This is what those rabid animals did to our innocent countrymen and women...for us who remain, eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
Posted on 09/13/2003 4:15:39 PM PDT by garmonbozia
ARAPAHOE COUNTY - The Falcon Creek Middle School teacher who left class Thursday after administrators rejected his teaching plans for Sept. 11 was placed on administrative leave Friday until the district believes he is "emotionally" prepared to return to the classroom, he said.
"They want to make a call (about) when I am fit to be in the classroom," said eighth-grade teacher Jason Ritter. "I'm emotionally in the right place, as I was (Thursday)."
A spokeswoman for the Cherry Creek School District confirmed the leave. Spokeswoman Tustin Amole declined to say whether Ritter's job was at stake, but said the matter raises "issues of insubordination."
District procedures call for getting approval before bringing in outside materials into the classroom, Amole said.
"We have to determine whether he can come back and follow district policy," she said.
Ritter on Wednesday showed his class of 13- and 14-year-old students a CNN-produced video that included images of Sept. 11 victims leaping from windows. He did not have district approval to show the video, Amole said.
Jeanette Washington, a student curriculum administrator, dropped by Ritter's classroom while he was playing the video "America Remembers," and Ritter later was called out of class to meet with principal Cynde Fischer.
Ritter said he agreed not to show the video again. After a meeting Wednesday afternoon he understood he could answer questions only about Sept. 11, but he went to school Thursday with other anniversary activities planned just in case, he said.
That morning, he said, Fischer told him he must limit his Sept. 11 discussion to the crash of United Airlines Flight 93, and then move to a regular lesson about the foundation of American government.
"I did not feel it was an option for me to explore other Sept. 11 (topics)," he said.
School officials told him they would sit in on the class, and when he protested, they told him he could follow their directions or leave, Ritter said.
When he went downstairs to think about it, he returned and Fischer told him to leave, he said.
He returned for a regular day of work Friday, but administrators asked him to leave again, he said.
Amole said other staff members dispute Ritter's statement that Fischer ordered him to leave Thursday.
Amole said Ritter chose to leave. His other options were not to teach anything about Sept. 11, or to stay within the parameters of the topics outlined by the district.
Those topics included the historical significance of the event, democracy, patriotism and heroism, she said.
On Friday, an assistant superintendent told Ritter and several Falcon Creek administrators to give written statements about Thursday's events, Amole said.
Students on Friday threw their support behind Ritter. When Fischer distributed a letter for Falcon Creek parents that said "it was this teacher's decision to go home and not teach," students tore the sheets up, said Kayla Haubenschild, a 13-year-old student who is not in Ritter's class.
Her mother, Rhonda Haubenschild, said she didn't think showing a video of the Sept. 11 tragedy was any "different than the Holocaust" pictures she saw in school as a child.
Nate Klemann, a 13-year-old who saw the CNN video in Ritter's class on Wednesday, said that while it was graphic, "I thought it was good.
"It was a big part of history," Klemann said. "I just realized how many people lost their lives."
His mother, Amy Klemann, said she initially opposed her son seeing the graphic images, but was OK with it if he learned from them.
However, she said, Ritter "should have sent a note home."
Amole said the investigation should conclude this week.
There's the problem right there:
Some bureaucratic apparatchik whose salary eats up tax dollars, dedicated to lord over curricula so that its toes the NEA line.
Yet schools need more money.
I'd say not...this is the stuff they do NOT want publicized, even though it happens every day.
Maybe it'll get a Soccer Mom or two's head where it REALLY belongs: pounding on some tenured bastard's desk down at Skool Districk Headquarters.
"It was a big part of history," Klemann said. "I just realized how many people lost their lives."
after 2 yrs. this girl learns the truth and the teacher get suspended
And I do recall that there were no crisis counselors available at school afterwards to ask us how we felt. We just went back to learning about readin', ritin' and rithmetic.
As usual, when someone suggests we FReep someone, my first instinct is to "just do it"! But, I have learned to dig a little deeper, see if I can get more info...and in this case, I could
I own a copy of "America Remembers". I bought it last year, pre-viewed closeout at the grocery store. I'd not watched it. Tonight, I did.
What the &*(&*& was the administration thinking? You all would be shocked, I tell ya, just shocked, to see the blatant patriotism this video promotes! It shows American spirit, resolve, compassion...and, at counter mark 19:59 thru 20:21 and 28:30-28:40 shows what may be 2 or 3 bodies falling. NO graphic close-ups, no shots on the ground. "Shit" is used (when the camera pans up as the plane goes into the tower). Most of what is on the video was shown this past week on cable channels, much of the footage doesn't look to be CNN exclusive (I saw a lot of it on TLC). Actually, I was amazed at CNN's positive spin on this....
So, I think this is less about content, and more about control. Some admin with a little is ticked because a teacher didn't clear the showing of a video with him? Do all the teachers have to have approval for all the videos they show???
So, here are my unsolicited suggestions.
1. Write the school, ask them to give you specific scenes in the tape (get counter numbers) that are so objectionable.
2. Homeschool!! The parents that I tutored for were glad that we spent whatever time the girls needed on this subject. The girls even learned that if you live in the sticks of flyover country, you can get the New York Times, you just have to pay triple, and drive 20 miles to find it.
FReep On! It's a good cause, I think the teacher's actions were legit, and the school needs a little reminder about freedom of speech. I wonder if they have "Heather has 2 Mommies" in their library? Think they teach tolerence of everything but Christianity? Hmmm, again I say: Homeschool!!
This is what those rabid animals did to our innocent countrymen and women...for us who remain, eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
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