Teacher placed on leave after Sept. 11 video

The Denver Post ^ | Sunday, September 14, 2003 | Karen Rouse

[garmonbozia]

ARAPAHOE COUNTY - The Falcon Creek Middle School teacher who left class Thursday after administrators rejected his teaching plans for Sept. 11 was placed on administrative leave Friday until the district believes he is "emotionally" prepared to return to the classroom, he said.

"They want to make a call (about) when I am fit to be in the classroom," said eighth-grade teacher Jason Ritter. "I'm emotionally in the right place, as I was (Thursday)."

A spokeswoman for the Cherry Creek School District confirmed the leave. Spokeswoman Tustin Amole declined to say whether Ritter's job was at stake, but said the matter raises "issues of insubordination."

District procedures call for getting approval before bringing in outside materials into the classroom, Amole said.

"We have to determine whether he can come back and follow district policy," she said.

Ritter on Wednesday showed his class of 13- and 14-year-old students a CNN-produced video that included images of Sept. 11 victims leaping from windows. He did not have district approval to show the video, Amole said.

Jeanette Washington, a student curriculum administrator, dropped by Ritter's classroom while he was playing the video "America Remembers," and Ritter later was called out of class to meet with principal Cynde Fischer.

Ritter said he agreed not to show the video again. After a meeting Wednesday afternoon he understood he could answer questions only about Sept. 11, but he went to school Thursday with other anniversary activities planned just in case, he said.

That morning, he said, Fischer told him he must limit his Sept. 11 discussion to the crash of United Airlines Flight 93, and then move to a regular lesson about the foundation of American government.

"I did not feel it was an option for me to explore other Sept. 11 (topics)," he said.

School officials told him they would sit in on the class, and when he protested, they told him he could follow their directions or leave, Ritter said.

When he went downstairs to think about it, he returned and Fischer told him to leave, he said.

He returned for a regular day of work Friday, but administrators asked him to leave again, he said.

Amole said other staff members dispute Ritter's statement that Fischer ordered him to leave Thursday.

Amole said Ritter chose to leave. His other options were not to teach anything about Sept. 11, or to stay within the parameters of the topics outlined by the district.

Those topics included the historical significance of the event, democracy, patriotism and heroism, she said.

On Friday, an assistant superintendent told Ritter and several Falcon Creek administrators to give written statements about Thursday's events, Amole said.

Students on Friday threw their support behind Ritter. When Fischer distributed a letter for Falcon Creek parents that said "it was this teacher's decision to go home and not teach," students tore the sheets up, said Kayla Haubenschild, a 13-year-old student who is not in Ritter's class.

Her mother, Rhonda Haubenschild, said she didn't think showing a video of the Sept. 11 tragedy was any "different than the Holocaust" pictures she saw in school as a child.

Nate Klemann, a 13-year-old who saw the CNN video in Ritter's class on Wednesday, said that while it was graphic, "I thought it was good.

"It was a big part of history," Klemann said. "I just realized how many people lost their lives."

His mother, Amy Klemann, said she initially opposed her son seeing the graphic images, but was OK with it if he learned from them.

However, she said, Ritter "should have sent a note home."

Amole said the investigation should conclude this week.

[garmonbozia]

see also: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/980995/posts

[Brian_Baldwin]

The NEA is the most evil group in America. I will out and out say it - they support the terrorists, they cheered when 911 happened, because they hate us, hate America, and hate Bush that much. They want to take ALL of our freedom of speech, the only diversity they want is diversity (uppper hand) of others who hate "whitey" and want to suppress others, but never, never diversity of idea, thought, or method of teaching - they only want to dictate idea, thought, and method and for only one agenda: socialist dictatorship.

[LasVegasMac]

We need some snail mail and e-mail addresses of the bozo administration of this school.

This teacher chose to show some "real world" material about the attack....

and the administration chose to "minimize" the event.

'Rats are evil.

LVM

[boxerblues]

13 & 14 year olds should be able to handle the truth about what happened, any younger that that I would have my doubts.

[netmilsmom]

Here is a link to the school's website.

[netmilsmom]

Oooops!
Here it is.
http://www.fcms.ccsd.k12.co.us/

[mathluv]

Last year when I subbed during that week, there was an article in the Weekly Reader for 6th grade kids.

[ErnBatavia]

Pinging Jeff Head. He's always come in with his great archives of 9/11 when I bitch about going to Google Images and finding less and less and less of the September 11 photo archives as time goes on.

There are apparently people who want to let certain things just fade away.....

[BushCountry]

6100 South Genoa Street
Aurora, CO
80016
Phone Number: (720) 886-7600

[mtbopfuyn]

This principal needs to be freeped. These are 8th graders, not pre-K. Wow, a teacher who teaches the truth and cares enough to bring in outside materials, what a concept. My kid's 4th grade teacher always had on FNC so they watched it live and not one needed psychological intervention. Fall Creek needs to take their heads out of the hole.

[OldFriend]

One wonders what these schools had to say about the Columbine killings?

Pretend no one died?

[mountaineer]

a CNN-produced video that included images of Sept. 11 victims leaping from windows.

I'm surprised such a video exists, especially from CNN. Viewers weren't permitted to see such horror, so as not to offend our delicate sensibilities (and, I guess, so we wouldn't be so inclined to be miffed at the Mooslimbs for their murderous actions).

[gitmo]

Teacher Suspended for Teaching.

[jocon307]

Agreed and agreed! Amazingly my kid's schools have been very good, but I doubt they would dare be otherwise in beautiful Bayonne, NJ. A very patriotic, conservative, Catholic town. For the most part the NEA is just a bunch of America hating commies, as Brian so accurately points out.

Elmos is right, too. We should just turn the whole thing over to vouchers and return American ed back to its former place of pre-eminence. I think that day is coming, slowly but surely. The DC voucher experiment will be a big step in the right direction.

Children WANT to learn, that is the saddest thing. The enthusiasm of 7 and 8 year olds for almost anything is squandered by these mind & soul killers. I'm sure most students find school today "boring", a sure clue that it is too easy & stupid!

I hope we have many,many, many changes in this country over the next several decades, and I certainly hope the destruction of the teachers unions and the entrenched public school system are two of them.

[ErnBatavia]

Ms. Fischer just got an e-mail from me...:

Very poor judgement on your part, Ms. Fischer.....shame on you for trying to shape history in the image in which you'd like it shaped.

You, unfortunately, are a perfect example of public education as it stands today.

Your extremely poor judgement regarding lesson plan censorship of the September 11 events will be proliferated - of this you can be most certain.

Have a nice day.

Batavia

P.S. - Tenure sucks.

[Burlem]

Forbiding the video from being shown is part and parcel what is wrong with this country. Why in the hell can't he show it? It happened for petes sake. Stop with the friggin flowers, teddy bears and ribbons and cisit reality for a change.
Damn that makes me mad

[halfdome]

In this case, the teacher's views agreed with most people's views on 9/11. But what if the teacher chose to show a "real world" video produced by al Jazeera? Would you still vilify the school district, or blame it on the democrats?