This story from CNN is absolutely mind-boggling: a teacher is at risk of being fired for publishing a high school student’s column in the school’s newspaper that advocated tolerance for ‘people different than you,’ in support of the student’s friend who revealed that he was gay:

At issue is whether [sophomore Megan] Chase’s opinion column advocating tolerance of homosexuals was suitable for a student newspaper distributed to students in grades 7 through 12 and whether newspaper adviser Amy Sorrell followed protocol in allowing the column to be printed. Media advocates say the debate has deeper ramifications.

“This is a real threat to quality student journalism if an adviser can be removed for not having censored a perfectly legitimate story that there was no legal reason why it shouldn’t have been published,” said Mark Goodman, executive director of the Student Press Law Center in Arlington, Virginia.

School officials in this community of 1,600 residents, 10 miles east of Fort Wayne, say the issue isn’t First Amendment rights but a teacher’s failure to live up to her responsibilities. They contend Sorrell should have alerted Principal Ed Yoder to the article because of the sensitivity of the material.

[District assistant superintendent Andy] Melin said Yoder would have allowed the article to be printed but likely would have suggested some changes. Sorrell has been placed on administrative leave and the school district has recommended she be fired. A public hearing is scheduled April 28, and the school board expects to vote May 1.

Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, argued that students have access to much more mature material in the school library and on the Internet. “Advocating tolerance is controversial?” she said.

All I can say is wow. We are living in the 21st century, right? Apparently not the school district officials in Woodburn, IN. Wow -- absolutely incredible.