I am a substitute teacher (aka guest teacher) in Colorado. While subbing, I recently came across an individual who has a confederate flag on display in her classroom. I made the district and the principal aware of the situation, and neither had a problem with her displaying it for "educational purposes."

In short, it is not the flag that is the problem but the symbolism behind it. The leader of the confederate army believed that whites are superior to Black Americans and said as much. By hanging the flag in the classroom, the teacher has centered her own whiteness in the conversation of the Civil War, not paying any attention how students may be internalizing that information with a confederate flag hanging in the back of the classroom. By doing this she also decenters any other racial or class's point of view in the discussion of the Civil War. Classrooms are meant to be a safe space for all students, and it cannot be a safe space if a modern-day symbol of hate is on display. 

There needs to be a mandate put in place to not allow confederate flags to be hung or displayed in classrooms in Colorado. New York state has already done this and does not allow confederate flags to be bought/sold or displayed on state property: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/confederate-flag-banned-being-sold-or-displayed-state-property-new-n1251726 The house has also banned the flying of confederate flag(s) at Veterans cemeteries: https://apnews.com/article/46bbf9cc30fb453f98b59542853d6ae2 Why are cemeteries protected but our students are not?