(NC) Parent upset teacher not fired for attacking evolution, comparing public schools to Nazi death

[unhappycamper]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/10/parent-upset-teacher-not-fired-for-attacking-evolution-comparing-public-schools-to-nazi-death-camps/

Parent upset teacher not fired for attacking evolution, comparing public schools to Nazi death camps
Eric W. Dolan
13 Oct 2014

A parent in North Carolina is upset that a high school biology teacher who compared public education to Nazi death camps and attacked the theory of evolution will be allowed to continue teaching.

Krista Bennett, a parent of a senior at Fuquay-Varina High School, told the News & Observer that she’s disappointed with the Wake County Public School System’s decision not to fire Ray Fournier over an article he published in a home-schooling magazine.

In the article, Fournier wrote that the public school system was like “a concentration camp dedicated to the spiritual death of those imprisoned behind these walls.” The biology teacher also complained about the teaching of evolution, claiming it discredited “the reliability of the Bible” and got “rid of God as Creator,” and he said public education could turn straight kids into gay kids.

The district announced Friday that Fournier would be suspended for five days without pay.

[Sancho]

1. They may not "fire" the teacher, but that teacher will likely "resign" or be non-renewed.

...of course, there's a chance that an article outside of school can say whatever they want as long as the teacher follows the curriculum and doesn't take religion into the classroom. It sounds like this teacher is off the rails, but who knows unless you are actually there.

In the 70's I taught in a SC school where the elected superintendent was a retired Baptist minister. At that time, we had a social studies teacher who had Bible lessons and evolution was not taught. In that community it was accepted and expected.

Also, in the 60's it was common for Southern schools to use textbooks that seriously provided an altered version of the "war of Northern aggression" and earth science had a religious component. It's not all that new to see extreme values slip into the schools unless there is diligent monitoring.

If teachers receive certification today from accredited public universities most of the extreme values don't make it through the program. If the teachers come from private religious universities (that sometimes don't have national teacher accreditation), they can still reflect some pretty strange backgrounds. That's one of the dangers of Teach for America and alternative certification programs; they let the outliers and extremists slip through.

[DetlefK]

2. The excuse this teacher can do nothing about: "My god ate my homework."

"What? Are you saying that God can't eat my homework or are you denying God's existence, you heathen?"

[Hoppy]

3. In terms of his charge that school ruin kid's spirits,

if you ever saw the documentary, "High School" by Fred Wiseman, you would agree.

As for the rest of his nonsense, ...

[Smarmie Doofus]

4. I don't disagree w. the "concentration camp" part:

>>> “a concentration camp dedicated to the spiritual death of those imprisoned behind these walls.” >>>>

Before I retired, I used the "educational North Korea" analogy to describe the atmosphere that blew into the classroom with the gray dawn of the academically incoherent Obama/Duncan era.

Note: header is subtly misleading: Fournier didn't say *Nazi* concentration camps. And he is explicit... in the quote.. that he is talking about SPIRITUAL.... not PHYSICAL ....death.

Additionally, the sentence fragments attributed to him re. evolution to him could be... and very likely ARE ... part of a longer and more nuanced treatment of the issue.

In other words: not enough info here. More info needed.

Put away those torches and pitchforks. At least for now.