Teacher put on leave for Bush remarks

DENVER — It was the day after President Bush's State of the Union address, and social-studies teacher Jay Bennish was warning his world geography class not to be taken in.

"Sounds a lot like the things that Adolf Hitler used to say," Bennish told students at the suburban high school. "We're the only ones who are right, everyone else is backward, and our job is to conquer the world."

The teacher quickly made clear he wasn't equating the president with Hitler, but the damage was done. Sean Allen, a sophomore in the class, had recorded the lecture on an MP3 player, and this week turned it over to a local conservative radio show.

Bennish, a teacher at Overland High School in Aurora, was placed on paid leave by the Cherry Creek School District on Wednesday, causing an uproar over issues of free speech and proper classroom behavior.

About 150 Overland students walked out Thursday to protest Bennish's absence, and the teacher's lawyer — who met with district officials Friday — threatened a federal lawsuit. Attorney David Lane argued on the Mike Rosen radio show, which originally played the tape, that what his client said is not so outlandish and was intended to provoke his students into thinking about current events.

"Maybe it's not mainstream, middle-American opinion," Lane said Friday morning. "But the rest of the world agrees with him."

Lane added that if Bennish had spoken strongly in support of Bush, he would not be under investigation.

Tustin Amole, a spokeswoman for the school district, said officials were investigating whether Bennish had violated a policy that says teachers may not intimidate students who hold political beliefs different from their own.

"Teachers do have a First Amendment right to express their opinion, but it must be in the context of the material being taught and it must provide a balanced point of view," Amole said.

The Cherry Creek district, with 47,000 students, encompasses an arc of suburbs southeast of Denver; voter registration within its boundaries leans Republican.

A partial transcript of Bennish's class taken from the student's recording showed the teacher voicing a wide range of criticisms of U.S. policy and the war in Iraq. Bennish has not disputed the accuracy of the recording. He had no comment Friday.

The teacher noted that U.S. troops have spent 30 years fighting the drug war in Colombia and using "chemical weapons" to eradicate coca fields, cited more than 7,000 "terrorist sabotage acts" committed by the United States against Cuba and called the United States "probably the single most violent nation on Earth."

During the class, Bennish questioned why the United States is allowed to wage war in the Middle East but Palestinians are condemned as terrorists for attacking Israel.

A student interjected that the United States does not single out civilians, unlike Palestinian terrorists. The teacher asked how Israel was created and pointed out that early Zionists used assassination and bombings to create their state.

According to the transcript, Bennish concluded by telling his students: "I'm not implying in any way you should agree with me. ... What I'm trying to do is to get you to ... think about these issues more in depth." He thanked them for asking questions.

Rodney Smolla, dean of the University of Richmond School of Law in Virginia and a First Amendment expert, said courts allow school districts to regulate teachers' speech.

"Teachers have First Amendment rights to speak on matters of public interest in the general marketplace, but they don't have as great a level of rights when speaking inside the classroom, on matters related to the curriculum," he said.

A telephone number listed for Bennish, who has been teaching social studies and American history at Overland since 2000, had been disconnected.

Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.