ARTIFACT #6 Religion and Public Schools

Artifact #6
Religion and Public Schools
Angel Gutierrez
College of Southern Nevada
25th of April 2015
ARTIFACT #6 Religion and Public Schools

Karen White is a kindergarten teacher who recently became affiliated with

Jehovahs Witnesses and decided she would not be able to participate in some projects

because they were religious in nature. Some of the things she would not participate in

anymore were decorating the classroom for the holidays, singing happy birthday and

even reciting the pledge of allegiance. Due to a parent protest and the school principle

Bill Ward, there was a recommendation for a dismissal of Karen White. They argued that

Karen White could no longer meet the needs of her students. The question to be asked

here is if Karen Whites dismissal was logical and justified? In the next few paragraphs I

will talk about what I believe will be the ruling made by the court.

In favor of Karen White, she could say that she has the right to worship as she

chooses under the free exercise clause of the First Amendment. Karen White could say

that being dismissed due to her religious exercises goes against her right to free exercise

of religion. In the court case of Wisconsin V. Yoder, the Supreme Court came to the

conclusion that enforcing a law against Amish children after the completion of eighth

grade went against their free exercise of religious rights. As noted in School Law for

teachers, The supreme Court said the state could not interfere with the free exercise of

religion unless it could show a compelling state interest in doing so. (Pg. 211).

The following will be used against Karen White. The school principle and parents

may argue that Karen White removing all of the holidays and pledge of allegiance

violates the Establishment Clause. They may argue that Karen White is involving the

students in her religious exercise because she does not celebrate holidays she is now

enforcing her religion in the classroom. As noted on page 210, The First Amendment
ARTIFACT #6 Religion and Public Schools

Establishment and Free Exercise clauses could mean anything from simply that the

government cannot establish or sponsor an official state religion to meaning that no

public official or public school employee can make any reference to religion. Due to the

fact that she now became a Jehovah witness she made changes to her classroom to fit her

needs versus the students needs.

One more argument in favor of Karen White is the fact that Karen could

state that she was following the Establishment clause which ensures that the government

does not use coercion to support participation in exercises that may be religious in nature.

In the case of Lee V. Weisman the Supreme Court ruled that a prayer that was school

sponsored for graduation went against the Establishment Clause. The court stated that

although government may accommodate the free exercise of religion, such

accommodation cannot supersede the fundamental limitations imposed by the

Establishment Clause. (pg. 213). Karen White could say that due to the pledge of

allegiance stating the phrase, under God this phrase can be assumed to be in violation

of supporting participation in exercises that may be seen as religious.

Now to answer the question of whether the decision to have Karen White

dismissed was logical or not, I would have to assume that the dismissal of Karen White

was not logical at all. I do believe that Karen White should not have changed the

classroom setting due to her own religious practice. Karen White however, shouldnt be

dismissed because she did follow the Establishment Clause which limits the government

from encouraging participation in religious exercises. Some holidays and the pledge of

allegiance both include religious aspects so Karen White decided to pull these out of the
ARTIFACT #6 Religion and Public Schools

classroom could be seen as Karen ensuring that she is not encouraging religious

activities. This case was a very hard one to decide on because it is a very controversial

topic. In the end I do believe that Karen should not have been dismissed.
ARTIFACT #6 Religion and Public Schools

References

Underwood, J. & Webb, L. (2006). Teachers rights. In School Law for Teachers. Upper Saddle

River: Pearson Education.