RUNNINGHEAD:PortfolioArtifact#6

Springer,MirandaPortfolioArtifact#61

Portfolio Artifact #6
Miranda Springer
College of Southern Nevada

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Portfolio Artifact #6
Karen White, a kindergarten teacher, informed her parents and students that she could no
longer lead certain activities or participate in certain projects because they were religious in
nature according to her newly acquired affiliation with Jehovahs Witnesses. This meant that she
could no longer decorate the classroom for holidays or plan for gift exchanges during the
Christmas season. She also could not sing Happy Birthday or recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
Parents protested and Bill Ward, the school principal, recommended her dismissal based on her
ineffectively meeting the needs of her students.

1. Is there a justifiable basis for Karens dismissal?

No, Karen Whites dismissal has no justifiable basis because the school is violating
copyright laws and the Establishment Clause. The school was violating copyright laws when
they made the Happy Birthday song mandatory in the classroom. According to Warner
Chappell Music, Happy Birthday is in their catalog of copyrighted music (Warner/Chappell
Music, n.d.). Copyrighted items need to pass the brevity, spontaneity, and cumulative effects tests
in order to be used without permission (Underwood & Webb & 2006, p. 87). In order to pass a
spontaneity test, the material must not be planned or come from the principle or be so limited in
time that permission could not be obtained; however, initiation by the teacher is permissible
(Underwood & Webb, 2006, p. 87). This means that the teacher, White, could sing the Happy
Birthday song, but not be mandated to do so by supervisors or principles. Since Ward requires
White to sing Happy Birthday to students, the action is planned; therefore, this is a violation of
the spontaneity test.

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The Establishment Clause requires that government, school being a government entity,
not appear to or actually endorse religion (Underwood & Webb, 2006, p. 211). To determine if it
has been violated, courts use the Lemon test:

Resulted in government indoctrination;

Defined its recipients in relation to their religion; and
Created excessive entanglement between government and religion (Underwood &
Webb, 2006, p. 211).

Because Ward was mandating religious actions to be executed by White, Ward entangled the
religious aspects of decorations and gift exchanges with the school providing no correlation to
the curriculum, and therefore, endorsing religion. Consequently, regardless of any religious
affiliations, any teacher can deny participation in these activities because the school is in
violation the Establishment Clause, not the teacher. White is refusing to participate in the
activities due to the violation because she has the right to deny them, not because she is a
Jehovah Witness.

2. How do you think the courts would rule in this case?

ThecourtswillnotupholdthedismissalofKarenWhitebecausetheschoolisin
violationoftheEstablishmentClause.The violation of the Establishment Clause is the gift
exchange, decorations and saying the Pledge of Allegiance. The gift exchange and the
decorations are in violation due to the fact that it is during the Christmas season, eluding the
Christian origins of the actions. The Pledge of Allegiance is religious in origin because of the
line, one nation under God Because these actions can be seen as religious, it is in
violation of the Establishment Clause. An example of this is the Stone v. Graham case.

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In Kentucky, a statute that required the Ten Commandments in every classroom was
decidedly unconstitutional because the statute failed the Lemon test; the posters were removed
for violating the Establishment Clause of the first amendment (Findlaw, 1980). Many people,
including Stone, brought the case to the U.S. Supreme Court against Graham, the superintendent
of public instruction in Kentucky, because of the constitutional violation. Much like Graham,
Ward is trying to enforce religious activities in the classroom against federal law.
Karen Whites refusal to participate in these activities does not mean she is imposing her
religious viewpoints on her students, because any teacher can refuse these school mandated
actions. In addition, Ward is trying to dismiss White for insubordination because he feels White
ineffectively meets the needs of her students due to this lack of participation. Insubordination is
the repeated, willful disobedience of a reasonable official order, or school rule (Underwood &
Webb, 2006, p. 69-70). Since Wards mandatory activities are religious in nature, they are
unreasonable actions because they violate the Establishment Clause. Whites refusal is out of the
violation, not insubordination or religious affiliation. If they are not part of the curriculum, they
are unreasonable requests. Whites case is different than Vukadinovich in this regard.
In the case of Vukadinovich v. Board of School Trustees of North Newton School
Corporation, Brian Vukadinovich repeatedly refused to submit lesson plans to the schools
principle even though classroom performance was excellent (Findlaw, 2002; Underwood &
Webb, 2006, p. 70). Here Vukadinovichs insubordination is evident because it is a school rule in
the district to submit lesson plans to the principle and not an unreasonable request (Findlaw,
2002). This is the difference between the Board of School Trustees of North Newton School
Corporation and Ward is whether or not there is a correlation between the request and the
curriculum. Wards request has no correlation to the curriculum.

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The court will not uphold Karen Whites dismissal because of the violation of the
Establishment Clause and the copyright laws. For Bill Ward to wrongfully accuse White of
insubordination by not meeting the needs of her students is invalid due to the Establishment
Clause violation. Regardless of Whites religious affiliation, she is not imposing her religion on
to her students because she has the right to refuse the mandated order. Karen White will continue
being a kindergarten teacher because she was not violating any rules or regulations.

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References
FindLaw | Cases and Codes. (n.d.). FindLaw: Cases and Codes. Retrieved July 22, 2012, from
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=449&invol=39
Underwood, J., & Webb, L. D. (2006). Teacher Discipline. School law for teachers: concepts
and applications (pp. 69-70). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall.
Underwood, J., & Webb, L. D. (2006). Legal Responsibilities of Teachers. School law for
teachers: concepts and applications (p. 87). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Merrill
Prentice Hall.
Underwood, J., & Webb, L. D. (2006). Religion in the Schools. School law for teachers:
concepts and applications (pp. 211, 215). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Merrill
Prentice Hall.
VUKADINOVICH v. BOARD OF SCHOOL TRUSTEES OF NORTH NEWTON SCHOOL
CORPORATION, No.01-1625., January 22, 2002 - US 7th Circuit | FindLaw. (n.d.).
Caselaw: Cases and Codes - FindLaw Caselaw. Retrieved July 22, 2012, from
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-7th-circuit/1019485.html
Warner/Chappell Music - ABOUT US. (n.d.). Warner/Chappell Music. Retrieved July 21, 2012,
from http://www.warnerchappell.com/about.jsp