" And perhaps points to a key deficiency within the public school milieu. After all, just because a particular educational principle is not carefully scripted into the classroom plan or even school year does not mean that its unexpected inclusion is an interruption of learning. In fact, I would submit that any discussion concerning the "protected nature" of the student's speech, as well as the issues surrounding it would, in itself, constitute "education" if of an unscheduled kind. Further, I would also submit that the ability of individual teachers to on occasion "roll with the events" and use them as a teaching opportunity would point directly to principles of quality education, rather than an excessive reliance on pre-scripted or scheduled lesson plans provided by affluent text-book publishing companies.

Whether the student's disciplinary action was founded is another matter. I, for one would tend to err on the side of the...
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