Posted on 09/21/2016 8:20:40 AM PDT by RightGeek
Fayetteville, N.C. — A Cumberland County high school teacher has been suspended after he stepped on an American flag as part of a history lesson on Monday.
A photo posted on Facebook shows Lee Francis, a history teacher at Massey Hill Classical High School in Fayetteville, standing over an American flag at the front of the class.
Students said Francis tried to burn and cut the flag before dropping it on the floor as part of a lesson on the First Amendment. At least two students walked out of the classroom during the demonstration. 7
"I put the flag on the ground and I took two steps with my right foot and I said, 'This is an example of free speech,'" Francis said. "Two students got up and left immediately with no word, no disruption at all...I assumed something had happened. One student came to where I was and took the flag from me."
Francis has been suspended with pay in connection with the incident until he meets with Superintendent Dr. Frank Till on Thursday.
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
What’s illegal about stomping on the flag or cutting it or putting it on fire ?
It (public education) no longer serves the public it purports to serve but a very leftist agenda designed to dumb down our kids, fill their skulls with liberal indoctrination that does nothing but make the kids hate their parents and their country's!
Proud of those students.
You have confused freedom of speech with respect to government, and repercussions of that freedom with respect to the responses of private parties. Private parties are in now way bound by the First Amendment.
In this case, if the flag was his own, and not one provided by the school, the school is, being a sub-division of government, very much in the wrong for suspending him. If it was the school's flag (thus, belonging to the taxpayers), then it was an appropriate move.
(not directed at you IWTUB) - If you're going to deface the flag, make sure it's yours. If it is yours, and if you're going to burn it, I'll help you out by wrapping your sorry ass in it first, then I'll help you light it.
A teacher is an agent of the school board. The school board is an agent of the community that elected them. I am sure that there are bylaws that prevent the desecration of the flag on school property. Or acts that cause disruption or causes distress.
A teacher, while teaching a class, is on company (tax payer) time. He can do his thing on his own time, but being a teacher, he is still under constraints.
A teacher is not allowed to publicly, from the classroom, criticize the administration or school board. Why did he not choose to try that?
Or a teacher is not allowed to use profanity. Why did he not try that?
The whole thing is his effort to be in the news. They should fire his ass.
Are you equating stepping on the flag with murder? Stepping on the flag is not illegal (yes we have a flag code, no it's not enforceable, it's just a set of guidelines), unless it's not your property, then it's likely theft and destruction of property.
If it was his flag, the school is actually in the wrong, and could be liable under deprivation of rights under the color of authoriy. That's the beauty of free speech. If it's the school's flag, then he's in the wrong, and should be suspended.
I don't agree with what he said, but the school is a government entity, and they did, in fact, violate his freedom of speech IF, and only IF, the flag belonged to the teacher.
If he was really brave, he should have tried the same thing with the ISIS flag (which has “Allah” on it). Or rip up a page from the Quran.
Okay, based on him being on the public’s dime at the time, the suspension would be proper if there were rules against this type of behavior. He’s to be teaching students, not protesting on the people’s dime. So, suspension is warranted. Outside the classroom, on his own time, school may have a problem.
It is a shame that student didn’t have a black lives matter flag and throw it on the floor and stomp on it when the teacher disrespected our flag. Or if another student didn’t unfurl a Confederate flag and wave it. I’ll bet the teach would not have allowed that free speech.
Fire this idiot immediately; and make sure he NEVER works in ‘public education’ anywhere again. While you’re at it; fire a few other teachers...just to ‘send a message’.
“Are you equating stepping on the flag with murder?”
Are you serious? The principle you espouse is that abstract concepts require physical demonstration to be understood. Maybe I should have said exceeding a speed limit sign to make people comprehend how the sign should be obeyed.
“I don’t agree with what he said, but the school is a government entity, and they did, in fact, violate his freedom of speech IF, and only IF, the flag belonged to the teacher.”
What makes you think teachers have freedom of speech when doing their job. They don’t. That will get them fired in a heartbeat. Just like on ANY OTHER job. Government workers in particular don’t have freedom of speech while doing their job.
Everything they do is prescribed by rules and regulations like most jobs.
Bravo to those students!!
I agree with you there.
I misread/misinterpreted your post on understanding the idea behind murder and the witnessing thereof. Sorry about that.
That being said, if he's on his dime and it's his flag, I don't care what he does with it, I'll disagree with him, and explain why, but I won't try to stop him.
Do that to a Koran. See what your free speach gets you.
SCOTUS ruled in 1989 that flag burning is protected free speech.
Interesting conjectures you make, are they backed up in facts ?
I’ll take the teacher at his word - that he was teaching.
I’ll take a guess that the teacher will be exonerated.
Should be interesting to see how this turns out.
“SCOTUS ruled in 1989 that flag burning is protected free speech.”
Burning a flag inside the classroom is NOT protected free speech. It is endangering students.
“Interesting conjectures you make, are they backed up in facts ?”
They are facts. Also, there is not a work environment in the country that will allow employees to engage in free speech as a representative of the company, which is what a teacher is.
“I’ll take the teacher at his word - that he was teaching.”
Teaching what? You mean it takes desecrating the symbol of the nation to have students understand free speech. Everyone understands free speech. As you noticed, flag desecration was not considered free speech until 1989. And, really, it is not free speech in that it has nothing to do with free speech. It is protest. And protesting is carefully regulated in this country.
“I’ll take a guess that the teacher will be exonerated.”
If the administration is gutless as normal, he probably will be.
suspended with pay....big deal...these govt animals never really are punished...
The era of Obama is over. Thank God! Acting like that anti-American petty tyrant now has consequences again.
If you have to ask, you are clearly in the wrong forum, I don't care what your (phony?) "join date" indicates.
Go away, please, slug...
Your cooperation is appreciated.
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