They harm their students and dishonor their profession.

And here is a perfect example of such self-absorption.

Two teachers at Dennis Yarmouth Regional High School have touched off a firestorm after holding up an “End War” sign at a school assembly where six students who’ve enlisted in the military were being honored.

Many in the community say the teachers crossed a line and treated their own students with disrespect.

* * *

The honored students were stunned.

“For people to not really show support… no one has to agree with your decision, but they can help you along with your decision,” said Evan Tuohy-Bedford, who enlisted with the U.S. Marines.

“Now it’s hard to see them as a role model if they’re not supporting their students,” said Ashley Jacob, who’s also enlisted with the U.S. Marines.

Now I'll be honest -- if this pair of unprofessional moral retards want to publicly take an anti-military stance, they are free to do so ON THEIR OWN TIME. But they have no right to hijack a school event to trumpet their own views. During the work day, while they were supposed to be monitoring students and honoring graduating seniors for their awards and accomplishments (not just students enlisting in the military, but also award and scholarship recipients), they chose to abrogate their professional role and become political activists. That is simply wrong.

And make no mistake, this is not simply a question of their insulting and dishonoring students who are signing up to defend our country -- it is a question of their engaging in unprofessional behavior. I'd be just as offended if a couple of pro-life faculty members had decided to hold up protest signs about abortion if a student had received an award for winning an essay contest sponsored by Planned Parenthood, or if teachers opposed to gay rights held up signs condemning homosexuality because a student received a scholarship for LGBT students. That is not proper workplace behavior.

I'm also disturbed by the reaction of the school's principal.

Students say Marybeth Verani talks frequently about her political views, and choosing this public forum now has principal Ken Jenks taking a closer look.

“I think there’s a sincere interest in fostering that dialogue, but I think the classroom is a better environment,” said Jenks.

I'm really pretty leery of that comment. As a political partisan and outspoken advocate for various political and social policies and positions, I go to great lengths to avoid raising specific political points of view in my classroom. That isn't to say that we don't discuss such issues in my classroom (it is impossible to avoid them in a high school social studies class), but I bend over backwards to bring out multiple points of view in a fair manner, and often avoid stating my position when I believe doing so would be detrimental to the discussion or my relationship with my students. Heck, that is why my name isn't on my blog, and why I remain angry at the group of McCarthyite Democrats who disclosed my identity several years ago as part of an effort to get me fired for my political speech and activity outside my classroom and away from school. I don't believe that any teacher should make his or her class time into a forum specifically for "fostering. . . dialogue" about his or her political views.

Do I believe that firing is the appropriate penalty for what happened here? Not necessarily, though I would not find that to be outside the bounds of appropriate action by the school district. At bare minimum, a suspension without pay and a reprimand of some sort is necessary. But more importantly, Marybeth Verani and Adeline Koscher need to be held up as objects of ridicule and scorn by their fellow educators as examples of what is NOT appropriate professional conduct in the school setting and how NOT to behave during the school day.