Teacher caught in Bush "rant"

[AGENDA21]

An Overland High School teacher who criticized President Bush, capitalism and U.S. foreign policy during his geography class was placed on administrative leave Wednesday afternoon after a student who recorded the session went public with the tape.

In the 20-minute recording, made on an MP3 player, teacher Jay Bennish described capitalism as a system "at odds with human rights." He also said there were "eerie similarities" between what Bush said during his Jan. 28 State of the Union address and "things that Adolf Hitler used to say."

http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_3560566

[ReaderSushi]

1. Seems reasonable.

It's a geography class, even if the teacher was discussing foreign policy and history, it should've been from the appropriate context like concentratin of global fresh water resources or Pompeii.

[blonndee]

13. um, oil is a natural resource that does have to do with "foreign policy."

Hello?

[ReaderSushi]

24. Hello right back.

But what does foriegn policy have to do with a course on physical geography? The foreign policy opinions belong in social science courses.

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. Pompeii?

LOL

Political decisions, like bush's decision to invade Iraq, have lots more to do with geography than Pompeii!!

:rofl:

[TahitiNut]

26. The scope and content of a high school geography course ...

... includes political boundaries and their origins. There's a heavy emphasis on geopolitical entities, cultural regions, and the location and value of natural resources. In fact, geography is so interwoven with history that many educators advocate combining the coursework into a single curriculum.

It's impossible to discuss the scope of geography's subject matter without discussing the political forces that shape the boundaries and compete for resources.

[StClone]

2. My daughter in College and my Son in High school

Both cheerfully note that their educators make "balanced, contextual and educational" statements similar to Jay Bennish's. No one bothers taping them.

[joeunderdog]

28. Remember Tim Robbins getting slammed in a grade school class for being

against the Iraq war? The teacher was doing a full-scale character assassination of him and Susan Serandez when one of the students spoke up and said "that's my Aunt."

No one was placed on leave.

[countingbluecars]

3. The student had an agenda.

He taped the teacher and went to the press instead of the school administration.

[blonndee]

15. Yup...he's a Hannity/money whore...or his parents are.

Punk-ass. If they ACTUALLY had concerns and wanted them addressed they would have taken it up locally. If this little punk had ACTUAL questions and wanted to challenge his teacher in a rational, reasonable way he would have done so. I can only infer that he was not intellectually able to do so. This is sensationalism, and the agenda is just that.

It's funny...I do teach at the college level so I have more leeway but I take care to be very careful about bias, etc. If any student would have taped a class without my knowledge my bosses would have laughed and said "so what?" to the student even IF I would have said what Bennish said or even something more partisan. Maybe college v. secondary school is apples to oranges, but it seems to me as though the school district is being a bunch of scaredy-cats (or are already reich-wingers) wanting to appease the local sheeple.

[rodeodance]

4. I really wish this issue was not called a rant--the media does a good

enough job of that.

[donheld]

5. Sweety this is a very old story but Jay Bennish has a new look

www.9news.com he's much more hansome now.

[linazelle]

6. And Bush's ratings are at 34%--he gets no sympathy due to this

The story was put out obviously to bring people to Bush's defense because he was compared to Hitler. While the media has brainwashed 34% of the trolls here and in America, I take great solace in knowing that 66% of those across our great nation don't approve of Bush anyway. They can play the story 24/24--it will only make the propoganda more obvious.

It gives me even greater joy to know that despite the lies, hacks and shills--two out of every 3 people...know that Bush is a piece of shit. And running the story about the teacher won't change that.

Have a good day. :hi:

[zbdent]

7. Got a question

What was the school's policy before this on having "distractions" in the classroom? MP3 players? Were they allowed before?

[SujiwanKenobee]

8. Hello! Wasn't this found to be a POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY course???

Political discussion, analysis, comparisons are all part of this. Little freeper Brown Shirt....

[ReaderSushi]

11. Nope.

The article seems to say that course was one of physical geography not political and if that's true then the teacher was definitly wrong; politics had no real place in that class.

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. Politics are an integral part of geography

Did you ever take a geography class?

Are you familiar with East and West Germany?

The US war with Mexico in 1848?

WWI??

[ReaderSushi]

25. Yes I have.

East and West Germany were political distinctions, neither occurs naturally in nature.

If that class was in fact on political geography then teacher was right to share his opinions but if it was physical geography it changes things.

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. LOL You certainly are not an educator

since you couldn't pass a teacher competency test on geography. It is NOT just the study of the physical land. Politics is very much a part of the modern study of geography. It isn't about just coloring maps and drawing in the mountains and rivers. That's what they do in elementary school. By high school, the kids are definitely learning about the role politics and international conflicts have on geography. Hint: that's why borders change.

[blonndee]

19. Did you read the course syllabus? It's clear that these issues

are relevant, according to the course description.

[joshcryer]

22. Yes, it's a course on HUMAN GEOGRAPHY.

Which for all intents is a political class. Do a google.

[noahmijo]

9. Well the Nazis encouraged youth to spy on their parents and adults and

report them if they said anything negative about their beloved fuhrer.

[LaurenG]

10. I have a very difficult time

understanding what Jay Bennish did that was wrong. The main purpose of an education is to learn to think. He appears to have that agenda. I wish that people would be courageous and look at the problems with a wide angle instead of fearfully and through paranoia. So many very improper things have been done by this administration that a critical look is mandatory. At least NO one in this country can say they weren't told. They can only say they refused to hear.

edit: change a word

[cynatnite]

12. Having not heard the actual audio...

I don't know how appropriate this was, but I do have one concern.

I can understand a lot of students taping classes to assist with taking notes, but after this incident I wonder if it tape recorders could intimidate teachers and stifle discussion.

Am I the only one who thinks this could hurt the classroom were this to become a normal practice?

[blonndee]

16. Nope. I think that's the point, really. n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. Taping lectures is often an accomodation for kids with disabilities

So those tape recorders aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. An update:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=612719&mesg_id=612719

[DetroitProle]

21. was he informed of the taping?

Isn't there some sort of law against recording someone without their permission?
At my university, the profs don't usually mind taping. They often record the lectures and put it online as a study aid.
However, I do remember that in one class, it was indicated on the syllabus that a student must request permission to tape the lecture before taping it.


I am entirely against putting a spin on the educational system, in any way, right or left. Education is about bestowing knowledge, information, and the ability to think and reason. Not indoctrination.
I had a teacher in high school who spent all his classes talking up Bush and right wing politics. It was his mission in life. A total hack. He should have been fired. He even played a tape about Jeebus on the last class.

However, context is often important. The teacher in question in the article may have very well had a perfectly good context and rationale for his comments. I am in no way condeming him.

Really, in education, there is no need to trump up liberal ideals. History speaks for itself. Reason speaks for itself. Conservativism is paranoid, irrational, and oppressive. There's a reason Karl Rove thinks too much education is a bad thing because people start to turn liberal. There's a reason universities are professors are liberal. Intelligent, educated people can't be taken in by pill-popping talking heads, meaningless rhetoric, religious fanaticism, and fear of the unknown. And these are the things conservatives today stand for.

[rucky]

23. State laws make those calls.

Linda Tripp broke the law because she taped Monica in Maryland (of course they didn't prosecute).

[tlsmith1963]

29. Republicans are So Naiive

They don't realize at all that Bush has fascist tendencies. He behaves like a dictator. Everything has to go his way, or else. He is exactly the kind of leader the original American colonists tried to escape. So this teacher was telling the truth. But the conservatives won't listen to the truth. They always try to destroy the messenger. I only hope they will finally see the truth before it is too late, or this country is doomed.

Tammy

[Azathoth]

30. Folks, let's do a little reality check here

If Jay Bennish had come out and described Bush as a God-appointed protector of freedom, accused Democrats of working with Al Qaida to destroy America, and suggested that gays would burn in hell for all eternity, the calls for his resignation on DU would be deafening. He'd be accused of hate speech, violating the separation of church and state, indoctrinating his students into fascism, and so on. In fact, if I recall correctly, another teacher was forced by a judge to remove christian-themed posters from the walls of his classroom because school curriculum is not considered "free speech." (And, as I also recall, the reaction on DU to that story was overwhelmingly positive).

The bottom line is that a teacher at the high school level should not make a habit on inserting his or her controversial or potentially offensive opinions into their curriculum unless they do so in an objective and balanced way. High schools should not be havens of political/ideological/religious indoctrination.