08-19-2003, 01:21 PM
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#92 (permalink)
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The GrandDaddy of them all!
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i quote from sipsake's link
Quote:
In her statement at a hearing[**4] before the School Board, and in depositions taken for the litigation of this case, Ms. Ramsey has explained that she refused to allow plaintiff's topic for a combination of reasons. First, she stated that the student had failed to receive permission to write on the topic prior to handing in the outline. Because plaintiff did not adhere to the requirement of submitting her topic for her teacher's approval, she had to choose another topic.
Second, Ms. Ramsey said that she believed that it would be difficult for her to evaluate a research paper on a topic related to Jesus Christ. She stated that she knew that plaintiff had a strong personal belief in Christianity that would make it difficult for her to write a dispassionate research paper. Furthermore, Ms. Ramsey believed that the paper would be difficult to grade because plaintiff might take any criticisms of the paper too personally. Even remarks regarding grammar or organization might be misinterpreted as criticisms of plaintiff's religious beliefs. Ms. Ramsey thought it would be wiser to avoid such potential misunderstandings.
Third, the teacher indicated that she "just knew that we don't deal with personal religion -- personal[**5] religious beliefs. It's just not an appropriate thing to do in a public school. . . People don't send their children to school for a teacher to get in a dialogue with personal religious beliefs. They send them to learn to read and write and think. And you can do that without getting into personal religion." (J.A. at 57).
Fourth, the teacher felt that because plaintiff knew a lot about Jesus Christ, she could produce an outline without doing any significant research, and thus defeat the purpose of the exercise. The teacher stated "it was a lot easier to write a quick little preliminary outline on Jesus Christ, which she knew a lot about, which most of my students knew a lot about." (J.A. at 57-58). Further, she said that part of the purpose of the paper was to have the students research a paper on a subject with which they were unfamiliar. (J.A. at 70).
Fifth, Ms. Ramsey at one point during her testimony before the School Board stated "the law says we are not to deal with religious issues in the classroom." (J.A. at 222). She seems to have thought that she should not allow plaintiff to write on the topic of her choice because the law may prohibit this kind of religious paper in public[**6] school classrooms.
Sixth, while testifying before the school board, Ms. Ramsey also stated that she rejected the topic because the assignment required the use of four sources and that "all of the sources that you [are] going to find documenting the life of Jesus Christ derive from one source, the Bible." (J.A. at 221). She seems to have meant primary or original sources, but during a previous deposition she said she allowed secondary sources: "I required that they have two books and two encyclopedias or resources, but they could[*155] substitute using magazine articles or pamphlets." (J.A. at 38).
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lol, that's way more than enough reasons not to let the student write about the life of jesus christ.
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"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Darrel K Royal
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