Monday, August 18, 2008

Update: John Freshwater Garners Some National Attention

Righting 1st Amendment Wrongs

Thanks to a tip from an anonymous commenter (see comment below), I found out from a Mount Vernon News article today that the hearing scheduled for August 26 has been again rescheduled until October 1st. The paper reports, "The change was made due to a docket conflict with hearing referee R.B. Shepherd, Esquire. Shepherd, a Shelby, Ohio attorney will apparently be the judge and jury in this matter. This formal hearing will determine whether John Freshwater's teaching contract will be renewed or will be officially terminated.

The hearing will provide an opportunity for Mr. Freshwater to present his side of the case. He spoke on his own behalf at the August 4th regular board meeting along with over two dozen other persons who commented to the board at the start of the monthly board meeting. Below is a link to YouTube videos that covered that board meeting. It appears that the School Board and Superintendent wish to get rid of this very valuable asset to the school district and community for political and ideological reasons.

ON THE NATIONAL STAGE

Mr. Freshwater has recently received national exposure. Below is a August 14, 2008 commentary by Kerby Anderson of the Point of View Radio Show, who is also the President of Probe Ministries. This commentary gives a good summary of the situation.


Christian Teacher Suspended
by Kerby Anderson
August 14, 2008

For the last few weeks, I have been hearing about a teacher who was suspended without pay because he refused to remove his Bible from his desk. The story sounded too incredible, so I had to check it out for myself.

John Freshwater is a science teacher in Ohio who received a Teacher of the Year award last year (2007). He had his Living Bible on his desk for 21 years, but it was not in a prominent place. He told me that when he asked former students if they remember him having a Bible on his desk, many of them didn't remember that he did.

John Freshwater is an excellent teacher. In fact, his science class was the only eighth grade class at the school to pass the Ohio Achievement Test. He has been accused of branding a student during a voluntary Tesla coil demonstration, but there doesn't seem to be much merit in this accusation.

“When I interviewed him, he did mention that back in 2002-2003, he decided to follow some of the details in the "No Child Left Behind" legislation that allowed teachers to teach the controversy concerning evolution. He wonders if his willingness to talk about the problems with evolution is part of the reason for the actions against him.

John Freshwater pointed out that other teachers have religious items on their desk. And he was willing to remove a Ten Commandments poster from his classroom, along with a box of Bibles that were stored in his office for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

“ So, is he just a troublemaker? I don't think so. I also interviewed his pastor who was most supportive of him, his character, and his teaching. As far as I can tell, he is the kind of teacher we would want instructing our children. He doesn't deserve to be suspended, and he certainly doesn't deserve to be fired. The school board has passed a resolution to terminate his contract pending an August 26 hearing.

“ Let us hope and pray that he is reinstated and not fired. I'm Kerby Anderson, and that's my point of view."


The Freshwater story had more national exposure in newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, which ran an AP new story.

ON THE LOCAL STAGE

Dave Daubenmire on his Pass the Salt
website had the following update and description of the YouTube video embedded below.


“At the August 4th Mt. Vernon School Board meeting fellow Science teacher Lori Miller informed the board that she, too, regularly performed the same experiment with her class involving a Tesla Coil, had a Bible on her desk, and Christian symbols in her room and she had never once been asked by any superior to cease and desist. In addition, Mrs. Miller said that even though she was on the "witness" list of the "investigation" conducted by an "independent" investigator, had worked along John Freshwater for years, no one ever interviewed her to find out if she might have evidence pertinent to the case.”

To listen to the 3 minute presentations of various people who spoke during the public session of the August 4th School Board meeting please click
here

Freshwater’s Fellow Science Teacher Speaks Up For Him




TAKE ACTION

To keep up with the John Freshwater story see any of the following:

A Good Choice . . . articles


SupportFreshwater.com

BibleOnTheDesk.com

You can also help Mr. Freshwater with his legal costs by sending a check to:


The Community Council for Free Expression
c/o Trinity Assembly of God
1051 Beech Street
Mount Vernon, Ohio 43050
.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:42 PM

    Ummm.... you obviously haven't heard that his hearing is not Aug 26th. You might want to look it up.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anon -

    Thanks for your comment.

    Thank you for the info. Hearing was rescheduled to October 1st.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous6:31 AM

    Fire Him For The Right Reasons
    John Freshwater should remove the bible from his desk or he should be fired as incompetent and recalcitrant.

    He claims removing the bible from his desk would "infringe upon his deeply held personal religious beliefs granted by god." However, to keep it there is an affront to clear thinking, rational persons everywhere.

    Some reasons are:

    1. It is an endorsement of a religion by a governmental entity which is a violation of the establishment clause of the first amendment of the U.S. constitution.
    2. It is exclusionary and offensive to people of different faiths but especially people of no religious faith.
    3. The bible has no place in a public school except maybe as a topic in a literature, social studies or comparative religions class.
    4. By sitting on a teacher’s desk it is an inappropriate and tacit endorsement of a religion by not just a government agency but him as an authority figure.
    5. It promotes a supernatural, magical worldview. It is a book of not much more than mythic storytelling with stories of:

    a. Wizards and witches (Exodus 22:18 and Deuteronomy 18:11)
    b. Demons and devils (Matthew 5:13)
    c. Dragons (Deuteronomy 32:33, Jeremiah 51:37)
    d. Unicorns (Isaiah 34:7, Psalms 22:21 and Numbers 23:22)
    e. Half man, half goat "party animals" known as Satyrs (Isaiah 34:14)

    Any teacher who cannot or will not understand the points above should not be teaching the public. A religious based school would be a great place for him to teach, but not a government funded institution. Freedom loving, free thinking people everywhere are counting on the administration of our public schools to do the right thing.

    Thank You,
    Ed

    ReplyDelete