Principal Demoted, but not Fired for taunting gays

[Smash255]

Gotta love hate......

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http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/nation/ny-ussex215809758aug21,0,1237279.story

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Wow.  This guy should be fired; no educator should be allowed to do that.

[Flying Dog]

Wow.  This guy should be fired; no educator should be allowed to do that.

[Smash255]

Wow.  This guy should be fired; no educator should be allowed to do that.

[TomC]

Fired and sued.

[angus]

Gotta love hate......

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http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/nation/ny-ussex215809758aug21,0,1237279.story

I agree that the principal is a jerk, and that dress codes are generally unnecessary, and that it really isn't any of the principal's business whom she associates with outside school, and that it is part of his job to ensure a safe learning environment, and in this case should have investigated the taunts and not lectured to the lesbian students.  But I also don't think public schools are a federal matter.  Just as this girl's sexual orientation is none of the principal's business, the inner workings of the state of florida are none of the federal government's business.  This matter should be handled in state, not federal, courts.  Seems to me that any involvement of the federal judiciary in this matter is a violation of the ninth amendment to the US Constitution.  And it also seems to me that a clever attorney could make the case that the principal's action were a violation of the second, fourth, and fifth sections of the Florida constitution, and therefore the matter might have been resolved in the state's judicial system without resorting to the illegal involvement of the federal court system.  Two wrongs don't make a right.  And ultimately, as the superintendent stated, the federal involvement will make some people "feel outsiders are forcing their beliefs on them."  This could have been avoided by taking the case to the Florida courts.  The matter would have been handled more properly, and more probably to your satisfaction, and no one would have felt violated by "outsiders."  People need to work to end bigotry, but they shouldn't resort to heavy-handedness.  Internalized values are real, and they are cherished.  Enforced values are discarded as soon as possible.  This was an unfortunate end, and as has been pointed out, it isn't really resolved, is it?  The guy should have been fired, and it should have been Florida, not the United States of America, doing it.  This is why we take the appointment of justices so seriously.

[dead0man]

This is weird, it's normally so easy to fire bad educators.

[opebo]

...Just as this girl's sexual orientation is none of the principal's business, the inner workings of the state of florida are none of the federal government's business.

What utter nonsense.   Do you not remember that the only reason individuals who are not white straight christians have any civil rights in the South at all is federal intervention?  And that said intervention was well supported by the court cases at the time?

I love angus posts - one sentence of 'well, it is a shame these blacks/poors/gays have to suffer at the hands of the majority, BUT'.  There is always the but that allows the oppression to continue.  Good job angus.

[John Dibble]

Yeah, I'd say that he should have been definitely fired given that last sentence there.

[Torie]

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There appears to be a method to the madness.

[Verily]

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There appears to be a method to the madness.

I'm a little surprised that wasn't enough to put him on the sex offender list, actually.

[NDN]

This is weird, it's normally so easy to fire bad educators. [snicker]

You stole my response.

Nice to see the ACLU kicking ass as usual.

[Chief Justice PiT]

     The principal should have been fired & deported to the South Pole. That someone that dangerous could be allowed to be a principal makes me want to wretch.

[Sbane]

I can't believe things like this still happen. Interestingly this school district just bought some educational material from the company I work for. Didn't realize it was this fundie....

[DownWithTheLeft]

This is weird, it's normally so easy to fire bad educators.

Teachers not unionized in your states?  I think NJ teachers could spit and piss on students and not get fired, hell NJEA would support them

[NDN]

This is weird, it's normally so easy to fire bad educators.

Teachers not unionized in your states?  I think NJ teachers could spit and piss on students and not get fired, hell NJEA would support them

I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic.

[DownWithTheLeft]

This is weird, it's normally so easy to fire bad educators.

Teachers not unionized in your states?  I think NJ teachers could spit and piss on students and not get fired, hell NJEA would support them

I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic.

Certainly would make more sense , but you never known about teachers in Nebraska

[Kaine for Senate '18]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

There appears to be a method to the madness.

I'm a little surprised that wasn't enough to put him on the sex offender list, actually.

Yeah, that too.

[Ban my account ffs!]

This should be a federal matter because it was not about being a school, but about a person in a position of authority forcing his views on a person of lesser authority and going out on a witch hunt.

It had almost nothing to do with school.  Now if he had given her bad grades because of it, then it would be a state issue, but because he was infringing upon *federal* laws, it should be a federal matter.

[angus]

...Just as this girl's sexual orientation is none of the principal's business, the inner workings of the state of florida are none of the federal government's business.

What utter nonsense.   Do you not remember that the only reason individuals who are not white straight christians have any civil rights in the South at all is federal intervention?  And that said intervention was well supported by the court cases at the time?

I love angus posts - one sentence of 'well, it is a shame these blacks/poors/gays have to suffer at the hands of the majority, BUT'.  There is always the but that allows the oppression to continue.  Good job angus.

Today in Iowa fifty rabbis in charge of supervising the kosher slaughter and processing of meat at Agriprocessors walked off the job.  I don't know, man, I still say that I like Scalia.  I probably disagree with him on gay marriage, gay rights, civil rights, the role of the US Department of Education, you name it.  But I agree with him on the most important issue of all:  the role of the US Constitution.  You and I had this argument before, and I don't care to re-hash it here. But- for the benefit of the unitiated, you genuinely see it--as most Americans do--a fight over nominations to the federal judiciary that hinges on your talking points on issue positions.  I simply don't see it that way.  I see it as a balance between the rights of the people, as enshrined in the US Constitution, versus a totalitarian state.  Sure, maybe I disagree with The People sometimes.  I'd have disagreed with the people of Texas who wrote the law banning abortions, for example, but I'd rather have convinced them to convince their legislature to change the law, rather than making a scapegoat out of Jane Roe--who, incidently, has since changed her mind and has become a mouthpiece for the other side.  I also disagree with those who support capital punishment.  And, in fact, according to polling data, support for capital punishment had been on the wane for many years.  But then the US Federal Judiciary had to go and rule that it wasn't a state's right to use capital punishment in 1967.  So, as a result, the shallow-minded, like you, were happy.  Happy that no one would any longer be executed.  But by 1976 a different Court decided it was okay to execute Gary Gilmore.  And since then we execute people at the drop of a hat.  Make no mistake, I think capital punishment is wrong, and will try to help end it.  But I think that decision in 1967 damaged the cause of those conscientious objectors, just as I think these types of decisions damage my cause.  Just as a federal intrusion into a state education matter damages the cause of gay rights.  When you force values on people they are rejected.  I'll take George Bush out of context for a moment:  "The way to change these things is to change the peoples' hearts and minds."  I may disagree with him on the issue to which he was referring, but I agree with him on the underlying principle, which is that only internalized values stick, but enforced values cause a backlash that usually sets your cause back, in the longrun.  The federal court should not have become involved in this issue, and it would not surprise me if its involvement will set back the cause of gay rights in this country.  That's all I'm saying.  I may not agree with him, but I respect Scalia.  He once said, "you like activism as long as you agree with the activists.  but what will you do when the activists start to make decisions you don't like?  You'll replace them, of course.  and that will work as long as you can get some support on your side.  better still to try to change the laws the way the constitution intended, than by judicial fiat."  He's right.  I'm not saying the principal wasn't a jerk and shouldn't have been fired.  I'm just saying that the situation is not resolved, and that the involvement of the federal judiciary is likely to have exacerbated the problem.  Mark these words.

http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2008/08/21/business/local/10554946.txt

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

    The principal should have been fired & deported to the South Pole. That someone that dangerous could be allowed to be a principal makes me want to wretch.

Dude, people live at the South Pole.

[Chief Justice PiT]

    The principal should have been fired & deported to the South Pole. That someone that dangerous could be allowed to be a principal makes me want to wretch.

Dude, people live at the South Pole.

     But probably not many minors. The idea is to get the guy as far away from any children as possible.

[dead0man]

This is weird, it's normally so easy to fire bad educators.

Teachers not unionized in your states?  I think NJ teachers could spit and piss on students and not get fired, hell NJEA would support them

I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic.

Certainly would make more sense , but you never known about teachers in Nebraska

Aye.  I was making a subtle jab at the left.

[??????????]

Probably deserves a promotion.

[Chief Justice PiT]

Probably deserves a promotion.

     Where I come from, educators who make girls lift their blouses don't get promotions.