Teacher who called military 'lowest of the low' is fired

Are military personnel "all dumb shits" and "the lowest of our low"? Doesn't sound factual to me. Going on a rant inspired by a students clothes seems like compromised performance as he's talking in the present tense. The occasional rant isn't that big a deal to me, but he's all out telling lies about a group of people he clearly doesn't like. He's supposed to educate on facts, not disseminate his opinions to a captive audience.

All democrats are X
All republicans are X
All Muslims are X
All teachers are X

No. Just no.

That's not the point. And, as discussed earlier, I think the firing would be upheld. However, it's still within the parameters of an actual 1A controversy (unlike, say, neonazis getting shouted over or chased off stage by audience members - which is not a free speech controversy).

However, anyways, there is no factual requirement to this discussion and it's categoricallly protected as long as its not pointedly false (Sgt. Smythe fingers cadets, etc.)
 
Yes they can be limited so he's chance of winning any court case is almost none.


"As this case indicates, many courts are highly deferential to employer interests, especially public school officials. As a result, teachers should understand that the traditional First Amendment rights of academic freedom generally accorded to university professors are much more limited in public primary and secondary schools."

http://www.firstamendmentschools.org/freedoms/faq.aspx?id=13021

The more important distinction is whether the gov't employee is making the speech as a private citizen or pursuant to his job duties. If it's pursuant to his job duties, he has little protection regardless of what level of school he's teaching at.

I agree that his chance of winning in court is almost zero.
 
That's not the point. And, as discussed earlier, I think the firing would be upheld. However, it's still within the parameters of an actual 1A controversy (unlike, say, neonazis getting shouted over or chased off stage by audience members - which is not a free speech controversy).

However, anyways, there is no factual requirement to this discussion and it's categoricallly protected as long as its not pointedly false (Sgt. Smythe fingers cadets, etc.)
See, it's the "factually false" bit in your post that prompted my reply. I'm not a lawyer but like I said "dumb shits" and lowest of the low" are statements easily disproven. Both in the physical sense (not unintelligent feces, nor are they shorter than average) and in the metaphorical (IQ tests and reviewing criminal records).

It's all good, I just felt like putting in my 2 cents worth on a bit of a curiosity.
 
i think that depends greatly on the age of the kids and what the class is.

For instance I have far less qualms about comments like that (delivered with a little more tact) in a Politics Class where there has been set an expectation of unfiltered political opinion talk and where that class is an elective the young people get to choose to take.

But with younger kids or in general classes that type of talk borders on indoctrination and that is a valid danger between a teachers ideology and the students who spend more hours in the day with them than any other adults. Also many students might feel trapped and not feel comfortable speaking out against such views due to the power imbalance so it would be unfair to trap them into listening in that type of situation.
Teaching opinions is never right, regardless of the age of the student. There's a difference between encouraging debate, and just spewing opinions without regard for any overall educational structure.
 
See, it's the "factually false" bit in your post that prompted my reply. I'm not a lawyer but like I said "dumb shits" and lowest of the low" are statements easily disproven. Both in the physical sense (not unintelligent feces, nor are they shorter than average) and in the metaphorical (IQ tests and reviewing criminal records).

It's all good, I just felt like putting in my 2 cents worth on a bit of a curiosity.

No, absolutely, you're logically right. That's just not how the legal standard operates.

It's actually a burgeoning phenomenon now where the standards of "falsity" in US speech law are beginning to get stressed because of instances like last month when that right-wing Twitter person made that fake story about getting mugged by black people for going to see Black Panther and it got circulated through potentially millions of people, fomenting racial hate and fear. Traditionally, because there was no actual private party being slandered and there was no immediate physical danger, that would pretty hard to criminalize in the US. Meanwhile, in the EU, that would be punished as incitement.
 
No, absolutely, you're logically right. That's just not how the legal standard operates.

It's actually a burgeoning phenomenon now where the standards of "falsity" in US speech law are beginning to get stressed because of instances like last month when that right-wing Twitter person made that fake story about getting mugged by black people for going to see Black Panther and it got circulated through potentially millions of people, fomenting racial hate and fear. Traditionally, because there was no actual private party being slandered and there was no immediate physical danger, that would pretty hard to criminalize in the US. Meanwhile, in the EU, that would be punished as incitement.
Like I said, a bit of curiosity. Of course I don't believe he thinks all armed forces to be the lowest of the low or dumb shits. I don't know if that makes his use of a taxpayer funded platform to fling shit at a group he clearly sees as being beneath him better or worse. He's just a prick taking advantage of his position to spread his views. Nothing we haven't seen before and I doubt this will be the last of it.

Thanks for the legal input.
 
That's a stupid thing to say when teaching a class, but at the same time it feels a bit like the school leadership is acting like it's scared since if he's been a good teacher up until that point it would seem more appropriate with a warning and actions to prevent things like that going on.

If he hasn't been a good teacher and have had previous missteps or poor results then there's nothing strange about it.
 
Doesnt surprise me in the least that a teacher said something stupid and I hope he gets the full extent of his firing. I've met and worked with more moron teachers then active military or vets (who were all fine people).

The military may not be for him but it does provide stable careers and comraderie for those who want it. Fuck that teacher.
 
Right, bow down and show ultimate respect to the us military or be fired. Dissenting opinions are not allowed.


Sounds like North Korea to me
 
Reprimand for unprofessional behavior probably would have sufficed. If the content of the speech is the reason for the firing, then I hope he takes them to court. He's making an important observation (well, at least hinting at one) in an asshat way.

Similarly, would we fire a teacher for calling military members "the best goddamn people in the country, a cut above the rest" ?

We should, by that standard.
 
Right, bow down and show ultimate respect to the us military or be fired. Dissenting opinions are not allowed.


Sounds like North Korea to me
th


Try this
 
Reprimand for unprofessional behavior probably would have sufficed. If the content of the speech is the reason for the firing, then I hope he takes them to court. He's making an important observation (well, at least hinting at one) in an asshat way.

Similarly, would we fire a teacher for calling military members "the best goddamn people in the country, a cut above the rest" ?

We should, by that standard.
The district said it was because the teacher bullied an individual student. The content of his speech wasn’t what got him fired, it was going off on a rant directed at a student because of the clothing they were wearing and career path they wished to pursue.
 
The district said it was because the teacher bullied an individual student. The content of his speech wasn’t what got him fired, it was going off on a rant directed at a student because of the clothing they were wearing and career path they wished to pursue.
Thanks, I should know better than to base my comments on a foxnews.com story.
 
Reprimand for unprofessional behavior probably would have sufficed. If the content of the speech is the reason for the firing, then I hope he takes them to court. He's making an important observation (well, at least hinting at one) in an asshat way.

Similarly, would we fire a teacher for calling military members "the best goddamn people in the country, a cut above the rest" ?

We should, by that standard.

Even if he could prove it was the viewpoint content of the speech that got him fired he'd still lose.

It'd be different if they fired him for making the same speech on his own time outside his employment.
 
Even if he could prove it was the viewpoint content of the speech that got him fired he'd still lose.

It'd be different if they fired him for making the same speech on his own time outside his employment.
That's the opinion of most people, which is an excuse to pretend that they are patriotic, and to express their emotional distress at the military being insulted. And I maintain that by that reasoning, a teacher who says they are "the best goddamn people in the country, a cut above the rest" should be fired for exactly the same reasons. Which is ludicrous.
 
good, he's a straight can anyway

he apparently doesn't now there are Commissioned Officers in the military
 
Lol...like pilots and carrier pilots have to score high on tests
I was in the Army, our pilots aren't commissioned by Warrant Officers, but I feel you

I mean it's the same rough standard to be a teacher (college degree plus separate training that is substantially harder than a teaching credential)........so why is this clown talking trash?
 
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