Debra Taylor, High School Teacher in Grandfield, OK, Earns Wings of Justice for Teaching Ethics in Practice

WINGS OF JUSTICE

Debra Taylor

When Oklahoma ethics teacher Debra Taylor was ordered to stop using a certain movie to show Grandfield High School students the effects of a heinous hate crime upon a community, she removed the material from her curriculum. She didn't expect to eventually lose her job over it.

After all, Taylor had received her principal's permission before exposing students to The Laramie Project, a play (turned into a movie) about the true story of what happened in Wyoming in the wake of the murder of a gay student, due to the harsh language involved. After watching the film version of the play, students decided to recreate certain scenes themselves as part of an in-class project.

When the school's superintendent, Ed Turlington, abruptly canceled the project, Taylor knew the loss of free expression would be felt deeply by her students. She thought it would be best to give them closure by holding a mock funeral for the theatrical project. She had her students write down their feelings, roll them up and put them inside helium balloons, which were released in a nearby park.

The sentiment was not appreciated by Turlington. Taylor's class on ethics and street law was canceled mid-semester. Originally, Taylor was suspended with pay, with plans to consider her continued employment at an upcoming school board meeting. Instead, Taylor resigned last week.

According to the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, a group which is also distributing an action alert urging people to call Turlington and demand Taylor's reinstatement, Taylor only accepted a resignation agreement because "she feared that she would otherwise be fired."

The reasons behind the superintendent's objection over the use of The Laramie Project are somewhat unclear. The Laramie Project is widely seen as an educational tool across the country, with high schools in at least a half dozen states having performed it.

The Laramie Project is a well-researched play written collectively, using interviews, reports, and journal entries to construct a narrative. The play looks at how the murder of gay high school student Matthew Shepard changed Laramie, WY. The writing experience was filmed by HBO and distributed by TIME, complete with classroom guides.

Turlington said his objection was due to adult language. But he is also known as a religious disciplinarian who "adopted an elective course on the Bible as a piece of literature this year."

In a local news report, two students went on record accusing the superintendent of ranting against homosexuality in their class. Taylor saw the narrow-minded reaction of school officials almost as part of her lesson plan:

"They saw their project being canceled because of Turlington's personal feelings [and] suddenly he exhibited the behaviors of a very prejudiced person," she said. "In their teen mind, prejudiced people stop plays about gays."

Taylor said it was one thing for the students to experience their project getting shut down, "but then they see these demonstrations of exactly what they were learning not to do. I was teaching them to be compassionate, to be tolerant, and most of all I was teaching them that hate words are the seeds of violence."

The irony was not lost on Taylor's students either:

Sophomore Amber Squires said, "We were talking about hate crimes. That's what our ethics class goes over. We talk about stem cell things, we talk about abortion. When we did something about abortion the school didn't say anything about it."

Even though they no doubt approve of Turlington's actions, Fred Phelps' hate-based initiative known as Westboro Church will hold a protest Friday at Grandfield High School that they are calling "Matt's Still in Hell, SILLY!"

A human rights group plans to counter the Phelps protest with a peaceful demonstration of support for Taylor.

BuzzFlash would like to join in with a virtual expression of our support. Debra Taylor earned this week's Wings of Justice award for not only trying to do what's best for her students, but also for embodying the true spirit of ethics. Any time Westboro Church is on the opposing end of your argument, you're probably doing the right thing.

WINGS OF JUSTICE

Nominated by BuzzFlash staff. To see a full list of past Wings of Justice honorees, click here.

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