Education

Flag-stomping South Carolina teacher appeals his firing

Font Size:

The South Carolina English teacher who was fired stomping on an American flag in front of his students — in three different class periods — wants his job back.

Chapin High School teacher Scott Compton had no intention to be disrespectful, his attorney Darryll Smalls has said. Instead, says Smalls, Compton threw the flag on the floor and stomped on it to demonstrate that the United States is a noble idea greater than any symbols representing it.

The seven-member Lexington-Richland 5 school board didn’t buy the argument, though. The board agreed with Superintendent Stephen Hefner’s recommendation that Compton should be sacked.

Compton is now asking the board to overturn the firing, reports The State, a regional newspaper.

The embattled teacher is seeking a closed-door session for the appeal hearing. A private hearing is necessary, maintains Smalls, “due to the threats and intimidation directed toward him and subsequently to his family and supporters.”

“A public hearing would only add to the emotional nature in which many people are viewing this story,” Smalls told The State.

Outrage in the local community was widespread when news of Compton’s antics first became public last month. Chapin High’s location, only a short drive from the Fort Jackson, a United States Army installation where about half the country’s combat training occurs, did not work in Compton’s favor.

Superintendent Hefner counted himself among the offended. “The actions that occurred are unprofessional and not consistent with the standards of our district,” he told The State.

Many others agreed.

“Based on this person’s actions, this teacher is not a role model for my children,” said one local parent, according to WAFF, an Alabama NBC affiliate. “And is the epitome of who I don’t want my children to grow up to be.”

Compton’s defenders include family members and some prior students. At least a few journalists have stood up for his unusual teaching methods as well.

“It’s a lesson that patriots should be embracing, not vilifying,” pontificated Myrtle Beach’s Sun News. “Those so quick to excoriate Compton should remember some of the very values that flag represents, with freedom of expression high on that list.”

Still other locals are plenty mad about what Compton did, notes The State, but think a pink slip may be too harsh.

“Everybody in my circle is upset he did this,” said Randy Stevens of Patriot Guard Riders, a group that provides motorcycle escorts at military funerals. “We have some who say it was boneheaded, but to let it go.”

The school board will decide as soon as Monday when to hear the appeal, school district spokesperson Mark Bounds told The State.

Compton remains on leave with pay pending the outcome of the appeal, according to The State.

Follow Eric on Twitter

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel