Thread: Teacher's suspension roils district in Florida

www.orlandosentinel.com

Teacher's suspension roils district
Orange County school officials obtain the inflammatory letter that prompted abrupt action against Jan Hall.
Victor Manuel Ramos
Sentinel Staff Writer

August 19, 2005

The Orange County school district obtained the inflammatory letter Thursday that led to the abrupt suspension without pay of a fifth-grade teacher accused of disparaging Hispanics, Haitians and other immigrants.

Earlier in the day, district officials met with the teacher, Jan P. Hall, and a representative of the teachers union. School-district attorney Frank Kruppenbacher said officials would not release the handwritten, signed letter to the public, pending an investigation. Officials plan to meet with Hall again next week.

Hall was unavailable for comment Wednesday and again on Thursday.

David DeMond, president of the Classroom Teachers Association, criticized the district for punishing a teacher and condemning her publicly without sorting out the facts first, particularly since freedom-of-speech issues are at stake. School officials seemed to be focusing more on the scandal generated by the publication of the letter than on seeking the facts, he said.

"This was another rush to judgment on the part of the district," DeMond said. "When they are cast in a bad light, they react strongly, and it is our contention that due process hasn't been given in this case."

Schools Superintendent Ron Blocker maintained Thursday that even before the letter was obtained he had enough evidence to suspend Hall, who has taught at Sadler Elementary School for five years.

"I don't have much to say about it, other than it's under my authority to do that, and the teacher admitted to writing a letter," said Blocker, adding that he will seek the School Board's approval of the suspension Tuesday. "I don't think I acted prematurely."

Even as officials met with Hall, 59, they scrambled to find the original letter. All they had was a published translation in Spanish.

The scandal rocked the district following a report from Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Dia. It published a translation of the letter Wednesday.

District officials called Central Florida's members of Congress to determine if they had received the letter, which was addressed to "Dear Honorable Congressman."

In the letter, the writer -- identified as a Sadler teacher -- complained about Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Haitians, Middle Easterners and foreigners in general.

"Please, do not allow these criminals to stay in this country and take all the jobs in Florida," concluded the letter, according to a version translated back into English and released by the school district Thursday.

The letter also accused Puerto Rican teachers who earned their teaching degrees on the island as having received "the equivalent of a fifth-grade education in the United States."

Those kinds of remarks angered community activists and parents in the largely Hispanic neighborhood where Hall taught.

"I am absolutely convinced that the superintendent acted properly, especially now that I read this document," Kruppenbacher said.

Among Central Florida's congressional delegation in Washington, only Sen. Bill Nelson's office told the Sentinel that it had logged correspondence from a woman named Jan Hall, but on other issues -- including one letter opposing the nomination of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The controversy forced Sadler Principal Anne Lynaugh to start the school day with a news conference. The district also dispatched counselors to the school to help staff and students cope with their feelings.

"The Sadler school family is a close-knit family and a committed family," Lynaugh said. "We are hurt by the notoriety and allegations of an inappropriate letter. This letter in no way, though, is a reflection of the professionalism of this staff nor of the commitment to our children's academic excellence."

Kruppenbacher said he was asking the Florida Department of Education to determine if the letter violated the state's professional code, which could lead to suspension or revocation of Hall's teaching license. An agency official said the department would look into the allegations.

The code forbids discriminating against any student because of race, national origin or ethnicity, among other things, and explicitly forbids "harassment or discriminatory conduct" that creates "a hostile, intimidating, abusive, offensive, or oppressive environment."

Kruppenbacher said that even before the district had the controversial letter, its case was not baseless. He said Hall's principal confronted her when the matter first surfaced, and she admitted writing such a letter. Also, Kruppenbacher said, a senior employee-relations administrator had read the original letter and confirmed its "inappropriate" content.

In addition, employee-relations investigator Alfred Lopez said that in his Thursday meeting with Hall she stated that the published letter "seems to have her handwriting," but Hall did not elaborate further.

Some parents said the incident left them angry and concerned about how their children would be treated by teachers harboring such feelings.

Gustavo Alvarado, a Mexican immigrant whose three daughters attend Sadler, said the district should make an example of this teacher.

"Our children have to be protected," said Alvarado, 37. "If we came to this country, we did it to work and so that our children would have better opportunities."

Evidently, they do not have the original--only the convenient "Spanish language" version. Some of the alleged "racist" comments are only racist if they are not true. It will be interesting to see if the original version of the alleged letter appears.

Here's a copy of the actual letter in the link below.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/media/ac ... 111089.pdf

www.orlandosentinel.com

Teacher who wrote controversial letter resigns
By Mary Shanklin
Sentinel Staff Writer

August 30, 2005, 11:26 AM EDT

The Sadler Elementary teacher who wrote a letter blasting Puerto Ricans, Haitians, Mexicans and others resigned Tuesday morning, perhaps ending a controversy that has divided Central Floridians.

Jan P. Hall went from obscurity to notoriety in recent weeks when the comments she mailed to congressmen became public, sparking a public furor over her freedom-of-speech rights and her ability to continue teaching multicultural students.

Orange County school officials suspended her without pay last week pending an investigation into her letter and teachings abilities. Hall, 59, had gotten high marks from principals over the years. But some Hispanics in her classroom have complained about how they were treated.

The district had offered her several options, including teaching homebound students, if she apologized and met with a psychiatrist.

Hall said she rejected the offers because officials did not address her key issue - looking into how a principal at Englewood Elementary handled her complaints when a student battered her in 2002, causing her to undergo reconstructive surgery.

"They still failed to do anything about the battery to my leg," Hall said in a phone interview this morning. "I'm tired of fooling with them. I'm sure I can go to work in a private school in another county."

Hall said she would leave open the option to file a legal complaint against the district.

Orange County Superintendent Ron Blocker had no comment about Hall's resignation.

Because she is leaving the school district two years prior to her retirement, she will lose 10 percent of her pension, said teacher union president David DeMond.