Academic freedom is another casualty of No Child Left Behind. Also, a way to fire teachers in tough budget years.

Can someone please explain to me how "Heather Has Two Mommies" contains graphic violence, sexual themes, profanity, suicide, drugs or alcohol? Two women raising a child together is not sex. If it is, then a depiction of a mommy and a daddy is also a reference to the sex they must inevitably have. Gay people are just that--people. They are not sexual content.

"He based his ruling on the 2006 U.S. Supreme Court's decision Garcetti v. Ceballos, which states a public employee has no First Amendment rights when speaking officially." Does this mean elected public employess, too? Hmmmm.....

I believe this court decision deprives students of reading and critically discussing some very important topics that will affect them in their adult lives. Of course, by outlawing these books students are more likely to read every one of them, as we all did with books band by the church.

I don't think that the courts aresayingyou can't talk about or use these books but that an individual teacher can't make this call. That it is up to the board of education to determine the ciriculum (official speech).

I'm sure you would agree with the court that the school's right to control its curriculum outweighs the teacher's First Amendment right to choose her materials and teaching methods if the teacher in question were a Christian who was "proselytising" by teaching from the Judeo-Christian scriptures--the Bible. The principal and school board are the "management," and the teachers work under their supervision. I would hate to think that any and every teacher has the right to teach whatever and however he or she wished.

As an educator of more than 35 years, I do not feel sorry for this teacher. She knew, or should have known, this assignment would land her in hot water. It is not about academic freedom but about age appropriateness. She would have been better off teaching college freshmen this same lesson rather than high school freshmen. When I was in high school, we had an English department engaged in anti-war poetry and writings... we, the student body, realized it was about mind control and manipulation and these "authors" were nobodies. We were right. Many of us did not agree with the war in Viet Nam but we all had draft numbers and were not going to go down as draft dodgers for some liberal idiot English teachers.

One might argue that perhaps she might have been advised to re-think her choice of suggested books, but firing her? That seems a bit extreme.

I am reading this the day after our country's Mid Term elections, and this "nail in the coffin" adds to my depression.I know there's a higher court than the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. After 8 years, does Evans-Marshall have th stamina, financial resources to appeal the decision? Please follow up on this article.

I fault the administration and school board in this issue. It seems all books were approved by the board. It also seems that not all books were required, which enables students or parents to select based on their own value system. I read Fahrenheit 451 in high school, then later in life was fortunate to hear Ray Bradbury speak about writing Fahrenheit 451. I enjoyed it in high school, but at that time thought it was about censorship. After finding out that Bradbury's intention was to write about the television's negative affect on society, I read it from a new perspective. The quickest way to get me to read a book, is to tell me I can't. Therefore, I believe the parents, board, and administrator only succeeded in eliminating a teacher. I would imagine quite a few students are reading the books to find out what all the fuss is about. I think the court had no other choice in its ruling, but the board and the administrator of the school did and sadly they did not perform their job well.

The parents and school board of this district have not launched a brave attack against obscenity; rather, they have launched an ill-advised attack on intelluctual freedom, informed discussion, and debate. In short, IDEAS seems to be the problem there, NOT questionable content. Under their broad definition, classics such as The Scarlet Letter--or even books from the Bible!--wouldn't make the final cut for an English class. How completely absurd! That community deserves every small-minded, vacuous twit they are surely raising. What an embarrassment for Ohio!

The thing I'm getting caught up on is "some students elected to read Lesléa Newman's picture book, Heather Has Two Mommies" This makes it sound like it was -their- choice to read that particular book. We're not told whether it was off of a list of some kind (aside of the ALA Banned Books list). What were other choices? Were they deemed inappropriate, too?

What this teacher did was not equivalent to proselytizing in a classroom, but was an example of freedom of speech, which are both in the First Amendment. If upheld, the court ruling establishes a very dangerous precedent that threatens academic endeavors everywhere, in that yet again, the angry mob outraged by what it doesn't know and refuses to understand are allowed to silence knowledge and learning. So this is the United States of America in the 21st century... no wonder we are so far down the list in global academic and scientific educational achievement.

By banning books like this and prohibiting discussion of the various themes that are written about in these stories, we as an academic society are aiding students in opinion formation. As a society, we should be encouraging discussion about debatable topics and guiding students during discussions so that the opinions that are formed are done so with some rational discussion and responsibility. In regard to choosing novels or literature for middle and high school students, parents need to read those which the school board deems appropriate and tell us that there is no questionable language or topics presented. Parents need to value the teacher that gets students to think beyond regurgitation

Ray Bradbury is far from a "nobody" and is age-appropriate for high school. Apparently, the teacher was using his novel as a springboard for exploring censorship. That's certainly an appropriate topic for 9th graders to discuss. As long as the "Two Mommies" book was a choice, there should have been no problem with it. It's about inclusion, not exclusion. You may decide against your child reading the book but you do not have the right to prevent others from reading it. The sad part is that the petition was signed by the parents who were against the book. They decided for everyone else what their kids could be exposed to. Ironic only begins to cover it.

No wonder so many thousands of adult Americans lack the ability to think and to reason clearly and objectively when school boards and judges act in such an irresponsible manner. One of a teacher's roles is to challenge children and teens to think for themselves, to learn how to assess the value of various types of literature and to form their own opinion on real-life situations such as censorship, same sex families and limits of authority. By dismissing this teacher, this community has severely diminished any hope of that happening. I speak as an educator with over 40 years teaching and administrative experience worldwide.

Sad, really. I would be more inclined to vote for this teacher if she ran for President. Never would the thought enter my mind to fire her. Tippecanoe School District has truely committed an injustice to their students with this firing. By no mean should children be taught free thinking or instilled with the ability to make decisions for themselves...I guess this is what Tippecanoe School District's thought process is. Sad. Sad. Sad.

You can't tell me that these kids are not watching graphic violence, sexual themes, profanity, suicide, drugs or alcohol on main stream TV with their parents consent. Just watch the news. Come on people!