This Guy Gets an F in Civics

Contrary to popular belief, not all school teachers are good for our children. As a matter of fact some of them are downright bad influences and underhandedly place their own thoughts and opinions into the minds of our children under the guise of school approved assignments. I know that might come as a shock, but let me show you a case in point and then you can tell me if I’m wrong.

As a side note, its no wonder Virginia is voting cats into office. (Hank for Senate!) Look at the types of jerks Virginians have to deal with! 

http://now.msn.com/now/0322-opposition-research-on-obama.aspx

Teacher tells eighth grade class to dig up dirt on GOP field

"President Obama may have a secret weapon to propel him to victory in November -- an eighth grade class in Virginia, whose students were told by their teacher to do opposition research on the GOP presidential field and then pass along whatever they found to the Obama campaign. Students in the Liberty Middle School honors class were divided into four groups, one for each Republican contender. "This assignment was just creepy beyond belief -- like something out of East Germany during the Cold War," one father told the Daily Caller. A spokesman for the Fairfax County school district tells The Blaze that, yes, research was conducted, but none of it (much to the relief of the GOP foursome) got into Obama's hands."

Look, I don’t mind if a teacher wants to teach some students about politics. As a matter of fact, I would normally applaud any teacher bringing more of the real world into a curriculum that is probably 40 years old. But if you are going to forge ahead and teach our kids something new, do you need to start with the practice of negative campaigning?  Worse, why do you feel it is your duty to sway these kids into believing what you think to be the truth? The classroom is no place for personal opinions and if a teacher cannot determine fact from opinion, they are not someone that should be in charge of any child, let alone their educations.   

When becoming a teacher, one should have to take an oath to provide children the unbiased knowledge they need to become productive members of society.  This hardly qualifies.  That oath should go on to be a pledge to do the right thing regardless of how one might personally feel about a given situation.  You don’t see doctors choosing whose lives they save, do you?   

A lot of people that work for the government forget this, so let me say it loudly and clearly. As a government employee, you are a PUBLIC SERVANT and the people that pay your salary trust you to do what is in the best interest of them and their families. You were not granted your position to use as a platform to impose your own personal feelings and beliefs on anyone or anything.  And in this particular case, this teachers personal feelings and beliefs promote hate and intolerance, something I'm sure we could all agree our schools can do without. Its bad enough this backstabbing counterproductive trash has made a mockery of our political process, but do we really need this poison fed to our children?

According to Paul Stanley of the Christian Post, (not THAT Paul Stanley) Michael Denman, the teacher who delivered this assignment, “assigned the task of finding "weaknesses" and information that could be used to discredit the GOP presidential candidates. Two students were assigned to write a paper outlining the group's findings; two other students were to construct an attack strategy and two others to locate contacts within the Obama campaign where they could send their findings.” Needless to say this was a lot more than an exercise in just research.

Paul Stanley also went on to report the Fairfax County School District's policy on political activities to be as follows: "Employees shall not involve their schools in political campaigns, distribute political literature on school property, or attempt to indoctrinate students with their personal political beliefs."

Based on that alone, I believe Mr. Denman violated that policy, and should therefore be removed from his position and forced to resign from teaching in the county.  In addition I would revoke his ability to teach in any public school in any state from this day forward. The message that the the classroom is not a platform for Mr Denman to be heard needs to be sent. 

If you want to voice your opinion to the folks that matter, here are some links to the Liberty Middle School Administrators and the Fairfax County School Board executives. The ones I would suggest contacting are below.  

Elizabeth Schultz - Springfield District School Board Representative

• Phone: 571-423-1080
• E-mail :Elizabeth.Schultz@fcps.edu
• Executive Administrative Assistant
• Melanie Turpin
• Phone: 571-423-1070
• E-mail: Melanie.Turpin@fcps.edu

Jack Dale - Superintendent of Fairfax County Schools - Jack.Dale@fcps.edu
Dr. Catherine Cipperly - Principal of the Liberty Middle School - cmcipperly@fcps.edu
Ms. Natalie Lissy - 8th Grade Assistant Principal - nslissy@fcps.edu

If you feel any other people at the Liberty Middle school need to hear from you, feel free to send them a note as well. Invite them over for coffee or something.

List of Administrators working at the Liberty School

http://www.fcps.edu/LibertyMS/Dept/Adminemail.html

I’d begin the conversation by asking them how this kind of teaching falls in line with the schools mission statement, which states the following: 

‘Our Mission is to provide all students with the skills and knowledge they need for the 21st century and to help them recognize the positive value of continued learning.’

I’d end the conversation asking for Mr Denman to step down. But that’s just me.

Realistically this is probably only one of hundreds of teachers that push this kind of abhorrence. We heard about this story because students and parents alike decided this kind of “assignment” was inappropriate for their school. If their voice broke this story, imagine what a hundred more just like them could do?