Teacher Fired For Saying "I Honk For Peace"

Teacher Fired For Saying "I Honk For Peace"

sfgate.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Hear those scampering of footsteps? Those are our personal liberties running away. While this case is of a unique scenario, that is a teacher in a classroom, it still is a free speech issue. If the teacher in question had spent an entire day talking about his or her views on a political issue I could see that would be a problem. But this teacher was answering a question posed by a student. The student teacher relationship is based on trust. Lose that trust and you lose that pupil.

sfgate.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Seems just the opposite for teachers usually.

Usually, its ok if they get a sex change in front of our kids. One year their a man the next a woman.

Their allowed to say we came from a Big Bang or Apes.

Their allowed to teach us Pluto was a planet and then say it’s not.

Their allowed to say the war is good. But not allowed to say it’s not. Something’s wrong here.

image source: http://covers.fwis.com/images/items/332.jpg


Where are we really? Or should that be; what is really, and who is where?

Destroy Glass Castles. Destroy them all.

She needs to get a lawyer that specializes on civil and constitutional rights cases.

But three years that sounds kind of out of place that she has waited so long to make her case public.

You been watching southpark? haha.

Sorry if I sound stupid, but what does honk mean?

[edit on 14-5-2007 by _Phoenix_]

Why do we insist on silencing any opinion from our educators? Are they not permitted to think? There is a big difference in standing on the soap box in front of the class and preaching your thoughts and opinions. But what this teacher has been fired for, and like the countless ones recently, it is utterly absurd.

The path we as a society are walking is very slippery. I don't think we are going to like where are when we get there.

_Phoenix_


I have never, ever, ever, watched south park.

Never will.

Only in America!

There are always 2 sides to every story. This incident was probably the straw that broke the camels back.

Just because she is a teacher, that doesn't make her a Saint.

Indiana must be a free will state. She has the right to quit for any reason, and her employer can fire her for any reason. I live in Louisiana, and that is how it is here.

Read the link supplied in the OP before rushing to judgement. Courts have never upheld a teacher's right to free speech while in the classroom, and there are good reasons for this.

As the article states, the teacher would be fully within her rights to say what she did if she had been speaking on a street corner or at a public hearing. But the school district is under no responsibility to supply her with a captive audience to express her personal views to.

This is common practice among many employers. You give up certain elements of free speech when you accept certain employment.

Personally, I think her saying "I honk for peace" was harmless, and the schoolboard overreacted, but then, I don't know the full history of this teacher's employment. Maybe she was on notice for some other violation of policy; who knows?

One would think that by now teachers across the country would have learned to just shut up and teach what they are required to teach and leave personal opinion at home. Talking about her personal stance on war in class is about as stupid as discussing politics in the work place; it never ends well. All she would have had to say was "I cannot discuss such things here" and it would have all been different but instead the mouth was engaged before the brain.

She was asked about her opinion by a student during a discussion of the pending war in Iraq. She did not hijack the class for a discussion of he political views. If she had devoted class time to promoting HER agenda, then that is clearly wrong.

As I stated before, the student teacher dynamic is based on trust. If the student suspect that the teacher is lying that relationship is tainted and the ability to learn is impaierd.

If we want our teachers to be mindless robots, why bother with them at all? An internet based cirriculum would be cheap, easy, and always promote the status quo.

Here here, FredT.

Here here.

I was in the process of preparing something for the Fascists, but what you have said is far more efficient. Why is there no feature to offer Moderators with awards?

LOL, what the hell does that have to do with anything. I love your passive aggressive style lol

1)There was a Big Bang, They have traced back to 10,000,000th million sec. Just don't know what happened before that. But check out M-theory for some ideas on that, if the dark ages will let ya. Don't worry you can still use religion and the Big Bang together because they really don't know whats before that.

2) We didn't come from apes, PLEASE READ THIS!! NO ONE HAVE EVER SAID WE CAME FROM APES, NEVER.. SO STOP SAYING IT!!! We all have a common ancestor or at least that what us heathens believe.

Thats because there are several other large ice objects in the Kuiper Belt, that make it either we call them all planets are reclassify Pluto, seems like that made the right decision, but we will know more about the object soon when the space probe sent there arrives.



You got this one right and was probably all that was needed to be said. But you felt the need to use your passive aggressive nature to throw your other agendas in here. Please stop using forums that are not about these topics to bring them up in your all to subtle way.


Sorry needed to be said, Back on topic


Crap after reading that I just realized I fed the beast.. crap, my bad.

[edit on 14-5-2007 by ShiftTrio]

I love how everyone jumps to conclusions as to how and why she is fired. The comment isnt what bothers me, its that she says it in a public school classroom where personal politics have no place. It was a kindergarten class grant you, and those kids don't get what shes saying, but still she said it. But we still dont know the whole story yet, so just wait a bit.

In a high school classroom this can be acceptable as long as both sides are given equal attention for students to make up their own minds. The teacher in this article illustrates it very well.
Politics in School

[edit on 5/14/2007 by ludaChris]

How would staying that you cannot discuss such things in school violate trust? If she had lied and said sure I'm down with carpet bombing some nation in the middle of nowhere it would have been a violation of trust cause it would be a blatant lie, but telling them that the discussion needs to go a different direction doesn't seem to be a violation of trust to me, or do I just have a slanted view of trust?



Now thats going a little to the extreme don't you think? They don't need to be robotic but they need to learn to detach their personal opinions and views when interacting with the class, even in minor situations like this. A simple redirection of the conversation could have saved her job without violating any kind of trust between the student and teacher.

A possible explanation is presented:



She was explicitly instructed prior to the act how to conduct herself. She violated those instructions and was dealt consequences.

ShiftTrio


I said what I said. Meant every word of it period.

Well I guess you can't just have Teachers running around espousing hardcore messages such as "I honk for Peace," when asked their opinion in a classroom, can you now?

In a free Country, that would just be absolutely ridiculous.

[edit on 14-5-2007 by Nobusuke Tagomi]