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A former North Carolina teacher claims he was fired in February after parents complained about him teaching the book "Dear Martin." A Charlotte, North Carolina, teacher is suing the charter school he used to work at after he claims he was fired after parents allegedly complained about him teaching a fictional book involving a racially profiled Black teen. Markayle Gray, a former English teach er at Charlotte Secondary School, claims in a civil lawsuit that was filed on Wednesday that he was terminated from his position as a 7th and 8th-grade teach er on Feb. 2 following backlash from parents over his teach ing of the 2017 young adult novel "Dear Martin." The 2017 New York Times bestselling novel by Nic Stone follows the story of a Black teenager who was thrown to the ground and handcuffed during an encounter with police. The Ivy League-bound teen writes 10 imaginary letters to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. imagining what the civil rights leader would have done in his p...

Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty against a man charged with kidnapping a Memphis, Tennessee, school teacher during an early-morning run and killing her MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a man charged with kidnapping a Memphis, Tennessee, school teacher during an early-morning run and killing her, a district attorney said Thursday. Cleotha Abston is charged with snatching Eliza Fletcher from a street near the University of Memphis on Sept. 2 and forcing her into an SUV. Her body was found days later near a vacant duplex. He has pleaded not guilty to charges including first-degree murder and especially aggravated kidnapping. Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy has filed notice with the court that prosecutors will seek the death penalty if Abston is convicted of first-degree murder, Judge Lee Coffee said. State law says cases that are considered heinous, atrocious and cruel are eligible for the death penalty, Mulroy said outside of ...

After Florida rolled out a controversial updated curriculum regarding Black history lessons, many residents raised their voices over how slavery was being downplayed. After Florida's governor and education department rolled out a controversial updated curriculum regarding Black history lessons, many students, parents, educators and elected officials raised their voices over how slavery was being presented. The new curriculum included instruction for middle school students that "slaves developed skills which, in some instances, can be applied for their personal benefit." "That's mean," Marvin Dunn, a professor at Florida International University, told ABC News. "That's mean to say that to Black people that there was some advantage, some positive benefit to being enslaved. They weren't even considered to be persons. So how could they have personal benefits?" Marvin Dunn of the Miami Center for Racial Justice leads a rally against Florida...

A school shooter serving a life sentence without parole for killing a first grader on a South Carolina playground when he was 14 is asking a judge to lessen his sentence so he can eventually get out of prison COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A school shooter serving a life sentence without parole for killing a first grader on a South Carolina playground when he was 14 is asking a judge to lessen his sentence so he can eventually get out of prison . Jesse Osborne's lawyer asked Judge Lawton McIntosh on Monday to reconsider his sentence so Osborne, now 21, could have some hope of freedom in his 50s or 60s. Attorney Frank Eppes said the judge didn't fully consider a psychologist's report that Osborne's lashed out because of abuse and can be rehabilitated. “Give Jesse some hope to live with,” Eppes said at a televised court hearing. Osborne himself asked for a chance at life outside a prison cell, apologizing to the family of 6-year-old Jacob Hall who he killed and everyone at the s...

Parents, teachers and community members shared frustrations with community leaders after the third shooting on Newport News school grounds in the last 18 months. Parents, teachers and community members made their frustrations known at a Newport News, Virginia, school board meeting Tuesday night after a 6-year-old student intentionally shot his first grade teacher during class earlier this month. The 25-year-old teacher, Abby Zwerner, was shot through the hand and into her stomach. She was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, but is now recovering. Authorities have said the 6-year-old's backpack was searched prior to the shooting after a fellow student said they saw a gun. No gun was found in the backpack. A woman named Desiree, the parent of a student in Zwerner's class, called the teacher an "advocate" for her daughter -- who she said was being bullied at Richneck Elementary School. Desiree's daughter watched in horror as her 6-year-old classm...

Educators who spoke with ABC News described conditions that stretched beyond the pandemic in which Black male teachers were under-appreciated and outstretched Educator Marvin Burton Jr. is a self-described renaissance man. "You have to be that type of teacher now," Burton Jr. told ABC News, adding, "It's never a dull moment. I don't know of a teacher that's not tired when they leave from just the daily work -- the daily grind." The advanced, professionally-certified vocal music instructor has taught everything from special education to English language arts over the past three school years because he said a nationwide teacher shortage has forced him in different directions. Burton Jr. said he's "totally exhausted" most evenings when leaving Drew-Freeman Middle School in Suitland, Maryland, driving to pick up his three sons in Temple Hills before commuting another half an hour home to Brandywine. This is not unusual for pandemic-era teach...