Hi, all, and happy Monday! Welp. We’re back. Congress is in full session and so are we. I hope everyone got a good rest over the last few weeks, because we’re hitting the ground running! Extremists are coming for all of our hard-earned victories and planning on blocking any new ones. It is our job to ensure that they fail on both counts, and that they pay a massive electoral price for it in 2024.
A house keeping question. On Resistbot, after I sign and it asks do I want to post it on Twitter, it has started saying that they can’t do it. “Things are too hot now, etc etc. “ I’m just wondering if my signature is actually going on the petition.
Thank you for the link to Judd Legum's piece. Here is what I wrote to the director of HR at the Escambia Co. school district. (I chose to not point out the interesting Matt Gaetz connection)
Dear Director Krostag,
I’ve just read the Popular Information article about Vicki Baggett, an English teacher at Northview High School.
This story saddens and enrages me. My family helped to found Escambia County's St Rose of Lima Catholic Church in the mid-50s, when my father was an officer stationed at Pensacola Naval Air Station and I was in elementary school at Berry Hill School. If they were alive today, my parents would strongly agree that Vicky Baggett needs to be removed from the classroom for teaching hate. The school district administration clearly also needs to have a transparent and professionally mediated soul searching and reorganization.
Why is this person still employed as a teacher in your district? Your statement to Judd Legum, that you “categorically condemn any form of discriminatory speech.” rings hollow.
My family moved away long ago. It is long past time for Escambia Co. to move on. I am cc'ing this letter to, among others, my sister, who lived with me in Escambia Co and who had a long career as a brilliant high school English teacher at an all girls Catholic Academy.
I look forward to your acknowledgment of this email.
Thank you, Jessica! and, for your reading enjoyment(!), here is the one my sister wrote. She is fired up too, and spreading the word.
Dear Director Krostag,
My sister just forwarded an article to me about Vicki Baggett, an English teacher at Northview High School. This story sickened me. My 32 years of teaching were always guided by one idea; which was that, above all else, I was there to teach and guide the students to think. To that end, they read and wrote on a huge variety of world literature, from Alexander Solzhenitsyn to Khalid Hosseini. The students of Ms. Baggett are not being taught to think, but to hate anyone who is “other,” and that if a book is not within their teacher’s narrow, racist, sexist ideas, well, it should just be banned. I wouuld echo my sister’s letter in asking why this person is still employed in your district? If you, as you say, “categorically condemn any form of discriminatory speech,” the quotes from Ms. Baggett should have long ago ensured her immediate dismissal.
I’m writing about an employee in your district —her name is Vicki Baggett, an English teacher at Northview High School. I’ve just read the Popular Information article about her vile racist and anti-LGBTQ comments in the classroom, as well as her efforts to ban hundreds of excellent books, and I’m wondering why she is still employed as a teacher in your district. You told Judd Legum that you “categorically condemn any form of discriminatory speech.” and that your mission is “to reach all students, regardless of race, background, or gender identity." Yet by keeping this woman in the classroom you are demonstrating the exact opposite.
As a parent and a librarian, I am appalled. Have you looked at the book When Wilma Rudolph Played Basketball — the story of a sprinter who overcame racial discrimination to become an Olympic champion? This story about perseverance despite racism AND polio should be a model for all our children but Ms. Baggett wants to forbid all kids in your district from reading it because she's concerned the book could make white students "feel uncomfortable"!! Or And Tango Makes Three? It is the TRUE story of how two male PENGUINS at the Central Park Zoo adopted an orphaned chick -- a beautiful story of love and "found family" -- and so very relevant and reassuring to children being raised by relatives, foster parents, or anyone other than their birth parents.
I cannot imagine the anger inside that must motivate Ms. Baggett's reactions, but it is clear she does not belong in the classroom.
Please fire this woman now.
Sincerely, Carol Simon Levin
“Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read!" ~ attributed to Groucho Marx
"Justice is what love looks like in public" ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
Thanks for link/action about Judd Legum piece.Not surprisingly,this is Matt Gaetz district.
Oy.
The math: 5 out of 18 won by double digits, 5 out of 18 won by more than 5 points. 10 out of 18 not bad for starters. 😈
A house keeping question. On Resistbot, after I sign and it asks do I want to post it on Twitter, it has started saying that they can’t do it. “Things are too hot now, etc etc. “ I’m just wondering if my signature is actually going on the petition.
Could it be because of Twitter’s new owner?
Thanks, as always. Keep fighting the good fight!
Huh. I really don't know. I am now off of twitter. Join Mastodon! (:
Thank you for the link to Judd Legum's piece. Here is what I wrote to the director of HR at the Escambia Co. school district. (I chose to not point out the interesting Matt Gaetz connection)
Dear Director Krostag,
I’ve just read the Popular Information article about Vicki Baggett, an English teacher at Northview High School.
This story saddens and enrages me. My family helped to found Escambia County's St Rose of Lima Catholic Church in the mid-50s, when my father was an officer stationed at Pensacola Naval Air Station and I was in elementary school at Berry Hill School. If they were alive today, my parents would strongly agree that Vicky Baggett needs to be removed from the classroom for teaching hate. The school district administration clearly also needs to have a transparent and professionally mediated soul searching and reorganization.
Why is this person still employed as a teacher in your district? Your statement to Judd Legum, that you “categorically condemn any form of discriminatory speech.” rings hollow.
My family moved away long ago. It is long past time for Escambia Co. to move on. I am cc'ing this letter to, among others, my sister, who lived with me in Escambia Co and who had a long career as a brilliant high school English teacher at an all girls Catholic Academy.
I look forward to your acknowledgment of this email.
Respectfully yours, Frances A. Herb, MD
Amazing letter. Thank you!
Thank you, Jessica! and, for your reading enjoyment(!), here is the one my sister wrote. She is fired up too, and spreading the word.
Dear Director Krostag,
My sister just forwarded an article to me about Vicki Baggett, an English teacher at Northview High School. This story sickened me. My 32 years of teaching were always guided by one idea; which was that, above all else, I was there to teach and guide the students to think. To that end, they read and wrote on a huge variety of world literature, from Alexander Solzhenitsyn to Khalid Hosseini. The students of Ms. Baggett are not being taught to think, but to hate anyone who is “other,” and that if a book is not within their teacher’s narrow, racist, sexist ideas, well, it should just be banned. I wouuld echo my sister’s letter in asking why this person is still employed in your district? If you, as you say, “categorically condemn any form of discriminatory speech,” the quotes from Ms. Baggett should have long ago ensured her immediate dismissal.
Fantastic! Inspired letters by both of you!
You are a light in the storm, Jessica!
Stay well
That does my heart goo, Frances. Thank you.
Thanks for the letter info - here's what I wrote:
Dear HR Director Krostag,
I’m writing about an employee in your district —her name is Vicki Baggett, an English teacher at Northview High School. I’ve just read the Popular Information article about her vile racist and anti-LGBTQ comments in the classroom, as well as her efforts to ban hundreds of excellent books, and I’m wondering why she is still employed as a teacher in your district. You told Judd Legum that you “categorically condemn any form of discriminatory speech.” and that your mission is “to reach all students, regardless of race, background, or gender identity." Yet by keeping this woman in the classroom you are demonstrating the exact opposite.
As a parent and a librarian, I am appalled. Have you looked at the book When Wilma Rudolph Played Basketball — the story of a sprinter who overcame racial discrimination to become an Olympic champion? This story about perseverance despite racism AND polio should be a model for all our children but Ms. Baggett wants to forbid all kids in your district from reading it because she's concerned the book could make white students "feel uncomfortable"!! Or And Tango Makes Three? It is the TRUE story of how two male PENGUINS at the Central Park Zoo adopted an orphaned chick -- a beautiful story of love and "found family" -- and so very relevant and reassuring to children being raised by relatives, foster parents, or anyone other than their birth parents.
I cannot imagine the anger inside that must motivate Ms. Baggett's reactions, but it is clear she does not belong in the classroom.
Please fire this woman now.
Sincerely, Carol Simon Levin
“Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read!" ~ attributed to Groucho Marx
"Justice is what love looks like in public" ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
This is phenomenal. Thank you for posting.