BUZZ
Key Takeaways
- A Florida history teacher, Lauren Watts, was placed on leave for giving a student an award entitled 'Most Likely to Become Dictator,' which was perceived as mocking the student's conservative views.
- The student's mother, Crystal Marull, criticized Watts for allowing other students to disparage her son and for the inappropriate award, highlighting the historical implications of dictatorial regimes.
- Watts apologized, claiming the award was intended as a lighthearted gesture, but an Education Practices Commission document stated she violated multiple professional conduct rules, including discrimination against the student's political beliefs.
- Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas announced he found probable cause for disciplinary action against Watts, citing concerns about student safety and the impact of her actions.
UPDATED
A Florida teacher has been placed on leave for allegedly giving a student a “Most Likely to Become Dictator” award due to his conservative politics.
Gainesville High School history teacher Lauren Watts also faces revocation of her license, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
An Education Practices Commission document from Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas notes that during the 2022-23 school year Watts (pictured) “allowed students to disparage” the son of Crystal Marull, indicated in the document as “T.M.,” after “students suggested [he] was a Hitler sympathizer.”
Marull claimed at a recent Alachua County School Board meeting her son was allowed to be dubbed a “Naziphile” by students because he was interested in history and had joined ROTC, according to Florida’s Voice.
Marull is coordinator of the University of Florida’s Online Spanish Program.
Watts also allegedly had noted “a student in another class” had said something similar about T.M. She then gave T.M. a “formal certificate” which said he was a student “Most Likely to Become Dictator” “based on comments made by [him] that [Watts] interpreted to be conservative in nature.”
According to a letter from Watts to Marull dated May 2023, Watts apologized for the award, saying it was “just for fun.”
“I was not aware that [T.M.] was upset that he was nominated for that superlative a few weeks ago,” Watts wrote. “To my knowledge, he did not ask to be removed when he was nominated or when the class voted.
“When I passed them out today, I reiterated that they were just for fun. These were not meant to be offensive. I do apologize.”
Marull replied to Watts that she “orchestrated [the award], signed off on it, and promoted it. It’s truly reprehensible.”
In a subsequent email, Marull wrote “[Y]ou’re a history teacher, if there’s anybody who should be sensitive to what a dictator is and the trauma and genocide they bring onto populations, it should be you,” according to WCBJ.
At the board meeting, Marull also said Watts’ class “had a 69% failure rate on the District End-of Course Exam,” and that only her son and one other student had scored in the “Excellent Understanding” category.
“You’d think [Watts’d] have awarded him a certificate of achievement instead, but no, in @AlachuaSchools such achievement is branded as fascism,” she added.
From the Tallahassee Democrat story:
[The complaint] says Watts violated multiple rules of professional conduct and said she is “guilty of gross immorality.”
Kamoutsas also accuses Watts of violating administrative codes, including protecting a student’s mental or physical safety, exposing a student to “unnecessary embarrassment,” discriminating against a student’s political beliefs and failing to take precautions to “distinguish between personal views and those of any educational institutions or organization with which the individual is affiliated.”
“A teacher chose to designate a student as the ‘most likely to become a dictator.’ A parent brought this issue to my attention,” Kamoutsas wrote on X, with an image of the complaint he filed. “I immediately took action to investigate the issue. I found probable cause and will take every necessary action to ensure this teacher never teaches again.”
In response, Corey DeAngelis on X noted Alachua County Education Association President Carmen Ward sent a message (pictured) to union teachers warning them not to post on social media “about your job as a teacher or staff or colleagues.”
“Your employer can limit your first amendment right of freedom of speech, if you are not furthering the mission of the school district,” Ward said.
Ward went on to claim the “situation in Florida right now is so dire” because an unspecified “they” are “trying to bait teachers specifically to speak out against people.”
The union chief may have been referring to remarks like those made on Facebook by an Alachua elementary school teacher which said people “should meet” Marull’s son to “see if the shoe fits.”
The teacher subsequently poo-poohed the notion that she was engaging in bullying, saying the term “gets thrown out there way to [sic] much like ‘amazing.'”
A few weeks back, the teacher also made fun of parent Jeremy Clapper for criticizing the head of the Alachua School Board for her comments celebrating the death of Hulk Hogan, writing “Thank you Florida for reminding everyone how crazy we are […] guys the jokes write themselves.”
After Clepper offered his criticisms during that board meeting’s public comment session, he was escorted out by a police officer.
Commissioner Kamoutsas, who had recommended the Florida State Board of Education “withhold from the district an amount equal to the salaries of all board members,” ruled Wednesday the board had violated Clepper’s rights.
The board must “update [its] policies” and members “complete training,” Kamoutsas said, adding if there’s another violation similar to the Clepper incident, the board’s salaries will be withheld.
UPDATE: This article was amended to include the letter sent by local teachers union head Carmen Ward and comments made by a district elementary school teacher.
