Teacher under investigation for alleged liberalism

[Caution]

Teacher under investigation for alleged liberalism

http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2005/11/25/teacher_under_investigation_for_alleged_liberalism/

BENNINGTON, Vt. --The school superintendent whose district includes Mount Anthony Union High School has labeled "inappropriate" and "irresponsible" an English teacher's use of liberal statements in a vocabulary quiz.

"I wish Bush would be (coherent, eschewed) for once during a speech, but there are theories that his everyday diction charms the below-average mind, hence insuring him Republican votes," said one question on a quiz written by English and social studies teacher Bret Chenkin.
The question referring to the president asked students to say whether coherent or eschewed was the proper word. The sentence would be more coherent if one eschewed eschewed.
Another example said, "It is frightening the way the extreme right has (balled, arrogated) aspects of the Constitution and warped them for their own agenda." Arrogated would be the proper word there.

Chenkin, 36 and a teacher for seven years, said the quizzes are being taken out of context.
"The kids know it's hyperbolic, so-to-speak," he said. "They know it's tongue in cheek. They know where I stand."
He said he isn't shy about sharing his liberal views with students, but invites vigorous debate in the classroom.

<snip>

MY COMMENT: While I find the teacher's actions funny, I do not find them appropriate. An examination is not the place for comments like this. Maybe in a discussion about current events or the US political system (though even here I don't think this is appropriate for a tax-payer paid school teacher to be making these comments). Just imagine if the right-wing started packing schools with wingnut teachers and did this crap. We'd freak out. And rightly so.

[mrcheerful]

1. Wake up and smell the coffee

the wing nuts are doing things like that in the classrooms of public schools.

[Caution]

12. Doesn't make it right.

[TankLV]

37. I have to agree - if the shoe were on the other foot - when they do this

shit to us - and it DOES happen everyday - we don't like it at all.

A classroom on vocabulary and grammar should not have political overtones in it.

I do believe that we should speak the TRUTH where & when ever possible - especially when the wingnuts start spewing how glorious this illegal war is, etc. - and answer in kind - but propagandizing should not be tolerated.

[Tippy]

57. More power to the teacher....

Republicans have gotten away with sending material into our schools promoting the conservative view point...from environmental issue to abortion and now they use the schools to recrute soldiers they send to Iraq on false pretenses....we shold have a million teachers with guts enough to do the same or similar thing this teachers has done...

[guruoo]

44. Hooray! Boston's wingnut whiner patrol is on the job!

I think it's kinda cute, really.

"It's absolutely unacceptable," he said.
"They (teachers) don't have a license to
hold forth on a particular standpoint." :cry:

[Critters2]

64. And have been for years

I remember a World Hisory test in high school where our Catholic teacher asked..."(T or F) The Pope is Christ's vicar on earth." I got it wrong. Until my dad called the principal. Then, suddenly, the Pope wasn't Christ's vicar on earth anymore.

:dunce:

[Inland]

2. I agree. Last thing I want from HS teachers is

politics during vocabulary. Teach the kids the subject and leave the politics out.

[Ian David]

16. As a student, I used to to use my vocabulary for my OWN politics

I think the teacher could have encouraged their students to do that in writing their own example sentences.

[GinaMaria]

56. What a great assignment that would be

Using this week's vocabulary words, write your own political commentary on recent events.

Bet those vocabulary words would stick like they never have before.

The use of humor or memorable sentences like the teacher used is a great technique for getting things to stick, however, it would have been better to use subjects common to all the students. Jokes about the student handbook, detention, and other school activities would work just as well and keep the instructor out of hot water.

[liberalhistorian]

23. I agree totally;

as the daughter of two English teachers who are as liberal as you can get, this is, while funny, very inappropriate for the classroom, very much so. My parents have always kept their personal politics and views out of the high school classroom, as it should be.

And the OP is right, if this were a wingnut doing this, we'd be freaking out left, right, sideways, all over the place. Just because they also do it doesn't make it right.

[Inland]

24. Part of it may be confidence that politics free education leads

to good politics, whereas the nutbag conservatives need indoctrination. But I would just as soon that the kids master the curriculum in the few hours we have them.

[Hissyspit]

49. Connecting vocabulary to current events is not 'mastering the curriculum?'

It seems to me that that is most assuredly a useful aspect of the curriculum.

[tblue37]

27. I am a college English teacher.

If my students ask me directly (as they sometimes do), I will tell them I am liberal. If they ask me why, I will tell them why. But my politics do not get into my teaching. I have no right to use my position to force my politics on them.

They are required to attend class (absences affect their grades), and they have to do all assignemnts. That being the case, they would have no way to avoid it if I were to inject my politics into their lessons.

I honestly can't imagine abusing my position that way.

And college students are not even as vulnerable as high school students. I am appalled that he did this. It just gives ammunition to the wingnuts who claim that we liberals use our position as educators to bully our students.

[Hissyspit]

46. As a college art professor, I disagree with you.

They come to college to come into contact with alternate points of view, they come to college to be mentored by persons who have experience, knowledge, a personal world-view. To antiseptically remove any PROFESSION (as in professor) of legitimately developed point of view is, in itself, a political approach.

The overriding purpose of a college professor is to show the student how a THINKING mind works. You can do that, reveal your politics, and not oppress or suppress any individual student.

I have funny, irreverent political questions on all my tests, and as far as I know, none of my students has ever felt offended or suppressed by them. My classroom is a bastion of free speech and an open forum for ideas.

[tblue37]

51. Oh, my students get exposed to my politics, but not like that.

For example, last year, right after Fallujah, the final exam I designed for my English 101 class was based on the Stanford Prison Experiment and Stanley Milgram's obedience experiment. We discussed the experiments in class for two weeks, and I provided ten different prompts based on them.

The students ended up having to think about and discuss the underlying issues of groupthink, abuse of power, and submission to authority even when it went against their professed values.

I brought up the situation the troops were in, how hard it is for them to resist an illegal order, and how they might not even consider resisting an illegal order because of the human psychology revealed in these two experiments. I mentioned that I had pictures from Fallujah on my computer in my office, and that if they ever saw them, they would understand the real-world implications of these experiments, and why otherwise good people might commit such acts as those revealed in the Abu Ghraib scandal or in Fallujah. (I also explained to them the circumstances surrounding Fallujah, including the fact that many civilians were not allowed to evacuate or simply were not able to.)

Then I waited. As students came to my office to discuss their preparations for the final exam, they would ask to see those pictures. So I showed them, at their own request, pictures of babies with legs blown off, a father and toddler shot in the street, all sorts of horrifying pictures they never see in our news media.

One boy who was so Freeper-indoctrinated that he actually tried to use Free Republic as an authoritative source for one of his first essays in my class, was particularly stunned. He sat there in silence for a minute, then said, “I honestly thought we were better than this.”

I said, “We are human. There is nothing about us that inherently protects us from the natural impulses and behaviors of human beings. The only way to do that is to stop and think about what is being done in our name, and to never let those in authority do anything without questioning them. Just keep in mind that people who get into powerful positions are usually those who want power, and the very fact that someone wants power is a good enough reason to suspect his motives and to keep a close eye on him. The more power someone manages to grab, the more likely he is to have a criminal mind.

That exam design and our many classroom discussions leading up to it opened a lot of conservative young Kansas eyes—but I did so without ever forcing my opinion on them. I just created a classroom atmosphere with open discussion, provided documented information, listened tot heir opinions, countered them when I had documented information to do so, questioned them when their premises were untenable, and made them think. That is far different from slipping unchallenged insults into a test they have no choice but to take.

In a course designed to teach them to think and write clearly (which is what English 101 is), it is perfectly acceptable to raise such difficult issues and to have open discussions of controversial things. But that gives the students a chance to argue their own position on an equal footing with me, and to have their positions treated respectfully, even as I disagree with them. I end up having to offer support and evidence for my own arguments, just as they must for theirs, and my position is as open to challenge from them as theirs are from me or from their classmates.

The free give and take of a fair classroom discussion isn’t the same thing as being part of a captive audience, forced to sit there and listen to the authority in the classroom insult beliefs that you might hold, without offering you a chance to respond, and without offering support for his/her position.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

3. He wants the kids to think he's cool

but in my district his right to do that is guaranteed under our contract, under the paragraph called "Academic Freedom."

Academic freedom is a concept that is under appreciated but it is vital in a democracy. I am a teacher and I will NOT parrot any party line for anyone.

[joeunderdog]

34. But he's an "ALLEGED Liberal!!!" Oh, the humanity!

Let's try him and convict him now, before it's too late. What if he's a serial liberal...I mean, this stuff could spread like a disease and infect the hearts and minds of all of the innocent little BushBots of tomorrow.



Headline is awesome, ain't it. We're they afraid to just call him a Liberal, or did they think he'd sue for libel? :wtf:

I remember when Tim Robbins came out and complained that he and Susan S. were being villified in the school systems of their relatives for being anti-war. Sheeesh.


Me? I don't like to call myself a liberal, either. I'm an Un-Apologetic Liberal. No shame in that.

[Spiffarino]

4. I'm with OP and #2 on this

I don't care if his position agrees with mine. It's not the right forum for politically charged rhetoric. Teach the damn subject and keep the students on task. Don't bait them.

[CatBoreal]

5. I agree with you...

This sort of topic is best covered in a Current Events class, but even there, those questions, especially on a test, would be out of line. It's up to a teacher to teach their students to develop an opinion and to defend it once it's formed.

This sort of preaching abrogates (there's a word for him!) this type of learning.

[ingac70]

6. I grew up listening to rightwingers sing the praises of Reagan.....

in school daily. And I never fell for their shite.

Kids will make up their own minds. Your values and morals are usually set by high school anyway.

[Spiffarino]

8. Wingnuts that lionized Reagan in my school...

...were guaranteed an earful from me. I took a couple of C's for my efforts, but it was worth it. It pissed me off then and it pisses me off now no matter whose side benefits.

I teach people how to use their computers all the time. The task at hand is to teach. If I go blustering about what a dick Bush is and about how much I hate what he does, it doesn't do a thing for my students except distract them from learning what's in front of them. Unless it's poli-sci or current events, it's a waste of time and a roadblock to learning.

[ingac70]

14. I made no bones about my feelings.

The whole U.S. is now experiencing what I hade to endure in middle school and high school.

I was surrounded by religious fruitcakes. Remember the "Satanic" scare back in the late '80's?? I actually had an assistant principal that called my little sister into the office while I wasn't at school and questioned her as to whether or not I was a satanist, because another student had told her that I was overheard discussing "Satanic Verses" by Salman Rushdie!!

Yes, the bitch was so stupid she thought it was a satanic text, even though it was the cover story for Time magazine that very week.

Repubs are turning the entire U.S into rural Tennessee!

[daleo]

7. He should throw in a quiz question or two lauding Lincoln,

Who was a Republican, after all. Or he could mildly criticize Clinton. Then, he would be "fair and balanced", and could keep the anti-Bush stuff.

[...of J.Temperance]

9. Will the wingnut teachers who are babbling about Intelligent Design to

Their classrooms full of kids...will these wingnut teachers also NOW be subject to an investigation?

Huh? What's that? Sorry, you'll have to speak up, I can't hear ya...

*Sound of crickets chirping*

On Edit: I should add that the wingnuts are taking over school boards and forcing their backward and moronic crap on kids.

I have no problem with what this male teacher is doing. These kids sure aren't going to be educated on what Junior and the Repukes are doing from watching the TV. Children listen to their teachers and look up to them, so I can't see what the big problem is. If I were a teacher, I'd probably now and then tell my class that I thought Junior was a Fascist and I'd explain to them why I thought this.

Then again, I'm wild and I don't have many morals, so...

[Canuckistanian]

40. Yup. Pat Robertson let that cat out of the bag

ID=God

[pstans]

10. I don't like it when rightwingnuts shove their views done my throat,

so I don't think this is right either. I am a teacher and a liberal. I would not be afraid to express my views if they are pertinent to the subject or was asked about it. However, there is a big difference between that and preaching it. I think this teacher was preaching his views in this case. He should not be fired, but he should be more careful of what he is teaching.

[Protagoras]

11. How does this make "News" at this point?

We've become such a grossly punative society that I just can't stand it. Don't like something? Someone crossing a line? Call the cops and the reporters! Make it a national movement!

What happened to basic management? I remember when the boss would call me in his office and say "hey bud, before this gets out of hand, just between you and me could we cut that out?"

And I'd think...yup I better do that...and then back to work like normal.

Instead now, the use of a couple of non-swear words and it's right there in the paper?

Of course we're also using 911 resources to deal with LINE CUTTING at WALMART this morning.

God I hate what we've revealed ourselves to be in this country.

[ixion]

13. by this logic, then, statements like "I love America because..."

would be considered politcally charged and therefore inappropriate.

I think this is just another example of the double standard being applied these days.

[Ian David]

15. Yeah, I tend to agree. I'd say a written warning would be appropriate. n/t

[electron_blue]

17. In middle school, one of our teachers had huge STOP ERA signs

up all over her room. She preached endlessly about how women really needed to stay at home and raise the babies. I absolutely hated it, but most of the kids lapped it up. Sickening. That's what this reminds me of.

[nashville_brook]

18. newsflash! teachers are real people who talk about real stuff

it helps get students involved.

back to sleep, now.

[EFerrari]

39. Oh, get out! Really? And crack jokes and, provoke responses and --

please! That smacks of LITERACY!

How can anyone confuse these obviously humorous statements with shoving anything any where? :wtf:

[Malikshah]

19. As a college faculty member

I agree-- there is no room in the student instructor relationship for this sort of action.

Students know me to be a liberal-progressive, but not by what I say in the classroom-- as a figure of authority, one's position must be used to focus on opening minds, not telling people what to think. It is no better than the evangelicals spewing forth in our elementary and high schools-- the sword cuts both ways.

BTW-- I will admit to getting a kick out of seeing folks make the connection when I'm discussing such innocuous subjects as Roman expansion, the Art of War, and Lord Palmerston's foreign policy...

[annabanana]

20. I agree with you..

Perhaps a better choice of "vocabulary words" would be useful. Sneak in some rhetorical expressions. How many of those students know a "strawman" when they hear it?

[Demit]

21. The headline of the story bothers me more.

The investigation of the teacher's behavior is for irresponsibilty and inappropriateness in his approach to teaching vocabulary. No one is quoted as investigating him for "alleged liberalism".

The Boston Globe is who is irresponsible. Shame on them for a pandering headline.

[cascadiance]

53. I think this is precisely the issue...

This has been more politicized by those calling it "alleged liberalism", implying that if someone wanted to teach their brand of conservatism in class that would be OK, compared to the evil tenets of "liberalism". The issue is more about preaching one's points of view, whether they be political, religious, etc. which would be wrong, now matter what one's points of view is.

I think it's fine to have discussions, and even teachers to acknowledge their points of view in a classroom, but kids should be challenged to find their own reasons for believing things, andn to look at a whole body of evidence and find explanations for themselves. If a teacher is creative enough, and they have a relavent classroom topic (like philosophy, current events, world history, etc.), they can make sure that kids hear of various events they can look at, that if they look at objectively, will help them perceive them the same way the teacher might. But make sure not to only selectively look at things, and bring forth the core issues of what is supposed to be taught in the classroom, regardless of their beliefs in or not in them. By kids having self-discovery over what their beliefs are, that teaches rational thought, and ownership of their own thoughts.

I think that tests are the wrong place to introduce these sort of departures to personal beliefs too. They are pressure situations, where the kids are feeling pressured into making sure they answer right for a certain question, and if they feel they need to "fit in" to the teacher's mind set to get a good grade, that completely takes away from kids trying to find their own way into understand the world.

The teachers' students in this situation that hear the teacher being investigated for "liberalism" will get completely the wrong message of what's wrong with his approach to teaching, and some may go even further in the wrong direction than this teacher would want because of their perception that he tried to "liberalize" them, instead of trying to "Impress his own viewpoint" on them.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. I agree - this is wrong

and stories like this make me so mad. This guy is an ENGLISH teacher; can't he come up with any other sentences for those vocabulary words?

And he damn well should be shy about sharing his liberal views! Teachers are supposed to teach kids HOW to THINK, not WHAT to BELIEVE.

Teachers like this make it so hard for the rest of us who are trying to do this right.

[heidler1]

25. About 40 years ago my wifes younger sister showed me what she thought

was a very difficult test she'd had in high school. The questions were pretty strange, but by the time I'd read four of them I asked "Is this teacher black?" My sister in law replied, "No, but he is married to a black women." After that I answered all of the questions correctly using the bias instead of actual knowledge. This actually was a good lesson in how to take tests. I was a bit surprised that the teacher got by with doing it. Obviously the teacher had an ax to grind. Was it harmful? To me no.

[madrchsod]

26. i bet alot of the students may watch

jon stewart.. i think the school officials shouldn`t underestimate the intelligence of the kids in their school

[Clara T]

28. Vt. Teacher Accused of Anti-Bush Quiz

Vt. Teacher Accused of Anti-Bush Quiz

Friday November 25, 2005 6:16 PM


BENNINGTON, Vt. (AP) - A high school teacher is facing questions from administrators after giving a vocabulary quiz that included digs at President Bush and the extreme right.

Bret Chenkin, a social studies and English teacher at Mount Anthony Union High School, said he gave the quiz to his students several months ago. The quiz asked students to pick the proper words to complete sentences.

One example: ``I wish Bush would be (coherent, eschewed) for once during a speech, but there are theories that his everyday diction charms the below-average mind, hence insuring him Republican votes.'' ``Coherent'' is the right answer.

Principal Sue Maguire said she hoped to speak to whomever complained about the quiz and any students who might be concerned. She said she also would talk with Chenkin. School Superintendent Wesley Knapp said he was taking the situation seriously.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5438200,00.html

[Missy M]

29. I don't think it was an anti Bush quiz, just a quiz about the truth.

[ovidsen]

30. Sorta dumb of the teacher

He could have been a tad more, ummmm, subtle?

But his heart is in the right place!

[flordehinojos]

31. Spain went through its inquisition (was it during the Middle Ages, or the

Dark Ages?)

We are going through a Politicla Inquisition in this period the Bush Reigh of Darkness.

[damntexdem]

32. Well, it's social studies.

He's merely highlighting social reasons why Dubya talks as he does.

[proud2BlibKansan]

36. Sounds more like an English assignment to me

It was a vocabulary activity - that is English, not Social Studies.

But regardless of the subject, teachers are not supposed to inject their personal political philosophies into their instruction. This guy was wrong, regardless of whether we agree with his politics or not.

[knitter4democracy]

33. He should've done my favorite vocab quiz form instead.

I would make the kids pick three of the ten words that week and write acrostic poems with them. In an acrostic vocabulary quiz, you have to spell the word correctly down the side and then use one line for the definition of the word. I would read one from each student then after I had collected them. It made the quizes less stressful for the students and by far more fun to grade.

My usual quizes were to write a sentence using each word correctly and to spell the word correctly (half point for spelling and half point for usage). Those also tell you if the kids know the words or not.

His version is too much like the tests, I think, and definitely not the place for politics. It may have been a huge temptation, but it was wrong to do.

[Straight Shooter]

35. "... hence insuring him Republican votes."

An English teacher used the word insuring when instead he should have used the word ensuring. I have more of a problem with that than I do his so-called tongue-in-cheek quiz.

I realize the terms are becoming interchangeable. They shouldn't be. Sorry. Just a pet peeve.

[Spiffarino]

38. One I share, SS.

I see this all the time in email from people who get paid a lot more than I. What's so hard about differentiating between in- and ensure?

I bet the guy mixes up "it's" and "its" all the time, too.

Jebus.

[Versailles]

50. Ummm

I know Mr. Chenkin didn't write the article and I'm quite sure that the Bennington Banner never got a copy of the quiz, so isn't it possible that the author of the article could have made the error...and trust me the Banner isn't exactly the most grammatically correct paper in the world.

[Straight Shooter]

58. You might be correct. I will certainly agree that is a possibility.

OTOH, we don't know if the Banner did or did not get a copy of the quiz. If the mistake is theirs, then it is Mr. Chenkin's responsibility to write the paper and set the record straight. In doing so, he can educate people about "insured" versus "ensured" who may not otherwise think about it.

[jazzjunkysue]

41. It's not even a valid test of vocabulary. 50-50 choice?

It's tough for the repub kids who know their daddys will disapprove. It makes them nervous and tells them the teacher does not approve.

If the teacher wants to start a voluntary politics club after school, then all the gloves come off, and it's all fair game. But these kids are not allowed to argue or protest this, and so it's unfair to subject them to it.

[atfqn]

42. Send your comments to: [e-mail] , [e-mail]

Sent-


I completely agree with you good sir. Children should not be exposed to anything that might be detrimental to their educational program that will mold them into perfect Americans. Dissent and popular debate should be discouraged as it is unpatriotic and treasonous. Your position seems to be abundantly clear especially since you seemed to have no comment/outrage regarding the request for a grant to bring in cameras to Mount Anthony Union High School. Hence, I nominate you for fascist of the year - Congratulations! In admiration, Josh M

[Runcible Spoon]

43. I teach cultural anthropology at the university level.....

and trust me it is extremely difficult presenting tha material "neutrally" especially since what I am teaching a lot of the time involves showing kids how to sniff out how hegemonic histories are constructed by those in power, and hence there IS no neutral source of information. What I try to do is get them stirred up, not fighting with ME but debating among each other. I present as many sides as I can to each argument, discussing the history and politics involved, and I will honestly answer students' questions if they ask me what MY perspective is but never do I act like my viewpoints, however informed by careful study and consideration (altho I do tell them why I believe such and such) are the end-all be-all of all information. If all else faisl adn I get a particularly nasty, ignorant shithead student, I will sic one of my "pets" on them by doing nothing more than just saying "anyone care to respond to that" and looking in said pet's general direction! :evilgrin: I think learning is more effectively enacted

[Hissyspit]

47. Please see my post #26.

"how hegemonic histories are constructed by those in power, and hence there IS no neutral source of information." Well put. Futhermore, though, the definition of NEUTRAL itself is culturally constructed.

[Qanisqineq]

45. Can't say I find his quiz appropriate

That he invites vigorous debate during class is great, but his vocabulary quiz is inappropriate in my opinion. I would not be comfortable being presented with a quiz criticizing Clinton or liberals or anything else, just as I would be uncomfortable being presented with this quiz. And the same goes for anything singing the praises of Bush or Clinton or whomever. I would feel as if these opinions were being shoved down my throat. Save it for debate.

[Versailles]

48. From a former student at MAU and a current teacher

I posted this on a dupe topic and I think it is just as relevant here.
First off I am a graduate from Mount Anthony. Second, most of my immediate family work within the Bennington School District. Thirdly, I spent a couple years subbing in the school district before teaching in other states. During this time I spent time working closely with Mr. Chenkin. I think this makes me quite qualified to comment on this matter.
Now having stated all that, some of the comment on the various forums are ridiculous. The school does NOT push a liberal agenda nor does Mr. Chenkin. I had teachers that had a conservative bend to their lessons as well as some that had a liberal bend. However, almost all were very good teachers. I was taught to think for myself and think critically about the world around me. I know that an overwhelming majority of the students who have graduated from MAUHS have come back to praise the English department saying how well they have prepared them for college entrance exams; many being able to skip over basic literature or writing courses often required by schools.
I have also had the opportunity to work with Mr. Chenkin. From my observations, his students, in general, enjoy his class in no small part because he gives them the opportunity to intelligently debate the issues of the day in context of the material being covered in class. Often Mr. Chenkin, like many teachers, has played devil's advocate on both sides of issues in difference to his own opinions to promote debate - including making very outrageous and hyperbolic statements to make a point. This is not bad teaching, but rather a method to allow students to think critically. This single quiz is being taken out of context to the rest of the material in the class. If, rather than immediately jumping on this "news" people had done their research they would find that Mr. Chenkin does not force his views on th students but rather allows current discussion and times to color the material, as any teacher should. I know for fact that he has done it to both extremes.
What the AP article seems to have left out is that this is grade time at MAUHS. I have a distinct feeling that this whole issue is nothing more than an attack from a student who felt that his/her grade was less than what it should have been. Instead of talking to either the teacher or the principal(who clearly was not aware of the situation based on the original Bennington Banner article) the angered student or parent went directly to the local paper and superintendent 2 months after the incident.
This entire incident is without merit and should not be this big of a deal. I have worked with a teacher that told her Kindergarten class that "John Kerry wants to kill babies." No outrage over that. Mr. Chenkin does not deserve this attack.


*edit*
http://www.benningtonbanner.com/search/ci_3248055

Link to the original article that was written in the Banner...much more than the watered-down AP article. A few quotes from Chenkin that give you a better idea on the classroom he runs.

[mbperrin]

62. Thank you! This was obviously a sneak attack on the teacher

with no warning weeks after the fact. I once had this happen to me in economics class - the superintendent of schools simply appeared at my door, never said a word to me, went to the back of the room and spoke with several football players, then left, with no comment of any kind to me. The next day, my principal called me in and said that a school board member had asked the superintendent to drop in on me and observe. The complaint? While teaching the stock market (required by the Texas Education Agency), I pointed out that the market has been flat since GWBush was sworn in. This upset some stockbroker when his child repeated it (it is true; look it up), and so instead of speaking to me, he went directly to the president of the school board, who instead of turning him away until he had spoken to me or my principal, decided to get the superintendent involved. This is in a district of 41 schools and 28,000 students.

End result? An unofficial warning from my principal not to teach historic levels of the stock market, or to in any way link the current administration to current economic events.

That's what this type of horseshit leads to. Complaint? Start at the bottom. Mean trick? Start at the top!

[leesa]

52. The only important question is whether the RW are able to get away with

it and this guy is not. He is not under investigation for 'alleged liberalsim'. He is under investigation for interjecting his politics into his teaching, which is taboo. A lot of right wingers have been getting away with it, will he? The editors ought to be fired for this headline.

[ulysses]

54. intelligent design or this? intelligent design or this?

Hmmm...which is more important? :shrug:

[iconoclastNYC]

55. WITCH HUNT

This is harmless fun. I wish more teachers made learning fun like this.

[onenote]

66. If the questions had been pro-Chimpy or anti Democrats, would it

still be "harmless fun". I don't think so. If he wanted to mix it up with some questions that poked at Bush and some that poked at the Democrats, that might have been okay. But the approach he took really wasn't appropriate IMHO.

onenote

[saberjet22]

59. testing and politics

I agree. The teacher's politics and mine may agree, but sneaking those ideas into the classroom is wrong.

[jayctravis]

60. That was inappropriate for a English test question sentence.

We'd be all over it if it said something about a liberal politician.

If it were Social Studies or Government ... then maaaaaaaybe, but for English they should use something that wouldn't offend the test-taker.

[Hyernel]

61. TRUTH is his defense.

Yay Vermont!
Double YAY for the teacher.

[Versailles]

63. An update on the TRUE nature of this issue...

As I've stated before, I have an inside track on this situation having worked at the school and knowing Mr. Chenkin personally. I feel that the following information is crucial to the story. unfortunately I have no contacts at the AP or any of the news agencies that picked up the story to supply them with the information.

The real issue of this attack on Mr. Chenkin is that there was no good journalism involved in this story in that none of the writers bothered to truly check sources before publishing an inflamatory story that unfortunately was picked up by the AP with some crucial bits of information missing. The result was attacks by the wing-nuts on all members of the High School staff via email and Mr. Chenkin himself has recieved threatening phone calls and mail.
The information provided to the Bennington Banner, the newspapaer that "broke" this story, was given to the paper by none other than a local blowhard who has absolutely no personal involvement in Mr. Chenkin's classroom. The blowhard does not have children in Mr. Chenkin's class(Mr. Chenkin teaches the the Senior Advanced Placement English class, where the quiz was given, among others) nor has the blowhard ever visited the classroom to observe a daily lesson. As I stated before, and was apparently directly on target, Mr. Chenkin uses hyperbole and previous classroom discussion as the material for his class. The class in question never complained about the quiz, nor have they complained about the content of the class - and from all reports there are some very diehard young republicans in that class. All in all, when questioned the students had nothing but praise for Mr. Chenkin and his ability to make them base their comments and discussion on FACT and RESEARCH rather than inflammatory statements and guesses - a lesson that the Banner could learn.

In addition to being a local blowhard, the person that raised the issue to the Banner, was apparently a former teacher who walked out of his classroom mid-lesson because the class would not share his conservative views on the lesson.

I find it dispicable that 1) the Banner would use the information presented without first checking sources to determine the validity of the "controversy," 2) the Banner would risk ruining the career of a teacher who is very highly thought of by students, parents, and coleagues. 3)That the AP would pick up a story that is so baseless (so much for a liberal press) 4) that people would resort to threatening Mr. Chenkin and his family as well as the staff of the English department.

[rinsd]

65. This is pretty simple.....

...either that was the test question or it wasn't.

[Versailles]

67. Simple how?

Take anything out of context and it can be made to look bad or good. It all depends on the light in which people want to cast on it. And to be honest, his statements weren't pushing a political agenda at all. Look back at the wording of his sentences and almost all of them are covered with a "some people believe" type statement. I know that I am told I have to cover Evolution in this manner. "Some scientists think that..." It is a CYOA type wording.