I just received the following e-mail and link from my co-blogger Dean.
"This is remarkable. A student has taped his eleventh grade con law class teacher proselytizing…and the kid is getting death threats!"
The link to this disturbing story here.
Update: Although I myself (and presumably Dean) saw this story only today, the Science Blogs have been all over it for a while. Pharyngula’s PZ Myers has some succinct comments here and here.
"KEARNY, N.J. — Before David Paszkiewicz got to teach his accelerated 11th-grade history class about the United States Constitution this fall, he was accused of violating it.
Shortly after school began in September, the teacher told his sixth-period students at Kearny High School 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, according to audio recordings made by a student whose family is now considering a lawsuit claiming Mr. Paszkiewicz broke the church-state boundary.
“If you reject his gift of salvation, then you know where you belong,” Mr. Paszkiewicz was recorded saying of Jesus. “He did everything in his power to make sure that you could go to heaven, so much so that he took your sins on his own body, suffered your pains for you, and he’s saying, ‘Please, accept me, believe.’ If you reject that, you belong in hell.”
The student, Matthew LaClair, said that he felt uncomfortable with Mr. Paszkiewicz’s statements in the first week, and taped eight classes starting Sept. 13 out of fear that officials would not believe the teacher had made the comments.
Since Matthew’s complaint, administrators have said they have taken “corrective action” against Mr. Paszkiewicz, 38, who has taught in the district for 14 years and is also a youth pastor at Kearny Baptist Church. However, they declined to say what the action was, saying it was a personnel matter.
“I think he’s an excellent teacher,” said the school principal, Al Somma. “As far as I know, there have never been any problems in the past.” …….
In this tale of the teacher who preached in class and the pupil he offended, students and the larger community have mostly lined up with Mr. Paszkiewicz, not with Matthew, who has received a death threat handled by the police, as well as critical comments from classmates.
Greice Coelho, who took Mr. Paszkiewicz’s class and is a member of his youth group, said in a letter to The Observer, the local weekly newspaper, that Matthew was “ignoring the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gives every citizen the freedom of religion.” Some anonymous posters on the town’s electronic bulletin board, Kearnyontheweb.com, called for Matthew’s suspension.
On the sidewalks outside the high school, which has 1,750 students, many agreed with 15-year-old Kyle Durkin, who said, “I’m on the teacher’s side all the way.”
While science teachers, particularly in the Bible Belt, have been known to refuse to teach evolution, the controversy here, 10 miles west of Manhattan, hinges on assertions Mr. Paszkiewicz made in class, including how a specific Muslim girl would go to hell."
Accidental Blogger 
4 responses to “Dinosaurs in the Classroom”
Yeah, I was shocked that in New Jersey so many people took the side of the teacher! What is that guy doing teaching science class anyway? Did you see the line about the poor Muslim girl in his class who the teacher said was going to hell? The teacher should be fired. And kudos to the kid – hopefully he goes on to be an investigative journalist.
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Archana:
That crack about the Muslim girl is just beyond the pale. Can you imagine how threatening it is to have a teacher singling out a student in that manner? I agree with you that Paszkiewicz ought to be fired.
I just saw the young man, Matthew LaClair on CNN with Anderson Cooper. He is very well spoken and quite fearless. He repeated all his assertions with firmness. The school district board members were also invited to participate. They declined citing prior engagment. But they sent out a statement pretty much attempting to put a lid on the matter. They won’t even require the Preacher Teacher to issue a statement of retraction! It is very clear where the community’s sympathies lie. It is disgraceful.
I don’t know if you have followed some of our recent discussions here regarding the role of scientists in the field of religion. I happen to be of the opinion that scientists indeed need to speak out – loudly, if necessary. I am not so much concerned whether scientists are capable of a refined theological debate. But they need to protect the future generations from such subversive, harmful indoctrination. If necessary, scientists and other rational folks ought to storm school board meetings and tackle these people in their own territories. In the last twenty plus years, I have watched with horror as the extremists have made inroads into every level of public life. Schools and school boards are their favorite points of entry. If we ignore them because we find them too stupid to engage in a debate, we do so at our own peril and at the risk of losing future generations to this kind of backwardness.
Even though my own children are adults, as a parent familiar with the US public school system and an ex-science teacher, I am perhaps more alarmed than others. For me this is not an academic discussion but a present and clear danger of a slide down a dangerous precipice.
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You are correct, Ruchira, that yesterday’s NYT story was my introduction to this little drama. Meanwhile, various blogs have been on this since mid-November! The Lippard Blog points to this letter from LaClair’s father, a useful chronology of events.
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I have been following the conversations here and will certainly do so more regularly. Good thing you’re such an involved parent. I personally CAN imagine what it must feel like to be singled out since I was one of only two or three Hindus in a giant public high school in the Bible Belt.
School board meetings are KEY. My poor parents took me to many to protest very stupid policies and practices when I was a teenager.
Here’s a letter I wrote to the NY Times almost 2 years ago on the subject of creationism (that actually inspired us to start our blog): http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E2D81E38F937A15752C0A9639C8B63&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fJ%2fJacoby%2c%20Susan
Good work in getting the word out about this stuff. And great blog.
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