All are welcome here

 

A teacher in Boise, Idaho had a poster with that message in her classroom.  At the bottom of the poster was a series of raised hands going from deep brown to white as the hands were display left to right.  The poster had been up for several years. A second poster said, “Everyone in this room is welcome, important, accepted, respected, valued, and equal”.  Recently, the teacher was asked to remove the two posters.  At first, she complied.   Then channeling her inner Nancy Reagan, she just said no! 

Administrators told her the sign reflected her personal opinion and that personal opinions could not be displayed in the classroom.  She put the poster back up saying that it was not her personal opinion but a fundamental principle of public education. The district has given her until the end of the school year to remove it.  And then what?   No one says.

An all-staff memo was sent specifying which kinds of things could be displayed in a classroom and which could be displayed “temporarily” without the definition of how long “temporary” is.  The memo also says “At West Ada, we proudly welcome all students into our buildings and classrooms- not through posters, but through genuine connections that we foster every day.”  There is also an Idaho state policy supporting diversity.  And there is a lawsuit from an African American family whose child was called derogatory names within the school and there was no response from the system.

A local entrepreneur has printed t-shirts with the All Are Welcome message and the multiple shades of skin raised hands.   He is selling them at cost and in the first few days has sold 800.  Interestingly, the district has posters as part of its “Explore your way” campaign that encourages students to “welcome others and explore diversity”.  State law also prohibits inflaming divisions on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, religion color, or national origin”.  That sounds like an “opinion” similar to the poster.

  The administration continues to argue that the teacher’s posters are her personal opinion.  These posters are in a public school.  Protesters have asked, if you think this is an opinion, “what type of child don’t you want at your school”.  One protestor has suggested that the teacher add a disclaimer to her poster that says, “it’s not the official policy of our school system that all children are welcome” and see how that sits with the administration.  Other protestors have said if not everyone believes all children are welcome, what are they doing in a public school.  

By some surveys, Idaho is ranked #48 in quality education.  Maybe they are fighting their way to be  #50.  I wonder if all are welcome to vote.