How stupid can a hateful educator get?

Which is worse in this teacher: his odious bigotry, or his incredible dumbassery?

A Geneva High School teacher is being accused of making anti-gay and racist comments in his classroom.

Dave Burk, who teaches consumer education, is accused of making the comments by his students during an Oct. 5 lecture on tax money involving the National Endowment for the Arts.

"How would you feel about your tax dollars going to pay some black fag in New York to take pictures of other black fags?" Burk allegedly asked, according to student Jordan Hunter.

Apparently, this dumbass even repeated the same line in several other classes, which leads me to conclude that he must’ve just wanted to be caught. Seriously: no-one who becomes a teacher can be that freakin’ stupid. (Or so, I wish I could truthfully believe.)

Take a look at the pathetic non-defense his lawyer is setting up:

Burk's attorney, D.J. Tegeler, said Monday he was not personally aware of the terms Burk used to his classes, but that Burk apologizes for any offense.

"Mr. Burk is cooperating fully with both the principal, the dean of students and the school board," Tegeler said. "Mr. Burk's biggest problem is he does not want to intentionally offend anybody and if he did, he apologizes."

Tegeler said Burk will abide by any punishment the district picks. "We have no intention of fighting anything," Tegeler said.

He clearly realizes this case is one that’s been lost before it even began, if they’re fully compliant with any penalty(s) they may receive. But, Burk not having wanted to intentionally offend anyone is not the problem, here. The issue, is that in addition to being a flagrant racist homophobe, he actually decided to speak his filthy mind in the middle of a classroom. Seriously, if you’re a bigoted asshole, at least keep your dumbassery to yourself. Don’t actually spread it around, which these days is thankfully no more or less than a one-way ticket to the courts.

Here’s what the student who reported Burk has to say:

Hunter, who reported Burk to the administration, wants Burk fired.

"If he wants to talk about a poor place to put our tax dollars, I think his salary is a poor place to put our tax dollars," said Hunter, who is gay.

Hunter said several other students have contacted him, saying Burk repeated the same phrase in all his classes. "He's free to feel any way he wants, but [with him] being in a position of influence like that over children, I don't think he should be using that position to make statements like that," said Hunter, 17, of Geneva.

Well said. Thankfully, I don’t see how this could not result in his losing his job, if not worse. What … a … dumbass.

(via Dispatches from the Culture Wars)
Technorati tags: racism · homophobia · bigotry · Dave Burk · Jordan Hunter · Geneva High School