Teacher suspended for Bush comment

[coda]

Colo. Teacher Punished for Bush Comment


AURORA, Colo. (AP) - About 150 high school students walked out of class to protest a decision to put a teacher on leave while they investigate remarks he made about President Bush in class, including that some people compare Bush to Adolf Hitler.

The protest came Thursday as administrators began investigating whether Overland High School teacher Jay Bennish violated a policy requiring balancing viewpoints in the classroom, Cherry Creek School District spokeswoman Tustin Amole said.

``It was peaceful. The students yelled, but there was no fighting,'' Amole said. ``Most of them did return to class.''

A telephone number listed for Bennish, who has been teaching social studies and American history at Overland since 2000, had been disconnected.

Sophomore Sean Allen recorded about 20 minutes of Bennish's class during a Feb. 1 discussion about Bush's State of the Union speech and gave the recording to his father, who complained to the principal, Amole said.

``After listening to the tape, it's evident the comments in the class were inappropriate. There were not adequate opportunities for opposing points of view,'' she said.

Deborah Fallin, spokeswoman for the Colorado Education Association, which represents about 37,000 union teachers, said it will not represent Bennish because he is not a member, but said that Bennish has hired an attorney.


03/03/06 05:29

[jaster]

pssh...

[Niall]

glad i dont teach in the states

[dusk]

that's anti-social!

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

You must not criticise the government. The government is your friend. Trust the government. Big Brother is watching you. :rolleyes:

[Monty Cantsin]

i'd like to know what he actually said.

[timbaly]

I doubt if the guy had any specific political trait of any importance that he saw bush and hitler as both having. I bet he said something that could be applied to almost any world leader. Regardless of what he said it's even more ridiculous to suspend him.

[Kia]

Why was the kid recording it though? Was he purposely trying to get the teacher fired??

I had a teacher in 10th grade who continually told us we had no foundation in life if we didnt believe in God. This is extremely illegal under California state Teaching laws. Did we record him and report him to the school board? Hell no. We made a mockery of him in his class.

Frankly, The kid probably is some crazed rightwing idiot who cant stand hearing one bad word being said against his "commander in chief". The Colorado Teachers Union then left the poor guy to hang.

[Zero]

I can sympathise Kia, my Biology teacher (consequently the opposite of my Theology teacher who was Athiest, and proud) had a half-hour long debate with me over the effects of Religion in schools, and life in general. I then stayed for another hour after class completely missing lunch to debate more with him. He argued that morality and ethics went hand in hand with religion, and therefore you cannot be a rational, moral, or ethical agent if you do not believe in God, or "one of his reincarnations in other religions". My arguement was that if you have nothing but a book to proove that something exists, you do not have any proof what-so-ever, and should be restricted from even mentioning that your god exists as some sort of twisted fact. Also that religion walks hand in hand with persecution, as well as genocide, xenophobia, intollerance, and is based off the principles of ignorance.

Needless to say I won, and got an F. :rolleyes:

[red team]

Originally posted by [email protected] 7 2006, 08:48 PM
I can sympathise Kia, my Biology teacher (consequently the opposite of my Theology teacher who was Athiest, and proud) had a half-hour long debate with me over the effects of Religion in schools, and life in general. I then stayed for another hour after class completely missing lunch to debate more with him. He argued that morality and ethics went hand in hand with religion, and therefore you cannot be a rational, moral, or ethical agent if you do not believe in God, or "one of his reincarnations in other religions". My arguement was that if you have nothing but a book to proove that something exists, you do not have any proof what-so-ever, and should be restricted from even mentioning that your god exists as some sort of twisted fact. Also that religion walks hand in hand with persecution, as well as genocide, xenophobia, intollerance, and is based off the principles of ignorance.

Needless to say I won, and got an F. :rolleyes:
What you should have said is which tax-free church you can get to run and how big and rich the congregation is. :lol:

[praxis1966]

The Colorado Teachers Union then left the poor guy to hang.

Did you or did you not read the article? The guy was too fucking stupid to join the union, which probably would have cost him a whopping $50 a year in dues. It's his own damned fault.

Both my parents are in education, both members of FTP/NEA. My dad, who eight years into his career went into administration (a non-union position in Florida education) was smart enough to keep paying his union dues. He was later removed from a principalship in what amounted to a violation of the first ammendment. But, because he was still a union member in good standing, he sued and won. The firm that represented him? None other than Meyers and Brooks, one of two firms to represent Al Gore in the courts after the 2000 election. His representation was paid for by FTP.

My point? It's his own fault, not the union's, that he doesn't have any protection.