- Oct 17, 2011
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A school board in southwest Missouri voted not to renew the contract of a teacher after parents accused her of using critical race theory.
Kim Morrison, an English teacher at Greenfield High School, said the vote in mid-March came shortly after allegations surfaced about a worksheet she used as part of teaching the book "Dear Martin."
This was her second year teaching the award-winning young adult novel about racism in an elective contemporary literature class. It was the first year students were assigned a 15-question worksheet called "How Racially Privileged Are You?"
"I said discussing racism is not CRT and she said she understood but that this is what she is hearing."
Morrison said she explained the worksheet — which she purchased from a database of instructional materials — was intended to help students examine their own experiences and vantage point. It was not meant to prompt class discussion.
"It was to prepare students for the conversation that was going to happen between two characters that we were about to read," she said.
In the letter, [Superintendent] Kell confirmed the board's decision not to rehire Morrison for the 2022-23 year. It stated this reason: "Your decision to incorporate the worksheet associated with the novel 'Dear Martin,' due to the content and subject matter."
[Morrison] said the school board did not directly ask her about the worksheet or allegations of critical race theory.
"I have to be the spokesperson now because most of the teachers at Greenfield are not tenured so they can't speak," she said. "If this is how they terminate teachers — without asking questions, without speaking to the teacher — then no one is secure."
Kim Morrison, an English teacher at Greenfield High School, said the vote in mid-March came shortly after allegations surfaced about a worksheet she used as part of teaching the book "Dear Martin."
This was her second year teaching the award-winning young adult novel about racism in an elective contemporary literature class. It was the first year students were assigned a 15-question worksheet called "How Racially Privileged Are You?"
"I said discussing racism is not CRT and she said she understood but that this is what she is hearing."
Morrison said she explained the worksheet — which she purchased from a database of instructional materials — was intended to help students examine their own experiences and vantage point. It was not meant to prompt class discussion.
"It was to prepare students for the conversation that was going to happen between two characters that we were about to read," she said.
In the letter, [Superintendent] Kell confirmed the board's decision not to rehire Morrison for the 2022-23 year. It stated this reason: "Your decision to incorporate the worksheet associated with the novel 'Dear Martin,' due to the content and subject matter."
[Morrison] said the school board did not directly ask her about the worksheet or allegations of critical race theory.
"I have to be the spokesperson now because most of the teachers at Greenfield are not tenured so they can't speak," she said. "If this is how they terminate teachers — without asking questions, without speaking to the teacher — then no one is secure."
