Black mom sues L.A. Unified over cotton-picking project at elementary school, suit says

[Effete Snob]

6. The complaint does not even allege anyone was forced to do anything

This is not just any school, btw...

20. On that night, Ms. Pitts talked to her daughter about the Cotton Picking
Project. Her daughter told her that her social justice teacher, Defendant Villanueva,
required the students to “pick cotton” to gain a real-life experience as to what the
African-American slaves had endured. S.W. further explained that discussion of
the project in school terrified her and she horrified at the idea of having to “pick
cotton”. She told Ms. Pitts that Mr. Villanueva did not force her “pick cotton” but
that she had to watch the other students “pick cotton” while she tended to other
crops that were being grown. S.W., who is also a 4.0 student, told her mother that
she was afraid to tell her about the Cotton Picking Project because she did not want
her teachers to get mad at her and possibly retaliate against her for complaining by
giving her bad grades or failing to acknowledge her in the honor roll assembly as
the school had done before.

21. The following day, Ms. Pitts arrived at Laurel Span School with Angie
Crouch of NBC Universal. Prior to their arrival, Ms. Crouch had contacted Laurel
Span School to receive a statement regarding the cotton-picking project. Ms.
Crouch received an email from Samuel C. Gilstrap, Public Information Officer for
LAUSD stating:


“We regret that an instructional activity in the garden at
Laurel School was construed as culturally insensitive.
Tending to the garden where a variety of fruits, vegetables
and other plants grow is a school-wide tradition that has
been in place for years and has never been used as a tool to
re-enact historical events. When school administrators
became aware of a parent’s concern about the cotton plant,
they responded immediately by removing the plant. L.A.
Unified remains committed to providing a safe, welcoming
and nurturing learning environment for all students.”

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Your child has been traumatized by being asked by their "social justice teacher" at a magnet school to watch other students pick cotton in order to understand directly how difficult it is. So, to minimize your child's trauma, you show up with a television news crew the next day, because your child is afraid of "retaliation" for having made a complaint "as the school had done before."

When one's first-level approach to a conflict is having the local NBC affiliate on speed-dial, then I have to wonder how interested one might be in problem solving.