Appointed as the President's Assistant Deputy Secretary for Safe and Drug-Free Schools in July 2009, Jennings is controversial to some...

Yet another of President Obama’s Czars is under fire for his past as well as his lifestyle.

Kevin Jennings, who was appointed as the Safe School Czar by the President, has lived an ambitious life. He might be described as an activist, driven, and successful in his own right. Once a high school teacher, Jennings has now been elevated to a post in the federal government.

The presidential adviser for safe schools is charged with the responsibility to help formulate policies to keep schools safe and drug free. However, critics of Jennings claim that he has an agenda other than the one he has been given.

Jennings, an outspoken and well known person in the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community, founded the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in 1990. The purpose of this group was to bring together the gay, lesbian, and straight communities to end the anti-LGBT sentiment in the public school system. Nineteen years later, GLSEN is in states across the country and is approximately 40 chapters large.

Another concern of those who oppose Jennings in his position is his outspokenness regarding his former drug use.

In his 2006 autobiography, “Mama’s Boy, Preacher’s Son: A Memoir” Jennings states, “”I got stoned more often and went out to the beach at Bellows, overlooking Honolulu Harbor and the lights of the city, to drink with my buddies on Friday and Saturday nights, spending hours watching the planes take off and land at the airport, which is actually quite fascinating when you are drunk and stoned.”

Finally, many Christian groups within the nation have begun to raise their eyebrows at Jennings due to statements he has made regarding God and religion. In another section of Jennings’ autobiography he speaks of his hatred of religion and God. He goes so far as blaming God for his feelings of guilt and shame in relation to his homosexuality. Feeling that God had done nothing for him he stated, “Screw you, buddy [God] – I don’t need you around anymore.”

These same Christian groups are equally concerned that Jennings would like to promote a pro-gay and lesbian agenda in the schools, when their own issues of God and morality are blatantly kept out of the public school system.

Not far in the wake of the resignation of Van Jones, Obama’s former Environmental Czar, many questions are being asked regarding the structure of the presidential advisor system. For example how can we hold our government accountable for those who are not elected but rather appointed? Do these appointment aptly express the views and concerns of the nation as a whole?

It seems that in many ways those who have been appointed by the Obama administration have been quite candid and authentic in their depictions of themselves. However, it isn’t until months after the appointments of these Czars that the citizens of the United States begin to get an accurate picture of those holding these positions of authority. How, then, can the U.S. government become more transparent in their own right prior to the appointments of the “Czars?”

WATCH “A DIFFERENT VIEW” WITH JENNIE:

WHAT SAY YOU?

You can leave the author a moderated comment about this article by posting it below, or email: [email protected]