Story highlights Teacher first tried to cut, burn flag during lesson on First Amendment

Superintendent says free speech can be taught without desecrating the flag

(CNN) The students in teacher Lee Francis' history class will probably never forget the lesson he taught on free speech. Just not in the way he probably expected.

Francis, a teacher at Massey Hill Classical High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, was giving a lesson Monday on the First Amendment. His method? First, he tried to burn the American flag. Then he tried to cut it. Then he placed it on the floor and stepped on it.

"I put the flag on the ground, and I took two steps with my right foot and I said, 'This is an example of free speech,'" Francis told CNN affiliate WRAL . "Two students got up and left immediately with no word, no disruption at all ... I assumed something had happened. One student came to where I was and took the flag from me."

Francis said he wasn't trying to offend students, just teach them the Supreme Court ruled such acts of free expression were protected.

Outrage and outcome

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