Latest Challenges to the Teaching of Evolution

Did he have an English accent? and was he kind of inebriated?

I meet many people who doesn't know who Ernest Shackleton is.

Letter to the Editor, Durant Daily Democrat, January 7, 2011

This letter is in response to Senator Brecheen’s discussions in the Durant Daily Democrat the last few weeks on evolutionary theory and his intention to introduce creationist legislation that would require creation to be taught along with evolution in Oklahoma science classrooms. Because of the misinformation he provides to his constituents, presenting both ideologies and letting the students “decide” for themselves may seem like a good idea; however, in reality it opens our schools, teachers, and state to unnecessary litigation and scientific ridicule from the rest of the world.

To begin, science and religion are on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of how information is obtained and studied; this is where Mr. Brecheen somehow missed the boat in his scientific studies.

Science is a method of problem solving. Science is evidence driven through experimentation.

Data in the form of measurements are collected in an experiment. After much evidence has been collected, a unifying explanation attempts to explain all the observations, thus a scientific theory is established. Evolution is a foundational theory in science that is backed with over 200 years of evidence and experimentation from thousands of scientists and is accepted worldwide as the driving force behind speciation and variation in organisms. Creation, on the other hand, is based in religion. Religion adheres to the teachings of “faith” and to supernatural forces where its evidence cannot be measured with any instrument. Without experimentally obtained observations, creation cannot and should not be presented in a science classroom. There are other avenues where students learn religion: church, theology classes, literature, humanities, etc.

Secondly, if schools are required to teach creation in our sciences, whose version of creation do we teach?

I, like many others who share my opinion, have no desire to question or to disparage any individual’s faith. I’m sure Mr. Brecheen will have even more qualms with our science classrooms if the version being taught isn’t Christian based. I believe this leaves schools, teachers, and the State of Oklahoma open to lawsuits that can’t be won due to First Amendment violation. This has been demonstrated by Kansas few years ago. So, Mr. Brecheen, why are you willing to submit legislation that will probably be repealed and will cost taxpayers millions of dollars?

Finally, I have a hard time understanding, out of all the governmental woes facing Oklahoma’s economy, budget, and unemployment, why is this at the top of your priority list? Because of your status as a freshman senator, I would think your time would be better spent finding solutions to stimulating Oklahoma’s economy than addressing this issue. I realize this issue is personally important to you and some of your conservative constituents, but when you took office you swore to represent all.

This legislation, Mr. Brecheen, does not represent me or the many voters with whom I have spoken.

I ask you to refocus your efforts to represent all Oklahomans on issues that aren’t already constitutionally moot.

Teacher's firing over religion fair, referee says
(By Holly Zachariah, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH, January 9, 2011)

A Mount Vernon teacher defied his bosses and ignored the U.S. Constitution when he continually used his eighth-grade science classes to push his own religion, and he should be fired for it, a state hearing officer has concluded.

The Mount Vernon school board put John Freshwater on unpaid leave and voted in 2008 to fire him, saying he taught creationism and intelligent design, failed to remove religious materials from the classroom and burned crosses on students' arms during science experiments.

Freshwater, saying he'd done nothing wrong, fought to keep his job.

Before Ohio teachers can be fired, they are entitled to a hearing before a referee, who then makes a recommendation to the school board. Freshwater's hearing went on sporadically for nearly two years at a cost to taxpayers of at least $700,000.

R. Lee Shepherd, the hearing officer or "referee" assigned to the case by the Ohio Department of Education, issued the report recommending Freshwater's firing late Friday.

It is nonbinding, and the board of education - which includes two different members from when it voted to fire Freshwater - does not have to accept it.

Freshwater could not be reached yesterday, and his attorney, R. Kelly Hamilton, did not return a call seeking comment.

Freshwater's pastor, friend and adviser, Don Matolyak of the Trinity Assembly of God church in Mount Vernon, said Freshwater wouldn't make a comment because the school board hasn't yet acted on the report.

Mount Vernon Superintendant Steve Short said the district wouldn't have a comment until at least Monday.

In the report, Shepherd wrote that Freshwater was a popular middle-school teacher and that most of his students enjoyed his class. His students scored above average on state tests, and he often was recognized for his teaching skills, Shepherd said.

"Unfortunately, John Freshwater was not satisfied with the positive results of his teaching in terms of successful state test scores and the development of a love for the subject of science in the minds of his students," Shepherd wrote.

Instead, "he was determined to inject his personal religious beliefs into his plan."

During the protracted state hearings, Freshwater and his attorney argued that he had been targeted because he refused to remove his personal Bible from his desk.

In 2003, Freshwater asked the district to allow discussions of creationism, as well as evolution, in class. The board refused. The report said that Freshwater "overtly and covertly" began to teach creationism himself.

"He used his classroom as a means of sowing the seeds of doubt and confusion in the minds of impressionable students as they searched for meaning in the subject of science," Shepherd wrote.

District officials gave Freshwater plenty of warnings and opportunities to change his methods, Shepherd said.

He concluded that because Freshwater repeatedly violated the Constitution and district rules and ignored the orders of administrators, he should be fired.

Shepherd said the controversial claims that Freshwater used an electrical laboratory device to burn crosses on students' arms during science experiments were overblown. "Once sworn testimony was presented, it became obvious that speculation and imagination had pushed reality aside," he wrote.

Shepherd said the matter was dealt with administratively and the allegations were not a part of his recommendation to fire.

Yet in December, a judge approved a $450,000 settlement between Freshwater and the family of one of his former students who said he was one of those burned in class.

The money, which will be paid by the district's insurer, was to compensate Stephen and Jenifer Dennis and their son, Zachary, for mental and physical pain and suffering.

Mount Vernon board terminates Freshwater’s contract
(By Pamela Schehl, Mount Vernon News, January 11, 2011)

MOUNT VERNON — After nearly two hours discussing Ohio School Board Association referee R. Lee Shepherd’s report recommending the termination of John Freshwater’s teaching contract, the Mount Vernon City Schools Board of Education voted 4-1 to terminate the former middle school science teacher.

Board member Steve Thompson voted against the measure while Margie Bennett, Jody Goetzman, Paula Barone and Sharon Fair voted to accept Shepherd’s recommendation and terminate Freshwater’s employment for “good and just cause.” That termination was effective Monday at 11:59 p.m.

“The decision has been made to accept the referee’s recommendation to terminate the employment of Mr. Freshwater,” said board president Bennett. “It was not an easy decision. We don’t believe there are any winners or losers in this situation. It is a very difficult situation for everyone. We are glad it has been resolved. Hopefully we can put this behind us, the community can begin to come together again and relationships can heal and we can move forward.”

Fair said the board used the executive session to explore all avenues, raise questions and consider all the information.

“It’s unfortunate that we had to reach this point,” she added. “We have to follow the law; we have to follow procedures; we have to address things. I hope that everyone has learned from this experience. And I hope it hasn’t damaged our community too much. I think that people do understand this is a public school and we need to look at what that means.”

Before the board went into executive session, Thompson questioned Barone’s decision, announced in November, to reverse her previous decision to recuse herself from deliberations about Freshwater. Barone said her participation would involve no legal conflict of interest and stated it was her right and responsibility as an elected official to take part in the discussion and decision-making process.

“With the resolution of the federal lawsuits,” she said, “things have changed. My recusal was cautionary [with regard to litigation.] The settlement of all litigation involving Mr. Freshwater, the Does and the Mount Vernon City Schools eliminated the basis for my recusal.”

Freshwater, by law, may file an appeal with the Knox County Court of Common Pleas.

Calls to Freshwater’s residence for comment were not returned as of press time.

Enough of these non-entities scurrying about in some nondescript backwater of American provinciality. What are you trying to prove wande? Will you explain that because it escapes me what it might be in relation to your thread topic.

Oscar Wilde said--" Self-denial is the shining sore on the leprous body of Christianity."

Catch that pass and run into the endzone with it. You're fretting about the doilies.