Be very wary of a teacher with an agenda.
Teachers have opinions – that’s a given. They have beliefs about religion, politics, etc. But teachers do not have the right to use their classroom as a platform for spreading their convictions. Teachers must allow their students to think for themselves and reach their own conclusions.
Unless the school is a private religious school or the subject is Bible Studies a teacher does not have the right to deviate from the curriculum to canvass their religious beliefs. That is why the Supreme Court in the U.S. got it absolutely right when they handed down a ruling that disallowed such a practice:
Saying a high school teacher has no right to “use his public position as a pulpit,” a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that a San Diego County school district was on solid legal ground when it ordered a math instructor to remove large banners declaring “IN GOD WE TRUST” and “GOD SHED HIS GRACE ON THEE.”
Those inscriptions and others that longtime teacher Bradley Johnson displayed on his classroom wall amounted to a statement of religious views that the Poway Unified School District was entitled to disavow, said the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
Under U.S. Supreme Court rulings, the appellate panel said, government employees, including public schoolteachers, have no constitutional right to express views in the workplace that contradict their employer’s rules or policies.
“Johnson took advantage of his position to press his particular views upon the impressionable and captive minds before him,” said Judge Richard Tallman in the 3-0 ruling, which reversed a lower-court decision in the teacher’s favor.
The district “acted well within its constitutional limits in ordering Johnson not to speak in a manner it did not desire,” Tallman said.
The two banners, each about 7 feet by 2 feet, contained references to God from U.S. documents and patriotic songs. One quoted the Declaration of Independence passage that all men are “endowed by their CREATOR” with unalienable rights.
Tags: Bradley Johnson, Education, GOD SHED HIS GRACE ON THEE, IN GOD WE TRUST, Judge Richard Tallman, Law, maths, News, Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, Politics, Poway Unified School District, religion, Supreme Court
Topical Teaching 
September 15, 2011 at 4:59 am |
“But teachers do not have the right to use their classroom as a platform for spreading their convictions.” – you’re a moron. This happens constantly, except in the OTHER direction. This guy goes along with traditional American foundations and gets screwed over by a Heterophobic judge
September 15, 2011 at 10:56 pm |
I agree, Yes!! Let students think for themselves. Present them with the information and let them choose for “themselves” what is or isn’t. What is there to be afraid of? What is it that non-believers are afraid of that both side can’t be presented openly in school or otherwise. For one I have been presented with the theory of evolution almost monthly as I like to watch the Discovery channel and others like it. I have no fear from this being presented to me. It does make me think about things and typically it strengthens my Faith in God (thank you Discovery Channel). For I have the freedom to choose what I want to believe, hence “thinking for myself”. By taking away the opportunity to learn of other possibilities, you take away my opportunity to embrace my freedom to choose what I want to believe as you have refrained me from learning about these other possibilities. Again, what are you afraid of that one can not learn in school of the possibility that God exists? If He doesn’t, then what harm has been caused. And if He does exist, then all can thank our educational system for giving us the opportunity to think for ourselves since given the opportunity to choose to believe in Him or not!
It’s truly is funny to think that our children can be taught in our public schools that other life forms may exist in our solar system. Our Nation has spent billions on listening devices searching for other radio transmissions coming from “out there” as well as sending satellites with information about us saying we are a peaceful people. (good luck with that one) But bring in “God”, the foundation in which this country was built upon and is spoken of in our history books since the beginning of time and all Hell breaks loose. And honestly, the direction this country is going in, that’s exactly what is going to happen….. all Hell is going to break loose (if it hasn’t already). And when it does you won’t have to wonder why or how as it will be all because of people like you! I am very wary of you. Whoever you are…. like it or not, you’re in my prayers because I think for myself and have the freedom to choose to do so. (at least today I do until people like you take that away too) God bless you!!