‘ Teachers should n’t be fired for fostering intellectual diversity on campus,’ attorney says
In order to live a state lawsuit brought by a former teacher, the North Carolina Governor’s School will spend out four decades of fellowships and swear to respect its practitioners ‘ free speech.
David Phillips, a neighborhood school English teacher, was fired from the summer school for brilliant high school students after he criticized critical culture idea in a workshop.
After Phillips delivered three additional seminars in June 2021, which addressed important concept and the growing bias and lack of stance variety in higher education, North Carolina public school officials fired him without any justification, according to Alliance Defending Freedom, after filing the original lawsuit.
Now, two and a half years later, the issue has come to a close.
ADF, who represented Phillips, stated in a news release:
The North Carolina Governor’s School has paid Dr. David Phillips roughly four years of his annual stipend and established a policy of respecting faculty free speech in its elective seminars, like the ones Phillips gave shortly before he was fired. The policy affirms the Governor’s School’s desire” to offer elective seminars that present a wide range of viewpoints”. Additionally, it states that the university “accords faculty members the freedom and responsibility to create academic and intellectual experiences that reflect their distinct viewpoints and expertise.”
” Teachers should n’t be fired for fostering intellectual diversity on campus. A good education includes offering students a range of viewpoints that are open to debate, according to ADF Senior Counsel Hal Frampton in the press release.
The professor “was beloved, respected, and well- regarded by both students and faculty as an advocate for students who felt that their voices were n’t being heard and their perspectives were n’t welcomed at the Governor’s School”, according to Frampton.
We’re pleased to settle this dispute favorably on his behalf. Now, the Governor’s School’s policy rightly respects teachers ‘ freedom of speech, which greatly benefits all students and families”, the attorney stated.
After seeing how the school was adopting CRT ideologies, Phillips decided to start offering his optional courses.
He wrote in The Carolina Journal in 2023,” Several years ago, I began offering lectures presenting alternatives to critical race theory and identity politics and critiquing the lack of viewpoint diversity in American education. I wanted to promote viewpoint diversity and counter the growing ideological orthodoxy I saw at the school.”
He wrote,” My intention was not and never has been to persuade students to adopt my own beliefs.”
” I want them to challenge their own presumptions, encounter other points of view, and draw their own reasonable conclusions from thoughtful analysis so they can see the value in diversity of thought,” I said.
MORE: Penn State funds ‘ decolonial graphic novel,’ other CRT art projects
IMAGE: David Phillips/Linked In
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