Anyone can sue, but it doesn’t mean you will win. We get threatened almost daily with baseless threats of lawsuits because parents know that it gets them their way.
As for me taking a stand against my social studies curriculum, it’s easier to just shut up and nod when they roll out a new pacing guide and just cover the content the way I feel best. Since I’m a decent teacher and don’t make waves nobody has ever batted an eye about what I’ve said or not said to students. I just taught Andrew Jackson vs the banks, vs the Cherokee (and other civilized tribes), and the spoils system (along with the corrupt bargain). I probably should have made him sounds racist and anti-American for making deals with the tribal councils and killing the national bank if you just read our pacing guide and didn’t actually know the content, but I just presented both sides and let the kids see that it was a massive cluster fuck where both sides had legal claims or arguments about land and constitutionality of the bank. Most students concluded that the trail of tears was more brutal than it should have been, but the eviction was legal-ish. If I’m not mistaken some of the US soldiers were executed for their roles in that, but the details of the Treaty of New Echota are usually glossed over as USA government strong arming and bribing a small group of Cherokee into selling their land. I bet you that most adults don’t even know about the treaty and assume that we just marched in with soldiers for no reason and kicked them all out to Oklahoma and killed them because we decided one day we had enough and just needed their land.
I got a little off topic with my examples.. I could sue if I wanted, but I would not have my contract renewed ASAP and they would blackball me from neighboring districts most likely causing me to need to move further away. I also doubt I would win.
Can teachers also sue when they believe stuff in the curricula violates their rights?
Anyone can sue, but it doesn’t mean you will win. We get threatened almost daily with baseless threats of lawsuits because parents know that it gets them their way.
As for me taking a stand against my social studies curriculum, it’s easier to just shut up and nod when they roll out a new pacing guide and just cover the content the way I feel best. Since I’m a decent teacher and don’t make waves nobody has ever batted an eye about what I’ve said or not said to students. I just taught Andrew Jackson vs the banks, vs the Cherokee (and other civilized tribes), and the spoils system (along with the corrupt bargain). I probably should have made him sounds racist and anti-American for making deals with the tribal councils and killing the national bank if you just read our pacing guide and didn’t actually know the content, but I just presented both sides and let the kids see that it was a massive cluster fuck where both sides had legal claims or arguments about land and constitutionality of the bank. Most students concluded that the trail of tears was more brutal than it should have been, but the eviction was legal-ish. If I’m not mistaken some of the US soldiers were executed for their roles in that, but the details of the Treaty of New Echota are usually glossed over as USA government strong arming and bribing a small group of Cherokee into selling their land. I bet you that most adults don’t even know about the treaty and assume that we just marched in with soldiers for no reason and kicked them all out to Oklahoma and killed them because we decided one day we had enough and just needed their land.
I got a little off topic with my examples.. I could sue if I wanted, but I would not have my contract renewed ASAP and they would blackball me from neighboring districts most likely causing me to need to move further away. I also doubt I would win.