Teacher fired over refusal to display flag

October 15, 2005, 12:07 PM EDT: The Hartford Courant,

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- An English teacher has been fired because he did not want to display an American flag in his Catholic school classroom.

Stephen Kobasa, a teacher at Kolbe Cathedral High School since 1999, says he is not unpatriotic but has deep-seated religious beliefs that are incompatible with displaying a flag.

"Christ speaks of compassion without boundaries," said Kobasa, a peace activist. "Flags are about separation, assertions of superiority and aggression. The whole notion that loyalty to country is connected to one's religious faith is totally bizarre and unjustified."

Kobasa said he offered a compromise earlier this year when the Diocese of Bridgeport enacted a new policy requiring the Pledge of Allegiance to be recited every morning.

He said he agreed to display the flag in the morning so students could recite the pledge if they wanted. Then he would take it down. But that was not acceptable to the superintendent.

Kobasa, 57, said he was told an unidentified colleague complained because he would not display the flag.

Joseph McAleer, a spokesman for the diocese, said it is diocesan policy not to comment on personnel matters.

"Our Catholic schools provide a dynamic learning environment in which respect for the opinions of others, as well as respect for school property, are both key components," he said in a statement posted on the diocese Web site. "The Diocese of Bridgeport has long believed that the American flag is an important fixture in its Catholic school classrooms."

Kobasa, who was dismissed Thursday, said he does not plan to sue.

"This was never about law," he said. "When (school administrators) communicated with me they would say, 'Are you bringing your lawyer?' It was never about that. I never raised it as a free-speech issue. What grounds would I have? None. It was about the moral principle that this tradition supposedly represents."

Avery Eady, a junior at the school, said she and her classmates learned Thursday that Kobasa had been fired.

"Personally, I think he was a good teacher. He was passionate about his subjects," she said. "It doesn't make sense to lose a good teacher over a stupid policy like that."

Kobasa, who taught at Thomas Aquinas High School in New Britain before coming to Kolbe Cathedral, said his refusal to display the flag has never been a problem before.

He said he has received "remarkable" support from students.

"I taught up to the end, I guess I can say," Kobasa said. "It was my last lesson. For the ones to whom this matters, they'll remember this."

___

Information from: The Hartford Courant, http://www.courant.com and Connecticut Post, http://www.connpost.com