ABOUT FAITH & FREEDOM

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Teacher Fired and Students React to the Hypocrisy

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Tim Latham has been teaching history and US Government for 19 years.

After one year in the Lawrence, Kansas School District, the district refused to renew his contract. A number of accusations were made against the teacher, including the administration telling him he was too conservative, referring to his personal website, which he pays for.

He was also told, "You refuse to conform," and, "you don't fit in."

The driving issue, however, was an accusation by a student who said he compared Obama to Hitler in one of his class discussions.

Then something unique happened. Truth arose. Students in the class room knew that was not true.

Students and parents started a movement on Facebook explaining that Mr. Latham had not compared Obama to Hitler in class, was not "too" conservative and began to expose the hypocrisy of the school administration.

Clearly Latham does not stand with the general left to far left position of that in most public education. However, does he no longer have a right to believe something different than the so-called progressive left?

Students like Melissa Ward and others believe that ordinary people can still make a difference in our country and in our communities.

Last Thursday, the school district changed their mind, said it had nothing to do with the Obama-Hitler controversy, but because they had not adequately monitored his teaching, could not deny him a contract--or something like that, and offered him a contract for next year.

After the student-led campaign and the decision to renew his contract, the Kansas City Star, which had been silent on the highly-publicized issue, finally weighed in. Once again affirming why more and more people are not looking to what we use to call, mainstream media, for their news.

This incident underscores a couple of things. If people stand firmly for what is truth and what is right, and speak out, they can still prevail in our country and in our communities.

Secondly, public education is often the fountain head of anti-Christian, anti-American, pro-socialist, values neutral, progressive philosophy, yet many of the very kids who are baptized in these beliefs daily, still have a sense of what is right and what is wrong. And are willing to stand and speak on those virtues, even in the hostile environment of public education.

God bless the kids. I'm encouraged.

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Gary Randall
President
Faith & Freedom

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