Wheat-dogg’s world
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The saga of John Freshwater, part XII …

While Freshwater’s superiors at the Mount Vernon schools dither, the family of one of his students have resorted to the all-American method of getting to the root of things — they’re suing him and the school district.

The suit claims that Freshwater violated the student’s civil rights by allegedly burning a cross into his arm with a Tesla coil and and that his superiors were negligent in not disciplining Freshwater.

The school district hired an outsider to investigate the allegations against Freshwater, an otherwise popular seventh-grade science teacher. That report is due Friday, at which time the school board will make some decision about Freshwater’s future, supposedly.

Freshwater made a name for himself earlier last year by refusing to remove his Bible from his desk. Christians loved his “Christ’s warrior” decision, but civil libertarians demurred. It then came out that Freshwater was a bit of a religious nut, proselytizing students, teaching creationism, and on at least one instance, burning a cross on a student’s arm with a Tesla coil.

That apparently woke up his superiors from their overly cautious slumber. They put an observer in his classroom while the independent investigators did their thing, and delayed any disciplinary action until the investigators filed their report.

Anyway, the lawsuit was filed in US District Court in Columbus earlier his week. I don’t have a copy of the complaint, but Ed Brayton over at ScienceBlogs does. He is as aghast at this whole mess as I am. How any teacher could be allowed to get away with this kind of malarkey defies all logic.

Today marks the end of classes here, and the end of my 24-year-long classroom presence at St. Francis High School (The School of Thought). Beginning next September, I will embark on a new professional activity, teaching English in Hunan, China.

So I am facing today with a mixture of relief, regret and some excitement (while trying to think with a brain fog-bound with a nasty headcold).

Back in the mid-1980s, a co-worker of mine at the University of Louisville arranged for me to observe physics classes at this tiny independent high school downtown. It had a reputation of being “alternative” and I was interested in observing both “regular” and “irregular” classes as part of my master’s degree. So, I sat in the physics classes of Don Esbenshade (Mr. E to his students) for roughly 20 hours.

Don used the Conceptual Physics college text by Paul G. Hewitt, which used a minimal math approach completely new to me. It was a refreshing idea — to teach physics concepts and logic without bogging students down with solving problems using fancy algebra and trigonometry. While St. Francis also taught physics at the AP level, most students took the Conceptual course.

Toward the end of my 20-hour observation time. Don asked if I was interested in taking his place at the school, since he had been planning for a few years to pursue a PhD in physics, which would require him to leave Louisville. Although I not yet finished the master’s program, I said sure. I was tired of living on a grad assistant’s stipend.

Seventh-grade science teacher John Freshwater has his supporters, but his religious agenda in the classroom has clearly not won over everyone in Mount Vernon, Ohio. At a school board meeting Monday night, he had as many friends as foes in the audience.

Freshwater made headlines several weeks ago when he refused to remove his Bible from his classroom desk. Soon, there were allegations that he was preaching religion in class, distributing creationist literature to his science students, and that he allegedly burned a cross on a student’s arm with an electrical device.

The school district has hired an independent investigator to substantiate or refute the allegations. Freshwater was allowed to continue teaching meanwhile, with an administrative observer in the classroom to monitor him.

The device he allegedly used to burn the student is in fact a hand-held Tesla coil, a staple of science education. My students have seen it in action. It can generate high voltage arcs a few centimeters long when held near a ground. While the sparks are not lethal, they can cause pinpoint skin burns that can be pretty painful. I speak from experience.

It boggles the mind why any teacher would subject a student to a potentially painful electrical arc. I tell mine to stay away from the business end of the device, even if they think they’re “tough.”

Besides, the smell of burnt flesh is not all that appealing.

Sometimes you’ve got to wonder if any Christianists have any critical thinking abilities.

Well, nevermind, I know the answer to the question already, but here’s yet more evidence that fundies “just don’t get it.”

The scene is Mount Vernon (Ohio) Middle School, where seventh-grade science teacher and Christianist John Freshwater stands accused of, among other things, proselytizing his students, burning a cross in a student’s skin, and teaching creationism against district policies. His district is investigating the charges.

It seems that some students (and parents, I’ll betcha) assume that if you’re not for Freshwater, you’re not a Christian. Or worse yet, if you’re not Christian, you can’t support him. Witness these quotes from the local newspaper:

Several comments from students and parents indicate that acceptance and religious tolerance is a one-way street for many concerned.

Beth Murdoch, whose daughter attends the middle school, is one of the parents who has expressed concerns about the sometimes hostile environment at the middle school.

“You’re either for Mr. Freshwater or you’re against Mr. Freshwater. There’s no in between,” Murdoch said. “In the kids’ minds, I think, it is just the Bible issue. And who is going to go against the Bible? Nobody. But it seems like the ‘Christians’ are using that as an excuse to gang up on the ‘atheists.’

She did nothing wrong when she outed a gay couple to the school community and their parents, according to the Memphis City schools. It was all necessary to maintain school order.

Ja, mein commandant!

The details are in the local newspaper story here. The district says it is preparing a more formal legal response to a letter the American Civil Liberties Union sent them last week.

Meanwhile, some parents want the board to take some disciplinary action against the principal, Daphne Beasley. A small but vocal contingent of parents confronted the board at its meeting Monday evening.

“I’m disgusted,” Memphis parent Natasha Burnett told Eyewitness News Everywhere. “I’m disgusted by it.”

…

“Firing her may be too harsh,” says Burnett, “but something needs to be done about that. No faculty member should be able to out a student like that.”

The students in question had just started a relationship that they were trying to keep quiet. The parents of the boys were not aware they were gay, until Beasley called the parents, outraged that they had gay children at her school.

Her actions were supposedly to quell “public displays of affection” on campus, but according to one school official students were taking PDAs to new levels.

School Board Commissioner Kenneth Whalum, Junior, says he understands the concerns of these parents, but says the principal had to take action.

“Some kids were engaged in sex acts in plain view on campus,” says Whalum, “and that wasn’t the first time.”

Academics that teach theories contradicting evolution are harassed, lose their jobs and reputations or are refused tenure, according to Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. It offers four examples of the so-called Darwinist conspiracy to silence “anti-evolutionists.”

All of which are pitiful examples, since none of them lost their jobs because of their Intelligent Design beliefs. There were other reasons they lost their jobs.

For perhaps obvious reasons, the movie fails to discuss the number of academics subjected to harassment by the creationist/Intelligent Design “hegemony” — y’know, the “good guys.” Blogger Blake Stacey has found at least 12 examples of creationists interfering with the careers of science instructors. You need to read his post in case any Expelled fans rail at you about the Darwinist conspiracy.

Mount Vernon teacher John Freshwater is in hot water because he teaches religion a little bit too much in his eighth grade science classes. A former colleague says his superiors knew of Freshwater’s religious agenda, but have done little about it until recently.

Freshwater first hit the news several days ago when school officials told him to remove his Bible from clear view of his students. The teacher refused, prompting both a student rally supporting him and an advisory notice from the American Civil Liberties Union supporting school administrators. The religious Right seized the controversy as another attack on religion.

Then other details about Freshwater’s classroom behavior came to light. He keeps a stack of Bibles in his room to loan out to students. He passes out pro-creationist literature to counter scientific explanations of the Big Bang and evolution. He allegedly burned a cross on at least one student’s arm as part of a demonstration of electricity. He taught his classes the meaning of Good Friday and Easter.

Freshwater has had a religious agenda for some time. Quoting a former colleague, Retired middle school science teacher Jeff George, the Mount Vernon News reported yesterday:

George said there may be substance to other allegations that Freshwater used the classroom to advance his own personal beliefs. “The school administration has known for a long time that Freshwater was crossing the line, and he should have been fired a long time ago.”