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Mount Vernon City Schools
John Freshwater allegedly used a device to burn the image of a cross on students' arms.
John Freshwater allegedly used a device to burn the image of a cross on students' arms.
Teacher’s Dismissal Mirrors National Debate on Religion in Schools
July 09, 2008 05:52 PM
The expulsion of a controversial science teacher in Mount Vernon, Ohio, has once again sparked a national discussion about the role of religion in public schools.
30-Second Summary
From the town square to countless online forums, the plight of Jon Freshwater is the latest chapter in a debate that has raged in American schools for almost a century.
A month after the Mount Vernon School Board voted unanimously to remove Freshwater from his position for allegedly “preaching his Christian beliefs in the classroom and burning crosses on students’ arms,” supporters and critics have become increasingly vocal about the actions of the middle school teacher.
While Freshwater’s case involves additional accusations of physical abuse, it is similar to a number of cases across the country focusing on the teaching of creationism and intelligent design in the classroom.
Since being fired, support has come for Freshwater in the form of town square demonstrations and online petitions demanding he be reinstated.
However, a large number of Mount Vernon residents and national critics have voiced their support for the board decision, pointing out that Freshwater had received complaints for his behavior for more than 11 years before his dismissal.
Freshwater is far from the first educator to face disciplinary action regarding the role of religion in the classroom. Teachers on both sides of the issue have been cited for their take on how science is balanced with personal faith.
The issue may soon find a national platform after Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal introduced a bill that would allow the use of “supplemental materials” in the classroom to counter any discussion of evolution.
Jindal has been mentioned on several occasions as a possible running mate for the Republican nominee, John McCain.
A month after the Mount Vernon School Board voted unanimously to remove Freshwater from his position for allegedly “preaching his Christian beliefs in the classroom and burning crosses on students’ arms,” supporters and critics have become increasingly vocal about the actions of the middle school teacher.
While Freshwater’s case involves additional accusations of physical abuse, it is similar to a number of cases across the country focusing on the teaching of creationism and intelligent design in the classroom.
Since being fired, support has come for Freshwater in the form of town square demonstrations and online petitions demanding he be reinstated.
However, a large number of Mount Vernon residents and national critics have voiced their support for the board decision, pointing out that Freshwater had received complaints for his behavior for more than 11 years before his dismissal.
Freshwater is far from the first educator to face disciplinary action regarding the role of religion in the classroom. Teachers on both sides of the issue have been cited for their take on how science is balanced with personal faith.
The issue may soon find a national platform after Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal introduced a bill that would allow the use of “supplemental materials” in the classroom to counter any discussion of evolution.
Jindal has been mentioned on several occasions as a possible running mate for the Republican nominee, John McCain.
Headline Link: Loud voices on both sides
The month after his dismissal saw around 100 supporters gather in the Mount Vernon town square to protest Freshwater’s removal, spotlighting the town’s varied viewpoints about how the middle school teacher was handled.
Source: MSNBC
Background: Not the first or last
Freshwater’s initial removal came after an outside consulting firm concluded that he had advocated religion in the classroom, and used a device to brand a cross into a student’s arm. The school board’s vote to remove him was unanimous.
Source: Associated Press
The first and perhaps most famous test of religion’s role in the classroom, the Scopes Monkey Trial, put the separation of religion and science to the test in 1925 after a biology teacher attempted to teach Darwin’s theory of evolution in the classroom.
Source: findingDulcinea.com
Louisiana governor and speculative vice presidential candidate Bobby Jindal introduced a new bill to the state legislature that would allow public school teachers to introduce “supplemental materials” regarding evolution, allowing creationist teachers to suggest alternative, possibly religious viewpoints. The bill would also undercut education funding to support the teaching of evolution—a move that earned it a sharp rebuke from The New York Times.
Source: Louisiana News
Reactions: An appeal and further investigation
Though Freshwater has already lost his teaching position, he still faces an appeal trial in front of the school district in August, and possibly an official review of his teaching license from the state Board of Education.
Source: The E-Team Blog – The Columbus Dispatch
Opinion & Analysis: Defending Freshwater
Dave Daubenmire, a football coach once sued by the ACLU for mixing religion into his work, has come to the defense of Freshwater as head of the Minutemen United—a Christian advocacy group. Michigan Citizens for Science’s Ed Brayton quickly took Daubenmire to task for his public defense of the dismissed teacher.
Source: The Columbus Dispatch
Related Topic: Intelligent Design in schools
In recent years, advocates critical of the teaching of evolution in school have begun to support the theory of Intelligent Design, which suggests an intelligent cause active in the process of life and growth. Critics have challenged this approach as technical rebranding of evolution, leading to additional legal challenges.
Source: The New England Journal of Medicine
Earlier this year, proponents of religious education in public schools proposed an American Religious History Week in Congress. The move was quickly criticized by secular advocacy groups.
Source: The U.S. Library of Congress
A plan to review the science standards for Texas schools could have far-reaching effects, as the chair of the State Board of Education is a vocal critic of the absence of creationism in the classroom. Thanks to their large market needs, textbook publishers will often only create editions for Texas, Florida and California and use the same versions for all other states.
Source: The Art of Technology
Reference
A 2007 study found that 16 percent of U.S. science teachers were creationists and that most of these educators spent far less time addressing evolution in the classroom setting than national standards required. However, the National Science Teacher’s Association has officially adopted evolution as a unifying concept for all K-12 students.
Source: ABC News
© 2009 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
