Saturday, August 26, 2006
Run This Up the Flagpole and See Who Salutes
Living in Kansas and fighting the good fight against creationism and intelligent design Red State Rabble sometimes thinks we've seen it all. And then we come across things like this...
Digby reports that a Colorado geography teacher was put on paid leave for refusing to remove Mexican, Chinese and United Nations flags from his classroom.
Oddly enough, reason appears to have reared its ugly head, district officials have backed down and Eric Hamlin, who teaches seventh-graders in Jefferson County, will be allowed to return to school today.
Digby reports that a Colorado geography teacher was put on paid leave for refusing to remove Mexican, Chinese and United Nations flags from his classroom.
Oddly enough, reason appears to have reared its ugly head, district officials have backed down and Eric Hamlin, who teaches seventh-graders in Jefferson County, will be allowed to return to school today.
No word yet on reports that a new Colorado law will soon prohibit geography textbooks that contain world maps, or that French and Spanish classes will be taught in English.However, former state Rep. Carl Miller, who sponsored legislation in 2002 strengthening a 1971 law restricting foreign flag displays, said the school was right to put Hamlin on leave and should not have let him return so soon.
Miller, a Democrat from Leadville, disagreed with Jefferson County Superintendent Cindy Stevenson, who said the outcome was a "win-win situation."
"The only win-win I see is that Mr. Hamlin wins, China wins, Mexico wins and the United Nations wins," he said.
