Cary, I think you are missing the point Tresa Zumsteg was making.   I am so glad you posted that letter, because it has given me a different take on the situation. You may call it "backsliding", but I am reading what appears to be a very honest letter which has no solution that would make everyone happy.

I believe she addressed the very issues that you are bringing up and she is allowing students to make up their own mind.   Including that song, after what has become a national controversy, would take away from what the students were trying to accomplish. It isn't fair to the students to take away from their work, just to prove a political point.

I would bet good money that this song has now been discussed in schools, and you are probably way too late to get them a copy of Lead Belly's recording. (As long as we are talking historical signficance and teaching correctness, Huddie Ledbetter always spelled it as two words - Lead Belly.)    From what I am reading in that letter, I would bet that the song has been discussed from every angle with the students - not only in that school, but in schools across the country.

Maybe there is hope for the future after all.