Thread: Teacher who wrote letter files petition against 2 newspapers

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...home-headlines

Jan Hall wants the Orlando Sentinel and El Nuevo Dia to reveal who gave them the controversial letter she wrote criticizing immigrants.

Joe Newman | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted November 22, 2005, 7:21 PM EST

PDF: Read the letter linked to Jan P. Hall (ORLANDOSENTINEL.COM)
Aug 24, 2005

Former Sadler Elementary School teacher Jan Hall wants the Orlando Sentinel and El Nuevo Dia to reveal who gave the newspapers a controversial letter she wrote criticizing immigrants, according to a petition she filed today in circuit court.

Hall's attorney contends that the person who released the letter to the media without her permission may have violated her right to privacy, according to the request filed against the Sentinel and El Nuevo Dia.

It's important for Hall to know the name of the source because she plans to seek damages from the Orange County School Board stemming from her August suspension without pay, court records show.

The letter was translated into Spanish and first published in El Nuevo Dia on Aug. 17. It was publicly released and discussed by the school board at a meeting August 23.

A spokeswoman for the Orlando Sentinel declined to comment because she had not seen the petition as of late Tuesday afternoon.

Hall's attorney, Frederic O'Neal and her advisor political activist Doug Guetzloe could not be reached for comment.

Hall's letter advocated that the United States shut its doors to immigrants, saying Mexicans bring in illegal drugs and diseases and Haitian children are aggressive. She also criticized Puerto Rican teachers as being inept.

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Like I've said on other threads--I would just NEVER consider teaching as a career in this day and age. They are just OVERWHELMED with problems created SOLELY by our LAX GOVERNMENT. You're right, rebecca, the teachers are bearing a huge share of the burden.

Rather than a LAX government, the teachers biggest problems are a result of an overly zealous government. Too much intrusion, too much red tape, too much time spent on reams of paperwork that has nothing to do with teaching and everything to do with compliance.

That's a good point, Miss. Add to that all of the problems they have to deal with because half of their classes can't speak English and you have a recipe for disaster.