Shine OnChicago teacher sues school after being suspended for showing garden tools to students
Second grade teacher Doug Bartlett was recently suspended from his job after he showed off garden tools to his class at Washington Irving Elementary School in Chicago, Ill.
Bartlett, a 17-year veteran of the school district, displayed wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers and a pocket knife, but kept the devices out of students' hands, reports UPI.
He claims the display was part of a curriculum-mandated tool discussion, and calls his four day suspension without pay during the 2011-2012 school year an "overzealous application of political correctness."
The school suggests the suspension was due to the pocket knife, and consequently, Bartlett was charged with possessing, carrying, storing or using a weapon.
Bartlett has now filed a federal lawsuit against Chicago School District No. 299 and school principal Valeria Newell.
Also see: Lesbian Catholic school teacher fired after being outed in her mother's obituary
The Rutherford Institute, a non-profit civil liberties organization that provides free legal services, has filed the lawsuit on behalf of Bartlett claiming he "suffered humiliation, embarrassment, mental suffering and lost wages."
"This school district's gross overreaction to a simple teaching demonstration on basic tools such as wrenches and pliers underscores exactly what is wrong with our nation's schools," Rutherford Institute president John Whitehead tells CNSNews.com
"What makes this case stand out from the rest is that this latest victim of zero tolerance policies run amok happens to be a veteran school teacher," Whitehead says.
The U.S. has a recent history of seemingly extreme suspensions involving zero-tolerance policies.
In February, a Colorado boy in Grade 2 was suspended for playing with an imaginary grenade.
Also see: Seven-year-old boy suspended for imaginary grenade
The seven-year-old was playing a game he dubbed "rescue the world," when he tossed an imaginary grenade at an imaginary box on the playground. The school said it was acting out of a zero-tolerance policy where even imaginary weapons are banned, but the school district implied the boy was not suspended simply for that reason.
And in Pennsylvania, a five-year-old girl was suspended for 10 days in January for telling her pals she was going to shoot them with a Hello Kitty toy gun that shoots bubbles.
Do these types of suspensions sound reasonable to you? Should the policies be stricter for teachers than for students? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.
