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

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 fag 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 'fag' 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 "fag" -- 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.

jeffwardsun@sbcglobal.net