(OH) Supreme Court rules firing justified for teacher accused of advancing religion in classroom

[cbayer]

Last edited Tue Nov 19, 2013, 10:36 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2013/11/supreme_court_rules_firing_jus.html

By Robert Higgs, Northeast Ohio Media Group
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on November 19, 2013 at 3:00 PM, updated November 19, 2013 at 5:43 PM


In this photo from April 2008, John Freshwater, center, addresses a crowd on Mount Vernon's public square. The Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the firing of the public school science teacher who was accused of preaching religious beliefs in class.
Mount Vernon News via Associated Press


COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld Mount Vernon city schools’ firing of an eighth-grade science teacher who was accused of advancing religion and the Christian theory of creationism in his classroom.

But the court held that the district’s orders that he put away the personal Bible he kept on his desk violated his First Amendment rights of freedom of religion and therefore would not have been sufficient cause to fire him.

And the court did not address another question surrounding the case: Whether the teacher was unconstitutionally injecting his religious beliefs into the classroom.

The court, in a 4-3 decision, ruled that the district did not abuse its discretion when it fired John Freshwater, upholding a lower court’s ruling that the action was supported by just cause. Freshwater was seeking reinstatement and back pay.

more at link

[rug]

1. P s s s t

(It's Ohio. PA would have ordered he get back pay.)

[cbayer]

3. Oopsie! Fixed.

[struggle4progress]

2. I assume burning a mark on a student's arm with an electrical coil would be a firing offense

almost anywhere, so perhaps that allegation wasn't proved

It doesn't sound here like the court ruled on any actual separation issue but merely upheld the school's view that administrators could fire a teacher for "insubordination"