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

    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

      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: Jackbnimble @ 07/18/2008 11:02:21 PM

    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

    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

    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: jek47 @ 07/16/2008 11:36:30 AM

    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

      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: msindependent @ 07/16/2008 4:02:01 PM

    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

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

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

        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: stepmom @ 07/17/2008 3:51:02 PM

    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: stepmom @ 07/17/2008 3:48:12 PM

    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: webbjg @ 07/15/2008 5:12:26 PM

    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

      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: KennyF @ 07/17/2008 9:44:54 AM

    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

    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

    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: Tzaia @ 07/16/2008 12:33:45 PM

    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

      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

        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: Indy12 @ 07/16/2008 7:47:36 PM

    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: Goliath_5234 @ 07/15/2008 10:06:06 PM

    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

      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: EngJou @ 07/16/2008 4:44:20 PM

    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

    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

    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: Tzaia @ 07/16/2008 12:36:34 PM

    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: sailorj77 @ 07/16/2008 7:52:13 AM

    * 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.

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