Intelligent Design is okay in Kansas schools, the Pledge of Allegiance is mandatory. But can a high school teacher compare George Bush to Adolph Hitler if he/she can point to factual corollaries between the policies of both? Or is that verboten speech - criticizing a sitting president?
Jay Bennish, a high school geography teacher in Colorado is under suspension for comparing George Bush's policies to that of Adolph Hitler's. One student in the class recorded twenty minutes of his talk and went to a local radio station with it. I saw this report last night on the evening news and heard parts of what the teacher said in class. He used plenty of "ifs", "buts" and "therefores" in making the comparison.
"In the tape, the teacher is heard saying there were similarities between remarks Bush made in his State of the Union address and "things that Adolf Hitler used to say."
Superintendent Monte Moses told ABC News affiliate KMGH-TV that policy calls for both sides of an issue to be presented to students. He said Bennish's presentation appeared unbalanced.
Sophomore Takes Recording to Radio Station
The recording was made by 16-year-old sophomore Sean Allen the day after the president's speech. Allen said he had been disturbed by "political rants" he heard in Bennish's class.
"So these kids are going to have notes on why George Bush is related to Hitler and why the state of Israel was founded on violence and terrorism," Allen told KHOW Radio Wednesday when he went public with his tape. "These kids are going to have notes on this and accept that as fact."
On the tape, Bennish, who has taught in the Colorado district for five years, is heard quoting part of the State of the Union address: "It is our duty as Americans to use the military to go out in the world and make the world like us." Bennish continues: "Sounds a lot like what Adolph Hilter used to say."
Bennish appears to be popular teacher.
"About 150 students at a suburban Denver high school walked out of class to protest a decision to put a teacher on administrative leave. The protest came Thursday as administrators began investigating whether Overland High School teacher Jay Bennish violated a policy requiring balancing viewpoints in the classroom, Cherry Creek School District spokeswoman Tustin Amole said.
"It was peaceful. The students yelled, but there was no fighting," Amole said. "Most of them did return to class."
This is a breaking story - let us wait to see how it will be resolved.
Update: Here is more of what Bennish said - sounds like a reasonable approach to classroom pedagogy.
According to the transcript, Bennish concluded by saying: "I'm not implying in any way you should agree with me. ... What I'm trying to do is to get you to ... think about these issues more in depth."
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