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A controversy in a Michigan middle school has been resolved, but questions still remain over why a performing arts teacher was severely disciplined after allowing a student to play a marriage equality song in her classroom. The teacher, Susan Johnson, from Centennial Middle School, allowed the song after checking with the student to be sure it fit within the guidelines of the school district. However, the song offended at least one classmate, whose complaint eventually led to the teacher’s disciplinary action. Was the teacher merely defending a student’s freedom of speech, or was she in violation of district policy? The answer to that question appears to depend on who you ask.

The video offers an overview of freedom of speech in public schools.

“Same Love” Subject of Controversy

According to , Johnson allowed a student in one of her eighth-grade performing arts classes to play the song “Same Love” by rapper Macklemore during class. Prior to granting permission, Johnson asked the student if the song contained any inappropriate language or references to violence. The student responded that it did not. In fact, “Same Love” is a song about marriage equality, depicting the life of a gay man from beginning to end. Some of the lyrics in the song include:

“Can’t change, even if I tried…”

“No freedom ‘til we’re equal…”

“We become so numb to what we’re saying…”

“If I

In the wake of the Sandy Hook elementary school tragedy, parents spent the weekend holding their children a little tighter and telling them how much they loved them a little more often. Then Monday morning arrived, and it was time to send those children off to school once again. Only Monday was different – parents didn’t drop their children off with the same carefree spirit they had done just a few short days before. Now, there was fear and anxiety surrounding that seemingly simple, normal event, as parents wondered what their own schools were doing to keep children safer. Some parents purchased bulletproof vests for their children, others equipped little ones with bulletproof jackets. In the wake of Sandy Hook, schools too are working to find ways to improve safety and reassure parents that they can leave their children at school with some peace of mind.

This video describes the events of the Sandy Hook shooting.

Learning from Previous Events

While the Sandy Hook occurrence was one of the worst shootings at a public school to date, other similar tragic events have moved some schools to implement new security procedures already. reports that in 1997, a 14-year-old student at Heath High School killed three classmates and wounded five others. The students had been gathered for a prayer meeting when the student began firing. One year after the event, the

The Wake County Public School system is the largest school district in North Carolina and the 16^th largest in the U.S. It serves nearly 150,000 students at its 165 schools throughout Wake County. The district has a relatively short but colorful history, formed amid desegregation in the South that changed the face of public education for the entire country.

The History of Wake County Public Schools

Wake County Public Schools is one of the country's more recently formed school districts, dating back to 1976. The district was formed due to a merger between the Wake County school system and Raleigh Public Schools. During that time, North Carolina schools were in flux, thanks to a Supreme Court decision in 1971 involving the desegregation of North Carolina schools. According to the Carolina Journal, in Swann v. the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, the Supreme Court determined that Charlotte-Mecklenburg must desegregate its schools through forced bussing.

While schools resisted the idea of forced bussing, it became apparent over the next two decades that desegregation improved academic performance and test scores in the affected schools. However, the program was not sustainable over the long term, and increased diversity in the suburbs of North Carolina deemed the act of forced bussing no longer necessary. During the 1990s, the segregation debate was revisited, and in 1999, a federal court struck down the idea of race-conscious student assignment. School zones were restructured, and parental choice became an option in many districts nationwide.

Despite the changes

is the second-largest school district in the state of Maryland and the 18^th largest district in the United States. The diverse student population consists of primarily African-American and Hispanic students, with less than five percent of Caucasian students included in the demographics. The diversity of the student body poses some challenges to the school district, but the adoption of a unique management model has made a positive impact.

What is the Comer School Development Program?

The Comer School Development Program was first created in 1968, in an effort to bring up the quality of education at two failing Connecticut elementary schools. The program was introduced through a partnership between the Yale University Child Study Center and New Haven Public Schools. The two New Haven schools in question were suffering from a variety of serious obstacles at the time, from test scores near rock bottom to staff morale that was just about as low.

The management model introduced a focus on child and adolescent growth, as well as interpersonal relationships. Through a careful integration of collaboration, problem solving and decision-making by consensus, the Comer School Development Program was proven to be effective in improving education quality through improvement of leadership within the public school system.

Three teams are assigned to oversee the Comer School Development Program at each school. Those teams include:

• School Planning and Management Team (SPMT)
• Student Staff and Support Team (SSST)
• Parent Team (PTO , PTSA)

These teams work together through