Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for September 27, 2006 POOR JUDGMENT?

Nah...just plain dumb!

In the good ol' US of A, you might get by with this action on the street corner (of course, you might get beat up too), but in the classroom, you put your professional life on the line!

Latisha DID teach her students an important lesson...those who would exercise "constitutional freedoms" or commit civil disobedience are subject to consequences. Take action if you will, but be prepared to deal with the fallout!

Latisha was VERY lucky to have dodged the "You're Fired" bullet. Of course, that could also mean that the District has a savvy lawyer earning his big bucks...handle it "professionally" in the short run...dismiss her for "unrelated" reasons later! The District had to know that firing her would bring a high-profile, EXPENSIVE ACLU lawsuit under those very First Amendment freedoms she was teaching! "Cheaper to keep her"...for a while!

If Latisha had been an avid reader of CAT Tracks, she wouldn't have done what she did! We warned against that kind of action!!!

From Pantagraph.com...

Teacher apologizes, flag to be decommissioned

By Michele Steinbacher
msteinbacher@pantagraph.com

NORMAL - Unit 5 will review how First Amendment lessons are taught in the wake of reports that a Normal Community High School teacher damaged a U.S. flag in class last week.

Teacher Latisha Baker regrets using the flag that way and apologizes for the negative and counterproductive impact of the lesson, Superintendent Alan Chapman said in an e-mailed statement issued Monday on the matter.

"Were we disappointed in the way this matter played out? Yes. There are dozens of other ways a teacher could teach that lesson without defacing a flag," said Scott Lay, Unit 5 school board president.

"But do we think it was malicious? No. It was a teacher exercising poor judgment," he said.

The flag will be delivered to the American Legion so it can be respectfully disposed of, said Jeanette Nuckolls, NCHS principal.

Baker will reimburse the district for the cost of the flag's replacement, said Chapman.

Students at the school said Baker dragged the American flag across the floor during her second-period class Thursday, then sprayed the flag with water and stomped on it. She also colored in four of the flag's 50 stars.

Her actions drew criticism from some of Baker's students and veterans' groups in the Twin Cities.

Clayton James, a U.S. Army veteran who heads the Fifty American Flags Living Memorial and the McLean County branch of the Veterans Assistance Commission, said Monday he was satisfied with the district's handling of the situation and happy to hear Baker had apologized.

"I don't think she needs to be dismissed, like some people were calling for," he said.

"I definitely think she used bad judgment, though," he said.

Baker did not return calls from the Pantagraph.

Nuckolls said she discussed the matter with Baker, but declined to speak for Baker regarding the lesson.

The NCHS principal said she hopes such an incident doesn't occur again at the school.

"Miss Baker is an excellent teacher. I can say her intent was not to be disrespectful. She's teaching about the Constitution and the liberties that we have," said Nuckolls.

In Chapman's e-mail, he expanded on Baker's intent.

"The objective of the lesson was to examine symbolic speech and determine circumstances under which symbolic speech is protected. During the lesson, the United States flag was used in demonstrating behaviors protected by the United States Constitution.

"The demonstration resulted in damage to the flag. Arrangements have been made for the respectful destruction of the flag."

James said he was offended by Baker's actions especially because they happened in a classroom.

"As a teacher, she has an obligation to the community and the state to take care of the flag," he said.

"She could have taught about First Amendment rights and talked about how some people desecrate the flag. But what she did, that carried it one step too far," he said.