The attitude of Wilson Hartz toward the teachers who were punished for refusing to stand for "Kimigayo" is disturbing. I fail to see how simply excusing the dissenting teachers from public functions would do anything to settle the matter one way or the other, as their absence would still have to be explained.
More worryingly, Hartz implies that in a free society, pieces of cloth with specific patterns and colors, and certain combinations of musical notes and words should be automatically worthy of more respect than the opinions of the citizens of such societies.
One doesn't have to agree with the teachers' position to see that preventing them from expressing their opinions in public, and then vilifying them for attempting to do so, sets a very dangerous precedent, particularly in a nation that has yet to come to terms with its wartime history.
Personally, I think that punishing these teachers for publicly expressing their feelings on certain aspects of Japanese history, in this case through the subtle and silent gesture of remaining seated during the anthem, sends a far worse message to the students.