Parents are entitled to complain about anything they feel strongly about, but so do teachers. If parents want to go to the trouble to embarrass a teacher for nothing more than the necklace around their neck, the teacher in question should be encouraged to file a complaint of their own:
In 1949, Act 14 (Sect.1112) made it illegal for a public school teacher to display any kind of religious symbol or emblem in the classroom.
This fall, two East Pennsboro Middle School students complained about the Star of David worn by their teacher.
“They are there to learn about education, not to learn about religious points of view,” said Ernest Perce, the parent who filed a formal complaint with the district over the necklace.
He says the law is being violated.
It’s also fair to point out that up until about two years ago, Perce was an outspoken atheist who protested the 2012 “Year of the Bible.”
“Today I am an Orthodox Christian,” he told ABC 27 Tuesday.
His child was one of those two students who took issue with the necklace.
“If a child is subjected to a teacher where a symbol of Judaism is allowed to skirt the law, I believe that a Muslim should be allowed to cover her head as well as a Christian to cover her head like the Bible commands,” he said.
ABC 27 did not get a reply from the school district’s attorney, but Perce did.
A letter he forwarded states that the school will not require the teacher to “discontinue wearing the religious symbol,” citing a ruling in western Pennsylvania that allowed a teacher assistant to wear a Christian cross.
Perce says if the district doesn’t act, the 1949 law states that the board could be fined and the teacher suspended.
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Tags: East Pennsboro Middle School, East Pennsboro Middle School Star of David, Education, Ernest Perce, illegal for a public school teacher to display any kind of religious symbol, News, Star of David necklace, Star of David teacher, Year of the Bible
Topical Teaching 
November 19, 2014 at 11:41 pm |
Reblogged this on So, You Think You Can Teach ESL? and commented:
I do strongly think that the parents’ authority ends (or is at least very limited) once their child walks into the school. Parents DO have an important part in education, BUT there is a limit!
November 20, 2014 at 2:14 pm |
Very true. Those limits seem to get tested all the time.