Solidarity needed: New Mexico teacher suspended for coaching anti-war poets

[glparramatta <glparramatta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Green Left Weekly Writer and New Mexico High School teacher Bill Nevins
remains suspended from his teaching job since March 17.  The reasons for
the suspension are patently absurd, and demonstrably false.  In a letter
sent to Nevins by the Rio Rancho NM school district administration, he
is accused of having permitted students to go on "field trips" to
evening poetry slam contests without filing school field trip forms.  As
these events were not under school control, and during students own
time, there is no basis for any claim that these were field trips.

Strong suspicion has arisen in the NM media and among parents and
students that the suspension was secretly for unstated reasons other
than the bogus accusations made by the school authorities.  In fact,
students report that with Nevins not on campus, the school
administration has in effect put the student poetry club out of
business.  Students state they have been intimidated by school
officials' interrogations of student poets, and that no effort has been
made by the school to appoint an interim replacement poetry coach in
Nevins' absence.  Students state they are scared and afraid of "what
this means for free speech not just in our school but in the whole USA".

There has been much media speculation that the school administration
acted to suspend Nevins after deciding that a poem written and read by
one of the students on the slam team was both anti-war and disrespectful
of the US administration and George W Bush.  Since Nevins' suspension,
students have been forbidden to read poems aloud at the school.
However, a number of NM adult poets have "adopted" the controversial
student poem "Revolution X" and are reading it at frequent open poetry
mikes around the state.

Growing speculation now focuses on Nevins' role as a GLW reporter based
in the USA.  There is suspicion in progressive NM circles that his
suspension may be an instance of the USA Patriot Act being secretly
invoked.  This "wartime" law, enacted in response to the 9/11/01 events,
greatly enhances the secret powers of government agencies to spy on
citizens and to take actions which are deemed warranted by "national
security".  There is speculation that a government agency, such as the
Office of Homeland Security may have contacted the Rio Rancho School
District and urged Nevins' removal from the classroom. His suspension
took effect on the day Bush announced the imminent US attack on Iraq.

Meanwhile, at least 7 other New Mexico teachers have been suspended or
disciplined in the past two weeks for war-related matters involving free
speech.

The American Civil Liberties Union has now taken up Nevins' case, as
well as those of many of the other suspended NM teachers.

Contact Bill at bill_nevins@xxxxxxxxx to offer solidarity.

Green Left Weekly http://www.greenleft.org.au