A strange silence in Kearny

defending the First Amendment against the Christian right ...

... because if Jews don't speak out, they'll think we don't mind

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New Jersey: A Strange Silence in Kearny

Editorial, The New York Times, December 31, 2006

Just 10 miles west of Midtown Manhattan, a Kearny High School teacher was recorded early in this school year telling his students in an accelerated 11th grade history class that evolution was not scientific, that dinosaurs were aboard Noah’s ark and that only Christians have a place in heaven.

The teacher, David Paszkiewicz, also was recorded as saying this about Jesus: "If you reject his gift of salvation, then you know where you belong."

The vast majority of Americans deplore such proselytizing in public classrooms. But the truly disturbing aspect of all this, described earlier this month by Times reporter Tina Kelley, is not that one teacher so blatantly crossed the church-state boundary but that so few school officials and community residents seemed bothered by his behavior.

One teacher, who asked not to be named, said Mr. Paszkiewicz "had the right to say what he said, he was not preaching, and that’s something I’m very much against." The school’s principal says action was taken against Mr. Paszkiewicz but won’t say what. At the same time, he describes Mr. Paszkiewicz as an 'excellent teacher," and says he remains in the classroom. And the town’s electronic bulletin board, KearnyOnTheWeb.com, contained many postings supporting the teacher.

The only reason anyone knows about Mr. Paskiewicz’s behavior is that one student, Matthew LaClair, 16, had the courage to speak up in September. Before doing so, he taped Mr. Paszkiewicz for eight classes because he feared officials would not believe him. He has since received one death threat, lost many friends, and says he can "feel the glares" when he goes to school.

Mathew’s father, Paul LaClair, a lawyer, says he is considering legal action unless the school corrects Mr. Paszkiewicz’ misstatements concerning science and straightens out the constitutional issues regarding separation of church and state for the entire student body.

In recent years, the divide between religion and the classroom has been narrowed as conservative courts have ruled in favor of tuition vouchers for religious schools, ruled that religion clubs can meet in public schools and allowed federal money to be spent on computers and other instructional equipment for parochial schools. But even groups like the Rutherford Institute, which provides legal help in religious freedom cases, says that Mr. Paszkiewicz appears to have crossed the line against outright preaching in the public schools.

That he did. While he certainly has the right like anyone in this country to voice and practice his beliefs, he doesn’t have the right to do so while standing in front of a captive audience of students to whom his assertions carry the ring of authority.

The silence among senior school officials is disheartening. Instead of ducking, they should be writing guidelines making it clear that this sort of behavior will not be tolerated in public classrooms.

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