With the resignation Tuesday of a Department of Education official for racially incendiary Facebook posts and the suspension Thursday of the Lambert High School principal for posts about Muslims, welfare recipients and refugees, I have to ask: How do these high-ranking educators not understand the risks of social media?
Given the stream of stories about teachers fired for a social media faux pa, I thought the danger signs were visible to everyone in education. Both Georgia educators were media savvy; Jeremy Spencer led the DOE’s virtual school, Gary Davison ran an academic powerhouse high school in Forsyth County, a district fluent and fluid in technology.
Yet, Spencer maintained a wide-open Facebook page where he posted disparaging comments on blacks, Muslims and gays. In less than 20 hours after the AJC reported on his controversial postings, he was out of his $138,000-a-year leadership role at the Georgia Department of Education. Superintendent Richard Woods said, "Like most people, I was disheartened and disgusted to see the posts made by Mr. Spencer on his Facebook page."
Davison leads a school with growing diversity in a district with longstanding policies on social media, including: “A good question that staff members should ask themselves before posting or emailing a message is, ‘Would I mind if that information appeared on the front page of the local newspaper?’ If the answer is ‘yes,’ then do not post it. Email and social networking sites are very public places.”
Forsyth Schools spokeswoman Jennifer Caracciolo told me Friday Davison is on “an open-ended suspension … He made a mistake. He recognizes it and he has to work to regain the community’s trust.”
Apparently, Davison accepted friend requests from former students, according to Caracciolo, which is what led to his posts being brought to light and to the attention of media and the district. If you know former students are reading your Facebook page, doesn’t that demand even more vigilance?
One former student who took offense at the anti-Muslim postings on Davison’s Facebook posted a long rebuttal, which illustrates the damage the principal caused to both his and the Lambert’s reputation: “You were the person who plastered signs about Lambert having diversity all over the school, while posting on your Facebook that Muslims were not allowed in the country. You approved an after-school group that brought people of different nationalities and races together and you talked about accepting everyone, then you shared posts about keeping Syrian refugees out of our country. “
In a public statement, Davison asked for forgiveness. “I offended many individuals and embarrassed our school,” he said. “I am committed to regaining our community’s trust.”
Did these educators assume readers of their Facebook posts, including colleagues, would share their views? Is that a safe bet in Georgia? (Several teachers complained to me about racist and anti Muslim comments in teacher lounges and on social media, especially outside metro Atlanta.) Are there still educators who haven’t cleaned up their act on social media?
Years ago, I reported a story that became national news, a young Georgia teacher coerced into resigning because of her Facebook vacation photos drinking beer in Germany and wine in France. When I asked then Professional Association of Georgia Educators spokesman Tim Callahan his advice for teachers on navigating social media, his adamant response surprised me: Don’t do it.
That remains good advice for educators. But there’s another piece of advice we ought to offer to Georgia students, who have every right now to wonder about the adults guiding their futures and whether they have their best interests at heart.
To the students of color or any students who saw Spencer’s Facebook posts contending minority kids can’t learn as well as whites or the entries on Davison’s page suggesting Muslim and refugees are not welcome:
Don’t believe it.
About the Author
