Another fine example of our "teachers"

[jhat01]

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BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS
Assignment asks parents to renounce U.S. citizenship
History teacher insists letters to Bush meant only 'to start a discussion'

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Posted: September 16, 2007
3:20 a.m. Eastern



© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

A Northern California junior high school history teacher is telling angry parents the letter to President Bush he sent home with their children for them to sign may have said they wanted to renounce their U.S. citizenship, but he never was going to mail them and he only meant for them "to start a discussion."

According to administrators at Bidwell Junior High School in Chico, Calif., the letter Mike Brooks sent home with his eighth-grade students was part of his lesson plan on the Declaration of Independence.

Brooks told the Chico Enterprise Record the letter was his attempt to put America's founding document into current language and he intended for his students to take it home for their parents to review and discuss with their children.

(Story continues below)

The letter, sent without an explanantion or disclaimer, concluded by saying, "After careful consideration of the facts of our current situation, I have decided to announce to everyone that I am no longer a citizen of the United States, but a free and independent member of the global community."

Principal Joanne Parsley said Brooks was counting on the students to explain to their parents the letter was part of the lesson plan.

"The point was, I wanted to ask parents if they would sign such a letter if conditions that existed prior to the Revolution were happening now," Brooks said. "I just wanted to start a discussion."

The letter certainly started a discussion in the home of Michael Hill, whose daughter Kaytlen, 13, told him she was supposed to bring it back to school, signed the next day. When he quizzed her further, she told him about the classroom lessons behind the letter.

"The lesson being taught in class was that the U.S. kidnaps innocent people and takes them to Cuba, where they are kept indefinitely and tortured," Hill said he learned from Kaytlen. When he asked if the teacher had mentioned Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the U.S. is holding terror suspects, she told him, "Yes."

Brooks also told the class illegal wiretaps and other types of government surveillance were being directed at innocent people, according to Hill's daughter, who was in tears when she told her father.

"I think I was more irritated by the classroom discussion than the letter," Hill said.

Some parents signed and returned the letter and it resulted in a "wonderful discussion" in class about attitudes in Revolutionary times and those held today, Brooks said.

"When it was written, the Declaration was considered an inflammatory document," Brooks said. "There were a lot of loyalists around then."

Parsley said she and the district's assistant superintendent were shocked when they first saw Brook's original letter, which had been sent without administrative approval, but she said she didn't believe the teacher had any political agenda he was pushing.

On Wednesday, Brooks sent a second letter home to parents explaining the assignment and assuring them it was only meant for classroom discussion, and Parsley sent letters of apology to irate parents.

On the same day, Michael Hill had his daughter transferred to a different history class.

[epicSocialism4tw]

That's what you call an irresponsible adult. Not all teachers are this shortsighted.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Hilarious!

[jhat01]

Are you saying it didn't happen? I didn't think so.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Are you saying it didn't happen? I didn't think so.

Can you provide a second source by way of confirmation?

:giggle:

[jhat01]

Can you provide a second source by way of confirmation?

:giggle:


Are you saying it didn't happen?

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Are you saying it didn't happen?

You're right - I should just take the word of worldnutdaily.com w/o a secondary source...

...BTW, we found the WMD and the oil revenues are paying for the war effort.

:rofl:

[jhat01]

Still haven't answered the question.

[W*GS]

LABF, read this:

http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_6879506

Or is the hometown newspaper of the middle school also suspect?

[jhat01]

Damn, I was trying to get him to give a straight answer for once.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Still haven't answered the question.

The burden to prove that it happened is on you.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Looks like your buddy W*GS did your homework for you.

[W*GS]

How's that crow tasting, LABF? Perhaps a chaser of Seed o' Chavez will help it along...

[W*GS]

Damn, I was trying to get him to give a straight answer for once.

Ah hell, you know LABF can't give a straight answer to anything. He always works in the smear, the cheap shot, the slur... That's all he's got, really.

[jhat01]

Ah hell, you know LABF can't give a straight answer to anything. He always works in the smear, the cheap shot, the slur... That's all he's got, really.

I'm sure he'll come up with some anti-america cartoon, or one of these :thumbs: that's all i see from him.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

I'm sure he'll come up with some anti-america cartoon, or one of these :thumbs: that's all i see from him.

Selective attention: it is a b*tch.

[jhat01]

No cartoon?

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

The heck with straight answers - W*GS can't even get his own dogma straight:

In one breath it's "don't trust government" and in the next it's "the government's version of what happened on 9/11 is unassailable."

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

No cartoon?

This one's on the house. http://www.bartcop.com/dancing-w.gif

[W*GS]

The heck with straight answers - W*GS can't even get his own dogma straight:

In one breath it's "don't trust government" and in the next it's "the government's version of what happened on 9/11 is unassailable."

We got a whole thread on this; why are you deflecting? Too much Chavez man-juice all at once?

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

W*GS likes to project his hardon for Chavez onto others.

It's OK W*GS - if Craig and others can come out, you can do it too.

[jhat01]

There you go with the gay bashing again!

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

There you go with the gay bashing again!

Where's the bashing?

Lemme guess - same place as the WMD?

Ha!

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

I'm sure he'll come up with some anti-america cartoon...

tsk tsk

There's that goofy, right-wing "anti-Bush = anti-America" strawman again.

I guess two-thirds of your fellow countrymen are 'anti-American.'

How disturbing is that?

:D

[Spider]

a example of our teachers ? all teachers like this ?
I see your ass can read and write ...... math ....... besides no reason to doubt what the teacher is claiming as his motives ......... **** when I was in alternative school , they would have cons come in and talk to us .......alot of teachers spend money out of their own pockets to teach kids ......

[defenseman]

You're right - I should just take the word of worldnutdaily.com w/o a secondary source...

...BTW, we found the WMD and the oil revenues are paying for the war effort.

:rofl:

So, what you are really saying is moveon.org is a collection of idiots.The shoe that fits on worldnet fits quite well on moveon.org also.....dman

*Venezuala is calling, on line 1 for you.....

[Garcia Bronco]

There is a difference between keeping your government at arm's length and a very different thing to take it to the point of being a nutjob. This guy is obviously a nutjob, and doesn't need to be anywhere near children.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

So, what you are really saying is moveon.org is a collection of idiots.The shoe that fits on worldnet fits quite well on moveon.org also.....dman
*Venezuala is calling, on line 1 for you.....Hardly. They are very effective in doing what they do, particularly when it comes to shinning light on some right wingers like you.

[W*GS]

W*GS likes to project his hardon for Chavez onto others.

Thanks for the guffaw - almost snorted coffee all over the place!

This from the guy who couldn't keep from slobbering all over Chavez' knob... If anyone here has a boner for the guy, you do, LABF. Have you already forgotten how you presented us with straight-up pro-Chavez propaganda - more than once - to "prove" how Chavez was a really great guy?

Methinks you got facials from him so many times your vision got bad...

[El Guapo]

That's what you call an irresponsible adult. Not all teachers are this shortsighted.

agreed. both of my parents are teachers and would never do this or any of the other negative crap you see rolling around. These poor people are underpaid...

[defenseman]

Hardly. They are very effective in doing what they do, particularly when it comes to shinning light on some right wingers like you.

they spew innuendo and garbage. Nothing more, nothing less, and in an unpatriotic manner I might add, very distasteful (see: Gen. petraeus and one page ad). Disgusting display of sheer stupidity. Endorse that ad, you are just as stupid let alone assanine.......dman

[Bronco_Beerslug]

they spew innuendo and garbage. Nothing more, nothing less, and in an unpatriotic manner I might add, very distasteful (see: Gen. petraeus and one page ad). Disgusting display of sheer stupidity. Endorse that ad, you are just as stupid let alone assanine.......dman
Maybe you should try and inform yourself a little. https://pol.moveon.org/petraeus.html

And is there any way to patriotically talk about who the admiral of the Navy labeled as "an ass-kissing little chicken****"?

[W*GS]

W*GS likes to project his hardon for Chavez onto others.

Your memory is soooo poor:

http://www.orangemane.com/BB/showpost.php?p=847227&postcount=16

A finer example of knob-slobbering would be difficult to find...

[jhat01]

Wow, I didn't know LA was a straight up communist

[jhat01]

a example of our teachers ? all teachers like this ?
I see your ass can read and write ...... math ....... besides no reason to doubt what the teacher is claiming as his motives ......... **** when I was in alternative school , they would have cons come in and talk to us .......alot of teachers spend money out of their own pockets to teach kids ......


Yeah, my ass can read and write. You'll notice that "teachers" is in quotes. Meaning that this bafoon should not be called a teacher. You're not that narrow minded to think I'm talking about all teachers, are you?

[epicSocialism4tw]

LABF, I wouldnt get onto him about his source when most of your stuff comes from a site called "smirkingchimp.com". Ha!

[Bronco Bob]

Yeah, my ass can read and write. You'll notice that "teachers" is in quotes. Meaning that this bafoon should not be called a teacher. You're not that narrow minded to think I'm talking about all teachers, are you?

So what exactly is your problem with this teacher? Is anything in
that letter factually incorrect? The only problem I see is that he
is attempting to get children to think. Which obviously you Bushies
can't tolerate. Can't have the sheep questioning lord almighty Bush
and his gestapo tactics. Notice that the only ones condemning the
teacher on this board is the usual right wing Bush knobbers.

[epicSocialism4tw]

So what exactly is your problem with this teacher? Is anything in
that letter factually incorrect? The only problem I see is that he
is attempting to get children to think. Which obviously you Bushies
can't tolerate. Can't have the sheep questioning lord almighty Bush
and his gestapo tactics. Notice that the only ones condemning the
teacher on this board is the usual right wing Bush knobbers.

If you cant see what's wrong with what that irresponsible fellow did, you have your head firmly buried in the sand.

[Bronco Bob]

If you cant see what's wrong with what that irresponsible fellow did, you have your head firmly buried in the sand.

Once again angry yak speaks out without answering the question
and instead resorts to throwing around tired out personal insults.

No, I don't see what's wrong with a teacher trying to get his students
to think. What do you find wrong with what he did? As your head
isn't in the sand, you should be able to easily answer the question.

[W*GS]

So what exactly is your problem with this teacher? Is anything in that letter factually incorrect? The only problem I see is that he is attempting to get children to think.

There's good ways and less-good ways to get kids to think. This guy was clumsy.

[c_lazy_r]

I'm struggling to see what the big deal is. Teachers should have some latitude in their methods. If this guy is anti-Bush, so what. It's not like he is the first history teacher to "push" their personal political beliefs on their class.

[jhat01]

So what exactly is your problem with this teacher? Is anything in
that letter factually incorrect? The only problem I see is that he
is attempting to get children to think. Which obviously you Bushies
can't tolerate. Can't have the sheep questioning lord almighty Bush
and his gestapo tactics. Notice that the only ones condemning the
teacher on this board is the usual right wing Bush knobbers.

I was waiting for you to pop your ugly head up. You must have stopped reading before the part about renouncing their citizenship. You should do us all a favor and renounce yours.

[c_lazy_r]

I was waiting for you to pop your ugly head up. You must have stopped reading before the part about renouncing their citizenship. You should do us all a favor and renounce yours.

This is a homework assignment, right? Do you really think that this teacher's "letter" was going to actually renounce the citizenship of these people?

[jhat01]

This is a homework assignment, right? Do you really think that this teacher's "letter" was going to actually renounce the citizenship of these people?


Are you ****ing kidding me?

[Bronco_Beerslug]

There's good ways and less-good ways to get kids to think. This guy was clumsy.I'll agree with that. He could have structured it a lot better.

[c_lazy_r]

Are you ****ing kidding me?



No. No kidding.

Maybe I'm blind to the obvious on this one but I think this is being blown way out of proportion. According to the article, the class is studying the Declaration of Independence, and the teacher decided to "write a letter putting the document into modern language". Big deal.

If this teacher had overstepped his bounds very far, there would have been disciplinary action, I guarantee it.

[Bronco Bob]

I was waiting for you to pop your ugly head up. You must have stopped reading before the part about renouncing their citizenship. You should do us all a favor and renounce yours.

How about you do it instead and leave the country for people like me
who value freedom and liberty. Maybe you'd be happier living in
North Korea where the government tells people what to say and think.
Because you certainly don't think it has any value in America.

[epicSocialism4tw]

How about you do it instead and leave the country for people like me
who value freedom and liberty. Maybe you'd be happier living in
North Korea where the government tells people what to say and think.
Because you certainly don't think it has any value in America.

Aw...isnt that a sweet little stump speech? I think I teared up a bit.

[Bronco Bob]

Aw...isnt that a sweet little stump speech? I think I teared up a bit.

As usual angry yak pops his ugly head up with another inane comment
to cover his inability to articulate an answer to a simple question.
Obviously you aren't the sharpest tool in the shed, are you.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Aw...isnt that a sweet little stump speech? I think I teared up a bit.You tear up when you hear soccer slipped another .5% in the ratings, so what?

[jhat01]

How about you do it instead and leave the country for people like me
who value freedom and liberty. Maybe you'd be happier living in
North Korea where the government tells people what to say and think.
Because you certainly don't think it has any value in America.

So you wouldn't mind if your son or daughter brought this rubbish home from school?

[c_lazy_r]

So you wouldn't mind if your son or daughter brought this rubbish home from school?

Not me.

[Denver Crush]

I would normally expect better, but when teachers are making less money than a McDonalds manager I dont hold out much hope.

[Spider]

Yeah, my ass can read and write. You'll notice that "teachers" is in quotes. Meaning that this bafoon should not be called a teacher. You're not that narrow minded to think I'm talking about all teachers, are you?

why ? what did he do that is so wrong ?
you telling me your kid brings home an assignment like that you follow it to the letter ?

[Spider]

So you wouldn't mind if your son or daughter brought this rubbish home from school?

why should I ?
no different when a teacher sends my kids home with "finding the good Bush has done " , or the advantages of Bushanomics ? I tell them the same thing ...... your teacher is an Idiot , Bush is nothing more then a lying traitor to America ...... tell your teacher Dad said so ........

[jhat01]

why ? what did he do that is so wrong ?
you telling me your kid brings home an assignment like that you follow it to the letter ?


Not at all. But I would do exactly what the father of this little girl did. I don't mind the discussions about Gitmo, and wiretapping etc. I can't stand the fact that he would write about renouncing US citizenship and joining a "global community" hypothetical or not.

[TheDave]

Taken at face value it sounds like a poorly thought out and constructed lesson... then again, i'm sure there is more to this.

[jhat01]

I have twin girls who are 5 months old. What I want is for my kids to grow up loving this country like I do. We will talk about the mistakes of our government, but we will love this country.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

So, what you are really saying is moveon.org is a collection of idiots.The shoe that fits on worldnet fits quite well on moveon.org also.....dman

*Venezuala is calling, on line 1 for you.....

Nope.

Your reading comprehension game is messed up, dawg.

I asked for a secondary source, i.e., something besides worldnutdaily.com (which isn't much more than The Enquirer.)

If I post something from bartcop.com then there's no end to the cries for a second source from you and the rest of the righties here.

[c_lazy_r]

I have twin girls who are 5 months old. What I want is for my kids to grow up loving this country like I do. We will talk about the mistakes of our government, but we will love this country.

I find it comforting that you have the goal of raising your children to love this country. I feel the same way, BUT as your children reach adulthood, it is more difficult to explain away the mismanagement (and I use that term very loosely) of our country's leaders. It becomes even more difficult when you try to teach you children about personal accountability and responsibility when our leaders are acting in such a contrary way.

I love this country but I will never accept the current way it is being governed. Period. I believe our children should be taught to think for themselves and be accountable for their mistakes. I expect no less from our political leaders.

[alkemical]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Taylor_Gatto

John Taylor Gatto (born John Gatto) is an American retired school teacher of 29 years 8 months and author of several books on education. He is an activist critical of compulsory schooling and the hegemonic nature of discourse on education and the education professions.