When Teachers Preach: N.J. Student Records History Teacher’s Sermonizing
Those who don’t accept Jesus “belong in Hell,” Paszkiewicz said. He also argued for creationism; Dinosaurs, he insisted, were on Noah’s ark.
David Paszkiewicz is a youth pastor at Kearny (N.J.) Baptist Church. He is also a history teacher at Kearny High School. Sometimes, it seems, he gets the two roles mixed up.
Matthew LaClair, a student in Paszkiewicz’s public school classs, recorded his teacher offering his class an array of religious opinions.
Those who don’t accept Jesus “belong in Hell,” Paszkiewicz said. According to The Jersey Journal, he also argued for creationism and against evolution and the “Big Bang.” Dinosaurs, he insisted, were on Noah’s ark.
LaClair knew that religious indoctrination in public schools is wrong, so he took his complaint to school officials. A month after he requested a meeting to discuss his concerns, LaClair finally sat down with Principal Alfred Somma, Paszkiewicz and the head of the social studies department.
LaClair told the newspaper that Paszkiewicz, at first, denied mixing religion into his course content, and the other school officials seemed to be accepting his version of events. The 16-year-old junior whipped out the CDs he had recorded and the conversation took a different turn. (He said he knew no one would believe a student over a teacher without evidence.)
Paszkiewicz seemed less than repentant. According to LaClair, the teacher remarked, “Maybe you’re an atheist. You caught the big Christian fish.”
Principal Somma and Superintendent Robert Mooney now say “corrective action” will be taken, although they have declined to say exactly what the action will be.
In the meantime, LaClair is suffering some abuse from fellow students who are fond on Paszkiewicz, a crew team coach who is popular.
Some students, he said, yelled taunts at him while others merely shunned him.
He remains optimistic.
“I lost a few friends,” he said. “I don’t really hold it against them. I hope over time we’ll get back together.”
Public schools serve students of many different faith traditions and some who follow no spiritual path at all. Teachers must respect that diversity, not try to impose their personal religious perspective.
Matthew LaClair is a courageous young man who stood up for his constitutional rights. He is to be commended; we need more young Americans like him.