A national civil rights group is calling for the reinstatement of a southeastern Michigan teacher it says was fired for helping students organize a fundraiser for the family of Trayvon Martin, a teen shot to death by a Sanford, Fla., neighborhood watch volunteer.
The Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., said Monday that Brooke Harris was fired in March "with little explanation" from Pontiac Academy for Excellence Middle School.
The center says Harris was fired for her role in a student fundraising effort that was opposed by the school's leader.
Superintendent, Jacqueline Cassell tells The Associated Press she can't discuss Harris's firing but says she wants students' focus now to be on learning, not activism.
Cassell says workplaces have rules, and "when rules are violated, there are consequences."
