up as a mistake that she made, and move on. Its not a termination-worthy offense. We need to teach our children that its ok to make mistakes. I am an educator as well, and I find that I am not above making errors in judgment or just errors in general, and I own up to my mistakes and use those instances to teach my students that teachers are not infallible, that we are human as well.

    The biggest piece of information that needs to be gleaned from this story is this: she was a teacher who was engaging and exciting her students to read! This is not a bad thing! This is what educators strive for! And the school board's actions do nothing but solidify to the students that they are not important in the school system, it is more important to follow the politics of the school board and administration. This makes me sad, as this is not the point of a sound education system. The students MUST be the first priority, not what may or may not have been "insubordination" by a teacher who merely was thinking outside of the box to engage her students.

    And, in regards to the side note of Mrs. Heermann being voted the craziest person of the year by the senior class: it sounds to me like she is a teacher those students will remember for the rest of their lives, and that is a characteristic of a good teacher. Memorable is something I attain to be in my students eyes as well, because it means I've gotten inside their heads. The bad teachers are the ones that are forgotten....

  • Posted By: Goliath_5234 @ 07/15/2008 10:06:06 PM

    Comment: I am an outgoing senior who just graduated from Perry Meridian High School, the school Mrs. Heermann attends. We had this very issue discussed in my English class. My English teacher is a pretty open guy, and he's also the head of the English department and Mrs. Heermann's superior. He pointed out that Mrs. Heermann only waited a short time for the book's approval (a month or two). If she had waited another month or so, she would not have been insubordinate.

    This is not an issue of censorship. Perry Township students read To Kill a Mockingbird, Brave New World, and several other books that might be considered to have "inappropriate" behavior or strong language. Freedom writers would have been approved. Mrs. Heermann was simply not patient.

    To me, it sounds like Ms. Quindlen needs to get some facts straight. I encourage her to contact the Perry Meridian English department chair, Mr. Craig Potter, and get his take on the situation. His e-mail is cpotter (at) msdpt (dot) k12 (dot) in (dot) us

    On a side note, Mrs. Heermann was voted the craziest person of the year by the senior class.

    • Posted By: passionateresident @ 07/16/2008 7:25:02 PM

      Comment: Well, if Mr. Potter discussed this issue with his students, then HE is guilty of insubordination because teachers were instructed not to discuss this at school. Will he be suspended without pay for that? Maybe it wasn't during the ONE class he teaches; maybe it was a one-on-one conversation he was able to have with his senior AP students. He would certainly have a lot of time for that because he has six periods in
      which he does not teach.
      And if a student seems to know ANY information that is in ANY teacher's personel file, someone at central office is committing a major crime?????
      When Mrs. Heermann's story made the front page of the Indianapolis Star on January 23, many of her former students and hundreds of readers posted their support for her. I find it odd that any high school student (even those from Mr Potter's AP class) would devote their summer vacation to reading Newsweek every week, and become riled enough to post their two cents about something that does not affect them or their futures. Or is an administrator or school board member encouraging, and one could certainly, encourage these kinds of kids in many ways, to do so. This board has committed many illegal actions for which they had to spend taxpayer's money on legal fees to defend their actions. So it wouldn't surprise me if they are up to their old tricks again, even though the new super, Mr. Little, wants to put an end to these embarrassing lawsuits.

  • Posted By: pammiesto @ 07/15/2008 5:35:52 PM

    Comment: Reading this just after reading Jonathan Alter's article on holding teachers accountable really puts things in perspective. I am amazed that although all the parents signed permissions slips (not an easy thing to accomplish) and that she had already had success with The Street Lawyer, the powers that be couldn't push through permission to teach rather than "holding her accountable" to their standards. Add to that her taking on the expense of the first novel and finding corporate funding for "Freedom Writers" thiis is truly piling on. I'm hopeful this article, as so many of Ms Quindlen's, will move us to do something about and for those who do their jobs in face of reprimand and dismissal. Please keep bringing these things to our attention---surely someday we will really give teachers their due. Rewards ($) and awards long overdue. Mis Heermann, keep on teaching your way.

  • Posted By: wiseroption @ 07/15/2008 5:19:12 PM

    Comment: Is there anything that the public can actually do for this incredible woman? I tire so much of merely voicing my disgust or opinions and want to know if there is actually a way to make a change when such injustices occur.

    It is likely that Ms. Heermann had a reputation for doing the right thing and had possibly already made the system appear stupid with another incident & this was simply their opportunity to punish her.

    I have a saying, "If a man (or woman) has no enemies, then he or she has never taken a passionate stand for what they believe in". Ms. Heermann obviously stood for something.

    She is a hero in my book!

  • Posted By: wiseroption @ 07/15/2008 5:17:47 PM

    Comment: Is there anything that the public can actually do for this incredible woman? I tire so much of merely voicing my disgust or opinions and want to know if there is actually a way to make a change when such injustices occur.

    It is likely that Ms. Heermann had a reputation for doing the right thing and had possibly already made the system appear stupid with another incident & this was simply their opportunity to punish her.

    I have a saying, "If a man (or woman) has no enemies, then he or she has never taken a passionate stand for what they believe in". This is evident with Ms. Heermann.

  • Posted By: webbjg @ 07/15/2008 5:12:26 PM

    Comment: I am a recent graduate from Perry Meridian, a member of the class of 2008, and I must say the way this event has been portrayed in the media is absolutely reprehensible. Heerman's firing is not the result of a lackadaisical administration; it is the result of a teacher who did not follow the proper procedure to have a book approved. In all reality, many often-contested novels are taught at Perry. Toni Morrison's "Beloved," is a choice for seniors. "Huckleberry Finn," cited in Quindlen's article, is required for advanced sophomores. "Brave New World," is required reading for seniors. Ayn Rand is brought into junior classrooms. This is a township that is not close-minded, and certainly not an English department that would consider the censorship or banning of books appropriate or acceptable. In conversations I've had with other teachers at Perry, "Freedom Writers" stood a very good chance of being approved. Why would a teacher so passionate about her students turn to a level of impatience that could jeopardize her job as a first course of action, rather than wait for actual incompetency from her higher-ups to act out? The media has cast her as a martyred teacher. I say nay, there was no cowardice, just ignorance on the part of a teacher. The written word can be a loaded gun, and Heerman shot herself in the foot.

    • Posted By: KennyF @ 07/17/2008 10:18:44 AM

      Comment: Why fire a teacher who taught the "wrong book"? It's that a disproportionate response? why demand all books (which were bought withe the teacher's money) confiscated? Isn't that a draconian, communist-type response, not to mention a theft or personal property? Why write down the names of the students who didn't comply with this illegal request? Isn't that a response sheer intimidation, worthy of some totalitarian Middle Eastern country? I thought this was America?

  • Posted By: charmedone @ 07/15/2008 12:42:17 PM

    Comment: Book should not be able to be banned. I don't understand why we just can't rate the books like movies, you have to be 17 to see rated R movies, make it the same with books.

  • Posted By: jane.simpson.wilson @ 07/15/2008 2:08:30 AM

    Comment: I, as the author, am ashamed of the Perry Township Board of Education.

    Here is another book for her hungry students, and the Perry Township Board of Education, whom might be keeping track; John Gardner's " Art of Fiction: a Notebook for Young Writers." Published in 1983, it had become an underground "syllabus" for Young Creative Writers in every established Ivy League Program.

    The beauty of this book is that it was designed as an directed course for University level under-grads. But any student of creative writing can spot the genius of this book at an early age. For those of you who feel dis-enfranchised, buy it for your children, or for yourself. Any group, or individual who commits themsel(ves) to this work, cannot fail as a writer.

    "At-Risk" is a precarious notion. By definition, it tells us that if a child does not have the money or the Prep-School education, the child is lost in a public school melieu, and by definiion of the demographics involve, the is at a loss by definition.

    I disagree on two-fronts vehemently. I am the product of over nine Public Schools, domestic and international, and one fine Prep-School. I remember in Prep-School, four of us banding together to help a fellow class-mate who had "misbehaved" on Senior Day. A few of us helped her finish a very long paper on "Indecency". She had already aquired her diploma based on four-years of study. But what I remembered where her tears in the Library, her humiliation, and pleas for help. It was well known that she could not turn out the demanded twenty-five pages on Saturday and Sunday before Graduation.

    So, a group of us gathered around her in the Library, years before the Internet, to help her construct and absolute triumph to her punishment.

    Each one of us took in the thrill of the sight of her entering the Headmistresses Office on Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. to hand in her research paper on "Indency". Our friend "Fanny" graduated with the rest of us. And she now works for one of the Five "National Newspapers of Record"

    How does this apply to the case at hand? It take a Village to raise an idiot or a genius. If we condemn the "out-of-the-box" thinkers such as Connie Heermann, we lose as a community and as a Nation.

    I endorse her comment, " My students have the book, They kept the book!" May they have what Churchill called, " Grace Under Pressure"....or Courage....to find more books and more mentors who will fire thier imagination.

    Shame of the School Board of Perry Township. As the actor, Peter Falk, with one glass eye was proud to demonstrate as he pulled his glass-eye casually out of his head after a bad call in Little League, " Here Boys, you need this more than I do."

    Irish (put 'em up) Jane

  • Posted By: goldeniangel @ 07/14/2008 4:24:06 PM

    Comment: I freaking hate the beaurocracy and bullsh*t that makes it so difficult for good teachers! no wonder ever generation of Americans seems to get stupider, the older generations are intent on making it that way!!!!!

  • Posted By: melbee1971 @ 07/13/2008 12:32:28 PM

    Comment: I taught language arts at a school for at-risk students for three years. I bought used books with my own money and worked overtime to develop lessons that would engage my students. My classroom observations by administrators and peer reviewers were very good until the school supervisor learned of a complaint that some of the novels had "inappropriate language" and some of my students were using "curse words" in their writing. I explained to this supervisor that I tried to teach the difference between formal and informal language and that language choices were just that: choices.

    Unfortunately, my efforts to teach language use, literacy, and meaning-making to these struggling students went completely overlooked and I was "laid off" with the most ugly, hurtful performance review that essentially stated that I "used literature to disrespect and degrade" my students. It was absolutely awful.

    Teachers who work day in and out to try and help their students are frozen in the crossfires of these culture wars. And it's no wonder that almost half of all new teachers end up leaving the profession.

  • Posted By: Thron @ 07/13/2008 9:10:44 AM

    Comment: When Premier Khrushchev declared, "We will bury you," little did we know the generals would be two teacher union presidents, the hit squads would be local school boards and the first casualties our children.

  • Posted By: Thron @ 07/13/2008 9:08:46 AM

    Comment: When Premier Khrushchev of the USSR declared, "We will bury you," little did we know the generals would two teacher union presidents, the hit squads would be local school boards and the first casualties our children.

  • Posted By: Nins @ 07/13/2008 1:17:21 AM

    Comment: Wow. Powerful article, Anna.

  • Posted By: Nonime @ 07/12/2008 8:37:42 PM

    Comment: Thanks for balancing Alter's teacher - bashing article with this one. It's a shame that good teacher are let go and bad ones can't be gotten rid of. Week administration is a huge stumbling block for teachers who have the guts and the insight to take the necessary risks to reach kids. Sadly, Connie Heermann's kids were all left behind, literally.

 
 
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