Posted on 08/23/2006 3:44:34 PM PDT by ncountylee
A Jefferson County geography teacher was suspended on the second day of school for hanging several flags from other countries in his classroom at Carmody Middle School.
Eric Hamlin said the flags were part of a world geography lesson plan and refused to remove them. Hamlin was escorted out of class and Wednesday morning by the school's principal after he refused to remove the flags of China and Mexico.
The school district placed him on administrative leave, citing a Colorado law that makes it illegal to display foreign flags permanently in schools.
"Under state law foreign flags can only be in the classroom because it's tied to the curriculum. And the principal looked at the curriculum, talked to the teacher, and found that there was really no curriculum coming up in the next few weeks that supported those flags being in the classroom," said Jeffco Public Schools spokeswoman Lynn Setzer.
But Hamlin said although his curriculum may not speak specifically about those flags, they are used as reference tools for world geography.
"It's much along the lines of a science teacher who puts up a map of the solar sysem. They may not spend every day and every lesson talking about Mars, but they want the students to see that and to see the patterns of the planets and the order, and the students will observe that, and absorb that learning visually," Hamlin said.
Hamlin said that the school district is not only depriving him of a teaching tool but also taking away from his students' education.
"The major problem I see here is with the law that limits educators," Hamlin said.
"We have to uphold state law. We really have no discretion when it comes to upholding the law," Setzer said.
Hamlin said he understands that the district is following state law so he's met with the ACLU and he said, if necessary, he plans on fighting the constitutionality of the law.
Overkill IMO, unless you are tom tancredo and think looking at this flag
automatically makes you a ferrigner lover.
The curriculum doesn't have to be coming up in the next few weeks for a teacher to decorate a classroom with relevant objects.
In my preschool classroom, I hung up the Alphabet WEEKS before we ever went over any letters - because I wanted the children to be familiar with the letters.
Likewise, I hung up the color words, shapes, and the Seasons of the Year before we learned them - because the children learned them better if they had been exposed to them from the beginning.
And I left the Golden Rule posted on the wall ALL YEAR LONG, even though we went over it the first day of school - because the children remembered the material better if it was left in front of them to remind them.
As a homeschool teacher, I put up the Periodic Table, the Presidents of the United States, and Timelines all year long, long before the lessons are taught - because by the time my son gets to the lesson, he's already memorized part or all of the principal elements.
The idea that the only displays that can be allowed in a classroom are those that are BEING TAUGHT RIGHT NOW is just another example of how public education is failing the public's children -
adminstrators spend their time on garbage like this - micromanaging Geography Displays to make a political statement - instead of figuring out how to TEACH OUR CHILDREN.
Michael Moore made a movie? I thought it more of a propaganda film.
State law says otherwise, apparently.
Besides, who needs a foreign flag to learn where that country is, what they do, etc.?
I'd like to know if this teacher had a flag for every other country in the world.....
I agree. On the surface this just sounds ridiculous. If you are teaching a geography I don't see any problem with having flags of different countries displayed. Like it or not, there are over 190 other countries in the world, and at least knowing what other flags look like is probably a good thing. Hell, alot of school kids, and adults, can't even tell you where other countries are on the map.
I'm with the teacher on this one. This is just idiocy by the school board (or whoever suspended him). He should take a stand against this nonsense.
I'd really like to learn how to include graphics.
JMO again, this is overkill. Heck most Americans can't find Texas on a map.
Last spring I went to the school open house with my niece. Imagine my disgust when I found flags from all 50 states hanging in a Michigan classroom. I wanted to drag the teacher out for a public stoning in the parking lot but they wouldn't let me. They "claimed"the flags were for educational purposes but I think it was blatant anti-Michiganianism.
So what if it wasn't coming up in the curriculm. Big deal. The students can still LEARN simply by seeing them in class.
hmmmm.....
Guess they would be in violation of all kinds of laws huh?
It's not about the flag, so much as it is about the teacher violating a law he didn't like. He should do his protesting on his own time.
Personally, I think it's a silly law. It was prolly a response to to recent protests against toughening US immigration policy, same as some schools creating rules against students or teachers wearing or carrying *any* nation's flags.
FR provides the basics of HTML at the link below.
that many flags in a classroom would definately
be sensory overload for alot of people.
did they have the michigan flag up though?
You don't need to "display" flags to learn about them. That is only one method that is possible. There are things known as textbooks, and they have pictures, and the pictures can be of flags.
mmmmmmm
teaching by cookery! I love it!
I used to make soup in my classroom as a lesson to go with reading "Stone Soup" (a children's book) until my principal decided it was "not appropriate". Never mind that it taught fractions, measurement, and introduced children to healthful foods - it wasn't in the "curriculum" so suddenly we couldn't do it.
It was in *my* curriculum for years. But it wasn't in the new "curriculum" the school district bought for a million dollars from the superintendent's friend, so I couldn't teach it any more...
It was some darn good soup.
GLOBAL HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA PING!
Oh wait, never mind.
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