Posted on 03/10/2006 4:37:07 AM PST by PJ-Comix
Social studies teacher Jay Bennish told Cherry Creek school leaders Thursday that he should have used a different dictator when comparing President Bush to Adolf Hitler in a geography class, his lawyer David Lane said Thursday.
Bennish also told district officials that he should have balanced each lecture "contemporaneously" on controversial issues rather than over the course of the term, Lane said.
"When he gives the yin, give the yang right there," he said. "Don't wait a week."
Fewer than a dozen complaints to the school have surfaced, Lane said, since the "national turmoil" has unfolded about Bennish, who was recorded giving a lecture critical of the president by one of his Overland High School students.
"He wishes he would have picked a different dictator," Lane told a pack of reporters after the closed-door talk with Cherry Creek school administrators Thursday, referring to comments Bennish made comparing Bush to Hitler.
As for the provocative nature of his comments, "that is what he does," said Lane, who also represents University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill.
Lane said Bennish was not going to apologize but that the 90-minute meeting with Cherry Creek School District leaders was "very positive. ... I expect him back teaching Monday."
Bennish was placed on paid administrative leave last week while officials probed allegations that he was biased after sophomore Sean Allen went public with a recording he made of a Feb. 1 geography lecture.
School district spokeswoman Tustin Amole said Cherry Creek Superintendent Monte Moses is expected to make a statement today.
Also on Thursday, the Colorado State Board of Education chairwoman halted a meeting because Republican members insisted on a resolution condemning Bennish. At the state Capitol, one senator introduced an amendment that would make future such incidents grounds for termination.
New among the complaints is a charge that Bennish showed a movie called "Black Robe" that criticized colonialism, Lane said.
Another parent said Bennish was a "pointy-nosed liberal professor" and that he let students in class listen to a Spearhead song that contained curse words, Lane said.
Lane said that Bennish got parental permission slips before showing "Black Robe," which is rated R.
"C'mon, if this is all that they got since the most exhaustive investigation since Ward Churchill, ... it's almost laughable," Lane said.
Lane gave two examples of how Bennish is a balanced teacher - a point Cherry Creek leaders were particularly concerned with, he said.
Earlier in the school year, Bennish took two days to talk about the Danish newspaper cartoon critical of the Muslim prophet Muhammad. One day he gave the Muslim perspective about why the cartoon was offensive, the next day he gave the "traditional Western liberal view," Lane said.
Bennish also told students he'd give them extra credit if they joined either a pro- or anti-Columbus Day celebration and wrote about it, Lane said.
Earlier Thursday, a Colorado State Board of Education meeting came to a halt after deadlocking over considering a resolution criticizing Bennish.
Board member Bob Schaffer tried to add the resolution to the board's agenda. Schaffer, a former Republican congressman, found support from three other Republican board members.
Four Democrats chose not to allow the addition of the resolution, which declared that Bennish had "perpetrated upon his students an extreme form of economic, cultural, political and religious bias."
Board chairwoman Pamela Jo Suckla broke the tie over Schaffer's resolution with a parliamentary decision to end the meeting before action could be taken on 20 agenda items.
"I come to these meetings for business," Suckla said. "I can see this is a lose-lose situation. ... I don't want to make us look more like idiots."
Still, Suckla joined Schaffer and board members Randy DeHoff and Peggy Littleton in signing a letter nearly identical to Schaffer's resolution.
Across the street at the Capitol, Sen. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, introduced an amendment on the Senate floor that could make future incidents clear grounds for termination.
His amendment to an existing Republican bill changing how the state collects teachers' fingerprints proposes firing teachers for "a pattern of failing to present balanced viewpoints on controversial topics as required by school district policy."
Lamborn said his amendment would protect students from teachers in the future and protect school districts from lawsuits by teachers they fire.
It would not apply to Bennish, he said.
Democrats postponed a vote on the proposal.
He should be a socialism studies teacher.
Yup, he admires Bennish. He was happy to persecute you, hopes you don't hold it against him. The Lord got you out in the nick of time. What pablum. I hope you are in a place that celebrates your courageous attention to the Truth. Teach to the homeschool groups, we love the Truth.
I think your post is fascinating. And I laughed when the Spanish teacher got thrown in jail.
Isn't this 'mental mapping' simply an excuse to talk about stereotypes?
No, the simple answer is that Bennish is incompetent to teach and should be fired for that reason alone.
It seems like it could be an excuse to talk about whatever they want to talk about. Liberals never use precise words like "indoctrination," when dealing with subjects like this.
Thanks. You're at least kind.
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