Is an apology enough over 'black f*g' remark?

[title1parent]

www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1821189,Geneva-teacher-gay-student_au101309.article

Is an apology enough over 'black f*g' remark?
Teen says teacher’s offensive statements should cost him his job

October 13, 2009

By PAUL DAILING [e-mail]
GENEVA — It's not just because he's gay that Geneva High School senior Jordan Hunter was offended when a teacher implied homosexual artists should not get government funding.

What also offended Hunter was a public schoolteacher standing in front of a group of minors and using the term "some black f*g."

"He's free to feel any way he wants, but (with him) being in a position of influence like that over children, I don't think he should be using that position to make statements like that," said Hunter, 17, of Geneva.

Hunter said during a lecture on tax dollars on Oct. 5, Geneva High consumer education teacher Dave Burk started talking about the National Endowment for the Arts, asking his students, "'How would you feel about your tax dollars going to pay some black f*g in New York to take pictures of other black fags?'"

Burk's attorney, D.J. Tegeler, said Monday he was not personally aware of the terms Burk used to his classes, but that Burk apologizes for any offense.

"Mr. Burk is cooperating fully with both the principal, the dean of students and the School Board," Tegeler said. "Mr. Burk's biggest problem is he does not want to intentionally offend anybody and if he did, he apologizes."

Tegeler said Burk will abide by any punishment the district picks.

"We have no intention of fighting anything," Tegeler said.

Hunter, who reported Burk to the administration immediately after class, wants Burk fired.

"If he wants to talk about a poor place to put our tax dollars, I think his salary is a poor place to put our tax dollars," Hunter said.

Board could consider

Because of the Columbus Day holiday, Geneva High School and the School District administration offices were closed Monday, and officials were not available for comment.

The Web site ChampionNews.net, which publishes teacher salaries obtained from the Illinois State Board of Education, says Burk has been a teacher for 28 years and made $100,882 last year.

Hunter said several other students have contacted him, saying Burk repeated the same phrase in all his classes Oct. 5.

"This was not a slip of the tongue thing. This is something he wrote out in his lesson plan for the day," Hunter said.

School Board member Matt Henry said Hunter's allegations might come up in discussion during tonight's meeting, but that the board's plan is to leave the issue to Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Services Craig Collins, who could not be reached for comment.

"We heard about it, and pretty much it's a personnel issue," Henry said. "I understand (Collins) and the principal handled it."

Board member Mark Grosso said he believes it will be discussed officially in the closed session of the meeting, as is typical for personnel issues.

Hunter said he plans to attend the meeting.

"I want to be as informed as possible about what's going on about the situation, because the school isn't really telling us what they're planning to do about it," Hunter said.

School rules differ

Hunter said his sexual orientation is only part of the reason he was offended.

"But on the whole part, statements and language like that should not be made in a classroom," Hunter said.

School District policy agrees, at least for students.

The Geneva High School student handbook states in part: "Use of obscene, vulgar, abusive, or inappropriate or discriminatory language or gestures is not tolerated."

Students could get anywhere from a warning through a suspension for violating this rule, the handbook states.

As for teachers, the School District's bylaws prohibit harassment based on sex, race, religion, national origin and disability, specifically banning slurs for race, religion and national origin. There is no rule specifically banning teachers from using slurs based on sexual orientation.

"I'm very upset by that, actually," Hunter said. "I don't think that's at all how things should be."

[chicoryowl]

Oct 13, 2009 5:31:15 GMT -5 title1parent said:

Mr. Burk's biggest problem is he does not want to intentionally offend anybody and if he did, he apologizes."

This Mr. Burk must be new to our planet.

[title1parent]

www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=328773&src=10
Geneva teacher gets warning for remark
By Josh Stockinger | Daily Herald 10/14/09

The Geneva school board late Tuesday chose not to fire a high school teacher who has admitted to making a bigoted remark about gays during class.

Instead, consumer education teacher Dave Burk will have a letter of reprimand placed in his permanent file, said his attorney, D.J. Tegeler.

"Obviously, what he did was wrong," Tegeler said of Burk, who did not attend Tuesday's board meeting. "He admits what he did was inexcusable."

The veteran teacher came under fire last week after openly gay senior Jordan Hunter, 17, complained to the school district about Burk using a derogatory term to describe homosexuals in class lectures on government subsidies for the arts.

Hunter, who was appalled by the comment, said he thinks Burk should be fired for using the rhetoric in front of students.

"I'm disappointed and shocked" Burk will continue teaching, he said. "I thought they (the board) would take it more seriously than they did. He's more than entitled to his views and opinions, but there's no reason he needs to express them in the classroom."

Burk read a letter of apology to students in each of his classes Tuesday, saying he "used a very poor example of words to make my point." Hunter has been assigned a different teacher.

"The message I conveyed was insensitive and hurtful," Burk said, according to the letter. "This is not what I had intended."

After Tuesday's decision, District 304 officials issued a statement calling the teacher's behavior "unacceptable" and noting that he could be fired if there are further problems.

"It's a bad situation to be in," said board member Matt Henry. "Nobody likes this."

[Arwen]

Wow. That's a sad little slap on the wrist. I wonder what would have happened if he'd used a racially-charged slur rather than "f*g".

[asmodeus]

"How would you feel about your tax dollars going to pay some black f*g in New York to take pictures of other black fags?'"

I think it's funny that the author took pains to omit a letter in the slur (as if the term isn't obvious even without the "a" -- but then at the end of the sentence leaves the word intact.

Furthermore, I don't know if the slur is the real issue. If the teacher had said "black gay men" or "black homosexuals" I tend to believe he would still be in hot water.

[gatordog]

Put aside the gross insensitivity of this teacher....

But this so-called responsible educator has made a terrible example for these students of how public policy can be considered and debated. Its great to expose students to a topic such as whether of not the government should provide subsidies for the arts. That would make for an interesting class discussion. But then for his arguments to devolve into emotionally-charged name-calling..... he has revealed that he cannot intelligently lead a fair discussion. (So, if govt subsidies of the arts were for white heterosexuals the teacher would then be ok with it? ) To me, its not just insensitivty that is the issue, its also competency of this teacher as well.

Sigh....such is the state of public discourse in America nowdays.

[title1parent]

www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/ward/1829609,2_4_AU18_WARD_S1-091018.article

It takes a lot for a kid to stand up to a teacher

October 18, 2009

Geneva School Board Vice President Timothy Moran told me the board agonized over two hours of impassioned debate during the Oct. 13 closed session to determine the fate of Geneva High School teacher David Burk, who used a gay slur in class.

"The final outcome was a reluctant agreement to issue a warning," Moran said. "Because the appropriate mandatory notice had not previously been given, our hands were tied by the collective bargaining agreement and the law."

I won't sugarcoat the issue. In an Oct. 5 consumer ed lecture, Burk voiced his dismay for the National Endowment for the Arts by asking students, "How would you feel about your tax dollars going to pay some black f*g in New York to take pictures of other black fags."

It couldn't be just "fags," it had to be "black fags."

What bothers me more than what he said is that Burk thought he could get away with saying it. And if it weren't for one gay student in one of the three classes Burk used the slur, he might have.

The irony is, while many of you got a collective case of the vapors over the president speaking to school children, 17-year-old openly gay GHS senior Jordan Hunter wasn't offended by the suggestion homosexual artists shouldn't receive government funding. Jordan said, "Mr. Burk is entitled to his feelings and opinions, but using his influence to promote a political viewpoint and using the word 'f*g' to do it is unacceptable."

I can understand consternation over taxes paying for a Robert Mapplethorpe photo, but I don't want my tax dollars paying a teacher who can't make it through a class without disparaging gays and blacks either.

Burk's done it before. In just a half hour, I uncovered similar in-class statements dating back six years. Emboldened, this time he used the gay slur.

This means one of two things. Either no previous student had the nerve to report him, or they have but district administrators have been ineffectual in reining in Mr. Burk.

Personally, I think it's the latter.

Jordan also said Burk prefaced his stupidity by saying, "I've been trying to find a less offensive way to say this." The only more offensive method would've been to use the "N" word. Had Burk used that one, he'd already be trying not to let the door hit him in the rear end on the way out.

Burk's attorney, D.J. Tegeler, said he wasn't personally aware of the exact words used in the classroom.

"Mr. Burk is cooperating fully with the principal, the dean of students and the School Board," Tegeler said. "Mr. Burk doesn't want to intentionally offend anybody and if he did, he apologizes. He will abide by any punishment the district chooses."

To all you anonymous Web posters who think Jordan reported this for publicity, may I remind you how it's every teenager's dream to draw attention to himself as a gay student at a high school in a conservative town.

To those nitwits who claimed Jordan should "get a thicker skin," if Burk was an atheist openly denouncing Christians, the subsequent thin-skinned shrieking and whining would be deafening.

Jordan told me he wanted Burk fired and, at first, I completely agreed. There's no room for bigots in the classroom. But then I started thinking about nincompoops like South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson who shouted "You lie!" during an Obama speech. Now he's a right wing hero. The last thing I want is for Burk to become some sort of Limbaughian poster child.

That said, Jordan, myself and anyone with any kind of moral backbone was disgusted when Burk got off with just a warning.

"There was sentiment on the board to go further. His behavior was reprehensible -- no board member defended it," Moran said, "But if we had fired Burk, our legal counsel advised the likely due process outcome would've been his reinstatement with back pay."

Moran said this was no mere slap on the wrist either. "Mr. Burk is on notice that another incident -- and it doesn't have to be the word "f*g" -- means he will be brought up on charges to be terminated."

My thoughts are if Burk is as sorry as he says he is, and if they'll have him, I'd like to see him prove it by volunteering to work with homosexual AIDs patients or on behalf of a gay advocacy group. He should embrace the opportunity to look directly into the eyes of the very people he so easily dismissed.

Moran also said, "I feel really badly for Jordan. It takes a lot of courage for a 17-year-old to stand up for what he believes. I have a great deal of respect for him."

So do I.

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[Arwen]

It is nice to hear that they took what steps they were able to against this teacher's behavior and that they are prepared to can him if he continues. Perhaps Mr. Burk should consider retirement.