Posted on 03/03/2006 10:55:28 PM PST by neverdem
How should public schools handle hot controversy in class? A teacher's comments on Bush stoke an ever-simmering debate
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."
Lane, who also represented embattled University of Colorado at Boulder professor Ward Churchill, said he plans to file papers in federal court today to protect Bennish's First Amendment rights.
He said Bennish is not doing well and that the student took what occurred out of context. "This is very upsetting to him," Lane said.
Bennish's comments in class the day after Bush's Jan. 31 State of the Union address have generated national attention and prompted a discussion of what's appropriate in the classroom.
In fact, teachers in public schools have much less freedom to express their opinions than do university teachers, according to Alan Canner, an education law professor at the University of Colorado School of Law.
Teachers in grades K-12 "do enjoy, as do all state employees, quite an extent of freedom under the First Amendment to express ideas when they are not in the classroom," Canner said.
But in the classroom, the rules change.
"The in-school speech context is extremely different," he said.
A federal appeals court concluded in a 1991 case that schoolteachers do not have a constitutional right to academic freedom, Canner said.
Because teachers are viewed as agents of their school districts, he said, district officials have discretion to decide how far teachers can go in teaching about controversial topics.
"School districts, when we're talking about the speech of employees, have a tremendous amount of authority to delineate what the curriculum is," he said.
Districts must ensure that students aren't intimidated, he said. It's important that the students feel that the ideas they bring to school are not undercut in school, he said.
Some teachers worried about what they could say in class.
Stan Jozwiak, a social studies teacher at Boulder's Fairview High School, said he has had to "pull back" on his opinions of President Bush to create "sustained, nonconfrontational, nonbiased" discussions.
Still, he said, students have expressed concerns about some political conversations in the past.
In Jefferson County Public Schools, the state's largest district, Superintendent Cindy Stevenson said teachers who plan to present controversial material that could create "social tension" must first get principals' approval. The rule does not forbid spontaneous discussions in which teachers act as moderators.
"Part of the art of teaching is making sure that ideas can flow, that kids can disagree ... but that the adults understand that they have a great deal of influence," Stevenson said.
Cherry Creek's policy states that teachers have "the right and the obligation to teach about controversial issues." However, the teacher also "has the obligation to be as objective as possible and to present fairly the several sides of an issue ... he does not have the right to indoctrinate students to his views."
One student said he had felt intimidated in Bennish's class.
Outside the Aurora high school Thursday morning, 17-year-old Miles Merritt watched as classmates chanted "Freedom of speech. Let him teach." About 150 students joined the protest.
Merritt, a junior, said that when he was enrolled in Bennish's human geography class last fall, "it turned into a very political class" with Bennish criticizing Bush's handling of Hurricane Katrina.
"I really wanted to talk back, but I was afraid," Merritt said.
Merritt said he doesn't think all high school students are mature enough to form their own opinions when teachers express "such strong views."
"We're young. We follow the crowd," he said. "That's what we do."
Other students vigorously defended Bennish as a teacher who liked to provoke thought and open discussion.
"He's just trying to make your mind grow," said Chelsey Wallington, a 16-year-old sophomore who took Bennish's honors geography class last fall.
In the 20-minute recording by 16-year-old Sean Allen, Bennish described capitalism as a system "at odds with human rights." He also said there were "eerie similarities" between Bush's comments and "things that Adolf Hitler used to say."
On the tape, Bennish touched on various issues, from American involvement in Colombia's civil war to U.S. attacks on Cuba during the 1960s.
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."
Sean said Thursday that he was surprised so many students supported Bennish. He said he would not be in class today and was considering not returning to Overland.
"I feel like I did the right thing and I don't regret it, but I mean I feel like that that may have to be the consequence of the situation," he said.
Staff writer Karen Rouse can be reached at 303-820-1684 or krouse@denverpost.com.
Well that would be ok with me if they would give me my 6000 tax dollars back so I could send my kids to private school. I don't live in a mansion, either, it is valued at 180K. It's all very well for people to ignore the public schools, but when they take so much tax dollars that you can no longer afford private school, when they take so much tax dollars that both parents have to work so that you can no longer home school, we need to revolt.
Protests have consequences... I trust that these 150 protesters were suspended for being truant from class??????
Jeez louise, I'd just be happy if they got their facts straight.
Since when did looks suddenly define politics? That's giving the left every license to define us as fat, banjo playing, gun owning freaks. ...which of course I am. ....but that's besides the point.
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I have a theory that looks do in fact influence politics, in the sense that the left has recruited all these people who want to tear down society simply because they did not "win" under the current one.
You being a fat, banjo playing, gun-owning gentleman isn't the reason why you are a conservative. But it sure does appear that the leftist activists' ranks are full of those who were not popular in high school and now want to "change the world" as a way of dealing with their angst, instead of just getting over it, and growing up. Hey I wasn't attractive/popular in high school, but I didn't rebel against society because of that.
And let the left define us as freaks if they want. All they are doing is violating their own stupid mantra of "respecting diversity."
Do you really play the banjo??? Wow.
Thanks Dude. Exactly what I said later on. I wasn't arguing that we should be mean to unattractive people, but I have no sympathy for people who let their political leanings be influenced by their inability to deal with life.
The truth is they are so unhappy about where they are in life it must be Americas fault.
Let's see if we can get them all to move to Cuba.
Again, what do looks have to do with things? We rail all the time about being lumped into 'ignorant' / 'redneck' / 'rascist' catagories for viewpoints that are anything but. My point is simple, argue the words not the image.
Do you really play the banjo??? Wow.
I would agree. However, I'd rather stay above arguing image as it only takes us down to their level and gives them more ammo to say we're 'intollerant'. Just feels jeuvenile.
"Play" might not be the best word to use about what I do with my Deering Sierra. Grandma tought me. If she were alive still she'd be horrified to hear how badly I can scare my wife & cats.
I would agree. However, I'd rather stay above arguing image as it only takes us down to their level and gives them more ammo to say we're 'intollerant'. Just feels jeuvenile.
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I know, it's a subtle argument and prone to sounding just like we are just being shallow, because people often reverse implications. I see what you're saying.
By the way, I never demeaned her looks in my original post. I just noticed that she looked like all the other hippie activists. It's sort of funny right, these people all rebel in their grooming to show how original and unique and different they are, but they all do it in the exact same way! They all look like carbon copies of each other.
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