What began as a Kalani High School student's idea of a political poster has the Hawaii Tea Party boiling.

The 11th-grade student's poster depicting the “;Tea Party Movement”; as “;evil”; has been criticized as unfair after a parent took a photo and sent it to be posted on a mainland website, said Hawaii Tea Party official Marc Hodges.

Tea Party supporters responded in dozens of online comments, criticizing the school and sending e-mails to Kalani teachers and the principal.

School officials said the poster was put on a school wall recently and was taken down that day by Kalani High Principal Gerald Teramae.

Hawaii Tea Party President Brett Glass said the poster on the wall outside a classroom falsely depicted the goals of the group, which advocates individual freedom, limited government and personal responsibility.

“;The very content of the poster exemplifies the student's gross lack of understanding about what the ... party is really all about,”; he said in a statement.

The Hawaii Tea Party said it is not a political party, but stands for the idea of “;Taxed Enough Already.”;

Glass, interviewed yesterday, said his group never asked for the poster to be removed and supports the student's right to put it on the wall.

He said the group wanted to make sure there was balance and accuracy, and that after a telephone conference call with Teramae, group officials had a better understanding of what happened.

Area Superintendent Calvin Nomura said the poster was created as a lesson to teach how words through the media can be viewed as propaganda and how students should be careful about what they read.

One of the 11 topics chosen for the lesson was the tea party movement, and students were assigned to represent two sides of the issue.

The side supporting the tea party movement chose to make brochures and conduct personal talks with students, and did not put a poster on the wall, a teacher said.

“;It was meant to stir some independent critical thinking,”; Nomura said.

In an e-mail to Glass, Teramae said while he defends the students' and teachers' First Amendment rights to free speech, he felt there should have been a fair representation of all parties and that the opinions must be based on “;informed information.”;