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Texas Teacher suspended for being "Liberal" and an "atheist"
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For the past few days I have been in contact with Mr. Richard Mullens a
school teacher in Brookeland Tx. Brookeland Tx, is an incredibly
"Conservative" area of Texas, and only 16 miles up the road from Jasper
Tx. the scene of several incidents of racial violence and murder.
Mullens has been the victim of a smear campaign and a slew of unethical
practices, based solely on his religious and political beliefs. I have
received numerous calls today from area parents, and concerned local
residents who feel that Mr. Mullens is a good teacher, who has
encouraged and inspired his students to think critically, and
independently and is innocent of all charges, both spoken and written.
In fact the administration of Brookeland High School made attempts to
urge students to sign a list of alleged chargers against Mr. Mullens of
which over 100 students out of 103 refused to sign.The students
attempted to present to the Board of education a petition in support of
Mr. Mullens and refuting any charges of inappropriate language made
against him. The Principal of Brookeland High School, not only refused
to take this petition to the board but forbade the students from such
actions. Mr. Mullins is being railroaded by a School board of which all
of those who support his removal are members of the same church. A
church who's pastor has openly called for there to be only Christian
teachers in the Brookeland school district. Currently the Mid-South
Peace and Justice Center is in contact with several local and national
civil rights organizations in Texas, who will be contacting Mr.
Mullens, investigating this situation and offering their support. But
if anyone out there knows any other resource that can be brought in to
stop this injustice, I ask you please contact us, and forward this out
to them. at Brad@midsouthpeace.org The following is a statement of
events from Mr. Mullens, some names and details were redacted by me.
I,
Richard Mullens, have been a teacher in the state of Texas since 1971.
I have never received a negative comment, complaint, or write-up during
this period of time. On the contrary, I have received recognition for
my teaching and the test scores of my students. No matter what district
I've taught in, my students have always excelled in the state mandated
tests. I currently teach in Brookeland, TX, a small rural district
about 16 miles north of Jasper, TX. I've taught at Brookeland for the
past 6 years. I've been in my current position as US history,
government, and economics teacher for 3 years.
These past 2
years have been an exciting time for me as a history and government
teacher. My classes have followed the primary and election campaigns.
My senior class last year, with the aid of the superintendent Lana
Comeaux, was able to travel to Beaumont, TX to see Bill Clinton make a
stump speech on behalf of his wife Hillary Clinton. In class we
followed the primary campaign using Newsweek magazine and Junior
Scholastic magazine to keep us informed about the issues. We had
passionate debates about the issues and the candidates. It was obvious
to my class that I supported Barack Obama. I allowed all students to
express their opinions, as long as they did not include racial slurs or
non-factual information. On occasion, I had to correct misinformation
that was expressed by students. For example, that Barack Obama was
un-American, that he did not say the pledge, and that he was a
terrorist. After Barack Obama's election, I was looking forward to
being able to share the inauguration with my students by letting them
watch it on TV in my classroom. But instead, I found myself at home
suspended from my job.
On November 7th, at a basketball game
that was supposed to be our homecoming scrimmage, I sat at the scores
table as a coach with Lana Comeaux, the superintendent. I was not
allowed to coach because we would be in violation of UIL rules. Lana
Comeaux at that time told me she was under pressure from the school
board and they were looking for her to resign. She said that my name
was also on the list of people that the board wanted to resign or fire.
I asked why, and she said that a school board member had expressed to
her that he believed I was an atheist and a liberal. She asked me if I
was an atheist and I refused to answer the question. I said, "I won't
play this game. I didn't know you had to take a religious test to be a
teacher in the state of Texas." Nothing was said after that point,
although there was a lot of tension among the other coaches about
whether they would be able to keep their jobs or not, because she also
told them that many of them were on the list.
Then on January
7th, a student in my classroom in second period left my class, went to
the Principal's office, and told him that there was an inappropriate
discussion in my classroom. I was informed by the principal, Richard
Turner, that I needed to talk to her mother because she was very upset.
Her mother came to class on January 7th, came to the school January
7th, very upset. She made some threats to me in the hallway. And then
on January 8th, Mr. Turner informed me that I needed to call the
parent, Mrs. Lowe. On January 9th, I had Vicki Smith, the school
secretary, call "REDACTED" on my behalf to arrange a conference at
10:35 Monday, January 12th. Monday the 12th, I met with REDACTED and
School Principal Richard Turner in his office. REDACTED was very angry.
She accused me of being an atheist, saying I was too liberal, and that
I allowed the students to talk about inappropriate things in the
classroom. I told her that occasionally students would get on topics
and say things, but I was unable to censor them before they were able
to say them. She said that I called her daughter a name and I denied
the accusation. But then she said that I didn't believe in god and
shouldn't be teaching. She also said that she had spoken to 3 other
board members who agreed with her that I shouldn't be teaching because
I was too liberal and I was an atheist.
On January 15th, there
was a board meeting. Nothing was on the agenda concerning me. During
the open forum, several audience members spoke to their concerns that I
was an atheist and I was too liberal. On January 16th, I was called to
Mr. Richard Turner's office (my principal), and he informed me that I
had been put on administrative leave with pay. The reasons, as stated
to me by Mr. Turner at the time, were that I was accused of being an
atheist and teaching atheism in the classroom, and I was too liberal.
On January 23rd, Mr. Turner and members of the board met behind closed
doors concerning my suspension and allegations that were directed at
me. On January 24th, I received a certified letter from Mr. Turner that
stated that the causes for my suspension apparently had been changed to
inappropriate contact with students and comments. He admonished me in
the letter for having contact with students who had text-messaged me
during my first week of suspension, but I had not received any
administrative directive, or anything in writing, prior to that time
telling me I could not have contact with students. On January 26th, I
called my lawyer REDACTED, with ATTE, and informed him of my situation
that I was put on administrative leave with pay, pending an
investigation.
I later had conversations with parents and a
person who lives in the community, who informed me that the principal
had met with the minister of the local church and had discussed my
suspension with him. I also later received information from REDACTED,a
"SCHOOL EMPLOYEE-POSITION REDACTED", that the minister was now subbing
at the school and that he had heard that he would be taking my
position, or if I returned he would be co-teaching with me.
There
have been a number of rumors in our community now concerning
inappropriate behavior: high school girls coming to my class to
supposedly smoke marijuana, all kinds of accusations made by the
members of the missionary baptist church at which this minister is the
preacher. In the January 24th letter from Mr. Richard Turner, my
principal, I was also informed that my suspension had been extended
indefinitely.
Sincerely,
Richard Mullens
"...but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."
To All That It May Concern:
My father was a high school administrator for over 30 years. All of that time was spent in small schools in Oklahoma and Kansas. One of the things that we encountered in those small rural schools was "if you angered one of the highly respected members of the community, you soon had the whole community upset". It sounds to me that even though Richard has taught in this community for 6 years, they still consider him an "outsider". He will always be an "outsider". He may have done nothing wrong, but when something is not right. It is much easier to blame an "outsider" than one of your own.
I believe that Richard is an excellent teacher, who is trying to teach his students to have an open mind. To look at all sides of an issue before making a decision. Something the community leaders in this wonderful Texas town, have not learned. I encourage everyone to support Richard in his fight to teach his students to be free thinkers and to make decisions on their own. I would like to add that I believe I received a wonderful education in those small rural schools.
Thanks for listening to my thoughts
Russell Neely
"Yet another school I can put in my "do not hire graduates from here" folder.
Sweet."
Are you serious? This just proves how bad the few prejudice, ignorant people in Brookeland make the rest of us look. I can assure you that most of the students are growing up to be open-minded, intelligent people. But, I guess you would have known this if you would have read the post in it's entirety, "In fact the administration of Brookeland High School made attempts to urge students to sign a list of alleged chargers against Mr. Mullens of which over 100 students out of 103 refused to sign."
I guess extreme ignorance occurs outside Southeast Texas, as well! hmm.
What do you think?
Schools like to say that they are preparing their students for the world. If you point out that what they're doing is detrmental to that goal, maybe they'll change their behavior.
Or, I dunno, maybe you can just keep trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.
If you see that 100 out of 103 kids signed a petition in favor of their teacher, you would realize that those students are getting a terrific education that will serve them well in their adult lives.
They're learning what bigotry and ignorance can do to an individual, and they will be far more aware of how fragile our rights are in this wonderful democracy of ours. They'll be sensitive to bullies and will be far more prepared to go to bat for those who are being wronged than people their age who haven't been exposed to this kind of discrimination and stupidity.
Your post suggests a certain kind of narrow-mindedness that mirrors far too closely the actions of the Brookeland school board.
Read and think about what you posted. I'm sure you meant something else entirely. It's never too late to correct yourself.
What about the students who are think for themselves, plan on going to college and staying the heck away from their small rural towns? Not everyone born, bred and educated in these ueber-conservative towns are future racist, close-minded school board members in the making. Sheesh.
Holy hell, you people really *are* dense. Please look up "hyperbole," and then "sarcasm" in your favorite reference. Don't bother looking up "gullible" -- it's not a real word.
We are doing something to change the way the older generation believe they can act in our community. In fact, this whole thing started because students were questioning the ability of the school to keep religion and education separate. We, the students and graduates of BHS have been working our asses off to make sure Mr. Mullins gets the justice he deserves. You must have no clue how tight of a grip the religious conservatives have on small southern towns. Students have been questioning authority at BHS for years, but it had to take such a travesty to get other people involved.
So excuse me if I don't apologize for becoming offended by your use of "sarcasm." As a BHS graduate, I take this whole situation incredibly personal and considering the pressure students are already facing from certain people in the community, I don't find your negative comments helpful, funny, entertaining, needed, or appreciated.
So your defense of your first post was also a joke?
How come you defended instead of explaining?
Hyperbole is not what you were doing, and sarcasm hardly covers it.
It also wasn't even funny, if that was your intent.
LOGAN!!! you know who it is if u read my comment.
brookeland is so fucked up. so glad im outta there.
I'm not an American - I'm an Australian and I'm an Atheist. I teach in the Public Sector. So far I have never been asked what religion I am, and I have never offered any information to my employer about that, because frankly - it's NONE of their business. Mr Mullens, come to Australia, we need people like you. It is absolutely appauling what has happened. As far as I'm concerned the whole Department should be sacked, and they should place you in charge. All the very best.
If he had been accused of being too christian and too conservative we would not be having this conversation right now.
If this teacher had been fired for being "too conservative" and "too religious" you'd have seen the same firestorm that the former Miss California set off with her anti-gay crusade. The fact that I had never heard of this incident until I read about it here is some indication as to how LITTLE attention this has received in the 'main stream media'!
Call John Lynch the Superintendent at 409-698-2152 and let him know what you think.
Logan, while I agree with your sentiment that one bad apple does not spoil the bushel, I am sure you can see Jason B's point that a lot of people will view the students from these schools as "fruits of the poisonous tree," to borrow a phrase. Addressing such a topic as this, it is nigh impossible to assess the relative merits of every single student to traipse out the door of a Brookeland, TX, high school, thus we address this phenomenon in general terms. This is, after all, a blog.
Another way of looking at Jason B's point is to view it in terms of "why take a chance," especially if an individual product of a Brookeland school did not continue his education past grade 12.
There is the additional point that needs to be made that TX brings this kind of vitriol on itself by continuing to elect the kind of school boards that would fire a teacher for not being religous enough. Can you really blame people for wanting to disconnect TX from the rest of the U.S. and cast it adrift in the Gulf of Mexico?
That wasn't my sentiment. My point was that 101 high school students out of 103 refused to discredit Mr. Mullin's teaching abilities, meaning that the students are breaking away from their community's close-minded and prejudice views.
Besides that, we have been posting, commenting, emailing, and calling various people and organizations, trying to find support for this cause. We have been encouraging students to get involved, and it's been working. What we need is for people to forward this story, tell their friends, write their government officials if they live in Texas, and not let Mr. Mullin's case get swept under the rug. What we don't need is negative, ignorant, or generalized statements. Sure, feel free to post them all you want, it's a blog and people always seem to feel that their comments are needed. I'm just here to say that I will stand in support of my peers at BHS, no matter how small the issue at hand.
By the way, I can't stand Texas, but I can't help where I was raised. Also, at this point in time I'm just not financially secure enough to afford out-of-state tuition. So, I find it very important to support those who are changing the system, like these kids.
Perhaps some of these students, parents and may be even Mr. Mullen should run for their local school board. Imagine if over a 100+ people filed to run in the next school board election. The School Board Members who hired the Principal of Brookeland High School would be receiving their pink slips come election day and so would the Principal of Brookeland High School.
Not necessarily about Mr. Mullen's account of his firing (which I believe), but about the framing of it. Specifically: "In fact the administration of Brookeland High School made attempts to urge students to sign a list of alleged chargers against Mr. Mullens of which over 100 students out of 103 refused to sign." Over 100 students out of 103 refused to sign the charges? OK, so this means, what, 101 out of 103, or 102 out of 103? These are your choices. Why not just say "101 out of 103" or "102 out of 103," or even the more dramatic-sounding "all but two (or one) out of 103"? This makes me think there are details here that aren't being shared. So . . . what are they?
That is such an utterly meaningless detail. There is no possible way that it could hint to anything significant "hidden" facts.
from personal experience, i dont think this has to do with religion or the man being athiest. he is a very open person who obviously got a little too open. ive had him as a teacher before and there were some problemsthat i ran into while in his classroom. the students agree to keep him in school as a teaher, but when relationships with the teacher leave the campus and get more involved outside of school, there is a problem. i myself am a victim to this. i had been asked to write statements about my situation, but then i was told to just leave it alone. i dont think mr mullens is a bad teacher, nor a bad man. his conversations just get a little too carried away in the classroom. i havent exactly came out about this to many people, but im just making it known, that he is prone to being attracted to younger girls and taking advantage of it. im proof.
so in my opinion, i dont think he should teach anymore, just for the simple fact that i know there are other girls out there that this same situation could happen to. and if there are any out there, who may possibly be reading this, your not alone.
That's a pretty serious accusation you're making, Amy. Here are my problems with it:
1. If a teacher is having inappropriate relationships with students -- or even attempting to initiate such relationships -- there are school policy's that address this. Those policies should have been followed and cited. The suspension should not have been justified by appeals to classroom management issues.
2. If someone is having inappropriate relationships with minors -- or even attempting to inituate such relationships -- there are criminal laws that may be applicable. And yet, I've seen no mention -- here or on other news reports -- of a criminal investigation by the police.
3. There are usually also civil tort laws that are applicable to the kind of situations you are describing. And yet, there are no reports of any of the wronged students or their families taking legal actions.
Now, perhaps there are reasons to explain away the above three issues I raise. But that would mean that a number of people are going through a lot of effort to cover up the real reason they're trying to oust Mr. Mullens. One must wonder that if things are bad enough that they have to oust him, why would they want to keep it so hush-hush.
Exactly. I can't speak for Mr. Mullin's actions with other students, besides the fact that almost all the students refused to sign an affidavit saying he did anything improper. My anger at the situation stems from the point that over a month prior to his suspension, he was asked about his religious beliefs, and told by the superintendent, who by the way is resigning this year as well, that the school board had been on her back about his teaching methods, due to the fact that they believed he was an atheist.
The girl (not Amy, the girl whose actions had him suspended) accusing him of misconduct was not saying it was a personal offense, only that his class discussions got offensive. What seems odd to me is that this girl's family is part of the same church that the majority of the school board goes to, the same school board that corned Mrs. Comeaux, and the same school board that held a meeting where Mr. Mullins actions and personal opinions were discussed. He wasn't on the agenda for that night and everyone knew that he wouldn't be there to stand up for himself.
Besides that, the girl's mother, Mr. Turner, and Mrs. Comeaux all commented on his being an Atheist and a Liberal. This is discrimination, and it's illegal. I personally believe that the entire thing was set-up, perhaps even to the point that the church discussed his views, and told the children in their congregation to go to the office as soon as debate started in the classroom.
Brookeland has continued to force it's religion on the students of BHS, sending students to the office and subsequently suspending them for refusing to say the pledge, handing out candies with scripture during holidays, holding prayer during group assemblies, etc. This behaviour is no longer acceptable, and they've gone too far this time.
If there were more serious problems between the school and Mr. Mullins, that should have been all that was ever discussed. His religious beliefs and his political views have nothing to do with his conduct, and they should have not let their own opinions on Christianity and government get in the way of their job. As it is now, they have broken the law because they discriminated against an employee, and I want to bring as much attention to it as I can. They can't be allowed to continue this totalitarian reign regarding the student's and teacher's rights to think for themselves. It's done nothing but hurt the students.
First, regarding the comment from Amy M. Learn to use your <shift> key. And apostrophes. It is impossible to take seriously the comments of someone with the writing skills of a 6 year old.
Regarding Mr. Mullens and the church that apparently has a choke hold on the community. The preacher and his congregation should be rushed to their god forthwith. Mr. Mullens might want to seriously consider that offer from Australia. Oz has it's quirks, but it's nowhere near as screwed up as the U.S. is getting. I don't care if all you xians want to have your imaginary friends, keep it at home and in your churches, the rest of us have grown up.
well first of all i wasnt trying to be grammatically correct while writing this. i was just letting folks know about the situation and how it could possibly happen again. no need to be a smartass about it. but, reasons why it was never taken to the police or the school board is because my mother took care of it herself. after that, the problem stopped, so we left it alone.
i dont need anyones comments on why i did or did not take it further into investigation, it was just a statement and a warning.
You made claims about a past experience for which you now have no corroborating evidence. You implied that it probably happened again, despite the fact that there's nothing so far that corroborates your speculations. Considering defammatory nature of your claims and speculations, people are bound to ask these kinds of questions. If you didn't expect it, you certainly have a lot to learn.
well if i had said that it had happened again, my freaking bad. i just know that he is capable of doing those things because it happened to me. im not blaming him for anything, nor am i against him. i was willing myself. but now that i have LEARNED that it wasnt the right thing to do, i just wanted to inform you guys about the situation and that it could happen again. from being a student in his class, i know how he interacts with the students and sometimes he can get a little too interested in certain topics that shouldnt be dicussed in a classroom. mr mullens is a great teacher and awesome parent. and i pray that he and his family will come through this.
you didnt have to be so rude about it either. if u have a problem with what im writing on here, then dont reply back to it.
I haven't been rude about anything. I'm simply responding to your comments with the level of seriousness and critical thought that they demand, given the seriousness of the statements you have made. If you can't handle that, you might want to think twice before making potentially defammatory statements in the future.
What exactly was the "problem?" Did he try to have sex with you? Did he rape you? Or did he just talk about political and religious topics you didn't like?
Kind of sounds like the girl that reported him in the article.
And if she seriously wants to call someone a pedophile she better have more to back it up than poorly worded accusations or "just a warning". This issue is much more serious than she is treating it.
paidofil is Hellènic for kid-friend, which has to do with..? Not only is America cretinose and illiterate, it is laden with ageist, unconstitutional, and illegal laws, policies, and beliefs about.
The hicks here could learn how to spell:
who's -> whose
it's -> its
"havent came". Hmmpf, a southernism. At least she's not from Tennessee.
The situation in Brookeland reminds me very much of reports of what life was like in Stalin's Soviet Union. In order to gain favor with higher-ups, people denounced anyone whose speech or behavior was anything outside of normed orthodox propaganda. Such people were immediately liable to being denounced as revisionists, or unpatriotic (i.e. anti-Soviet), or anti-communist. This was enough to make you lose your job, your residence, or even your life. A simple denunciation was sufficient, and having someone dislike you or even be jealous of your personal popularity was enough to earn you such a denunciation. From the sound of things, Stalin's Soviet Union is alive and well right here at home in Texas. How embarrasing. If the ACLU can do anything, fine. Otherwise, send in the army or something, and remind people down there that our elected officials swear to protect us against all enemies, foreign and domestic. It sounds to me like, with the Stalinist tendencies of that church and school board, that America has some serious enemies (domestic) right here in Texas. Cheers, by the way, to those students (and parents, if any), who had the courage to stand up and speak out against the wrongs they saw, and were powerless to prevent. Their courage appears to be far greater than that of many of their elders.
Amy said all I needed to hear when she said "I'll pray for him and his family". There's more to her words than she's saying. No doubt. I feel sorry for this man.
Local school boards are the least vetted and undemocratic elecete officials in the U.S.
This is illustrated by the Old Dover PA board and others that try to introduce I.D into sshools.
I am a student at Brookeland ISD ,and I was a student of Mr.Richard Mullens, and I can honestly tell anybody that reads this blog that Mr.Richard Mullens is a great teacher and Great man! Mr.Mullens let us speak are mind on what we thought about politics. Mr.Mullens never let us have inappropate conversations in his classroom and if we did get on topics that was inappropate he quickly told us not to talk about that topic in his classroom.What needs to be done in the United States is we need to separate church from school! I support Mr.Richard Mullens!
SEPARATE CHURCH FROM SCHOOL!
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By Justin B on Feb 3, 2009 10:41 PM ESTHello,
My name is Justin Bentley and I graduated Brookeland ISD in 2007. I was the Salutatorian and Student Body President and I had a great relationship with all students and teachers. Mr. Mullens was by far one of my favorite and most respected teachers. He is an excellent teacher and has one of the best teaching methods I've ever encountered. On top of being very open-minded, he can practically recite a history book by memory. I find all the accusations to be completely ridiculous.
As stated, the school board is extremely conservative and narrow-minded. To be more precise, I would even go as far as saying they discriminate in many forms. If you asked half of the members of the board if they would allow their children to date a race or ethnicity other than their own, they would give you two comments; 'No', or 'No Comment'.
Personally, I believe everything that has happened in the past few months is completely absurd and something needs to be done about it. Between Mrs. Lana Comeaux and Mr. Richard Mullens, Brookeland ISD was one of the most excelled schools in Texas and almost all students will agree. I believe I speak for most of the current Brookeland student body and recently graduated students when I say that things have gone too far.
Sincerely,
Justin Bentley