Teacher faces sacking after reading Australian book with non-binary character to classBy Chantelle Francis, News.com.au
June 26, 2023
A teacher in the United States is fighting to keep her job after reading an Australian children’s picture book to her class.
Katie Rinderle says she bought My Shadow is Purple at a school book fair and then put it in a list of options her students could choose to read back in March.
The fifth-grade class – usually aged 10 or 11 – at Due West Elementary in Georgia chose My Shadow is Purple, which centers around a non-binary character.
It was written and illustrated by Melbourne-based best-selling children’s book creator Scott Stuart and published last year.
“Students just engaged in the book with me and then we discussed the message that they received,” Ms. Rinderle said in a video for the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“That’s what our conversation really was focusing on was the power of not only embracing your unique differences and abilities but then valuing those in others and learning from those.”
A couple of days later her principal asked to see the book, which she said was prompted by a parent complaint.
According to local media, Ms. Rinderle was placed on administrative leave during an investigation and is now facing termination, with a public termination hearing scheduled for August.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2023/06/26/teacher-faces-sacking-after-reading-book-with-non-binary-character-to-class/
