Running head: RELIGION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 1

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Religion in Public Schools

Seidy Portillo

College of Southern Nevada

RELIGION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 2

Abstract

Kindergarten teacher Karen White became part of the Jehovah’s Witness and told her students

and their parents that she could no longer take part in religious projects because of it. School

principal Bill Ward suggested Karen’s dismissal, claiming that she did not effectively meet the

needs of her students. Establishment Clause and Due Process will be used to determine if there

are well founded reasons to dismiss Karen. The following court cases: School District of

Abington Township versus Schempp, West Virginia State Board of Education versus Barnette,

Goss versus Lopez, Florey versus Sioux Falls School District, and Palmer versus Board of Ed.

Of City of Chicago will be used to evaluate and discuss more on Wards actions.
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Religion in Public Schools

Karen White shocked many parents and students when she declared that she will no

longer be a part of any projects that are affiliated with religion. More specifically she will not

decorate the class around Christmas, say the Pledge of Allegiance, or celebrate students’

birthdays in class. Some angered parents protested, causing principal Bill Ward to dismiss her

due to “ineffectively meeting the needs of her students.”

Plaintiffs Bill Ward and the parents state that there is justifiable basis for Karen’s

dismissal because she is in violation of the Establishment Clause:

“Neither a state nor Federal Government can set up a church. Nor pass laws in which aid

one religion, aid all religions, or prefer on over another…(McCabe, McCarthy, & Eckes,

2014, p. 41).”

She is allowing her religious beliefs to stop her from celebrating certain things in the classroom.

In doing so, she might cause students to disregard their religion and convert to what the teacher

is to try and please her. White cannot force her opinion onto her students as backed up by

Abington v. Schempp and W.V. v. Barnette. In the 1963 case of Abington School District v.

Schempp A Pennsylvania public school was in violation of the Establishment Clause due to their

law that required the day to be started with reading from the Bible. If White does not celebrate

all religions, then she should not celebrate any, or celebrate all.

Defendant Karen White makes the statement that the school is violating her right to due

process. According to the glossary in the Legal Rights of Teachers and Students,
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“substantive due process is embodied in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments that

legislation must be fair and reasonable in content as well as application; protection

against arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable governmental actions.”

She used the Goss v. Lopez court case to defend her decision. In the Goss v. Lopez Case, 11

students from different middle and high schools were suspended for 10 days without being given

a hearing prior. The Supreme Court ruled that it the principal was violated the students

fourteenth amendment due process rights.

White also stated that she did not violate the Establishment Clause and it could be backed

up with the Florey v. Sioux case. In which an atheist parent of a kindergarten student took the

school district to court because his child was singing Christmas carols. The court ruled that the

practices did not exceed boundaries under the Establishment Clause. Karen’s decision to simply

stop involving the Pledge, Christmas, Birthdays, and more, did not violate the Establishment

Clause, as she did not begin sharing beliefs on her own new beliefs. The third case used to

defend Karen White is the 1979 Palmer v. Board of Ed. case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court

declared that schools have a right to fire teachers who are not willing to follow curriculum for

religious reasons. Unless the things she refused to continue celebrating were in the school’s

curriculum, then she was not in violation of anything and should not be dismissed.

I believe that all the court cases mentioned could be used to side with defendant Karen

White. She did not want to celebrate things that were against her religious beliefs, she decided to

not celebrate any than to include all religions. Her decision was understandable, as those are not

part of the curriculum, the plaintiffs do not have a justifiable reason to dismiss Karen.
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References

Goss v. Lopez. (n.d.). Oyez. Retrieved October 18, 2018, from

https://www.oyez.org/cases/1974/73-898

McCabe, N.H, McCarthy, M.M, Eckes, S.E. (2014) Teachers Substantive Constitutional Rights.

Legal Rights of Teachers and Students (pp.41-69). Bloomington, Indiana. Pearson

Education.