Another Debacle Over Public Education, Politics And Free Speech

Lufkin, Texas seems to be making its way onto the anti-Obama map first with a visit from the Secret Service and now, with the suspension of a public school teacher. The charge? Allegations of anti-Obama comments overheard by a student in the hall.

When it comes to public education, the exercise of Free Speech is anything but free. A female teacher at a school in Lufkin, TX has been placed on administrative leave with pay while authorities look into claims that she made "an inappropriate comment about president-elect Barack Obama." The alleged comment was not made while in a classroom setting, nor was it made to a body of students. In fact, the allegation comes from a student who overheard the teacher talking in the hallway and told his or her parents, according to the Lufkin Daily News.

Knight said the allegations came from a parent whose child overheard her talking in the hallway at school. Currently officials are interviewing students who witnessed the incident, and are getting different accounts of what actually happened, Knight said.

School district superintendent, Roy Knight, stated that the investigation into the alleged comment was appropriate procedure and "...what we do anytime there is an allegation of inappropriate comments from adults to students." The teacher is innocent unless the investigation turns up that she made an inappropriate comment and in the event of such an outcome, she will be disciplined in accordance with district policy. The question here surrounding an obvious lack of details in the story is whether or not the teacher made a comment in a private conversation to an adult or to a student and what constitutes inappropriate as far as district policy? Did she say in a private conversation to another teacher that she was disappointed that he was elected president, a comment which could easily have been taken out of context by the over-dramatizing population of secondary education? Or, was it a racially inflammatory comment made by teacher to a student? As Knight stated, the accounts of what occurred are actually quite different than the allegation. Hopefully, the investigation will find the truth and hold those accountable for either derogatory comments in an inappropriate setting or the spreading of lies. In a sad and racially inflammatory expression of hatred and extreme violence, young children on a school bus in Idaho had recently chanted out "Assassinate Obama," a chant that caused some children on the bus to share concern over the comments with their parents. The Mayor of the city actually went on record making a public apology for the children's "vile" comments and the failure of the community to stand up against such hateful and violent remarks. School officials in that case stated that most of the children had no idea of what the word assassinate actually meant. [UPDATE] Friday, November 21, 2008: The Lufkin ISD School Board discussed the "unnamed" High School teacher in question during Thursday night's board meeting. The discussion took place during closed session, as law requires that all personnel issues remain private. The comment that was alleged to have been stated in the hallway and that was supposedly overheard by a student and reported to his/her parents, who in turn reported the matter to school officials, has still not been released. The teacher is still on paid administrative leave. There are now rumors of a visit by Secret Service, a rumor that the School Superintendent stated was something unknown to him.