CNN 2010-05-30

Well, students struggling to make ends meet, but so are schools. We've talked about this for months now and budget cuts mean your kid could soon have more classmates. How many more? The sky's the limit in Georgia where the state Board of Education has voted to lift all limits on class sizes over the next year. Take a listen.

Nobody wants to do this. But again, we really are at a point where we don't have a choice.

And another tough choice? Acting 1 summer school programs. The White House is urging districts to keep classrooms open for summer sessions but a ton of education officials say it's just too costly 2. The cuts started when the recession began and have worsened, affecting more children and more essential programs that help struggling students.

So, what the heck was she thinking? A history teacher in Georgia giving the green light on white robes, letting students dress like Klansmen for a history project on racism 3. The kids were doing a scene like a historical re-enactment, but they got a crash course in current events when they wore the robes outside class and outside context.

Watch this story from Linda Stouffer of WSB TV, then let's talk.

God, we know that it is not acceptable under any circumstances for students to be walking around the halls dressed in offensive attire 4.

Reverend Markell Hutchins blessed students at the community meeting who told him about their shock in the cafeteria last Thursday.

I’ve seen them walking through the lunchroom in the white sheets and the KKK attire.

Cody Rider was outraged 5.

Like the white students, they were laughing about it, you know? And everyone is saying we're blowing it out of proportion, we're blowing it out of proportion, but they don't understand the magnitude of the situation.

I am heartily 6 sorry for making anyone feel uncomfortable.

The US history teacher told me they were in costume for a year-end film project, and their intention was about to teach about historical mistakes.

This is a film about racism. And we have to discuss racism in our society because if we don't, we are condoning 7 it. And I don't cover it up. And you can't discuss racism and not include the Klan.

She's on paid administrative 8 leave now, and I asked her what she would have done differently.

I would tell my students if you're going to film the Klan, do it on our own time outside of school.

If there is any hesitation 9 towards diversity training and cultural sensitivity, then we'll come back to this community if it means we have to protest and march and go to jail and get in the street, we will do that, too.

Thanks to Linda Stouffer for that piece.

So, there's a history teacher who wishes she could go back in time and tell the kids to shoot "Birth of the Nation 2" somewhere besides school. I don't think that she meant any harm. She admits it was a bad idea and bad judgment 10, but I do think she needs a little commonsense 11 check. The history teacher got too wrapped up in the past and forgot about the realities of the present.