***Update***: It was correctly pointed out to me that the main link for this article is a year old. The information is accurate, but outdated. My fault for thinking it was recent news.
Thanks to Ed for letting me know!
…
John Freshwater is the 8th grade science teacher from Mount Vernon, Ohio who was all sorts of fundamentalist:
- He refused to remove a personal Bible from his classroom
- He preached his Christian beliefs in the classroom
- He denounced evolution
- He didn’t teach the proper science curriculum
- He burned crosses onto the arms of some students, “causing swelling and blistering”
- He said that homosexuals were sinners
- He kept the Ten Commandments on the door of his classroom until he was finally forced to take it down
- He gave his students extra credit if they saw the movie Expelled and completed an assignment explaining “why it is important to examine this objectively and not let bias affect your observations.”
This is not a man who should be involved in the education of young minds. He was incompetent in the one area in which he had to teach students.
Thankfully, after more than a year of discussing him, he has been fired.
Finally.
High-school science teachers told consultants that Freshwater’s teachings were undermining science instruction in the district. They reported having to re-teach scientific concepts to students who took Freshwater’s class.
Complaints about Freshwater’s teachings were made by teachers and people in the community for at least 11 years, a school administrator told consultants. Freshwater has taught eighth-grade science in the district for 21 years.
…
In Mount Vernon, the public debate over Freshwater is reflected in signs on the road, one saying that if the school board made Freshwater remove his Bible from his classroom, the community would get rid of the school board.
“It saddens us that we’re at this point,” said Mary Lou Sinzinger, a Freshwater supporter. “This God-fearing community is one of the reasons we moved here.”
I don’t know how Christians could defend a man like this. They cling so strongly to their beliefs, they don’t care when he harms students or breaks the law, as long as it’s done in the name of their personal god.
Not every Christian supported him, obviously, but enough to make you worry about the education these students will be getting.
At least they can now get someone in the classroom who might know a thing or two about science.
(via Deep Thoughts)