Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Teresa Escalante
EDU 210
Portfolio #6
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A teacher by the name of Karen White by the looks of it, changed religion and due to that
she is excluded from celebrating certain things such as holidays. This outcome made parents
disappointed and began a protest which later on resulted in Ms. Whites dismissal. The question
In a case between Abington School District v. Schempp the focus is on religion. Within
the state of Pennsylvania students were told to read verses from the bible to begin the day. Some
parents were against this and Two families sued, claiming this violated the Establishment
Clause of the First Amendment states an article. This case went to the court where the judges
came to the conclusion that Bible readings in public schools constitute an impermissible
religious exercise by government. The reason for this decision was because although it does
include a portion of history and literacy it goes against the Establishment Clause.
Within the case of Epperson v. Arkansas, the court had to come to a decision towards the
curriculum. According to School Law for Teachers the author states that Teachers and
schools cannot construct a class whose purpose is actually to inculcate or sponsor religion. With
that being said if the class was to take course it would violate the Establishment course. A class
was created that focused on the Bible history and the court had the same opinion. The court
concluded that students can have their own beliefs and teachers cannot make students do all the
activities but in that case the student will just be excluded rather than changing everything.
In a case between Lynch v. Donnelly in 1983 the case spoke upon religion traditions due
to a Christmas visual that was found within an organization. Various people were against the
display because they believed it went against the establishment clause. When the issue went to
court, the judges had a different opinion. They believed that it was important to learn about the
traditions especially one that is nationally known worldwide. According to an article about the
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case states evidence, "[w]e are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme
Being" was supplied by reference to the national motto "In God We Trust," the affirmation "one
nation under God" in the pledge of allegiance, and the recognition of both Thanksgiving and
Wisconsin v. Yoder was a case that fell within the Free Exercise Clause. The case
involved enforcing a state compulsory attendance; according to the book of School Law for
Teachers, which would occur after the students finished the last year in middle school and that
was part of their religion rights. Within this case, the court stated that religion was untouchable
The result of Ms. Whites dismissal was correct and could have been easily dismissed by
putting religion aside in her work so the children could be exposed to the various activities that
were planned as well as holidays. If the case had to make a decision, I believe they would take
the same route as the principal did. Just like the previous case of Epperson v. Arkansas said
Teachers and schools cannot construct a class whose purpose is actually to inculcate or sponsor
religion. Although that may not have been the case, teachers cannot change the curriculum
References
Cline, A. (2016). Supreme Court Decision - Lynch v. Donnelly. Retrieved March 05, 2016.
First Amendment Schools: The Five Freedoms - Court Case. (2016, March 04). Retrieved March
05, 2016.
Religion & Public Schools. (2006, April 05). Retrieved March 03, 2016.
Underwood, J., & Webb, L. D. (2006). School law for teachers: Concepts and applications.