Teacher suspended for students' pro-Obama chants

NicoleWasHere · October 8th, 2008, 12:33 PM

Teacher Suspended for Students' Pro-Obama Chants

Reported by: Ryan Kath
Last Update: 7:39 am

KANSAS CITY, Mo - A Kansas City middle school teacher's job is in jeopardy because of a You Tube video.

The popular online clip shows his students from the Urban Community Leadership Academy wearing military pants and chanting their support for presidential candidate Barack Obama.

The school reportedly suspended the teacher on Monday as it investigates the video, which has been viewed more than half a million times on the Internet.

The video is called "Obama Youth - Fraternity Regiment." It shows eighth and ninth-graders in T-shirts and military pants marching into a classroom and chanting the Obama's "yes, we can" campaign slogan. One at a time, each student also describes a career path he is inspired to take because of Obama.

Joyce McGautha, head of academy, was quoted by Fox News saying, "People are upset that possibly taxpayer money is being used to support one particular candidate."

The charter school's board will rule on the teacher's future, whose name has not been made public.

The video was created in May while Obama and Hillary Clinton were competing for the Democratic nomination, but apparently not posted until recently. The Associated Press Contributed to this Report.

YouTube Video

Teacher Suspended for Students' Pro-Obama Chants - NBC Action News KSHB-TV 41

Dahli · October 8th, 2008, 12:34 PM

Are they sure that's what the issue is? I know its a big no no to post pictures of students online.

Sweetie · October 8th, 2008, 12:40 PM

Because of Obama I have a headache.

It looks like a black panther's rally.

Thanks for the laugh, though.

sluce · October 8th, 2008, 12:45 PM

This really is a fine line and will depend on how it was used in the cirriculum. Our local high school did something similar in a civics class. The kids got to decide which candidate they support. They then wrote and produced commercials for their side and even held debates. The films were then shown to a large group of students. I have no problem with that. They allowed the kids to choose and they were graded on how they conducted the research, presentation and they even fact checked their work. I felt it was a creative and smart way to learn about the process.

McJag · October 8th, 2008, 12:47 PM

I agree,Sluce. Do they have the right to stifle creativity in the classroom?

sluce · October 8th, 2008, 12:52 PM

I even remember back when I was in high school. I was given the assignment to write a position paper in favor of making abortion illegal. I had to write the opposite of what I believed. Kids who were anti-choice had to write is support of keeping it legal. It was meant to teach us how to investigate and support views we may oppose. They could never get away with that topic today.

Grimmlok · October 8th, 2008, 01:20 PM

yeah, sorry. Politics, like religion, should be kept our of schools till kids are 18.

Then they can march up and down looking like idiots all they like.

kingcap72 · October 8th, 2008, 02:31 PM

This is kind of iffy. I mean, using kids in a video and posting it to YouTube is wrong. And having them in fatigues just makes it creepy.

But if the teacher in Florida didn't get fired for being racist about Obama in class then this teacher shouldn't get fired either.

L1049 · October 8th, 2008, 05:27 PM

To play devil's advocate here. If these kids were chanting Pro-Mccain chants in the same fashion, in all honesty, what would your reaction be?

ALL politics* should be kept out of school.

*unless it's a specific politics class. Party discussion would be fine, but specific candidate 'support' shouldn't be allowed.

nana55 · October 8th, 2008, 05:35 PM

I agree. I'm an Obama supporter but if I wasn't I would be very pissed. Teachers should not, at that young age, be pushing a candidate. They are still so impressionable. That is what they do in college, not middle school.

ya-ya_sister · October 9th, 2008, 12:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kingcap72

This is kind of iffy. I mean, using kids in a video and posting it to YouTube is wrong. And having them in fatigues just makes it creepy.

But if the teacher in Florida didn't get fired for being racist about Obama in class then this teacher shouldn't get fired either.

Speaking from experience in the field, it depends on tenure on whether either teacher would be fired. A teacher that is not tenured can be "let go" without any explanation at all. Once you have tenure, you have to do something pretty bad to get fired such as hit a kid, molest one, steal funds, etc... The only thing is I don't know about the fact she published the video on youtube. A school cannot publish a student's photo unless the parent has signed a form. I stay away from politics and religion in my classroom unless it is viewing it from a historical viewpoint, because I don't believe school is the place for it. That may sound weird because I do consider myself a "believer of Christ" but I feel that I can pray whenever I want to, but I don't feel my own religious or political beliefs should be in my lessons I teach in my classroom.

Shinola · October 9th, 2008, 02:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ya-ya_sister

Speaking from experience in the field, it depends on tenure on whether either teacher would be fired. A teacher that is not tenured can be "let go" without any explanation at all.

The only thing is that this apparently is a charter school. The charter schools in my state (California) do not offer tenure to their teachers. So teachers can actually be terminated if they do something wrong, but each individual school's governing body and administration will follow its policies and procedures for dismissing a teacher. Don't know about how this plays out in Missouri.

(And I don't really know enough about this video and the situation behind it to have an opinion on the teacher's role in it.)

Rica · October 9th, 2008, 03:06 AM

So you can act like a racist bastard and teach your students racism, but you cant show support for a black man running for president?

buttmunch · October 9th, 2008, 05:09 AM

I remember being in grammar school and we had mock debates, mock elections, etc. Everyone wore buttons with their faves on them and it was no big deal. This is a bit over the line but not that bad. And I don't think it looks like a black panther rally any more than a bunch of white students doing the same thing for McSame would look like a KKK rally.

sluce · October 9th, 2008, 01:57 PM

We still need more facts on this. Was the video part of an assignment where they were free to select any candidate? Whp put the video on youtube - the teacher or one of the students?