Posted on 03/08/2006 2:04:08 PM PST by raccoonradio
DENVER -- The father of a teacher who compared President Bush's State of the Union address to speeches made by Adolf Hitler said he and his family have received at least 12 death threats.
Jay Bennish is on paid leave from Overland High School while Cherry Creek School District investigates whether his Feb. 1 lecture violated a policy requiring that balancing viewpoints be presented in classes.
Bennish's father, John Bennish of Beverly Hills, Mich., told The Detroit News in Wednesday's editions that people have called his house threatening to kill him or his family. He said he did not report the threats to police.
"This has been totally lopsided and one-sided," Bennish's father said of the news coverage of his son's lecture. He said the Fox News Channel's coverage "reminds me of McCarthyism. And they're supposed to be fair and balanced?"
The controversy has gained national attention in the past week.
Bennish was in New York City on Tuesday morning for a national television interview.
"My job as a teacher is to challenge students to think critically about issues that are affecting our world and our society," he said on NBC's "Today Show."
Bennish said he thinks that his lecture was being presented unfairly. Bennish said that most people aren't listening to the entire 20-minute recording and it wasn't even half of what he said to students that day.
"This is 20 minutes out of a 50-minute class. The rest of the class provides the balance," he told NBC's Matt Lauer.
He already told local reporters that he believes that the media has sensationalized the story and he is upset with the media coverage. Bennish also said that he is fearful for his life and that he has received many threats through e-mail.
Bennish was in the spotlight for comments he made in an accelerated geography class -- comments that were recorded by one his students on an iPod and aired on two local talk radio stations last week.
"My job as a social studies teacher is to argue alternative perspectives and viewpoints so that students are aware of those point of views. They do not necessarily reflect my own views. They are simply thrown out there to encourage critical thought," he told "Today."
He said he was simply playing devil's advocate, making comparisons that have been made around the country and around the world so that his students would be aware of those perspectives and judge it for themselves.
Bennish said no parents -- including the family of the student who recorded the lecture -- have complained to him. He said all the students' parents had seen his syllabus and that school officials had approved it.
The district is looking into whether Bennish broke the school district's policy of providing a balanced point of view when he stated his political opinions in class, criticized the country's foreign policy and compared President George W. Bush to Adolf Hitler.
On the 20-minute recording, made by sophomore Sean Allen, Bennish is heard saying, "Who is probably the most single violent nation on earth? The United States of America."
"'It is our duty as Americans to use the military to go out into the world and make the world like us.' Sounds a lot like the things that Adolf Hitler used to say -- 'We're the only ones who are right, everyone else is backward and our job is to conquer the world,'" Bennish told his students.
On the tape, he is heard telling his students that they don't have to agree with him. The comments were made the day after the president's Jan. 31 State of the Union speech.
Bennish is currently on paid administrative leave while awaiting the Cherry Creek School District's decision. He told reporters on Tuesday that he hopes to return to Overland soon.
Bennish had recently shaved his head for his national TV appearance and no longer looks like his yearbook picture.
Attorney David Lane had said the district planned to tell Bennish the results of its investigation at noon Wednesday. However, the school district announced on Tuesday that it had postponed its decision.
"Due to calls we have received following Mr. Bennish's appearances on television and radio (Tuesday), we have postponed our meeting tomorrow with Mr. Bennish. No new time has been scheduled and there will no news conference (Wednesday.) I cannot comment on the nature of the calls," Cherry Creek Schools spokeswoman Tustin Amole said.
She said the phone calls were "from people who have something they think may be pertinent to our investigation."
Meanwhile, the student who recorded the lecture said he's received threats of physical violence since coming forward. Allen said he has been called a "snitch" and a "coward" for releasing the audio recording to the media. Allen said he will transfer to a different school.
Allen told 7NEWS that he is ready for the controversy to end. The sophomore said that he was never looking for his 15 minutes of fame -- he just felt that Bennish should be punished for presenting unbalanced material in class.
"I don't believe he should be fired. I believe, yes, there should be some sort of consequence for what he's doing. He should be reprimanded but I believe that he's knowledgeable in geography, I mean, he knows what he's talking about -- as long as he just teach the curriculum," Allen said.
Teachers, parents and administrators responsible for school policies are eagerly awaiting the school district's decision. But many say that could only be the beginning because the discussions that have come forward could have major implications on future education.
Like...what Bennish was doing in class??
Bennish is a Hate America First LIAR!
>>the student who recorded the lecture said he's received threats of physical violence
oh, those non-violent liberals...
Lies....after investigation, it may well turn out that the guy threatened himself like that professor in Kansas who beat himself up (!!) in order to claim "persecution by Christians." I think his name was Mirecki or something similar.
The kid said he'd had threats a week ago. Where was the big article with THAT as the headline?
Sounds like the nut didn't fall too far from the tree.
Lefties whine like nobody's business when their inappropriate behavior get public attention. Beliefs and behavior getting exposed and criticized = McCarthyism. Mr. Bennish Senior, if a teacher rants to a captive student audience about the evils of America and the similarities of Bush to Hitler, believe it or not, people will complain about it. DEAL WITH IT.
Or the Claremont prof who wrote her own racial slurs on her car or whatever it was.
Mr. Bush-is-Hitler needs his daddy to help him out of a jam?
if u dont go to the police then dont whine about it
That little runt teacher should thank god he has'nt been beaten up.
He should have been fired not only for sedition but for teaching fabricated history.
Good. I probably couldn't stomach the rest of the class.
"This is 20 minutes out of a 50-minute class. The rest of the class provides the balance," he told NBC's Matt Lauer.
Riiiiiiigggggggght! Just keep telling yourself that. (sarcasm)
No need to read any further. Kook breeds (and trains) kook offspring.
in Los Angeles a professor teaching a diversity and race sensitivity workshop I believe at Chapman U. during the lunch break vandalized her own car with racial hate epiteths to prove racism in Los Angeles. I believe she was finally busted for insurance fraud - heh
Bennish had the student bumped from his Today Show appearance...one sided indeed.
What a dipwad this guy is in trying to square the previous with the following:
[On the tape, he is heard telling his students that they don't have to agree with him.]
And Bennish, baby, don't be a hater.
Don't get me wrong. I do not advocate anything other than knowing who the enemy is. And in this case, it was just as I suspected: little rich white kid, probably educated at some lefty college, who hates his own country.
Case closed, particularly of he is sent packing as a teacher.
Agreed. Lies!
Text book liberal scenario for sympathy/victim status always contains unreported, non-traceable death threat claims.
And if this is the teacher's dad,,,,, well, the apple never falls far from the tree!
I know plenty of his brand in my area. They're lost in their own country.
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