To the editor:
The arguments supporting the termination of Mr. Gist are nearly identical to those once used to discharge any teacher who drank in a bar, whose sexual associations were suspect, or even who failed to attend church: The school system stands for values.
By all means, let the school system stand for values. Let the board issue statements expressing those values and, if it thinks it necessary, condemning activities or events in the community that it believes transgress those values.
But even to consider discharging an employees because of what he does outside of school, when it is not criminal and when there is no suggestion that he in any way violates the standards of the school system in performing his duties, violates other values that the Brown County schools have claimed to cherish.
Our schools have been proud, and rightly so, of their We the People teams. We the People aims to teach our young people to know and care about such values as free speech and free association. If free speech and association endanger employment by the Brown County schools, the system’s participation in We the People threatens to become a sham.
Respectfully,
Daniel C. Reuter, Nashville
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