From: no_offline_contact@example.com   
      
   On 2026-02-15 7:56 p.m., shawn wrote:   
   > On Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:11:20 -0000 (UTC), BTR1701    
   > wrote:   
   >   
   >> These protocol-communist teachers are allowed to tweet and protest and   
   scream   
   >> obscenities at and about the police all day, they can even put anti-ICE   
   >> propaganda on the walls of their classroom, but one teacher takes the   
   opposite   
   >> viewpoint and he loses his job.   
   >>   
   >> How is that even remotely legal? The government is now telling its employees   
   >> that they can only express their political opinions in public if they   
   support   
   >> the government's views?   
   >   
   > I don't know the rules in IL. but if it's a right to work state (what   
   > a name) there's nothing illegal about it. Though I suppose the union   
   > could fight it but probably won't.   
   >   
   >> Either prohibit political activism for all school staff or allow it   
   regardless   
   >> of opinion. Can't have it both ways. Not legally, anyway. Heidorn should   
   >> contact FIRE or the IFF, see if they will take his case. I'd say the ACLU,   
   but   
   >> they rarely take a case these days if the client isn't a far-left   
   >> 'progressive'.   
   >>   
   >> ----------------------------------   
   >>   
   >>   
   >> https://nypost.com/2026/02/15/us-news/james-heidorn-speaks-ou   
   -after-losing-career-over-two-word-online-post/   
   >>   
   >> A veteran Chicago-area gym teacher was pushed out of his job over a two-word   
   >> social-media post in support of ICE and calls the experience devastating and   
   >> surreal.   
   >   
   > To be clear it wasn't the post. It was the community reaction to the   
   > post that got him fired. Which is certainly unfair, if that is all he   
   > did, but also understandable as I'm sure the school just wanted the   
   > controversy gone and this was the quickest solution.   
   >   
   Heaven forbid that the school use the situation to teach children about   
   the idea of free speech! Far better to throw the teacher to the wolves:   
   that's just the convenient thing to do!   
      
   >> James Heidorn, a "beloved" longtime educator at Gary Elementary School in   
   West   
   >> Chicago, came under heavy fire by hysterical community activists and local   
   >> lawmakers when he wrote "GO ICE" on Facebook last month in response to a   
   news   
   >> story about local cops pledging to cooperate with immigration enforcement.   
   >>   
   >> "This process has been professionally and personally devastating and   
   surreal,"   
   >> Heidorn told Fox News Digital on Sunday. "I've spent 14 years building my   
   >> career, pouring my heart into teaching kids, building relationships and   
   being   
   >> a positive role model. To see it all upended over two simple words where I   
   >> expressed my personal support for law enforcement felt like a severe blow to   
   >> my career."   
   >   
   > He was also clearly oblivious to where he lived/taught and how people   
   > are reacting to any mention of ICE. Of course a  Hispanic community   
   > would react badly to saying such a thing.   
   >   
   >> Heidorn's "GO ICE" posting had sparked an outrage brushfire in his heavily   
   >> Hispanic school district, culminating with the teacher being placed on leave   
   >> and then dragged in to meet with HR on Jan. 22. The phys ed instructor   
   briefly   
   >> quit before rescinding his resignation later that day and was going to   
   return   
   >> to school the following Monday as the investigation continued, but the   
   >> torch-and-pitchfork brigade already had already been whipped into a frenzy.   
   >>   
   >> Illinois state Sen. Karina Villa, who in September was caught on video   
   chasing   
   >> ICE agents down the street, condemned the teacher's "disturbing" Facebook   
   post   
   >> while claiming she stood in "unwavering solidarity" with families who were   
   >> upset by it.   
   >>   
   >> Before the investigation even ran its course, West Chicago Mayor Daniel   
   Bovey   
   >> posted a video of his own on Facebook denouncing Heidorn's pro-ICE post as   
   >> "hurtful and offensive" to many in the community. "The issue is we have   
   >> trusted adults who are the ones that care for those kids when they can't be   
   >> with their mom and their dad. So to have someone cavalierly rooting on-- as   
   if   
   >> it's a football game or something, yeah go-- events which have traumatized   
   >> these children... that is the issue," Bovey said.   
   >>   
   >> Bovey even arranged for a "listening session" for members of the school   
   >> community-- complete with a Spanish translator-- in which parents and locals   
   >> raked Heidorn over the coals, calling his post cruel and claiming kids do   
   not   
   >> feel safe as a result.   
   >>   
   >> "First, this started with a two-word comment on my personal Facebook page   
   >> supporting law enforcement-- nothing more," Heidorn said. "It wasn't   
   directed   
   >> at any student, family or school community. Second, I was placed on leave   
   and   
   >> faced intense pressure before any full investigation or fair process could   
   >> play out, which it led to my resignation. Third, I lost my career, my   
   income,   
   >> and the chance to close out my time with my students properly-- no farewell,   
   >> no goodbyes."   
   >>   
   >> The ousted educator told the outlet that the hardest part of being pushed   
   out   
   >> of his job was the loss of close relationships with students he cultivated   
   >> over the years-- which included pupils from all backgrounds. "Emotionally,   
   >> it's been a roller coaster that has me feeling a great deal of shock, loss   
   and   
   >> deep sadness over losing daily contact with my students. Feelings of anger   
   and   
   >> frustration at how quickly things escalated without real dialogue, and grief   
   >> for not getting to say a proper goodbye to the kids I cared so much for.   
   I've   
   >> had sleepless nights. But I'm trying to stay focused on my family and the   
   >> support I've received from people who know the real me."   
   >>   
   >> After a hearing with school officials, Heidorn resigned a second time before   
   >> he could be fired. As a result of the uproar, Heidorn also lost his gig   
   >> coaching soccer at a nearby private school,and he will be required to   
   explain   
   >> to jobs he applies for why he resigned from Gary Elementary School, leaving   
   >> his future in education up in the air.   
   >>   
   >> "I really don't know what is next for me, as the teaching profession has   
   been,   
   >> up to this point in time, all that I ever wanted to do. It is all I have   
   ever   
   >> studied for and teaching is what has defined me, even advancing my education   
   >> with a master's degree in educational leadership because I wanted to become   
   >> the best teacher I can be," Heidorn said.   
   >>   
   >> Some supporters in the community have rallied behind Heidorn, even   
   launching a   
   >> GoFundMe page on his behalf, calling him a "beloved physical education   
   teacher   
   >> who showed up every day for his students."   
   >>   
      
      
   --   
   Rhino   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)