Virginia school super apologizes for mock auction of black students
April 10th, 2011 - 7:16 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Apr 10 (ANI): The superintendent of Norfolk schools, Virginia, has apologized for a classroom activity in which a teacher staged a mock auction of black and mixed-race students as part of a Civil War history lesson.
Apparently, during a fourth grade teacher’s lesson on the Civil War, students were separated by race. White students on one side and African American and mixed-race students on the other, who were then offered up for auction, reports Fox News.
In an April 6 letter to the students’ parents and guardians, principal Mary B. Wrushen wrote, “I recently became aware of a history lesson that was presented to the students in Ms. Jessica Boyle’s fourth grade class.
Although her actions were well intended to meet the instructional objectives, the activity presented was inappropriate for the students,”she added.
Wrushen added that she intends to follow up with the teacher to make sure this never happens again.
“The lesson could have been thought through more carefully, as to not offend her students or put them in an uncomfortable situation,” she said in the letter.
Superintendent Richard Bentley said the school district does not condone this type of lesson.
“It was wrong. It was outside the boundaries of the curriculum and appropriate instructional practices,” Bentley said. (ANI)
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