Chicago Elementary School Teacher Accused of Weapons Possession for Demonstrating Use of Tools in Classroom Gets 4-day Suspension

Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute are appealing the four-day suspension of a Chicago public school teacher who was charged with possessing, carrying, storing or using a weapon after he displayed garden-variety tools such as wrenches, pliers and screwdrivers in his classroom as part of his second grade teaching curriculum that required a "tool discussion." Despite the fact that all potentially hazardous items were kept out of the students' reach, school officials at Washington Irving Elementary School informed Doug Bartlett, a 17-year veteran in the classroom, that his use of the tools as visual aids endangered his students. In addition to being penalized with a four-day suspension without pay, Bartlett was informed that the disciplinary action would be voted on by the Board of Education at a later date. Coming to Bartlett's defense in August 2011, Institute attorneys had warned the school that disciplinary action under these circumstances could constitute a violation of Bartlett's Fourteenth Amendment right to due process. The Rutherford Institute's letter to Washington Irving Elementary School officials in defense of Doug Bartlett is available here. "The charges against Doug Bartlett are absurd—a gross overreaction to a simple teaching demonstration—and underscore exactly what is wrong with zero tolerance policies in the schools," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "School officials should know better than to impose such draconian punishments for innocent actions. Commonplace, basic tools such as wrenches and pliers used as part of a classroom exercise are clearly not weapons. Education truly suffers when school administrators exhibit such poor judgment and common sense."...more