Can somebody jump in their time machine and go back and ask Jefferson if there's anything in his Koran about this?RICHMOND, Va. — A high school art teacher who sparked controversy after his off-hours work as a “butt-printing artist” became known has been fired.
Back off, man, I'm an artist...
The Chesterfield County School Board, in a unanimous voice vote, terminated Stephen Murmer at a meeting last night, school spokeswoman Debra Marlow said.
Get your painted ass OUT!
The vote came after Chesterfield Superintendent Marcus J. Newsome recommended that Murmer be fired. Murmer and his lawyer, Jason Anthony, also had an opportunity to present their case in a closed session of the 3-hour meeting, Marlow said. The vote came after the meeting was opened to the public.
I'm sure the debate was right up there with the Scopes Monkey Trial...
In its decision, the board reasoned that students have a right to receive their education in a positive learning environment free from distractions and disruptions, Marlow said. The decision also is in keeping with court rulings that hold that teachers are expected to lead by example, be role models and honor core values, she said.
The teachers union shall hear of this!
After the board’s vote, Anthony said it was “a bad day for the First Amendment.”
And for butt painting artists everywhere. You can almost feel the cold wind of the blacklist on their painted asses. Or McCarthyism. Or...something.
“Chesterfield lost a tremendous asset today,” he said.
Ya spelled it wrong, counselor.
Murmer, a teacher at Monacan High School, was suspended in December after objections were raised about his private abstract artwork, much of which includes smearing his posterior and genitals with paint and pressing them against canvas. His paintings sell for as much as $900 each on his Web site.
Why, yes, it is an original Murmer...
The unique approach to art became a topic when a clip showing Murmer, wearing a fake nose and glasses, a towel on his head and black thong, turned up on YouTube.com. That video inevitably made its way to the high school.
Like, wow, man. Is that, like, Mr. Murmer? Wow. Dood...
Murmer contacted the American Civil Liberties Union after he was suspended, and ACLU executive director Kent Willis said last night that the case is far from simple.
Oh, God. Everybody hates us, every friggin whackjob on this planet calls us, and they all think the ACLU will make everything all better. I really hate this job...
“A public employee such as a school teacher has a right to free expression outside the workplace so long as that free expression doesn’t go beyond his ability to do his job,” Willis said after learning of the board’s vote to dismiss Murmer.
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah....
“The question is, ‘Does his art interfere with his ability to teach?’”
Would I want him teaching my kid? Are you fuckin crazy...
Willis noted that it wasnÂ’t until the county decided to suspend Murmer a month ago that the video illustrating his unusual approach to art became a topic of discussion. He said the county had overreacted with its decision to fire Murmer.
Four years of college, law school, pass the bar and they're asking me about some guy's painted ass...