Teach vs. speech (critical of gwb, student walkout/protest, very cool!)

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

There's audio of his remarks at the article link, as well. He makes it clear it's his own opinion.

How should public schools handle hot controversy in class? A teacher's comments on Bush stoke an ever-simmering debate
By Karen Rouse and Robert Sanchez
Denver Post Staff Writers

The investigation of an Overland High School teacher's discussion and critique of President Bush triggered a walkout Thursday of about 150 students and raised concerns among teachers that classroom discussions could be stifled.

Jay Bennish, the social studies teacher whose comments during a world geography class were recorded by a student, told school officials he had received several threats. He was placed on administrative leave Wednesday while Cherry Creek School District officials investigate, according to district spokeswoman Tustin Amole. The investigation is expected to continue into next week, Amole said.

Bennish's attorney, David Lane, said the district told his client that he was not permitted to talk to the news media.

The teacher, he said, is simply trying to get students to "think critically ... don't just follow hook, line and sinker everything everybody tells you."

Article:
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_3564246

Video:
http://www.9news.com/includes/buildasx.aspx?fn=http://wm.gannett.speedera.net/wm.gannett/kusa/backup/1141346312418-03-02-06-overland-5p.wmv&sp=http://wm.gannett.speedera.net/wm.gannett/kusa/pre-stream/frontier-prestream905.wmv

MKJ

[QuettaKid]

1. mad props to the teacher.

I think DU should initiate a letter writing campaign to the students, sending them info on Prescott Bush and his Nazi buds. You look at the video and it is clear a LOT of the kids already get it, with only 1 or 2 bushbot goofballs in the mix.

[jayfish]

2. Awww, The Poor Wittle Brownshirt...

who released the recording didn't go to school cause of all the controversy. Poor baby. :nopity:

Jay

[nwtracker]

27. LOL!

I went to Yahoo and searched for Brownshirt. I then started to click on all the retail outlets under brownshirt. If all of us did this our opinions would become known to the retailers.

Russell

[stepnw1f]

3. I Hope the Kid is Ashamed

What a weazley thing to do, but then again I have to blame his parents more.

[rurallib]

7. I am sure he is proud of his 'accomplishment'

even though he probably couldn't spell 'accomplishment'.

[ClayZ]

20. Blow Back!

This will be a life alterning event for the little brownshirt!

The more they try to serve up the shit, the more blow back they get!

[TheModernTerrorist]

21. I'm sure he read

that the RNC is paying students to do this sort of thing, and figured he's take advantage.

[joefree1]

4. Viva la resistance

The worm is turning.

[catabryna]

5. I have to say that...

I was pleasantly surprised by the television coverage as it was pretty even-handed and fairly presented. Even the school spokesperson handled herself well. Good for those students! A number of schools would threaten protesting kids with suspension; if this was threatened then I'm even more proud of those students for standing up!

[lauren_victoria]

6. my American History teacher draws correlation between

the past and our current administration all the time.
He's the only liberal I know in my entire school.
and he most certainly excercises his right to free speech,
and lets us do the same.
He doesn't argue with the kids or convince them to believe something, but more or less informs them and gets them to see the bigger picture. Which is not a crime! It's a form of teaching. I'd rather have a teacher that can make history interesting, and get me to actually think about whats going on, than one who just feeds me information.
That kid with his MP3 player is probably an ignorant kid who wants to get his teacher in trouble. I doubt he was actually offended by his teachers remarks.
But, I guess thats how our public educational system is going.:eyes:

[rurallib]

8. Welcome to DU! Sounds like a good History teacher

you got there. History has been taught as a bunch of disconnected "facts" for so long. Really the only way to teach it is to see where we are today and then look back at what got us here, then what got us to that point and so on. It really is a flow, not isolated actions.

[RubyDuby in GA]

16. As someone with a History degree, a Historian if you will,

the very first thing that is imparted to a young student of history is this lesson: The only thing we learn from history is that we do not learn from history.

I had a teacher in high school that made me want to be just like him. Damn he was the coolest! Even though I didn't make it (patience has a name but it is not RubyDuby), I'm glad to see that there are others out there like him.

[Joanne98]

23. Welcome Lauren. Have you seen this video?

http://bushcheated04.cf.huffingtonpost.com/

Pass it around to all your friends!

[boddhi]

9. what's the best way to show this teacher more support?

the kid with the tape recorder has parents that are in that 20% who will support this regime regardless of what they do. enuf time with faux news and the am radio ravers will push people over that line

anyone seen if they've started a legal defense fund or anything like that?

[neverforget]

10. That student who did this sounds like a Rove in the making.

[QuettaKid]

11. we need to FLOOD that school with

the Prescott Bush/Nazi info. Massive show of support.

[OKNancy]

12. Kick

[Maraya1969]

13. Students walked out to protest putting Bush criticizing teacher.

This story is also here but it does not mention the news that 150 students walked out in protest. I say "You all rock"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2141040


AURORA, Colo. - 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.

--------------------
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.

[QuettaKid]

14. we gotta SUPPORT these guys! ! !

show them some DU love!!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x565263

[Joanne98]

24. Give them this....

http://bushcheated04.cf.huffingtonpost.com/

[wtbymark]

15. guess the school couldn't comply with NCLB

looks like they missed their 97% attendance requirement this week - awwww

[TexasLawyer]

18. some people DO compare Bush to Adolf Hitler.

So where's the lie?

[jazzjunkysue]

17. I know the law:This will not hold up. The teacher has the right to express

the opinion that some people have compared bush to hitler. That's perfectly fine.

Freedom of speech is limited to safety and security of the kids. he didn't threaten their security or the running of the school. he didn't lower anyone's grade or humiliate anyone personally. They've got nothing on him.

The school is keeping him out temporarily just in case there's more to the story, but it doesn't sound like there is. As long as the kids are allowed to state their own pro-bush opinions without it costing them anything from the teacher, he's done nothing wrong.

This kid did us a favor. free speech!!!

[Maraya1969]

19. I didn't know the Soviet Union had more nuclear weapons than the US

Apparently Michelle Malkin - i.e. idiot TV host wanna be - has "debunked" everything that this teacher said. I don't have the audio of what HE said but what SHE says seems not only inaccurate but irrelevant.

===============================================================


You’ve probably heard about the anti-American rant by Colorado geography teach Jay Bennish. Jay has been suspended, rightfully so in my mind, for his wholly inappropriate diatribe against the US. It used to be that we taught students to be good citizens; now we don’t even teach them the facts.

Michelle Malkin has transcribed the majority of the rant for us, so let’s look at some the statements that Jay makes.


"Statement: “Who has the most weapons of mass destruction in the world? The United States.”

Fact: For many years, the Soviet Union had the most. Russia most likely still has more weapons of mass destruction than the United States.

Russia is estimated to now have around 20,000 nuclear weapons."


http://lawnrangers.blogspot.com/2006/03/dissecting-rant.html

[Dragonbreathp9d]

22. Even though I agree with what the teacher said

he really can't be too biased in what he says. If there was a student discussion, one student said "Bush is like Hitler." and then another student responded "They are nothing alike" and then the teacher were to provide accurate simularities (Patriot Act and Empowering Act)and distinctions (Bush hasn't killed 6 million Jews )between then there is nothing wrong with it, but he should try to be as objective as possible in the classroom.

[mac56]

25. Bullshit.

If he's leading the class in a discussion, there's no need for him to "try to be as objective as possible." There's nothing wrong with what he did.

Way back in the day, I had social studies teachers who did this kind of thing all the time. I would have pitied the little neo-Nazi kid who decided to narc on him.

[RaRa]

31. I have to disagree

Back in junior high and high school, I was sadly a little repuke and I knew that the teachers were generally Dems and pro union. Aware of this difference, I was always sensitive to anything political they would/could say. A teacher carries so much weight and I think a smart teacher could easily challenge these little idiots today without preaching any real political position. Just question and challenge them to find the truth and they will. I don't agree with the treatment this teacher is receiving, but teachers need to be as neutral as they can be.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

26. Thanks for the nominations...it was so great to see those kids protesting

and understanding the implications of stifling free speech...MKJ

[silverweb]

28. Teacher completely covered himself.

The following comments by the teacher, naturally buried near the very end of the article, completely show the teacher's openmindedness and motivations, and absolutely cover his responsibility to "not indoctrinate" students:

Near the end, he told students, "You have to figure this stuff out for yourselves. ... I'm not in any way implying that you should agree with me. ... What I'm trying to get you to do is think about these issues more in depth and not just to take things from the surface."

He also commended students who challenged him, saying, "I'm glad you asked all of your questions because they're all very good, legitimate questions."

The only reason the little brownshirts said they were "intimidated" was because it sounded good. Or maybe there just weren't enough of them together at the same time to overcome their gang mentality. Brownshirt bullies are really just little chickenshit cowards when their gang is split up, anyway.

[HuffleClaw]

30. i fully expect this 'investigation' to reveal that the student

did this deliberately as a political act (and likely told all sorts of people his fun plan to EXPOSE his LEFTIST teacher beforehand) and that this schmo will end up being suspended from school too. i find it really funny that he's now too cowardly to show up to school too.

[silverweb]

32. Yeah.

Considering that his daddy is the one who went to the media, it could be that maybe daddy put him up to getting the tape recording in the first place. Makes me wonder who it is who's really been brainwashing the kid. Sure doesn't sound to me like it's been the teacher.

[HuffleClaw]

29. "the district told his client that he was not permitted...

...to talk to the news media." ???? surely that cannot be legal.

[genieroze]

33. High school huh? Maybe little brownshirter should enlist to show his

support.