Florida teacher's 'privilege' form outrages parents
TAMPA — A teacher has been pulled out of the classroom at Monroe Middle School following parental outrage over a "privilege" form the teacher passed out to students.
The form — titled "How privileged are you?" — was given out to seventh- and eighth-graders during two of the teacher's Spanish classes Monday.
Race and sex are two common questions students fill out on forms every year. But what about disability status, gender and sexual orientation or religion?
Regina Stiles was among a group of parents who went to the school Tuesday to complain to principal Peter Megara about the teacher. Stiles said her daughter brought home the form to show her because "she didn't think it was right."
When Stiles' daughter came to the "disability" section of the form, she revealed that she has ADHD.
"She has ADHD and apparently the teacher said there are some kids in this class that have ADHD, and ADHD is a mental illness, and that's why she circled that. To me, ADHD is not a mental disability. It's something she has," said Stiles.
In another section, kids were asked to circle "cisgender," "transgender" or "genderqueer."
"She's 12. Some of these things should be taught at home," Stiles said.
The Hillsborough County School District confirmed that the teacher is Yoselis Ramos.
The students weren't required to turn in the forms. Ramos had said the goal was to teach them about diversity and inequality through literature the students had been reading.
Ramos is in her first year with the Hillsborough County School District and was relieved of teaching duties late Tuesday pending investigation.
"This is not a district form, this is a teacher-generated form and it was without principal consent and at the district level we do not collect that information," said district spokeswoman Tanya Arja.
The district did not say how long the investigation would take or what the literature was that led the teacher to produce the form. Stiles said Megara called and left a message with all of the parents whose children were given the form.