Religion and School 1

Religion and School

Richard Rodriguez

College of Southern Nevada

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A kindergarten teacher by the name of Karen White recently converted to become a

Jehovah’s Witness. This meant she could no longer participate in some of the following things:

the pledge allegiance, decorate her classroom for holidays, gift exchanges during holiday

seasons, nor singing “Happy Birthday”. She informed her students and parents of her new

beliefs. Once these people knew they were upset and protested to the school’s principal Bill

Ward who recommended Miss White’s dismissal.

I will first take the side of the school. It seems to be another open-and-shut case to them

because of the courts more often than not side with the school district than with the teacher. The

first case the school could use as is then case Marchi v. Board of Education which happened in

1999. In this case a special education teacher adjusted his teaching style to include religious

references because he become Christian. The courts stated that Mr. Marchi “did not enjoy the

rights of private citizen during school hours”. In our case the school could say that Ms. White

was using obvious references from her religion in her classroom.

The next case the school could use for their case is the case of Helland v. South Bend

Community School Corp in 1966. A substitute teacher was let go after proselytizing the

elementary school children. The Court ruled that the teacher was not fired unjustly because “a

school can direct a teacher to refrain from expression of religious viewpoints in the classroom

and like settings”. In our case this is could seem to be the nail in the coffin. The school can on to

say that they advised Ms. White to stop changing everything due personal beliefs.

Now to take the side of Miss White. This is going to be an uphill battle because the past

cases have not been to kind to teachers. To win this case I believe we will have to use cases were
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teachers lost but put a Twist on the whole issue. The first case will be Roberts v. Madigan from

1990. A teacher had to remove two religious books and stop reading the Bible during silent

reading. Now to Ms. White’s defense she could say the removal of holiday decorations and

parties are showing neutrality to all religions. The mere fact that their normal position of

Christmas-themed classrooms show favoritism to Christianity.

The second case for her defense should be Downing v. West Haven Board of Education

which happened in 2001. A teacher was ordered to cover up a shirt she had on which said “Jesus

2000”. Now to flip this to our point of view we can question if the school is forcing us to bring

up religion and a time that is not all appropriate to bring up such a sensitive topic. Ms. White’s

actually avoiding such a problem that could be brought up.

In conclusion, this one seems close in truth. Yet I’m going to side with the teacher on this

one. We have always seen only one side of the argument. If she could win this the topic of

religion is wide open for discussion in public schools.

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References

Hudson, D. I. (2002, September 16). Teachers’ religious liberties. Retrieved October 20, 2017, from

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/teachers-religious-liberties/

MARCHI v. BOARD OF COOPERATIVE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES OF ALBANY. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2017,

from http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-2nd-circuit/1068488.html

Roberts v. Madigan, 702 F. Supp. 1505 (D. Colo. 1989). (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2017, from

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/702/1505/2252514/

Underwood, J., Webb, D. L.(2006). School Law For Teachers: Concepts and Applications. Upper Sadle River, New

Jersey and Columbus, Ohio: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.