Help Teacher Tarah Ausburn Fight for Free Speech
- by: Care2.com
- recipient: Imagine Prep High School Regional Director Linda Kiefner
Tarah Ausburn, an English teacher at the public charter school Imagine Prep High School in Surprise, Arizona, was fired after five parents complained about a bumper sticker on her Prius.
Ausburn maintains that she lets her Prius, which is adorned with over 60 stickers, do the talking and leaves her personal opinions out of the classroom. The school stated that the quality of her teaching was not in question, but "Rather, the issue was that 'the interpretation of [her] bumper stickers did not fit in with the culture of the community.'"
Since Ausburn's story first broke on thesociallyaware.com, countless students have taken a stand for the fired teacher, declaring that she is the best they've had yet in a school that is notorious for its quick teacher turnover.
Tarah Ausburn's free speech rights were violated. Tell the Imagine Prep Regional Director Linda Kiefner that Instructor Ausburn should be reinstated and that her bumper stickers should be left alone.
I was deeply shocked at the firing of Tarah Ausburn because of the bumper stickers on her car. The right to free speech should be protected, and Instructor Ausburn should not be punished for the opinions that she voices outside of the classroom.
(Your comments here.)
I urge you to reinstate this caring and passionate teacher and protect her freedom of speech.
