My sister called me last night. She works as a teacher here in Central Florida. She was contacted earlier in the week by her Principal because the mother of one of her students contacted the Superintendent’s office to complain that her son was being “targeted” by his teacher, as evidenced by his poor grades and discipline problems. The district office is sending an administrator to my sister’s school, so that they can meet with my sister, her Principal, and the parent to discuss the problem.
The problem? The kid is being suspended for calling another kid a “nigger” while they were at lunch. My sister isn’t the one who wrote the referral, the Principal is. My sister, as the teacher, was required to email the parent, as per district policy. The mother was very angry and claimed that her child “doesn’t even know that word.” She then demanded that my sister call her so they could discuss it. My sister wisely refused, and wants everything dealt with in writing. So that is why the parent has complained.
As soon as I heard “targeted” I knew without being told that this was a black student who was going to throw down the race card. I told her that, since this was a discipline meeting, she was entitled to have her union representative there as a matter of Federal law. I don’t really like a lot of what the union does, but in this case, it’s important to remember that there will be two administrators and a parent there. You will be alone, and need a witness there that will be somewhat impartial.
When I told her that, my sister replied, “Oh, no. The principal told me that this wasn’t a meeting where I would be disciplined. It’s just an informal meeting.” No. There is no such thing as an informal meeting when there are multiple administrators in a room with a parent making racism accusations against you. You are white, and that means you are guilty. If either of those administrators can avoid trouble by tossing you in front of that bus, they will do it without a second thought. That’s when my sister said, “Oh my principal is black. She told me that she knows I am not a racist.”
Oh shit. It was at that point that I began to wonder whether or not my sister should bring not just a union rep, but a lawyer. If this woman wants to claim that racism is why her child is failing and getting in trouble, the only white person in the room is going to be the target.
Racism is a serious charge for a teacher. Not only will it cost you your job, it can cost you your teaching license. There goes your career, and my sister doesn’t have the looks for only fans.
I’ve seen this show before. I know how it turns out. You can win, but you need lawyers, representation, witnesses, and money. I got in that fight back in 2016, and I wound up quitting and going to a different school. The old school then tried to have my professional licenses revoked. They failed and I won, but it cost me nearly $10,000 in legal fees and I wound up switching jobs.
I don’t think that my sister has that kind of money.
So when the meeting happens this week, she will have a union representative there. At least she took my advice. She usually asks for my advice, then goes in a different direction. Then she comes to me and wants advice on the situation that she got into because she didn’t follow my original advice. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
