Thoughts in a Haystack

Sixteen year-old Matt LaClair is in the news again. Matt, who dared to point out that a popular teacher (supposedly of American history but who was and is ignorant of the Constitution of the United States) was violating the Establishment Clause by proselytizing in class on the taxpayers' time, was subsequently ridiculed and threatened by his classmates and others in his New Jersey community.

Matt had recorded the teacher because he was afraid school officials would not otherwise believe him over the teacher. Reportedly, the teacher denied telling students that evolution and the Big Bang were not scientific, that dinosaurs were aboard Noah’s ark and that only Christians had a place in heaven, until Matt produced the recording.

[T]he school board president, Bernadette McDonald, addressed a memo to the Kearny School District community that every teacher would receive mandatory instruction about how to interpret the Constitution’s separation of church and state and how it should apply to classroom discussions. Ms. McDonald also asked the school board to adopt a policy showing “its strong commitment to the principle that the personal religious beliefs of our instructional staff have no place in our classrooms.”

Kenneth J. Lindenfelser, the board’s lawyer, said classes were being planned to inform students of their constitutional rights, to encourage them to come forward with questions and to explain that people “who exercise their rights should not be viewed negatively.”

Meanwhile, Matthew said that Mr. Paszkiewicz recently told the class that scientists who spoke about the danger of global warming were using tactics like those Hitler used, by repeating a lie often enough that people come to believe it.

Mr. Lindenfelser said that the district did not investigate the report of that comment, which he said was not religious or a violation of “any kind of law.”

Link - Posted by John Pieret @ 4:59 PM