No teacher has the right to make bigoted remarks about the parents of students. Such an occasion recently took place in a school district in Washington. What follows is Bill Donohue’s March 6 letter to the school superintendent in charge of the school where this happened.
Dr. Alan Spicciati
Superintendent
Auburn School District
915 Fourth St. NE
Auburn, WA 98002
Dear Dr. Spicciati:
The purpose of this letter is to inquire about your school district’s response to the blatantly anti-Christian statement recently made by Kelly Love; she teaches at Auburn School District 408.
It has been widely reported that Love was upset with a teacher who sought to alert parents to some school policies that were being kept from them. In reply, Love said, “I cannot disagree with this more. So many students are not safe in this nation from their Christo-fascist parents.”
Such a sweeping and clearly anti-Christian remark runs counter to the Auburn School District’s policy on equity. Dr. Gary Howard, an equity specialist whose work is flagged on the District’s website, cites several “Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices.” Among them are the following: a) “Students are affirmed in their cultural connections” b) “Teachers are personally inviting” c) “Learning environments are physically and culturally inviting” and d) “Classroom is managed with firm, consistent, loving, guidance.”
Love violated these tenets. By calling the parents of Christian students “fascists,” she is clearly not affirming the “cultural connections” of these students, nor is she being “personally inviting.” Indeed, the environment she has created is anything but “culturally inviting,” and she sure doesn’t exhibit the kind of “love” and “guidance” these students expect.
If a teacher called the parents of Native Americans “Christo-fascists,” swift punishment would follow. It should not matter what the ethnicity of the parents is. What matters is that Christians should not be smeared by a state employee. That is a serious matter.
I would appreciate hearing from you about the disposition of this case.
Sincerely,
William A. Donohue, Ph.D.
President
cc: Erin Mersino, Esq.
Kelly Love
