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News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyApril 30th, 2007
This is one of the more sickening displays I’ve seen in a long time.
You may remember Amy Sorrell, the Woodlan, Indiana high school teacher and school newspaper adviser who was placed on administrative leave after allowing a student to publish an op-ed advocating tolerance toward gay and lesbian students. The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette has a follow-up report (with the disgusting headline, “Sorrell’s job saved by compassion“) on a settlement that allows Sorrell to keep her job. She will be transfered to another high school and barred from teaching journalism for three years.
East Allen County Schools officials on Friday aggressively defended their actions during the last three months regarding the suspension and near-termination of Woodlan Junior-Senior High School journalism teacher Amy Sorrell. …
Superintendent Kay Novotny said the settlement was made because the administrators are compassionate.
“EACS senior administrators have been able to set aside their frustrations with the spin applied to this situation to give Amy Sorrell a second chance to prove, despite her relative youth and obvious inexperience, that she can make as great a positive mark on EACS education as the administrators whose reputations her comments and actions have helped tarnish,” she said.
Sorrell, like most school teachers, has limited financial means and cannot afford to lose her job. That financial dependency no doubt lead to the most humiliating part of the settlement: She was forced to provide cover for the administration’s inept handling of the controversy by issuing an apology stating that none of her actions or comments “were intended to suggest that administrators… have been motivated by intolerance toward homosexuality.”
But did Novotny accept that humiliating apology gracefully? What do you think?
“(We) assume that her statement of apology was sincere and heartfelt and not some shallow, insincere statement made, with her fingers crossed behind her back, in order to save her job,” Novotny said.
Shameless. That woman is absolutely shameless. It’s incredible that an announcement of a settlement would be delivered with such continuing belligerence towards Sorrell.
Sorrell’s attorney, Patrick Proctor, described the school board’s position perfectly:
“They are blaming Amy for how they’ve been portrayed in the media, but they still haven’t accepted responsibility for any of their own conduct, and if there was anybody that was in a position to repair their own public image, it’s them,” Proctor said. “All they would have to do is issue a formal policy on tolerance regarding homosexuality and free speech, but throughout this they’ve failed to do that.”
Meanwhile, Megan Chase’s original essay won a superior award at Ball State University’s J-Day for student journalism.
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JJ
April 30th, 2007
The idea that Sorrell is responsible for this situation reaching the level of national attention because she over reacted to the situation is truly absurd. I read the article written by the student and read the articles carried in the local papers about the situation and can find no fault for the escalation of the situation in Sorrell’s actions. The school board is responsible for placing her on suspension and making this an issue and for considering dismisal of her for this type of action. Amy Sorrell followed the guidlines governing the review of articles appearing in the school paper and had sent articles dealing with controversial issues to the administration for review, a request for tolerance of people different from yourself shouldn’t be controversial. The school administrators have acted shamefully and continue to do so even with their current statements about the matter.
Lynn David
May 1st, 2007
I like what her father said:
Sorrell’s father, Neil Ternet, also attended Friday’s news conference and said he is proud of his daughter.
“I think Amy’s right. I don’t think she did anything wrong,†he said. He didn’t accept the administration’s assertion that they are victims or compassionate.
“You can put a dress on a pig, but it’s still a pig,†Ternet said.
You want to get madder? Read this;
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/news/editorial/17147845.htm
Timothy Kincaid
May 1st, 2007
I think the reason behind the treatment of this teacher can be found in the following quote from the Ft. Wayne Gazette
The Rev. Stephen Terry, president of the EACS board, said the board had confidence in the administrators and was proud of the way they handled the situation.
I’m guessing that this is the same Rev. Terry. If so, it’s pretty clear that Rev. Terry thinks “holy living” does not include treating gay students with tolerance.
– – – –
I did find one interesting observation coming from the Bluffton News Banner. They read the letters sent in to the editor. There was not a single letter that criticized the student or the teacher.
Timothy Kincaid
May 1st, 2007
It appears that homophobia is not new to EACS.
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/news/editorial/17161002.htm
David C
May 2nd, 2007
The people running this school district are obviously anti-gay bigots. Amy Sorrel should have told them to take their teaching job and shove it.
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