One attorney says an Ohio science teacher, fired for asking his students to think critically about the theory of evolution, has every reason to take his case to the state Supreme Court.
The Rutherford Institute is defending John Freshwater, who was suspended in 2008 and fired in 2010 from Mount Vernon Middle School for teaching alternative theories to evolution.
"In most schools … they teach [evolution] as a fact. It's not a fact; it's still a theory. There are different viewpoints by people all the way from Albert Einstein to Ben Stein, the comedian," notes Institute president John Whitehead. "So there [are] a lot of different opinions on it, but all this man was trying to do is get the kids to think it through, and obviously the school district did not want that."
Though the school board, a county judge and the Fifth Circuit have upheld the action taken against Freshwater, Whitehead is confident that the Ohio Supreme Court will hear the case.
"I think they will review it, and if this doesn't go well, the Ohio Supreme Court will talk to John Freshwater to see if he wants to go to the U.S. Supreme Court," the attorney predicts.
Freshwater is arguing that his religious and academic freedoms were violated. He also asserts that he never mentioned creationism or intelligent design during his instructions. When the science teacher was suspended, students showed their support for him by carrying Bibles to class and wearing T-shirts with crosses.
**********UPDATE to Story************
AP News: COLUMBUS, OH - The Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of a fired public school science teacher who kept a Bible on his desk and was accused of preaching religious beliefs in class. (See earlier article--posted above)
The Mount Vernon School Board dismissed John Freshwater last year after investigators reported that he preached Christian beliefs in class when discussing topics such as evolution and homosexuality, and was insubordinate in failing to remove the Bible from his classroom.
Two lower courts previously upheld his dismissal. But the Ohio Supreme Court said Freshwater can argue that it's unconstitutional to fire someone without clear guidance on what teaching materials or methods are acceptable.
He also can argue that it's unconstitutional to fire someone over the mere presence of a religious text like the Bible in the classroom.
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From the Rutherford Institution representing John Freshwater:
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/on_the_front_lines/ohio_supreme_court_agrees_to_hear_rutherford_institutes_case_of_science_tea
Ohio Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Rutherford Institute’s Case of Science Teacher Fired for Urging Students to Think Critically About Evolution
July 06, 2012
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio— The Ohio Supreme Court has granted The Rutherford Institute’s appeal to hear the case of John Freshwater, a Christian teacher who was fired for keeping religious articles in his classroom and for using teaching methods that encourage public school students to think critically about the school’s science curriculum, particularly as it relates to evolution theories. Freshwater, a 24-year veteran in the classroom, was suspended by the Mount Vernon City School District Board of Education in 2008 and officially terminated in January 2011. The School Board justified its actions by accusing Freshwater of improperly injecting religion into the classroom by giving students “reason to doubt the accuracy and/or veracity of scientists, science textbooks and/or science in general.” The Board also claimed that Freshwater failed to remove “all religious articles” from his classroom, including a Bible.
The Rutherford Institute’s appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court is available here.
https://www.rutherford.org/files_images/general/04-13-2012_Brief_Freshwater.pdf
“Academic freedom was once the bedrock of American education. That is no longer the state of affairs, as this case makes clear,” stated John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. “What we need today are more teachers and school administrators who understand that young people don’t need to be indoctrinated. Rather, they need to be taught how to think for themselves.”
In June 2008, the Mount Vernon City School District Board of Education voted to suspend John Freshwater, a Christian with a 20-year teaching career at Mount Vernon Middle School, citing concerns about his conduct and teaching materials, particularly as they related to the teaching of evolution. Earlier that year, school officials reportedly ordered Freshwater, who had served as the faculty appointed facilitator, monitor, and supervisor of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes student group for 16 of the 20 years that he taught at Mount Vernon, to remove “all religious items” from his classroom, including a Ten Commandments poster displayed on the door of his classroom, posters with Bible verses, and his personal Bible which he kept on his desk. Freshwater agreed to remove all items except for his Bible. Showing their support for Freshwater, students even organized a rally in his honor. They also wore t-shirts with crosses painted on them to school and carried Bibles to class. School officials were seemingly unswayed by the outpouring of support for Freshwater.
In fact, despite the fact that the Board’s own policy states that because religious traditions vary in their treatment of science, teachers should give unbiased instruction so that students may evaluate it “in accordance with their own religious tenets,” school officials suspended and eventually fired Freshwater, allegedly for criticizing evolution and using unapproved materials to facilitate classroom discussion of origins of life theories. Freshwater appealed the termination in state court, asserting that the school’s actions violated his rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and constituted hostility toward religion. A Common Pleas judge upheld the School Board’s decision, as did the Fifth District Court of Appeals, without analyzing these constitutional claims. In appealing to the Ohio Supreme Court, Institute attorneys argued that the Board through its actions violated the First Amendment academic freedom rights of both Freshwater and his students.
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Poster Comment:
Another case of secular silencing of free speech. The Rutherford Institution represents the teacher. You will notice the AP slanted version. The teacher asserts he did not mention creationism or ID during his instructions. However, the AP piece focuses on not the case but the hysteria of a teacher actually keeping a Bible in a classroom and refusing to remove it.
