Pubdate:  Sat, 23 Aug 1997
Source: LEXINGTON HERALDLEADER   Lexington, Kentucky

EDITORIAL PAGE
LETTERS

Actor supports fired teacher who advocates hemp

	I remember when I first met Donna Cockrel and saw her rapport with the
children in her class, her passion for teaching and the respect and interest
they showed for her. I wished I had a teacher like her when I was in the
fifth grade.

Unfortunately, she has spent much of the last year under fire and constantly
criticized since I first visited her class at Simpsonville Elementary. It has
taken an emotional toll on her to feel continually maligned by fellow
teachers, administrators and irate parents.

Donna was fired, not for the reasons the school board, but simply for
telling the truth about a plant. A plant that was once the No.1 cash crop in
Kentucky, a plant that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew, a plant
that Henry Ford used to make the first fuel and automobile body, a plant that
could help replace trees for paper and petroleum for plastic, a plant that
may not be the cureall but could certainly help the farmers.

My hat is off to Donna, one of those rare teachers who stands up, tells the
truth, and fights for what she believes in. The saddest part of this whole
situation is that no one thought to ask the students their opinion. All of
the students I talked with had no trouble understanding what hemp is, it’s
distinction from marijuana, it’s agricultural and industrial benefits.

And none of them, I believe, would agree with the school board’s decision to
let go of one of their favorite teachers. A curious example for children if
ever there was one: A teacher who cares is fired for telling the truth and
the reasons given are all lies.

Maybe I am an overly liberal parent but I don’t care what anyone teaches my
 children, as long as it is the truth.

Woody Harrelson
Los Angeles, California