We saw this story on WCBS T.V. on Christmas Eve reported by Marsha Krammer, and had to pass it on to you. The link is at the end of the story to see the video replay.
The Urban Poetry book called "Atrccia" written by poetry teacher Tylibah Washington has come under fire from parents at Brooklyn's PS 279 in Canarsie. While some of the poems were about people such as Rosa Parks, there was also a poem of how former President Bush loves war so much that he got an erection. Another poem called "Supa Dupa" is about a prostitute performing sex acts (which WCBS had to block out some of the words). Still another talks about addiction to pain killers in a very positive way.
Councilman Charles Barrons (who happens to be Ms. Washington's godfather) said that the writer is reworking the book to be age appropriate for 10-11 year olds that the writer teaches. 60 of the original books were distributed to fifth grade children at PS 279, and 16 were returned to the school by parents.
When asked by Ms.Krammer if he had any comment about the book, Mayor Bloomberg asked who wrote it. When Ms. Krammer said that it was the goddaughter of Councilman Charles Barrons, Mayor Bloomberg then asked if Ms. Krammer had any other questions as he left her.
Here is the link http://newyork.cbslocal.com/category/news/ then go to the video news section on the right. You may have to click on the past videos to the right until this story cones up.
