The Public School Question

1/19/10 

TEACHER WITH A BIBLE DIVIDES OHIO TOWN

by Ian Urbina

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio — Most people in this quiet all-American town describe themselves as devoutly Christian, but even here they are deeply divided over what  should happen to John Freshwater.

Mr. Freshwater, an eighth-grade public school science teacher, is accused of burning a cross onto the arms of at least two students and teaching creationism, charges he says have been fabricated because he refused an order by his principal to remove a Bible from his desk.

After an investigation, school officials notified Mr. Freshwater in June 2008 of their intent to fire him, but he asked for a pre-termination hearing, which has lasted more than a year and has cost the school board more than a half million dollars.

On Friday, the hearing is scheduled to finally end, and a verdict on Mr. Freshwater’s fate is expected some months after that. But the town — home to about 15,000 people, more than 30 churches and an evangelical university — remains split.

To some, Mr. Freshwater is a hero unfairly punished for standing up for his Christian beliefs. To others, he is a zealot who pushed those beliefs onto students.

“Freshwater’s supporters want to make this into a new and reverse version of the Scopes trial,” said David Millstone, the lawyer for the Mount Vernon Board of Education, referring to the Tennessee teacher tried in 1925 for teaching evolution. “We see this as a basic issue about students having a constitutional right to be free from religious indoctrination in the public schools.”

Mr. Freshwater, who declined to be interviewed, has said he did not mean to burn a cross on any student’s arm. Instead, he said he intended to leave a temporary X on the skin using a device called a Tesla coil during a science demonstration that he says he had done, with no complaints, hundreds of times in his 21 years as a teacher at Mount Vernon Middle School.

In a radio interview in 2008, he said he had been a target for removal since 2003, when he proposed that the school board adopt a policy to teach evolution as theory, not proven scientific fact. “I ruffled some feathers,” he said.

Married and a father of three, Mr. Freshwater, 53, was popular among students, always willing to stay after school to tutor or listen to students who needed someone to talk to.

In testimony at the board hearing, his supporters said he had consistently received positive evaluations from superiors and won distinguished teacher’s awards at least twice.

But school officials and former colleagues presented a different picture.

One high school teacher said she consistently had to reteach evolution to Mr. Freshwater’s students because they did not master the basics. Another testified that Mr. Freshwater told his students they should not always take science as fact, citing as an example a study that posited the possibility of a gene for homosexuality.

“Science is wrong,” Mr. Freshwater was reported as saying, “because the Bible states that homosexuality is a sin, and so anyone who is gay chooses to be gay and is therefore a sinner.”

A third teacher testified that Mr. Freshwater advised students to refer to the Bible for additional science research.

School officials said Mr. Freshwater’s science classroom was adorned with at least four copies of the Ten Commandments and several other posters that included verses from Scripture.

Mount Vernon is not a place accustomed to controversy and news media attention. It is proud of its wholesomeness. Wooden porches are adorned with American flags. A civil war hero sits atop a tall obelisk in the center of the impeccably preserved town square. Tour guides brag about the Woodward Opera House, which is billed as the oldest “freestanding” opera theater in the country.

“The whole issue has been an embarrassment,” said Ann Schnormeier, as she sat with 10 other women in a tight circle holding a religious study meeting at the First Congregational United Church of Christ near the center of town. She said her grandson, like many students, adored Mr. Freshwater.

“People have faith here in this town,” she said, “but Mr. Freshwater was crossing the line, and the school board has rules. There are laws, and he needs to leave his teaching position.”

Mr. Freshwater, who currently is suspended without pay, does not see things that way.

Last June, he filed a federal lawsuit against the school board seeking $1 million in damages, and in April 2008, he called a news conference at the town square to announce that while he was willing to remove the posters and other religious materials from his classroom — as instructed by the school board — he was drawing the line on removing his Bible from his desk.

The reaction was immediate.

Students held a “bring your Bible to school” day. Others started wearing T-shirts with “I support Mr. Freshwater — God” on the front. As the case dragged on, producing more than 5,000 pages of transcript and more than 30 days of oral testimony, some Freshwater supporters vowed to broaden the fight.

Callers to local talk radio threatened that if Mr. Freshwater lost his job, they would begin looking for indiscretions by other teachers and lobbying for their removal.

Among those attending school board meetings were members of a local group called the Minutemen.

“This case woke a lot of people up around here,” said Dave Daubenmire, the founder of the group, which he named Minutemen because they “are a group of Christian guys who will show up on a minute’s notice to peacefully show support for their faith.”

In town, pastors are divided.

“I support Freshwater as a man of faith, but he is not supposed to be conveying these views in school,” the Rev. R. Keith Stuart, pastor of the First Congregational United Church of Christ, said.

Miles away, Mr. Freshwater’s pastor, Don Matolyak, posited that the criticism of Mr. Freshwater is part of a larger trend toward bigotry against Christians.

“If he had a Koran on his desk, he’d be fine and no one would say a word to him,” Mr. Matolyak said. “If he had ‘Origin of Species’ on his desk, they would celebrate that.”

The family of Zachary Dennis, one of the two students who say they were branded by Mr. Freshwater, said they were eager for the matter to be closed. “We are religious people,” Jennifer Dennis, Zachary’s mother, said in an interview. “But we were offended when Mr. Freshwater burned a cross onto the arm of our child.”

After teachers and students criticized Zachary for speaking up, she said, the family sold its house and moved to an adjacent town.

“We are Christians,” she said, “who practice our faith where it belongs, at church and in our home and, most importantly, outside the public classroom, where the law requires a separation of church and state.”

Comments

[kmcnutt]

"We are religious people....but we were offended when Mr. Freshwater burned a cross onto the arm of our child." Yes, I think most parents would be offended by this. I feel bad for Zach and his family having to move because he was getting criticized, how terrible. Sometimes, I think teachers like to be too much of a 'hero' and go against rules of the school and state. I've had teachers show rated R movies without permission or arrange for us to read literature not assigned in the curriculum. It does cause a ruckus and stirs the pot up.
Mr. Freshwater is a teacher of science, and a believer of Christianity. Even if he does not think science is true, I don't think he has the authority to tell that to the students. He could phrase it in a form of his personal opinion. I'm not exactly sure what the rules state, but I imagine that an opinion is better than a statement of falsehood or attacking like, "Science is wrong."

[Sarah Thullbery]

I really think that Mr. Freshwater has misused his position of authority. He should be teaching science, but he does not seem to understand the subject himself (I think he misunderstood the terms "fact" and "theory" because evolution is taught as a "theory" in public schools), or what is and is not appropriate in a classroom. Burning crosses or x's, whichever they may be, on the arms of students is clearly wrong. I think that he used his position to control the thoughts of students instead of showing them a curiosity and open-mindedness about the world. It really is sad that this town is so divided, it seems as though the townspeople for Mr. Freshwater view the fundamentals of evolution and this issue in general differently than those who are against Mr. Freshwater and what he has done, and so communication will be difficult if not impossible and it will take a long time for this town to heal, if it ever does heal.

[mgn]

I like how in this article the teacher is a science teacher yet he does not want to accept scientific facts. It is funny how he told his students that they should not take everything about science as a fact and even say that “science is wrong.” How can you teach a subject and have no real understanding about it? It said that he has been teaching for twenty-one years so he should know better than to try and bring religion into public schools.

[Tyler]

--“If he had a Koran on his desk, he’d be fine and no one would say a word to him,” Mr. Matolyak said.

Wow...what a rash, unsupported statement. All that does is show that he thinks it would be wrong to have a copy of the Koran on his desk...which only hurts the case for Mr. Freshwater. It just shows that everyone wants religious freedom from differing views, but at the same time want to impose their beliefs on everyone.

--“If he had ‘Origin of Species’ on his desk, they would celebrate that.”

Was he trying to sound stupid? That's like saying of an English professor, "If he had the dictionary his desk, they would celebrate that." NOO...REALLY? Goodness, ignorance is rampant and blinding!

[David Cook]

To some degree, I too found this article a bit ridiculous. Not the article itself but some of the arguments that were made to support the teacher. Honestly? I really do not see anything wrong with the teacher being a Christian and maybe speaking his beliefs to his class, but it does indeed become a problem when he begins imposing his own ideals and beliefs on the children. Burning crosses onto a child's arms? Seriously?

[Brandon]

If Mr. Freshwater is lying about the burning of a cross on a students arm he should be fired. He should be fired not only because it's religous but because that is something that you do not do. Him having a bible in class isn't a problem. He can read his bible to himself when there is free time in class. There is a problem if he starts putting his religion on the students. There is also a problem if he isn't teaching his curriculum, which means he isn't doing his job.
I agree with the statement,“I support Freshwater as a man of faith, but he is not supposed to be conveying these views in school,” the Rev. R. Keith Stuart, pastor of the First Congregational United Church of Christ, said.
Freshwater is doing himself and the students a disfavor by breaking rules. He is teaching the students that it is okay to break the law only if you think it's okay

[quicktype89]

I agree with Brandon. If it is true that the man abused and physically harmed his students then he should be fired, but not only that he should be put on trial because... it's illegal. Also by being a science teacher and not claiming science that should be enough to discredit him as a teacher and enough to get him fired. There are plenty of teachers out there looking for jobs that don't have this closed-minded view that God's creation and theory of evolution can't mix and can only be separate. If he really wants to teach he should keep his personal views out of science and save that for personal conversation with students, while reminding them that what he says isn't science, but belief. But of course it seems that he doesn't understand that either.
As for the whole Bible on the desk thing? That's just silly micro-managing hey lest pick on this guy stuff and cast just as much of a negative light on this critics. That like saying he can't wear a cross lapel pin, or have a picture on his desk of his family standing in his Church sanctuary. Silly.

[JohnEvans]

I like to point out that a lot of yall are taken the accusations against as facts even though they haven't been proven yet. We don't know if he said "science is wrong." The things he admits to I don't really find wrong. Its his desk and work place so he should be able to have his Bible there. Assuming its a voluntary process, I see know problem with demonstrating a tesla coil by burning temporary a temporary x into a kids arm. This is for the court to decided who is telling the truth.
This blog also shows a major problem i see with media and the way it is consumed. Readers/watchers often gloss over words like "accused" and "reported as." In most instances the tone of the reporters seams to direct us in that way. Many good people lives have been ruined by being accused of crimes where they were later found innocent but we already to deeply associated with it.

[Julie Jackson]

This is absolutely outrageous. This teacher is mentally insane! Burning a cross onto a child's arm! That is messed up. Way to make Christians look out of their minds. My mother is a teacher in a public school. They do not allow for her to say anything about her religion to the children. Although, they do allow for the children to speak themselves or pray with other students or lead Bible studies. I do think that when it comes to science or some things more than one theory should be taught. They should be told the possible answers by a non bias person and let them choose themselves. I do understand how some could be offended if they are being taught Christianity is the only answer. I know that if I was in a class and was told there is no god and evolution is the only answer, yes I would be a little offended. People should be able to tell each other what they believe, but not trying to show it down their throats and forcing them to believe it. Also, if you are taught more than one thing 1) you are learning more and 2) you will truly know why and what you believe in.

[Larz]

It seems like overall Freshwater isn't doing his job right at all. First, since when is it okay to temporarily burn a kids arm? Even if it is an x and not a cross. And Second, he is a "science teacher" so why does he make comments like science is wrong, or not all of science is a fact? I personally think he should get fired. It is a public school and a science teacher pushing religion like that is wrong. Its one thing to for him to have the Bible on his desk, but another to have posters on the wall. I believe it is ok to for him to have it on his desk because that is is own personal space and students cant really see it and dont have to stare at it; however, that is not the same for religious posters on the wall, where students are forced to look at it all during class. I think the case is obvious, Freshwater should be fired.

[Morgan]

The subject of religion is very tender when it comes to education. I think that if the teaching of religion is acceptable in schools as long as the teachers are not trying to push a certain religion on students. I do not know the first thing about other religions or the difference in them and Christianity because I have only been taught Christianity. I would be really interested to learn about other religions such as Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism as long as the teacher did not push his/her beliefs on me. I know a little bit about each religion but not anything in depth. I do not think that this would ever happen however because religion and schools just don't mix.

[cdavis17]

I can't believe he "accidentally" branded a cross on some students arm! That is crossing the line. I agree with wanting to share your faith and your views on your religion, but when it comes in a classroom and to branding middle school kids...really?!? I would not want a teacher to try to tell me what to believe, when I am in a class to learn about how the world works. The teachers religion is of no concern to me, and if he would have just had stuff in his room of christian content, that wouldn't bother me at all, but if he decided to brand me, or to not teach me what I needed to learn I would be highly upset, and I'm pretty sure I would come out and say something like the kid did.