The War on Teachers
By 
This teacher is a hero and it’s up to us to fight for education to exist in this country.
Karen Cahall has been a teacher in the New Richmond School District in Ohio for 34 years. During that time, according to a lawsuit Cahall filed earlier this month, she “consistently received excellent evaluations for her job performance and teaching excellence.” Cahall, who teaches third grade, was recently suspended for three days without pay and threatened with termination. She was punished for offering four books in her classroom library that contained LGBTQ characters.
Cahall’s classroom library includes about 100 books. These books are not part of Cahall’s curriculum and are not required reading for any student. Like many teachers, Cahall has them on hand to encourage students to read more books.
Among the books in Cahall’s library were four that have LGBTQ characters: Ana On The Edge, The Fabulous Zed Watson!, Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea, and Too Bright to See. These books, the lawsuit argues, do not “describe sexual conduct or sexual activity” and “do not… advocate for or against any particular lifestyle.” Rather, the books “deal with characters who are LGBTQ+ and are coming to terms with feeling different and excluded simply because they are LGBTQ+.”
Too Bright to See, for example, is a Newberry Honor Award Winner. The New York Times review describes it as “a gentle, glowing wonder, full of love and understanding, full of everything any of us would wish for our children.” It is a ghost story with no sexual content. One of the characters in the book is transgender, and another is gay..
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On October 30, 2024, a parent became aware of the books and sent an email complaining to the principal of Cahall’s school, Monroe Elementary, and to every member of the New Richmond Board of Education. The email was forwarded to New Richmond Superintendent Tracey Miller, who quickly scheduled a “pre-disciplinary hearing on November 4, 2024.”
On November 6, Miller sent Cahall a letter informing Cahall that she was suspended for three days without pay. Miller accused Cahall of “intentional and serious violation of Board policy and procedure” by placing books in her “classroom library that contained themes and discussion of topics of a controversial nature.” Miller said that Cahall should have known that including the books in her classroom library was unacceptable because “based on your experience in this community you understand the values that many hold.” Miller said Cahall’s behavior was “completely unacceptable, will not be tolerated and warrants significant discipline.” Miller said that if Cahall continues “to behave in this manner in the future” she may be terminated.
Cahall has filed a civil lawsuit against Miller and the New Richmond School District, arguing that their actions were unconstitutional.
It’s hard for people to fight alone. If we just sit here and say “Oh, Trump is a God King and the American people are idiots who deserve what they get” while we smugly sit in front of our computers and say the world is hopeless while living in comfort ourselves, then we are actively helping the fascists win and are not really any better than they are. This woman and so many other teachers around the country are on the front lines, fighting the good fight. We need to support our teachers, run for school board, and find ways to help our teachers materially. I don’t see any evidence that this teacher is raising funds for a legal fight, but that could be one way. Creating support groups that show up to meetings and protest anti-free speech and homophobic school boards would be another.
What is completely useless is sitting here whining about Trump.