Parents Complain After Teacher Hands Out ‘Privilege’ Survey

A Florida principal launched an investigation into a survey handed out to middle school students in Spanish class.  Some parents complained after their children were asked to complete a form titled, “How much privilege do you have?’  Students routinely fill out forms every year that ask their race and sex, but the form handed out at Monroe Middle School also asked about gender, sexual orientation and religion.  Regina Stile is the mother of one of the students who received the form.  “Her sexuality and all that has nothing to do with school,” Stile said.  The form was handed out in a Spanish class to 7th and 8th graders. “She has ADHD and apparently the teacher said there are some kids in this class that have ADHD and ADHD is a mental illness and that’s why she circled that,” Stile said. “To me ADHD is not a mental disability it’s something she has.”  Other sections included religion and gender where kids were asked to circle Cisgender, Transgender or GenderQueer.  Stile said her daughter did not know what some of the terms meant.   “She’s 12. some of these things should be taught at home,” Stile said.  After Stile, along with several other angry parents, questioned the principal, he launched an investigation.  A school district spokesperson said the handout was not a district form.  “This is not a district form, this is a teacher generated form and it was without principal consent and at the district level we do not collect that information,” Hillsborough County Schools spokesperson Tanya Arja said.  The students were not required to turn in the forms. The teacher said the goal was to teach them about diversity and inequality.   “To me that has nothing to do with Spanish,” Stile said. “You’re here to teach my daughter Spanish, not anything else.”

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