I'm a teacher.

I'm also political (in case you hadn't noticed before now).

But I know that there is a line that you don't cross when it comes to your job and your politics.

This Minnesota teacher blew through all of them.

An e-mail sent out by a Rochester public school teacher calling on others to protest the Rochester Tea Party Patriots' rally on Thursday is drawing sharp criticism from Tea Party members.

The e-mail was sent out to all teachers in the school district and states that "if you are interested in combating the lies and ignorance of the Tea Party movement" to meet for a counter-rally at 5:30 p.m. at Soldiers Field. The teacher who sent out the e-mail says he will have an air horn and some signs. Rochester Tea Party Patriot Chairwoman Cindy Maves contacted School Board Chairman Jim Pittenger to protest the teacher's use of district e-mail for the political message.

"I am not surprised that there would be a counter-protest. I am just surprised they used the district e-mail," Maves said.

In an e-mail sent to Maves, Pittenger said that the e-mail might be a violation of district policy, and Superintendent Romain Dallemand plans to investigate the matter. Rochester Public Schools' spokeswoman Rachel Hicks could not be reached this morning for comment on the matter.

Whoa! Let's overlook the arrogance of assuming that everybody in the district agrees with your politics and wants to participate in your interference with the free speech rights of your fellow Americans.

I see a couple of other big no-nos here.

1. Using one's email for political purposes.
2. Sending a personal email to the entire district.

Frankly, I don't know what this teacher was thinking. Down here in Texas it might actually result in criminal charges, but even if Minnesota doesn't have such strict laws, it would certainly get you in deep crap with the district. And abusing the email to spam the entire district will ALWAYS get you in serious trouble, especially if it is not about district business.

My big disappointment here? No mention of the teacher's name. It should have been disclosed in the article.