Don't Fire Jason Levin, says Oregon Tea Party

April 19, 2010 - PRLog -- Date: April 19, 2010
(Contact: Oregon Tea Party media liaison Tom Cox 503-616-2865 tom@thomasbcox.com)
(Contact: Oregon Tea Party founder Geoff Ludt 503-320-4399 oregonteaparty@gmail.com)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Portland, OR. -- The organization that Jason Levin wanted to "destroy" is trying to save him. "We don't want to see Jason Levin fired, we want to see him helped," says Oregon Tea Party founder Geoff Ludt. "We want to reach out to him and we want to use his actions to create a teachable moment." While condemning Levin's calls for "destruction" and "mayhem" and his veiled invitation to widespread identity theft on his website CrashTheTeaParty.org, Tea Party activists in Oregon want to reach out to Levin -- and to others who may share Levin's misguided outlook.

The Oregon Tea Party message? "Dialog, not destruction," says Ludt. "Levin sees us as enemies. We see him as a fellow human being who is obviously very angry and troubled. Political dialog will never advance if we are unable to treat each other decently as human beings."

The Oregon Tea Party is urging the Beaverton School District (BSD) and the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (OTSPC) to conduct a swift and fair review of Levin's actions, and to require Levin to attend anger management therapy and sensitivity training. Only if Levin refuses or fails that training should he be kept away from students, the group believes.

"I want to echo what the former head of Portland’s NAACP, Skipper Osborne, said last week -- hatred like Levin's can only be stopped with honest dialog," said Ludt.

"Our five demands are very modest," continued Ludt. "We want Mr. Levin to apologize in writing for inciting hate speech and fraud, and for inviting identity theft. We want the district to apologize for inadequately supervising Mr. Levin. We want the OTSPC and BSD to require Mr. Levin to undergo anger management therapy and sensitivity training. We want the BSD to promise in writing to investigate whether Mr. Levin inappropriately encouraged students to repeat overtly racist statements. And we want BSD to issue a letter to all staff reminding them that their employment contracts prohibit engaging in political activity while on school time or while using school resources."