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Overland High School teacher Jay Bennish has been suspended for making remarks critical of the Bush regime in his classroom. Demand that the suspension of Jay Bennish be immediately withdrawn and that he be allowed to return to teaching, unimpeded by harassment or threats from inside or outside the school.

Contact Overland High School Administrators:
Principal Jana Frieler    This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
School Phone: 720-747-3700    FAX 720-747-3895
Superintendent: Monte Moses    720-554-4213

Sign the statement that already has over 1,700 signatures. 

Sign and Circulate this Statement:

On January 31st, George W. Bush stood in front of the world to deliver his State of the Union speech that angrily defended his murderous war on Iraq, the Patriot Act and NSA spying, and his whole ugly program. The next day, Jay Bennish, a teacher at Overland High School in suburban Denver, stood in front of his geography class and spoke a simple truth: Bush's program of spying, forced religion, unjust war and oppressive foreign policies is immoral and a grave danger to humanity. In his critique of the Bush Administration, Bennish commented, "I'm not saying Bush and Hitler are exactly the same, obviously they're not. OK. But there are some eerie similarities to the tones that they use."

For this, Bennish has been suspended and could be fired from his teaching position at Overland High. A student who complained about Bennish's progressive views hid a tape recorder in class and turned it over to the school's principal. Right-wing bloggers and media pundits have gone on a rampage to put Bennish at the center of a witch-hunt atmosphere for the 'crime' of exposing the very real crimes of the Bush regime.

In an act of inspiring defiance and large-mindedness, 150 students walked out of class to protest Bennish's suspension, demanding that Bennish continue teaching at Overland High and chanting for peace. The students' demands cannot fall on deaf ears and the persecution of Jay Bennish must not go unchallenged!

At a time when critical thought and dissent are under attack and a chilling atmosphere looms over academia, the suspension and possible firing of Jay Bennish demands nation-wide, public opposition. At a time when someone like University of Colorado Ethnic Studies Professor Ward Churchill can be systematically attacked - in the media and by people within the government - and nearly forced to resign for political statements he has made, a precedent allowing for the same or worse for a public high school teacher must not be allowed!

The firing of Bennish would represent a step toward a future where electronic surveillance and fear are classroom norms, where adherence to public policy is mandatory and dissenters whisper behind closed doors in fear of a network of informants and spies. If people can remain silent as a public school teacher is spied on, and on that basis is suspended and could face firing for telling the truth to his students about the horrors being committed by their government, what will it take for people to step out? That which you will not resist and mobilize to stop, you will learn ( or be forced ( to accept.

Will Bennish's name simply get lost in a long list of teachers and professors who have their careers come to an abrupt and humiliating end for publicly opposing the Bush Regime, or will thousands and thousands of people step out to oppose this unjust suspension and all it represents?

The answer to that question is up to us.

Bennish not only dared to ask the questions all too few are asking; he challenged his students to ask them, too. The question of whether Bennish spoke the truth must enter into this debate. His direct challenge to Bush's "do as I say, not as I do" logic and his encouragement for students to look beyond the surface in the search for what is true, must be supported, not attacked! The World Can't Wait - Drive Out the Bush Regime.

Please add your name to this statement and demand that the suspension of Jay Bennish be immediately withdrawn and that he be allowed to return to teaching, unimpeded by harassment or threats from inside or outside the school.

If you would like to see the above statement printed in the Denver Post, please call our office at 866-973-4463 to donate specifically for this purpose.

Initial Signatories Include:

Stanley Aronowitz, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, CUNY Graduate Center*

Robert Woodrow Barker, Dance Image West*

J J Barrera, Tejanos For Truth*

Diane C. Beeny, Union County NJ Peace Council*

Milton Davis Bixler, Naropa University* 

Gene Bridges, Unitarian Minister

S. Wolf Britain, Wolf Enterprises, Human & Civil Rights Advocacy

Gilbert Paul Carrasco, Willamette University Salem Oregon, Professor of Law*

Mars Caulton, Music Teacher

Barbara Chasin ,Professor, Montclair University*

Nelson B. Cone, Facilitator, Green Party of Clallam Co., WA*

Katharine Colgan, Attorney

Carolyn E. Craig, Norfolk, VA High School Government Teacher

Eva Cutler, Holocaust Survivor

Merrily Davies, California Teachers Association*

Kay Louise Ellison, Vancouver WA, Teacher for 15 years

Michael Anthony Ganey, Veteran/ truck driver

Larry Felson, Oakland Education Association*, Oakland, Ca

June B Higgins, retired college dean & professor

Catherine A. Holland, University of Missouri - Columbia*

Anthony Huljev, Metropolis Pictures, Inc.

Allen Lang, World Can't Wait National Student Organizer

James Lafferty, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild*, Los Angeles

Sheri Leafgren, Kent State University*

Billy George Mahan, Alpha/Omega*

Alden McCutchan, Minnesota, Retired H.S Principal

Michael William Mykytka, Independent candidate for Congress, 1st District Wisconsin

Megan Paustian, University of Maryland*

Kamala Platt, Ph.D., educator

Monty Reed, Social Services Union steward

George Reiter, Professor of Physics, University of Houston*

Richard Wayne Shubert, Nebraskans For Peace*

Jerry  Skolnik, Musician and Teacher

John Stevenson, Instructor, Columbia College*

John St. Lawrence, RI Dept of Human Services*

John Streamas, Washington State University*

Patricia Talley, East Tennessee State University*

Tish Turgeon, Medical Administrator

Andrew Twaddle, Professor Emeritus, University of Missouri*

Mary Frances Weathersby, Wellspring Yoga Center*

Mark Wheatley, Teacher for 30 years

Tony Zaragoza, Evergreen State College Faculty*

* for identification purposes only 

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