Martinsville, IL. Teacher Dismissed –

Garcetti v. Ceballos 
The Supreme Court’s holding has curious and unsettling implications for academic freedom. In dissent, Justice David Souter wrote, “This ostensible domain beyond the pale of the First Amendment is spacious enough to include even the teaching of a public university professor, and I have to hope that today’s majority does not mean to imperil First Amendment protection of academic freedom in public colleges and universities, whose teachers necessarily speak and write ‘pursuant to official duties.’” 

Good riddance. More liberal US bashing teachers need to go. I applaud that school district.

The Martinsville School Board District should expect a federal lawsuit now obviously. The teacher below did the same thing and was given an $85,000 settlement from a South Carolina School Board District after he was “dismissed” ( fired ) for it. In America, we have the freedom to desecrate the American flag. And if someone tries to retaliate against us for doing it, we also have the freedom to sue. A South Carolina teacher has made full of use these liberties, walking away with a $85,000 settlement after stomping on an American flag in his classroom.
Scott Compton, an honors English teacher at Chapin High School, sparked a furor last December when giving a lesson on symbols. As Columbia, S.C., station WIS-TV reported at the time, Compton took the American flag down and explained to his students that while the flag was a symbol, the physical flag was simply a piece of fabric. He illustrated his point by stomping on the cloth.
It was an effort to show that America “is greater than the material objects that represent it,” Compton’s attorney, Darryl Smalls, told a local newspaper, The State.
But that’s not how the school board saw it. School district officials placed Compton on administrative leave with pay, and after an investigation, the district recommended thathe be fired after seven years at the school. Compton appealed, and then resigned in March.But Compton didn’t go away quietly. According to documents obtained by The State under the Freedom of Information Act, School District 5 of Lexington-Richland counties paid Compton $85,000 to stop him from pursuing a lawsuit, in addition to $31,500 in attorney’s fees. And that’s in addition to Compton’s regular salary, which he will continue to receive through June 7.”Prior to his resignation, attorneys for Mr. Compton informed district attorneys that he had prepared a complaint for filing in federal court,” district spokesman Mark Bounds told The State. “Based on financial considerations related to anticipated legal fees to defend such a suit, the insurer made the decision to make a monetary (offer) to Mr. Compton. He accepted the offer.”
Teacher’s Epic Resignation Letter: Profession ‘No Longer Exists’Another teacher recently came under fire for an unorthodox lesson on symbols. Florida Atlantic University instructor Deandre Poole was placed on administrative leave in March after a lesson in which he instructed students to write “Jesus” on a piece of paper, and then stomp on it.Poole claimed that the exercise was meant to show the power of words, but not everyone saw it as so innocent. Poole received death threats and a personal rebuke from Gov. Rick Scott. In response, some students rallied to Poole’s defense, and a faculty committee determined that the university’s decision to ban the lesson compromised academic freedom.
While these teachers may be out of jobs for now, their lessons were effective in showing that symbols can clearly be powerful things.