Teacher to be fired over diary

INDIANAPOLIS – Connie Heermann was thrilled when she saw some of her 11th-grade English students reading with rapt attention for the first time when they took up a book of diary entries by students who inspired the movie “Freedom Writers.”\nShe had a problem, though: Her administrators say they didn’t approve, and they’re now trying to terminate her for insubordination.\nHeermann, who’s been suspended, is fighting for her job at Perry Meridian High School.\n“This is not about my own self-justification or my union rights or my retirement. That is not what I’m fighting for,” said Heermann, who has been a teacher for 27 years. “I want the public to know what has happened because I don’t want the students at Perry Township to continue to be disserviced.”\nThe book contains racial slurs and some sexual content. It has been taught in other schools around the country, but at least one other district, in Howell, Mich., has encountered controversy over use of the book.\nThe book’s approach encourages students to write about their experiences, to reach out to students of different backgrounds and to work toward attending college and taking active roles in their communities.\nHeermann collected parental permission slips before introducing the book, but officials for the south suburban district said Heermann never got permission from administrators.\nShe said that when she told the students to turn in the books, 19 of the 22 students in the class initially refused.\nJon Bailey, the school district’s lawyer, said not only did Heermann disobey an order from her supervisors not to teach the book, she used a book that hadn’t been through the district’s approval process.\n“Anything that gets kids to write is good, but these are kids’ journals written in some very explicit language,” Bailey said. “The core issue here is, does a school district have a right to decide its curriculum content or do individual teachers have a right to take it in whatever direction they wish?”\nPrincipal Joan Ellis made it clear to Heermann that she could not pass out the books or use them for lessons, he said.\n“It was made very clear to her not to move forward,” Bailey said.