Teacher Speech and the New Divide: Katie Rinderle
In the eighth and final episode of our series on Teacher Speech and the New Divide, we talk with Katie Rinderle, a 10 year veteran educator from Cobb County, Georgia. Katie is the first teacher in Georgia to be terminated for violating the state's divisive concept laws. What did Katie do? She went to a school book fair, sponsored by her school, and bought the best selling picture book, My Shadow is Purple, which touches on gender identity. Her 5th grade students selected the book for a read aloud, and Katie read the book and invited her students to do a reflection poem. Then, a parent complained, and Katie was fired.
Katie's case has garnered national attention as a test of what public school teachers can and can't teach in the classroom. We’re joined in our conversation with Katie by her attorney, Michael Tafalski, from Southern Poverty Law Center.
Special thanks to our friends at Learning for Justice, and the Justice in Schools team at the Harvard Graduate School of Education for their collaboration on this work.
In the eighth and final episode of our series on Teacher Speech and the New Divide, we talk with Katie Rinderle, a 10 year veteran educator from Cobb County, Georgia. Katie is the first teacher in Georgia to be terminated for violating the state's divisive concept laws. What did Katie do? She went to a school book fair, sponsored by her school, and bought the best selling picture book, My Shadow is Purple, which touches on gender identity. Her 5th grade students selected the book for a read aloud, and Katie read the book and invited her students to do a reflection poem. Then, a parent complained, and Katie was fired.
Katie's case has garnered national attention as a test of what public school teachers can and can't teach in the classroom. We’re joined in our conversation with Katie by her attorney, Michael Tafalski, from Southern Poverty Law Center.
Special thanks to our friends at Learning for Justice, and the Justice in Schools team at the Harvard Graduate School of Education for their collaboration on this work.
Resources and Links
Georgia Teacher Fired for Reading Children’s Book About Acceptance - SPLC Article
Katie Rindele’s Opinion piece on MSNBC
Southern Poverty Law Center’s latest Press Release on Katie’s Case
Learn more about My Shadow Is Purple and Author Scott Stuart
Pre-Order Justin Reich’s new book Iterate: The Secret to Innovation in Schools
Watch our documentary film We Have to Do Something Different
Transcript
https://teachlabpodcast.simplecast.com/episodes/teacher-speech-e8/transcript
Credits
Host Justin Reich
Produced by Aimee Corrigan and Garrett Beazley
Recorded and Mixed by Garrett Beazley
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