This guy is like the superhero of public education. I attended a one-day conference with him at Cerritos College a couple of years ago.
He's so good you just say to yourself, "I don't know if I can match that kind of tireless energy and advocacy." A real inspiration. And he's a major author too. I got a signed copy of his latest book, Real Talk for Real Teachers: Advice for Teachers from Rookies to Veterans: "No Retreat, No Surrender!"
Taking your best teachers out of the classroom is like Stalin purging his entire general staff in 1937, virtually guaranteeing a military calamity on the first stages of World War II.
That's the left for you. The revolution eats its own eventually.
At CBS News Los Angeles, "Award-Winning Teacher Removed from Classroom Gives LAUSD an Ultimatum":
KOREATOWN (CBSLA.com) — A distinguished elementary school instructor is fighting to teach again.
Rafe Esquith was removed from the classroom at Hobart Elementary — a LAUSD school in Koreatown — after a fellow teacher complained about Esquith reciting a passage from Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” The book, of course, is a classic but often criticized mainly for continual use of the N word. Although it is not clear what the complaint was officially.
High-profile attorney Mark Geragos is representing Esquith and on Thursday issued an ultimatum to the Los Angeles Unified School District: publicly apologize and let him get back to work, or battle a lawsuit.
Geragos said on Monday: “The State of California has thoroughly investigated and cleared Rafe, who is a nationally recognized and award-winning teacher. If LAUSD does not immediately reinstate Rafe and issue a public apology, we will file immediate legal action.”
A district spokesperson would only say that Esquith is still on the payroll. He is left in what parents call Teacher Jail.
CBS’s Jeff Nguyen spoke to many parents Thursday hoping to get Esquith a get out of jail free card.
More than 50 parents and students met Nguyen in front of the school to show their support for the award-winning teacher.
Emanuel Cuapio, 11, says his beloved teacher was notably absent during graduation earlier this month.
“It was really hard graduating because we weren’t with Rafe… we all grieved,” Cuapio said.
A lawyer with Geragos’ firm said the district hasn’t been upfront about the suspension...
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