Religion and Public Schools 1

Edu 210 - Artifact #6

Religion and Public Schools

Gemma Crowell

College of Southern Nevada

April 21, 2016

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Karen White is a kindergarten teacher. She informed her students and their parents that

she had recently joined Jehovah's Witnesses. Her connection with Jehovah's Witnesses meant she

would neither lead nor join in certain classroom activities that were religious in nature. Ms.

White also asserted that she was not putting up holiday classroom decorations or planning for the

students' gift exchanges at Christmastime, singing happy birthday songs and reciting the Pledge

of Allegiance. The parents protested, which caused the school principal, Bill Ward, to see that

she is failing to meet her student's needs and he recommended for her immediate dismissal. The

issue in this case is whether Ms. White's dismissal is valid and just or her rights to freedom of

speech, expression, association, and religion were violated.

The first case to be presented in favor of Karen White is the Marchi v. Board of

Cooperative Educational Services of Albany (1999). Dan Marchi is a high school special

education teacher at Board of Educational Services (BOCES). His recent conversion to

Christianity influenced him to include his religion in his instructional program. The school

director of BOCES informed Marchi to refrain from such an activity in which he refused to do

so. He was observed to continue to include religious materials in his instruction and was

suspended for six months. Marchi later filed a complaint of several accusations, including

violations of his rights to freedom of speech, association and exercise of religion. The District

Court upheld the school board's decision. Marchi's insubordination and putting the school at risk

of making it appear that the school is endorsing religion justified the school's decision to suspend

him. This case has overlooked the teacher's rights to freedom of speech, association and exercise

of religion, though, in regard to the case of Karen White, this case serve to support White when

she refused to perform certain classroom activities. To participate in activities that are religious
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in nature is to also to place the school at risk for endorsing religion, and so, White is justified for

refusing to perform such activities, and her rights to freedom of speech, association, and religion

were violated for doing so.

The second case to be presented in favor of Karen White is Wigg v. Sioux Falls School

District (2003). Barbara Wigg teaches second and third grade at Anderson Elementary School in

the Sioux Falls School District. Wigg wanted to participate in a student religious club that meets

after school hours at the school library. Prior to the first meeting, Wigg informed the school

principal, Mary Peterson, of her intention to join the group and that she had volunteered to teach

at the club. Wigg participated in the first meeting, but was prohibited from joining future

meetings as her involvement might be interpreted as the school's endorsement of religion. "The

court disagreed and found that because the club meeting was after school and Wigg was

participating as a private individual it was within her right to do so" (Underwood & Webb, 2006,

p. 215). In regard to the case of Karen White, this case serve to justify that White has legal

grounds to her right of free speech, association, expression, and religion when she refused to

participate in certain classroom activities that are religious in nature and which goes against her

belief as a member of Jehovah's Witnesses.

The first case to be presented in favor of the school district is Biklen v. Board of

Education (1971). In this case, Sari Knopp Biklen served as a probationary elementary school

teacher at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in New York. A few months into teaching, she was notified

of a missing signed oath or affirmation required of New York teachers. Biklen was advised to

sign the loyalty oath, otherwise, she would be discharged. Biklen reasoned that signing the oath

is an opposition to her Quaker beliefs. The Board of Education dismissed her from her job.
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Biklen, filed a complaint that her dismissal violated her rights to freedom of speech, freedom of

association, freedom to exercise religion, and that she was denied a due process hearing. The

court dismissed her case and found that her refusal to sign the oath was a failed obligation to

support New York, the US Constitution and its government systems and the absence of the

guarantee that Biklen will do her best at her job. In regard to Karen White's case, this case serve

to justify the school district's dismissal of White by her refusal to sign a loyalty oath. White

hindered her capacity to do her work effectively due to her association with Jehovah's Witnesses.

White's students were, without choice, forced to also observe her beliefs when she refused to do

the classroom activities that she is required by her profession to do. White became an ineffective

teacher, when students were deprived of the same learning experiences that students in the same

level in other classes were learning about.

The second case to be presented in favor of the school district is LeVake v. Independent

School District No. 656 (2001). Rodney LeVake was hired by Independent School District as a

tenth-grade math and science teacher. Prior to accepting his job, he met with the high school

principal, Dave Johnson, and the science department chairman, Ken Hubert, to discuss the

curriculum for the school year 1997-1998. He started the school year with full knowledge of the

curriculum, but when it came time to cover the evolution component of the course, it was noted

that he failed to adequately teach the course. When it was deemed that LeVake refused to teach

the appropriate method for teaching evolution, he was reassigned to teach a ninth-grade science

class for the next school-year. LeVake brought his case to court claiming his rights to freedom of

speech and expression were violated and he was not subjected to a due process procedure. The

court rejected LeVake's free speech, free expression, and due process claims and upheld the
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school's reassignment decision. In regard to the defense of the dismissal of Karen White, this

case serve to uphold the decision of the school district. White's affiliation with Jehovah's

Witnesses interfered with her duty to perform certain classroom activities.

My decision in this case is in favor of the school district and that the school has a

justifiable basis for Karen White's dismissal. The case LeVake v. Independent School District No.

656 (2001) support the school district's dismissal of Karen White. As a teacher, Ms. White has a

responsibility of effectively delivering the curriculum to her students. She ceased to fulfill the

requirements of the curriculum when she allowed her association with Jehovah's Witnesses to

interfere with her duties. The case Biklen v. Board of Education (1971) serve to justify the school

district's dismissal of Karen White. White's refusal to perform certain classroom activities as it

opposes her beliefs, gave the perception that she is also imposing on her students what she

believes. When her students are deprived of the learning experiences that students in the other

classrooms are learning, White stopped being an effective educator.

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References

Biklen v. Board of Education (1971). Justia (2015). Retrieved at

http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/333/902/1606690/

LeVake v. Independent School District No. 656 (2001). FindLaw (2016). Retrieved at

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/mn-court-of-appeals/1085860.html

Marchi v. Board of Cooperative Educational Services of Albany (1999). FindLaw (2016).

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

Wigg v. Sioux Falls School District (2003). Justia (2016). Retrieved at

http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/259/967/2362414/

Wigg v. Sioux Falls School District (2003). Underwood, J. & Webb, L.D. (2006). School Law

for Teachers: Concepts and Applications. New Jersey: Pearson