Teacher claims First Amendment rights

I'll bet you thought I was referring to WARD CHURCHILL? Nope.

I am referring to:

A teacher suspended from his job because he stated in a letter that most poorly behaved students at his school are African Americans said he believes he is within his First Amendment right to say so.

But experts disagree on whether the broadest protections granted under the First Amendment, allowing freedom of speech, extend to school teachers.

Muir High School science teacher Scott Phelps was placed on paid administrative leave last week for claiming in a three- page letter that "Overwhelmingly, the students whose behavior makes the hallways deafening, who yell out for the teacher and demand immediate attention in class, who cannot seem to stop chatting and are fascinated by each other and relationships but not with academics ... are African American.'

The statements have created an uproar - and a division of opinion -among the educational community and beyond.

This was first published in the PasadenaStarNews, and is no longer available via that site. This link, however, will take you to the American Voice Institute where you can read what was originally published in the PasadenaStarNews.

Ward Churchill gets a free pass -- and because when he referred to the victims of 911 as Lil Eichman's, he didn't single out a race; he swatted them all -- equally, in the derogative and dismissive.

Now weigh in from the same article, the USC law professor Erwin Chimerinsky:

But USC law professor Erwin Chemerinsky disagrees. He said Phelps will have a difficult time proving he was within his rights when he distributed the letter.

"Public employees and teachers are protected under the First Amendment, but they're limited,' he said. "If what they say interferes with the operation of the school, then they're aren't protected.'