By now, everyone has heard about the little boy in Lafayette, Louisiana who was punished by his teacher because he said his mom was gay and gave a very benign definition of what that means.

The superintendent of schools went out of his way to say that the school system would never punish anyone for exercising free speech and would never violate a student's civil rights, and that his agency was investigating the matter.

In the meantime, the school principal continues to insist that there were "other reasons" the child was punished. First, he said, it was because the boy said something very inappropriate, i.e., obscene. Within a week, he had changed his story, saying that the boy was punished because he had been "acting out."

If you think this change of story is suspicious, it's nothing compared to the hard evidence: The teacher sent home a note making it plain that she punished the boy because he said his mom was gay. Not only that, but the assistant principal signed the note.

And they wonder where children learn to lie.