Student Speak Out Against Teacher's "Some Black Fag" Remark

GENEVA — It’s not just because he’s gay that Geneva High School senior Jordan Hunter was offended when a teacher implied homosexual artists should not get government funding.

What also offended Hunter was a public schoolteacher standing in front of a group of minors and using the term “some black fag.”

“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.

Hunter said during a lecture on tax dollars on Oct. 5, Geneva High consumer education teacher Dave Burk started talking about the National Endowment for the Arts, asking his students, “‘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’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.

Hunter, who reported Burk to the administration immediately after class, 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,” Hunter said. [READ ENTIRE ARTICLE]

Article originally published in its entirety via The Beacon News Online