Re: Challenges to teaching biology

I mean some sort of public record, filed lawsuit or media report. Given how
quickly people on all sides of the politcal fence are to file suits (legal
basis or not) , and the sensation such a case would make in the media, I
find it hard to belief there would not be some record of either a parental
complaint or a teacher defending him/herself. Any records from school board
minutes, or from a teacher's union or PTA meeting? Something more than
hearsay.

I'm not naive enough to believe policies are always followed. Just to take
another example, I witnessed dozens of children receiving corporal
punishment in front of the entire class during my elementary school years,
which was in blatant violation of policy. Many teachers undoubtedly got away
with it dozens of times. But if this sort of thing happens routinely all
over the country, eventually someone complains, either to the school boards,
the courts or the media. All it takes is a little web-surfing to dig up
news reports.

Religion is an equally emotional topic for parents. So where are all the
formal complaints?
__
Louise M. Freeman, PhD
Psychology Dept
Mary Baldwin College
Staunton, VA 24401
540-887-7326
FAX 540-887-7121

-----Original Message-----
From: "David Opderbeck" <dopderbeck@gmail.com>
To: "Freeman, Louise Margaret" <lfreeman@mbc.edu>
Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2006 13:54:16 -0400
Subject: Re: Challenges to teaching biology

What do you mean by "document?" It happens regularly in the school where my
brother teaches -- is that "documented?" I'm not sure what kind of
complaint would get "filed." There's not much basis for a legal claim, so
you won't likely find any filed lawsuits. Otherwise, complaints would be
handled by the administration of a local school, which likely would not
result in any sort of public record, even if some action is taken.

On 4/3/06, Freeman, Louise Margaret <lfreeman@mbc.edu> wrote:
Can any document an actual case of a public school teacher using a science
classroom to ridicule anyone's religion? Any known cases of parents filing
a complaint for that reason or a teacher being reprimanded for it?
__
Louise M. Freeman, PhD
Psychology Dept
Mary Baldwin College
Staunton, VA 24401
540-887-7326
FAX 540-887-7121

I personally do not know of a single K-12 science teacher who teaches
science as a naturalistic philosophy. Most are Christians themselves.

A teacher who is an atheist or agnostic, however, can say "your silly ideas
about the Bible and God are falsified by science" without violating the
Constitution, or at least without drawing an establishment clause lawsuit
from a well-funded civil liberties organization. It's easy to deride those
fundamentalist kids and their parents for their apparently belligerent
YEC-ism.
Received on Mon Apr 3 14:38:43 2006