Teacher likens Bush, Hitler

It was the day after President Bush's State of the Union address, and Jay Bennish, a social studies teacher, was warning his world geography class not to be taken in.

"Sounds a lot like the things that Adolf Hitler used to say," Bennish told students at Overland High School. "We're the only ones who are right, everyone else is backward, and our job is to conquer the world."

The teacher quickly made clear that he wasn't equating the president with Hitler, but the damage was done. A sophomore in the class had recorded the lecture on an MP3 player and this week turned it over to a local conservative radio show.

Bennish was placed on unpaid leave by the Cherry Creek School District on Wednesday, sparking an uproar over issues of free speech and proper classroom behavior.

The teacher's lawyer -- who met with district officials Friday -- has threatened a federal lawsuit. Attorney David Lane argued on the Mike Roem radio show, which originally played the tape, that what his client said is not so outlandish and was intended to provoke his students into thinking about current events.

"Maybe it's not mainstream, middle-American opinion," Lane said Friday morning. "But the rest of the world agrees with him."

Tustin Amole, a spokeswoman for the school district, said officials were investigating whether Bennish had violated a policy that says teachers may not intimidate students who hold political beliefs different from their own.

"Teachers do have a First Amendment right to express their opinion," Amole said, "but it must be in the context of the material being taught and it must provide a balanced point of view."

Bennish has not disputed the accuracy of the recording.