Obama Youth teacher suspended—but why? What exactly did he do wrong?

Here’s a typically hair-pullingly incoherent news story, written by Jennifer Lawinski at Fox News, saying that the Kansas City teacher who posted on YouTube the video of his uniformed pupils chanting for Obama and saying things like, “Because of Obama, “I’m going to be an architect,” has been suspended from his job. But the story keeps saying that he was suspended for posting the video, not for the actual activities that were taped. So what is the message? That it’s ok to turn his students into a fascist-style Obama squad, but that it’s wrong to tell the public about it?

Middle School Teacher Suspended for ‘Obama Frat’ Spat
A Kansas City, Mo., middle school teacher was suspended for insubordination after he posted a video of his students chanting Barack Obama slogans on YouTube.
By Jennifer Lawinski
FOXNews.com, October 06, 2008

A middle school teacher in Missouri was suspended Monday for putting a video on YouTube of his students chanting lines from Barack Obama speeches and wearing military fatigues.

The video, called “Obama Youth—Junior Fraternity Regiment,” was posted by a YouTube user named “keepitwildtv” on Oct. 2. The school learned the video was on the Internet and took action against the teacher Monday morning.

Click here to see the video.

Joyce McGautha, superintendent of the Urban Community Leadership Academy, a charter school for students in fifth through ninth grades in Kansas City, Mo., said that the video was probably taken last May during the Junior Fraternity’s morning meeting at the school.

She would not disclose the teacher’s name. “At this time because of the legal action that we’ll probably have to take against the teacher, I’m not going to give his name,” McGautha said.

Students at the school have 30-minute group sessions four times a week during which they are supposed to work on reading and writing. Once a week they are allowed to have “activities,” McGautha said. There are 12 groups at the public charter school.

The Junior Fraternity students studied Obama’s economic plan with the teacher, and the superintendent did not know whether the teacher or the students scripted the routine. The group should have also studied John McCain’s economic plan, the superintendent said.

In the video, eighth- and ninth-graders wearing military camouflage pants and navy t-shirts chant and perform a routine in the style of a step show, a dance popular among African-American fraternities at universities.

Click here to see photos of the group in action.

The students enter the room chanting “Alpha. Omega. Alpha. Omega.” Then, one at a time, they state things they were “inspired” to do by Barack Obama, including becoming an architect and a sheriff. At the end of the video, the students make statements about Obama’s healthcare plan. “Obama’s healthcare plan will be able to provide participants the ability to move from job to job without taking their healthcare coverage,” one says.

“People are upset that possibly taxpayer money is being used to support one particular candidate,” McGautha said, “and now I can understand that. And I didn’t condone them. I try very, very hard to remain within the limits of the law. I think this is unfortunate.”

She said she was aware of the video, and that many of the school’s activities are recorded, but that the teacher had been warned in a letter not to put it on the Internet. If he did, she said, he should seek legal counsel.

The teacher’s fate will be taken up by the charter school’s board, she said.

“Certain things don’t happen in public schools anyway, but there area lot of other ramifications when you take it public,” McGautha said.

“As far as [the teacher is] concerned, I think he gets what was supposed to come to him. But I don’t think the children should be the victims of his stupidity.”

- end of initial entry -

Sage McLaughlin writes:

The plain meaning of the superintendent’s statements is that the school was aware of what the teacher was doing, and did not order him to cease, but rather warned him that he could be caught. There is a very obvious reluctance on the superintendant’s part actually to say that what the teacher did was wrong. He talks about the law, his efforts to stay within it, and the fact that he understands that “people” are upset at the “possibility” that public funds were used in this outrage. He also refers to legal action that he will “have to” take. But never once does he get around to saying that, in fact, the law is just and that this sort of thing is unconscionable quite apart from whether it ought to be legal.

It’s also impossible to discern just what he’s so worried about when he says that the students shouldn’t be punished for the teacher’s stupidity. There’s no mention in the article of any possible action against the students, and it’s bizarre that the superintendent worries there could be.

I think the bottom line is that he’s angry at the teacher for getting caught, precisely because he was warned that the school couldn’t legally protect him if he was.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at October 06, 2008 04:20 PM | Send