Opinion

LESSONS IN LAW-BREAKING

No one’s saying why Nat Turner, a radical leftist history teacher at fancy Beacon HS, quit his job, but we can sure guess: He faced two separate probes for taking students to Cuba – despite laws against travel there – and might have been forced out.

Perhaps he was just saving everyone the trouble.

But the story shouldn’t end there.

Not by any stretch.

As The Post reported last year, Turner apparently took his students on two unauthorized trips to Cuba over the past few years.

Federal law – actually, a series of laws dating back to 1962 – bans travel to the Communist isle, except in certain instances. Violators face fines of up to $65,000 apiece.

Meanwhile, school officials say they never signed off on the trips.

Besides all that, reports suggest that Turner spent years trying to brainwash kids with anti-American, leftist dogma in his classroom.

OK, so schoolhouse leftism is commonplace today.

But what about the lesson behind the trips themselves – that it’s OK to break laws and violate rules if you think you have a good enough excuse?

What kind of future did Turner intend for his kids?

Was his class called “Intellectually Justified Law-Breaking 101”?

Actually, the trips’ lesson might have focused less on breaking laws than on deception: Some of the students’ parents suggest they were led to believe all the required OKs were in order.

Soon, however, it may be the law’s turn to teach the lessons.

Indeed, Turner’s students could learn a great deal should he draw a good stiff punishment for his deeds.