A black teacher in St Paul, Minnesota won a large settlement from the St. Paul School District last week over claims they retaliated against him for speaking against their race-based discipline practices, namely, treating minority students as if they can’t live up to the standards expected of white students.
As the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:
In the federal lawsuit Aaron Benner filed in 2017, he claimed the district essentially forced him to quit by investigating him four times in the 2014-15 school year — even though he had never been disciplined before.
The personnel moves against him came after Benner joined four other teachers at a May 2014 board meeting in pushing for higher expectations of students and greater consequences for those who misbehave.
Benner called the district out for failing black students by refusing to reprimand them for disruptive behavior. At the time, the discipline polices implemented by Superintendent Valeria Silva were lowered so the suspension rate of black students would decrease. The teacher noticed this as a slight to the black students.
His goal in calling for black students to be disciplined for bad behavior was not to see suspensions increase but to send the students to a room with a licensed teacher who could help and work with them in their situation — which would ultimately be better for the student.
The St. Paul School District denied any wrongdoing, saying instead: “This agreement enables the district to avoid the time, expense and uncertainty of protracted legal proceedings regarding its previous policies, practices and expectations.”
Benner received $525,000 in the settlement, with taxpayers paying $50,000 and the school district’s insurer paying the remaining $475,000.
“I thank God for all the blessings in my life,” Benner told the Star Tribune in an email. “I turned 50 this year, got married in July and now (there is) this settlement.”
Good on this teacher for speaking out against those who think minority (black) students just can't be expected to behave well in school. If you're not going to hold the student accountable for their actions, how can you expect them to show any signs of respect?
Here is Benner speaking out on the school's practices in 2018:
H/T: The American Mirror