It’s time for the Kearny School System to stop blaming the messenger and bring its high school into compliance with the Constitution.
And now for a quick pop quiz. Read the following comments and determine if they constitute preaching:
“If you reject [Jesus’] gift of salvation, then you know where you belong.”
“[Jesus] did everything in his power to make sure that you could go to heaven, so much so that he took your sins on his own body, suffered your pains for you, and he’s saying, ‘Please, accept me, believe.’ If you reject that, you belong in hell.”
Let’s say a person said these things to you. You would assume you were being preached to, right? You would assume this person wanted you to change your religious views, correct?
Now let’s assume the person making these comments is a public school teacher, and he’s saying them in class. This isn’t just preaching any more – it has reached the level of a constitutional violation.
Incredibly, the man who said these things – and there is no doubt that he said them because they are on tape – is denying he was preaching in class. History teacher David Paszkiewicz of Kearny High School in Kearny, N.J., spoke up at a school board meeting recently, insisting his actions were appropriate.
The flap started after Matthew LaClair, a 16-year-old student of Paszkiewicz’s, complained about his in-class preaching. Worried that school officials would not believe him, LaClair secretly taped Paszkiewicz’s sermonettes and played them for school officials. (On the tape, Paszkiewicz also attacks evolution, telling the students that there were dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark.)
Officials at the school said they would rein in Paszkiewicz, but they’ve also criticized LaClair for taping him. Incredibly, as The New York Times reported, Paszkiewicz is now whining that he was “set up.” In fact, he has no one to blame but himself for his troubles. If he had stuck to teaching, not preaching, in class, he wouldn’t be in hot water right now.
The school district’s response to all of this has been far from acceptable. Officials there seem unduly sympathetic to Paszkiewicz. One of their first actions after getting the tape was to approve a new policy forbidding the secret taping of lectures! Officials also dismantled the class, sending LaClair and the other students off to other teachers.
Many students are angry at LaClair for being moved and for his salvo against a popular teacher. He has been insulted and bullied and has even received a death threat. During a Feb. 20 school board meeting, LaClair told the board, “During the whole time, I’ve been harassed and bullied, and you’ve done nothing to defend me; you make it look like I’ve done something wrong.”
LaClair’s parents are angry and are considering litigation. Their attitude is completely understandable. They’d like an apology for their son. They should get that, but it’s not enough. Matthew LaClair is not the villain of this story, he’s the hero – the classic whistleblower. LaClair saw something going on that was wrong and took steps to correct it.
It’s time for the Kearny School System to stop blaming the messenger and bring its high school into compliance with the Constitution.
(P.S. The March issue of Americans United’s Church & State magazine will feature an exclusive interview with Matthew LaClair. It will be online at http://www.au.org/ in a few days. Don’t miss it!)
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