Indiana’s Woodlan Junior-Senior High School may believe in free speech, just not on its property. The Indiana-based school has agreed not to fire Amy Sorrell after the journalism teacher published a “pro-gay” essay in the school’s paper, The Tomahawk.
The offending article, penned by a kick ass student named Megan Chase, read:
I can only imagine how hard it would be to come out as homosexual in today’s society. I think it is so wrong to look down on those people, or to make fun of them, just because they have a different sexuality than you. There is nothing wrong with them or their brain; they’re just different than you.
Following the piece’s publication, Woodlan principal Edwin Yoder swore he’d set things straight and took control of the paper, suspending Sorrell until he could decide her fate. After being suspended with pay, Sorrell and the school district have come to a “mutual” agreement.
The First Amendment Center reports:
The agreement calls for school officials to try to find a high-school level English teaching position for Sorrell at Heritage and for her to teach there for at least three years, he said.
Although the settlement does not specifically bar Sorrell from teaching journalism at Heritage, Proctor says the agreement essentially means she will not be teaching such courses for the next three years if she remains at the school.
Way to teach Sorrell – and the children – a lesson!
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
But, of course, East Allen County Schools officials know they’re coming off looking like jerks, so they released this statement pinning it all on Sorrell:
EACS senior administrators have been able to set aside their frustrations with the spin applied to this situation to give Amy Sorrell a second chance to prove, despite her relative youth and obvious inexperience, that she can make as great a positive mark on EACS education as the administrators whose reputations her comments and actions have helped tarnish.
Well, at least the homophobes love you!
EACS: Sorrell’s job saved by compassion [Fort Wayne Gazette]
Teacher Who Faced Firing Over School Newspaper Editorial Can Keep Teaching [Editor & Publisher]
