Texas Teacher suspended for being "Liberal" and an "atheist"

[bobalot]

Texas Teacher suspended for being "Liberal" and an "atheist"

Written by: Brad Watkins on Feb 2, 2009 4:03 PM EST

Linked to groups: Democracy For Memphis, 2006 Training Academy Hosts, Tennessee Trained Activists, Democracy for Tennessee

Linked to campaigns: Obama for America

For the past few days I have been in contact with Mr. Richard Mullens a school teacher in Brookeland Tx. Brookeland Tx, is an incredibly "Conservative" area of Texas, and only 16 miles up the road from Jasper Tx. the scene of several incidents of racial violence and murder. Mullens has been the victim of a smear campaign and a slew of unethical practices, based solely on his religious and political beliefs. I have received numerous calls today from area parents, and concerned local residents who feel that Mr. Mullens is a good teacher, who has encouraged and inspired his students to think critically, and independently and is innocent of all charges, both spoken and written. In fact the administration of Brookeland High School made attempts to urge students to sign a list of alleged chargers against Mr. Mullens of which over 100 students out of 103 refused to sign.The students attempted to present to the Board of education a petition in support of Mr. Mullens and refuting any charges of inappropriate language made against him. The Principal of Brookeland High School, not only refused to take this petition to the board but forbade the students from such actions. Mr. Mullins is being railroaded by a School board of which all of those who support his removal are members of the same church. A church who's pastor has openly called for there to be only Christian teachers in the Brookeland school district. Currently the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center is in contact with several local and national civil rights organizations in Texas, who will be contacting Mr. Mullens, investigating this situation and offering their support. But if anyone out there knows any other resource that can be brought in to stop this injustice, I ask you please contact us, and forward this out to them. at Brad@midsouthpeace.org The following is a statement of events from Mr. Mullens, some names and details were redacted by me.

I, Richard Mullens, have been a teacher in the state of Texas since 1971. I have never received a negative comment, complaint, or write-up during this period of time. On the contrary, I have received recognition for my teaching and the test scores of my students. No matter what district I've taught in, my students have always excelled in the state mandated tests. I currently teach in Brookeland, TX, a small rural district about 16 miles north of Jasper, TX. I've taught at Brookeland for the past 6 years. I've been in my current position as US history, government, and economics teacher for 3 years.

These past 2 years have been an exciting time for me as a history and government teacher. My classes have followed the primary and election campaigns. My senior class last year, with the aid of the superintendent Lana Comeaux, was able to travel to Beaumont, TX to see Bill Clinton make a stump speech on behalf of his wife Hillary Clinton. In class we followed the primary campaign using Newsweek magazine and Junior Scholastic magazine to keep us informed about the issues. We had passionate debates about the issues and the candidates. It was obvious to my class that I supported Barack Obama. I allowed all students to express their opinions, as long as they did not include racial slurs or non-factual information. On occasion, I had to correct misinformation that was expressed by students. For example, that Barack Obama was un-American, that he did not say the pledge, and that he was a terrorist. After Barack Obama's election, I was looking forward to being able to share the inauguration with my students by letting them watch it on TV in my classroom. But instead, I found myself at home suspended from my job.

On November 7th, at a basketball game that was supposed to be our homecoming scrimmage, I sat at the scores table as a coach with Lana Comeaux, the superintendent. I was not allowed to coach because we would be in violation of UIL rules. Lana Comeaux at that time told me she was under pressure from the school board and they were looking for her to resign. She said that my name was also on the list of people that the board wanted to resign or fire. I asked why, and she said that a school board member had expressed to her that he believed I was an atheist and a liberal. She asked me if I was an atheist and I refused to answer the question. I said, "I won't play this game. I didn't know you had to take a religious test to be a teacher in the state of Texas." Nothing was said after that point, although there was a lot of tension among the other coaches about whether they would be able to keep their jobs or not, because she also told them that many of them were on the list.

Then on January 7th, a student in my classroom in second period left my class, went to the Principal's office, and told him that there was an inappropriate discussion in my classroom. I was informed by the principal, Richard Turner, that I needed to talk to her mother because she was very upset. Her mother came to class on January 7th, came to the school January 7th, very upset. She made some threats to me in the hallway. And then on January 8th, Mr. Turner informed me that I needed to call the parent, Mrs. Lowe. On January 9th, I had Vicki Smith, the school secretary, call "REDACTED" on my behalf to arrange a conference at 10:35 Monday, January 12th. Monday the 12th, I met with REDACTED and School Principal Richard Turner in his office. REDACTED was very angry. She accused me of being an atheist, saying I was too liberal, and that I allowed the students to talk about inappropriate things in the classroom. I told her that occasionally students would get on topics and say things, but I was unable to censor them before they were able to say them. She said that I called her daughter a name and I denied the accusation. But then she said that I didn't believe in god and shouldn't be teaching. She also said that she had spoken to 3 other board members who agreed with her that I shouldn't be teaching because I was too liberal and I was an atheist.

On January 15th, there was a board meeting. Nothing was on the agenda concerning me. During the open forum, several audience members spoke to their concerns that I was an atheist and I was too liberal. On January 16th, I was called to Mr. Richard Turner's office (my principal), and he informed me that I had been put on administrative leave with pay. The reasons, as stated to me by Mr. Turner at the time, were that I was accused of being an atheist and teaching atheism in the classroom, and I was too liberal. On January 23rd, Mr. Turner and members of the board met behind closed doors concerning my suspension and allegations that were directed at me. On January 24th, I received a certified letter from Mr. Turner that stated that the causes for my suspension apparently had been changed to inappropriate contact with students and comments. He admonished me in the letter for having contact with students who had text-messaged me during my first week of suspension, but I had not received any administrative directive, or anything in writing, prior to that time telling me I could not have contact with students. On January 26th, I called my lawyer REDACTED, with ATTE, and informed him of my situation that I was put on administrative leave with pay, pending an investigation.

I later had conversations with parents and a person who lives in the community, who informed me that the principal had met with the minister of the local church and had discussed my suspension with him. I also later received information from REDACTED,a "SCHOOL EMPLOYEE-POSITION REDACTED", that the minister was now subbing at the school and that he had heard that he would be taking my position, or if I returned he would be co-teaching with me.

There have been a number of rumors in our community now concerning inappropriate behavior: high school girls coming to my class to supposedly smoke marijuana, all kinds of accusations made by the members of the missionary baptist church at which this minister is the preacher. In the January 24th letter from Mr. Richard Turner, my principal, I was also informed that my suspension had been extended indefinitely.


Sincerely,
Richard Mullens

Here is the link to the source. Note: We only have this guys word for how this these events occurred.

[Dominus Atheos]

Local newspaper

A Brookeland High School teacher said he is not sure what his next step will be after resigning from his job of six years.

Richard Mullens, a teacher for more than 30 years, resigned his position as history teacher after being placed on paid administrative leave by the Brookeland Independent School District.

Richard Turner, the high school's principal, said parents had voiced concerns about Mullens' classroom management.

These parents told school board members at a January board meeting that Mullens ran his classes too loosely and allowed students to discuss inappropriate topics, Turner said by phone Thursday.

Mullens said the district and parents singled him out because of his religious and political views, which are in the minority.

"I teach in a very open classroom, (that) I love and like," Mullens said by phone. "And the kids learn that way through open discussion and debate."

Brookeland ISD is located in the northeast corner of Jasper County. The district serves about 426 students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, Turner said. Students, parents and school personnel mix frequently and everyone is very close, he said.

The conflict appears to stem from a Jan. 7 incident in one of his classes. According to Mullens, a student left his class-room upset about a conversation that had taken place.

He said that a pregnant student had gotten into a discussion with her former boyfriend about "whether he believed in love or not."

Another student, who was not involved in the conversation, got up and left the class, saying she was uncomfortable with the conversation.

That student's mother later came to the school, spoke to the principal about the situation and verbally threatened Mullens. In a subsequent conference with Mullens and the principal, the parent accused Mullens of calling her daughter names and being an atheist. She said that several board members wanted him ousted because he was too liberal and an atheist, he said.

Since 2003, Mullens had been teaching history at the high school. This year he taught about 80 students a day from eighth-graders to seniors. Some classes were as small as five students, while others had almost 25, he said by phone.

Mullens said he made a habit of keeping a very open classroom, allowing students to discuss controversial issues.

"I like to get the kids interested," he said. "I like to get all viewpoints."

Students would discuss issues like the separation of church and state and the presidential election, he said.

Nicole Ard, a senior at the high school, has been a student of Mullens' for five years. Ard, who is senior class president, said discussion often got heated, "but they were just debates."

"Mostly people were upset because he supported Barack Obama, whereas a lot of people in Brookeland were against (Obama)," said Ard, 18.

She said Mullens would often play the devil's advocate in discussions, but he never pushed his viewpoints on students.

"I think it was more trying to get people to look at different viewpoints," she said.

Mullens said in his six years at the school, he has never received a complaint from a parent or administrator. Turner, who is in his second year as principal, said that Mullens file has no record of infractions.

On Jan. 15, though, between four and six parents told the school board about concerns with Mullens, said Turner who was at the meeting. Mullens did not attend because his name was not on the agenda and his son had a Little Dribblers basketball game.

Turner said the parents were concerned about Mullens' classroom management, specifically "about how loosely the classroom operated and that students were allowed to voice opinions that should not have been in the classroom."

He said parents said students called each other names, talked about sex, and discussed personal problems in his class-room. The undercurrent was that Mullins did little to stop the conversation, Turner said. One parent also voiced concerns about Mullens' religious beliefs, Turner said.

Board members took no official action that evening, but Mullens was placed on administrative leave the next day pending an investigation, he said.

According to a letter dated Jan. 28 originally faxed to Brookeland ISD and later faxed to The Enterprise by Mullens, the school district at no time informed Mullens of specific allegations or requested a statement from him in response to allegations.

Turner declined to comment about what was said when he informed Mullens of the situation.

The district has since requested that students and parents bring concerns to the administration. Turner said about 15 people came forward. He declined to comment about what they said, but added that students had to sign a statement agreeing that what they were saying was based on fact and not hearsay.

Ard, the senior class president, said that two students started a petition to get Mullins back, but were told by the school principal to stop. Turner said he had not heard of any students starting a petition.

Turner said board members will consider at their next meeting the information provided by those people who came forward.

"We think at this point that we have resolved our problems with Mr. Mullens with his resignation," Turner said.

Mullens said he just wants the truth to come out.

"I just want to be able to teach again," he said. "I've been a good teacher since 1971."

With additional reporting from reporter Blair Dedrick Ortmann

[bobalot]

Is Texas the arsehole of U.S or something? I keep hearing a disproportional amount of these stories coming from Texas.

[Kitsune]

One of the Teaching Company lectures I watched relatively recently was about the Early Middle Ages.....

Can see the new teacher (the preacher) talking about Constantine's victory......
Instead of talking about the various situations, he states "God made it so" <Groan>

[Samuel]

Yeah, I've seen alot of chatter on this topic at the blogs. I'm not going to comment until I know the exact situation. However, I think the obvious reaction is simple: Honestly, firing someone for encouraging students to engage in discussions and being a liberal atheist? Why don't this people just admit that want unquestioning obedience from their kids?

Is Texas the arsehole of U.S or something? I keep hearing a disproportional amount of these stories coming from Texas.

Texas is one of the larger states in the Union so it gets this popping up more based on population alone. I'm not sure how reactionary the population is. Of course, given this is from a small town...

[Darth Wong]

I don't see why this should surprise anyone, coming from the US South.

*cue Southern whiny bitches complaining that I'm being unfair, even though they know perfectly well that these stories do disproportionately come from the South*

Anyone who's ever dealt with hardcore conservatard fundies will know that they will sincerely and honestly believe that atheists should not be allowed to teach, because they will poison the kids' minds with evil liberal ideas. Seriously, this is not surprising at all. Frankly, if you set up a school board where all the members belong to the same fundie church, I would totally expect this sooner or later. All they would need is the tiniest excuse, like one student complaining.

[Patrick Degan]

Is Texas the arsehole of U.S or something? I keep hearing a disproportional amount of these stories coming from Texas.

In a word, yes. Some of the sharpest, funniest and most acid-witted people can come from Texas (Molly Ivins), but by and large, the state motto could almost be: "Rock-stupid and DAMN PROUD of it".

[The Spartan]

16 miles up the road from Jasper Tx. the scene of several incidents of racial violence and murder.

Remember the black man who was dragged to death after being chained behind a pick-up truck a few years ago? That happened in Jasper.

Is Texas the arsehole of U.S or something? I keep hearing a disproportional amount of these stories coming from Texas.

We're part of the south and have the second highest population in the entire union so we get a seemingly disproportionate amount of bullshit coming out of here. It's not nearly as bad in the cities, though you still get more than your fair share of assholes and bullshit there, but out in the rural areas, small towns like this? Ever seen someone walking around the grocery store without a mask on and openly wearing a KKK emblem? I have. And that was in a relatively not-bad, college town (Stephenville), though it was only relatively not-bad because of the university. And unfortunately there's still way too much bullshit. Case in point. To give you a little more background, there's a town, oh 15 minutes or so, south of Stephenville that used to be a Sundown Town.

[Hawkwings]

I'm sure there are plenty of school districts that would love to have him. Of course, probably not too many in Texas.

[MarshalPurnell]

So the parents say they are upset because he "allowed" students to talk about personal problems, call each other names, and voice opinions that shouldn't be made in a classroom? Having worked as a substitute before, I can say that pretty much all classes work like that. School is the primary social forum for young teenagers, where they are concentrated together with their friends and frequently are not being challenged by the rather rote material they get assigned. It is simply impossible to eliminate talking from the classroom absent a very top-down, authoritarian approach to discipline that simply cannot be maintained in a public school. If that were really the problem, I suspect there are much worse classes than the Government course taught by a 30-year veteran male teacher who seems popular with his students.

So, yeah, the excuse really doesn't hold up even on a facile examination. This is a civil rights lawsuit waiting to happen.

[Setzer]

Sometimes, I can't believe we fought TWO wars over this state. He should sue on grounds of religious discrimination.

[The Romulan Republic]

Sometimes, I can't believe we fought TWO wars over this state. He should sue on grounds of religious discrimination.

Maybe he's afraid of violent retaliation if he stands up for himself? I know I'm just speculating, but given the area, it wouldn't surprise me.

[Kitsune]

According to a discussion under the article, cost for a lawsuit is a concern of his.....

[Samurai Rafiki]

It isn't so much Texas specifically as it is small towns. The smaller the town is -particularly in the south, but in very liberal states like Washington as well- the more likely the population is to be all-white and the more primed they are for incidents like this. If you take into account the larger cities, Texas isn't really that bad, it's just that there are so many of these small towns to drag down the image of the whole state.

The sweaty diseased testicles of America are Alabama and Mississippi, as far as racial matters go. Texas might have school boards populated by fundamentalists, but the Jena 6 incident shows that Mississippi has District Attorneys who think that when black teenagers being racially harrassed in a threatening manner disarm and beat up a white kid, they've attempted murder.

According to a discussion under the article, cost for a lawsuit is a concern of his.....

The ACLU is probably foaming at the mouth to take this to court, and if they aren't, there are lawyers all over the state who would take this on a consignment. Every ambulance chaser in the county probably got a hardon the moment they read the story.

[Wicked Pilot]

Glad to see the Teacher's Union finally doing some good by going to bat for... oh wait, that wasn't in the article.

[Kitsune]

The concern seems to be that the ACL is involved in another case, using their resources

The lawyer representing Mr. Mullens at this time can only defend him against his employer, Brookeland IDS. Mr. Mullens needs legal help to defend himself from the school board, church, and any individuals who are making false claims against him. The ACLU has been contacted, but they are spread rather thinly now due to various issues and the Maddoff case. If you know of anyone who can help, please contact Brad Watkins at brad@midsouthpeace.org. Truth, justice, and Mr. Mullens need your help. Keep up your support! Remember, "all it takes for evil men to prevail is for good men to do nothing.

http://westtennessee.blogspot.com/

[Darth Wong]

That's the thing: that whole commandment about not bearing false witness against your neighbour is really just a mild suggestion, when that neighbour happens to be an atheist. This guy is going to get a massive smear campaign mounted against him by these God-Fearing Righteous Church Goers.

[Mayabird]

Neighbors only count when they're part of your own personal in-group. Hence the prohibition against murder, which is death of someone within your group, and not killing in general. If this teacher isn't a part of their church, he's not part of the group.

[Kitsune]

I wasn't even thinking about it but in many ways it is similar to the movie "Dead Poet's Society"

[Posner]

That's the thing: that whole commandment about not bearing false witness against your neighbour is really just a mild suggestion, when that neighbour happens to be an atheist. This guy is going to get a massive smear campaign mounted against him by these God-Fearing Righteous Church Goers.

Around the corner from Texas in Arkansas they take it a step further. An atheist is assumed to be a false witness. Article 19 of the Arkansas State constitution says:

No person who denies the being of a God shall hold any office in the civil departments of this State, nor be competent to testify as a witness in any Court

Of course this isn't enforced anymore, the Supreme Court of the United States would smack it down pretty quickly. But then again, no state representative would want to move for repealing it out of fear of being labeled an atheist. The way I see it, the biggest problem with democracy is that it relies on the voters to make reasonable decisions. This flaw is never more obvious than when voters turn to their religious delusions to guide their decisions.