School Forces Out Veteran Teacher For Reading Alan Ginsberg Poem

Poet Allen Ginsberg, creative writer of the "Beat" generation, praises the effects of LSD and discounts its alleged dangers during testimony before a Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency in Washington D.C. on ... Poet Allen Ginsberg, creative writer of the "Beat" generation, praises the effects of LSD and discounts its alleged dangers during testimony before a Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency in Washington D.C. on June 14, 1966. (AP Photo) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

A veteran teacher in Windsor, Connecticut found himself out in the cold this month after reading a poem by the American literary icon Allen Ginsberg.

South Windsor School District pushed David Olio into resigning after he read Ginsberg’s homoerotic poem, “Please, Master” in an AP English course full of 17- and 18-year-olds, the Daily Beast reported on Friday.

“One day after the class, Olio was placed on indefinite, unpaid leave by the district. Seventy-two hours later, the district began termination proceedings against him. Three weeks after that, he agreed to resign,” the Beast reported.

An excerpt from the disciplinary letter sent to Olio, who had reportedly been teaching for 19 years:

You violated the trust placed by the Board of Education in you as a teacher, you brought discredit upon the South Windsor Public Schools, you undermined public confidence and parent trust in you as a teacher, and you put the emotional health of some students at risk.

The Ginsberg incident didn’t make much of a splash until one student tried to bail on a test the next day, citing the previous reading of the poem as a harmful distraction. At that point, the story went viral and the school took action against Olio, according to the Beast.

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: