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The critical importance of teaching evolution


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In regard to Paul's implied assertion that the future might bring about the acceptance of hypothetical clubs at KHS like NAMBLA, Nazi or Playboy Reading Clubs, he does not seem to factor in the process for forming student clubs at KHS. Recently I learned:

1. A club must be student initiated.

2. The student(s) must solicit a faculty adviser.

3. A charter (outlining the purpose of the club) must be brought before the VP of Student Activities.

4. A petition for the club must be signed by, I believe, 20 or more students who desire the club.

5 Those students must then come before the student council to have their club charter voted on for approval by the Student Government Association.

In short, it is highly unlikely that a Nambla, Nazi or Playboy Reading club would be approved at KHS for at least the following reasons:

1. No faculty member would chose to advise it.

2. There would not be enough student signatures on the petition. (thank God the students have more sense than Paul)

3. It certainly would not be approved by the Student Government Association.

Of course Paul doesn't care what the students or their parents want (According to the Kearny Journal last year the Alpha and Omega Club had 50 signatures and when voted on by the SGA, 72 voted in favor with only 3 abstaining. The 3 didn't even vote no, they abstained! It doesn't seem to matter to Paul at all what the students or their parents want. Paul thinks he's the only taxpayer in Kearny. In addition, he is not content to attack the existence of the club, he finds it necessary also to attack the deeply held beliefs of its members and their parents.

My son is on the Student Government for Kearny High and he came home and talked me me about this when the club joined. I mentioned to him if he wanted my advise on it I would give it, but I would rather hear what the other students were saying as well. He mentioned that they this club meet all the quidelines as was needed to form the club. He also mentioned that other clubs in the past did not even supply as much infomation as this one did when it started. The Student Government takes things in their school very seriously and most of them are on the Honor Society. This clearly is or probably was his fuel for the fire for getting people to listen to his son's radio broadcast.

This is Mr. LaClair's direct quote "We have no defense if Mr. Paszkiewicz puts us in a position of having to defend what could be a very expensive lawsuit. The district spent over $120,000 on legal fees over our issue with Mr. Paszkiewicz before, even though we spent the whole time trying to work it out with them and avoid any expense. If the next person to complain is looking for a payday, he or she just might get it. It could cost us millions." This sounds like more of a threat to our society that students getting together after school to talk if dinosaurs existed before or during man's existence.

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The only reason that the trip did not take place during the school day is that Matthew and I voiced our concerns. It was originally to have begun at 8:00 a.m., requiring the district to hire and pay for a substitute teacher. We are the ones who stopped that. What aggravates us about this, as much as anything else, is that either no one in the school's administration cared about the rather obvious problem or was willing to enforce the rule. We commend Supt. Cusack for acting on this when the matter came to her attention. We are very disappointed to learn that the Board of Education did not act promptly enough to keep her on. I understand she is leaving us soon, and do not understand the Board's inaction or reluctance.

I continue to invite the people of Kearny to address this issue. If you're not concerned about science education or church-state separation, then do it to protect your wallets. We have no defense if Mr. Paszkiewicz puts us in a position of having to defend what could be a very expensive lawsuit. The district spent over $120,000 on legal fees over our issue with Mr. Paszkiewicz before, even though we spent the whole time trying to work it out with them and avoid any expense. If the next person to complain is looking for a payday, he or she just might get it. It could cost us millions.

Speak up and put your name to it. Citizen protest makes a difference.

As a parent of a child on the trip, this deeply offends me for two reasons.

1. It put the children at risk. This trip was approved by the BOE not once, but twice. It was approved in April and when called into question was approved again in May. However, in response to one digruntled activist for atheism, the BOE folded and and told the kids they could only go on the trip after school hours. The rooms had already been booked with no refunds. The kids were therefore forced to travel under dangerous conditions. They left near the evening rush traveling in rain and heavy fog. They didn't arrive until 4:00am and had to be at the museum for 10:00am.

2. It demonstrates obvious discrimination. The day before the trip the Student Govenment Association missed school to go to Six Flags as well as a number of teachers requiring substitutes.. I'm not against this. I think they deserved the trip. However, I do not understand how the BOE can tell one club going to a museum that they cannot go to a museum but yet others can miss school for amusement parks, ski trips, movies, retreats etc.

Regarding the original "church/state" issue, the way I see it, Paul LaClair cost the district $120,000. The only other possible person to blame might be the BOE attorney. After all, the issue never made it to court yet he passed the case off to a NY law firm which ran the bill up to $120,000. What do we pay he him for?

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I’ll respond to the last several posts in one.

I have the documents pertaining to the trip, as supplied to me by the district under the applicable law. Unless documents were withheld, the club did not reimburse anything for the bus. They paid a total of $2,050 for the two drivers, their meals, rooms, tolls and gas.

As a lawyer, I deal with notice issues all the time. There is a clear pattern of conduct and intent by a teacher who is obviously on an evangelical mission to promote his religion within the public school system in any way he can. He has said so explicitly, and his public comments and behavior since the last episode only reinforce his maintenance of this view. This renders our position indefensible if he acts up in a way that subjects the district to liability. The mere fact that you like what he is doing is not a defense.

The parent who complained about late notice that the bus would not be allowed to leave until after school hours is absolutely right. The administration screwed up. Don’t blame it on us. We acted as soon as we received the documents. You may see comment from someone else on this point.

The same parent is also correct that another group should not have been allowed to go to Six Flags during a school day. Your complaint should be directed to the administration. Obviously they are not enforcing the standard, which is that a trip during school time must be justified by an educational purpose.

In no way do I compare the club to Nazis. Furthermore, I do not question the good it may do for students who participate. My issue pertains solely to the promotion of scientific illiteracy and ignorance by this trip to the so-called Creation Museum, and to Mr. Paszkiewicz’s rather obvious over-involvement in the club.

When the first issue arose with Mr. Paszkiewicz, I practically begged the administration to resolve it quietly. If they had done it, it wouldn’t have cost you a cent. When they refused, I told them we could do it the easy way or the hard way. They insisted on doing it the hard way. In the end, they did more than we asked them to do initially. There is absolutely no basis for blaming us for the expenditure of these monies.

You can get a handle on this now, or wait until it bites you again. If you wait and it bites you, you’ll probably find another unreasoning excuse to blame someone else, but it’ll still cost you money.

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As a parent of a child on the trip, this deeply offends me for two reasons.

1. It put the children at risk. This trip was approved by the BOE not once, but twice. It was approved in April and when called into question was approved again in May. However, in response to one digruntled activist for atheism, the BOE folded and and told the kids they could only go on the trip after school hours. The rooms had already been booked with no refunds. The kids were therefore forced to travel under dangerous conditions. They left near the evening rush traveling in rain and heavy fog. They didn't arrive until 4:00am and had to be at the museum for 10:00am.

2. It demonstrates obvious discrimination. The day before the trip the Student Govenment Association missed school to go to Six Flags as well as a number of teachers requiring substitutes.. I'm not against this. I think they deserved the trip. However, I do not understand how the BOE can tell one club going to a museum that they cannot go to a museum but yet others can miss school for amusement parks, ski trips, movies, retreats etc.

Regarding the original "church/state" issue, the way I see it, Paul LaClair cost the district $120,000. The only other possible person to blame might be the BOE attorney. After all, the issue never made it to court yet he passed the case off to a NY law firm which ran the bill up to $120,000. What do we pay he him for?

I will not address your comments regarding your assumptions, because I don't think there is a point. You will think what you will. However, I would like to say something.

If the students did not receive refunds, that is ABSOLUTELY wrong, and the Board of Education should reimburse the students for the price of the rooms. In fact, I spoke about this before. I do think someone in the school, students or parents should have done something about the trip much earlier. However, this is not the fault of the students, you, or any other parent who spent money on this trip and you all deserve your money back for the hotel cost. If members of the club or parents of the students involved in the trip raise a fuss about this, I will agree with them 100%. You and anyone else who spent money for the cost of the hotel deserve their money back from the Board of Education.

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In regard to Paul's implied assertion that the future might bring about the acceptance of hypothetical clubs at KHS like NAMBLA, Nazi or Playboy Reading Clubs, he does not seem to factor in the process for forming student clubs at KHS. Recently I learned:

1. A club must be student initiated.

2. The student(s) must solicit a faculty adviser.

3. A charter (outlining the purpose of the club) must be brought before the VP of Student Activities.

4. A petition for the club must be signed by, I believe, 20 or more students who desire the club.

5 Those students must then come before the student council to have their club charter voted on for approval by the Student Government Association.

In short, it is highly unlikely that a Nambla, Nazi or Playboy Reading club would be approved at KHS for at least the following reasons:

1. No faculty member would chose to advise it.

2. There would not be enough student signatures on the petition. (thank God the students have more sense than Paul)

3. It certainly would not be approved by the Student Government Association.

Of course Paul doesn't care what the students or their parents want (According to the Kearny Journal last year the Alpha and Omega Club had 50 signatures and when voted on by the SGA, 72 voted in favor with only 3 abstaining. The 3 didn't even vote no, they abstained! It doesn't seem to matter to Paul at all what the students or their parents want. Paul thinks he's the only taxpayer in Kearny. In addition, he is not content to attack the existence of the club, he finds it necessary also to attack the deeply held beliefs of its members and their parents.

The requirements for a student club are set by federal law, the Equal Access Act. This law preempts any other body from adding additional requirements. Any requirement of a number of signatures on a petition or approval by a student government body would be illegal. I doubt that the lack of a faculty adviser has ever been tested, but I suspect the courts would require the school to provide a sponsor for a legally constituted club.

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Being a concerned parent, I cannot believe how low you will stoop to have to compare this club to the Nazi youth.

Much more remarkable is that someone would stoop so low as to fabricate such a malicious and false accusation. He made no such comparison. I have little doubt that you possess enough intelligence to understand that, as it is very obvious. The mystery is whether you have enough honor to acknowledge it, and to retract your hateful lie.

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The issue is whether the Court will respect and maintain separation of church and state. Scalia and Thomas have no respect for it at all, and the other right wingers aren't much better. It doesn't matter whether they're Catholic or Protestant, or for that matter, Wiccan, Buddhist or atheist. What matters is whether they will maintain separation.

Do I need to point out again that the UK has a state-sponsored religion (Church of England)?

How many atheists are suffering in that dreaded theocracy?

Recall that Mr. LaClair was using scare tactics to make people fear a theocracy. What, precisely, are we supposed to fear?

Apparently he tried to justify a trip to the so-called "Creation Museum" as an educational field trip to further an understanding of science. That's contrary to the Edwards case (Supreme Court) and the Kitzmiller case in Dover, PA.

Is it? The field trip was for a voluntary club, not part of the curriculum. Do you see that distinction as unimportant? More importantly, would the law see the distinction as important?

We know he can't be trusted. All except you, Bryan.

Whatever you say. I'm just curious about the evidence everyone is using to justify their view of Paszkiewicz. I'm not impressed with your justification. Have you anything else, up to and including an attempt to address my criticism of your stated example for alleging that Paszkiewicz broke the law?

Please pardon me for asking for evidence. "Everyone knows it" just doesn't cut it with me. Sorry.

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Much more remarkable is that someone would stoop so low as to fabricate such a malicious and false accusation. He made no such comparison. I have little doubt that you possess enough intelligence to understand that, as it is very obvious. The mystery is whether you have enough honor to acknowledge it, and to retract your hateful lie.

Thank you, William. As one of a handful of people who identifies himself on this forum, it's very frustrating watching others hide behind their anonymity to level cheap, mindless shots, especially when they are not true, as in the case at hand. It makes me wonder what concept some of the Kearnyites posting here have of the very idea of community. Thank you for standing up for a fellow human being and pointing it out.

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Do I need to point out again that the UK has a state-sponsored religion (Church of England)?

How many atheists are suffering in that dreaded theocracy?

Recall that Mr. LaClair was using scare tactics to make people fear a theocracy. What, precisely, are we supposed to fear?

Some people think we have a good Constitution and the church-state separtion is a good idea. You're the one who raised the subject of fear.

Is it? The field trip was for a voluntary club, not part of the curriculum. Do you see that distinction as unimportant? More importantly, would the law see the distinction as important?

If the trip had to be justified on educational grounds, then it makes no difference. Young-earth crationism is anti-scientific. Do you bother to look at the links to that ridiculous "museum"? It's not a museum, it's a theme park. It's also a farcical and cynical attempt to mislead and distort young minds.

Whatever you say. I'm just curious about the evidence everyone is using to justify their view of Paszkiewicz. I'm not impressed with your justification. Have you anything else, up to and including an attempt to address my criticism of your stated example for alleging that Paszkiewicz broke the law?

Please pardon me for asking for evidence. "Everyone knows it" just doesn't cut it with me. Sorry.

The evidence has been presented ad nauseam. You just refuse to acknowledge it.

Your continued insistence that anyone you disagree with must re-invent the wheel at your demand doesn't cut it with me.

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I’ll respond to the last several posts in one.

I have the documents pertaining to the trip, as supplied to me by the district under the applicable law. Unless documents were withheld, the club did not reimburse anything for the bus. They paid a total of $2,050 for the two drivers, their meals, rooms, tolls and gas.

As a lawyer, I deal with notice issues all the time. There is a clear pattern of conduct and intent by a teacher who is obviously on an evangelical mission to promote his religion within the public school system in any way he can. He has said so explicitly, and his public comments and behavior since the last episode only reinforce his maintenance of this view. This renders our position indefensible if he acts up in a way that subjects the district to liability. The mere fact that you like what he is doing is not a defense.

The parent who complained about late notice that the bus would not be allowed to leave until after school hours is absolutely right. The administration screwed up. Don’t blame it on us. We acted as soon as we received the documents. You may see comment from someone else on this point.

The same parent is also correct that another group should not have been allowed to go to Six Flags during a school day. Your complaint should be directed to the administration. Obviously they are not enforcing the standard, which is that a trip during school time must be justified by an educational purpose.

In no way do I compare the club to Nazis. Furthermore, I do not question the good it may do for students who participate. My issue pertains solely to the promotion of scientific illiteracy and ignorance by this trip to the so-called Creation Museum, and to Mr. Paszkiewicz’s rather obvious over-involvement in the club.

When the first issue arose with Mr. Paszkiewicz, I practically begged the administration to resolve it quietly. If they had done it, it wouldn’t have cost you a cent. When they refused, I told them we could do it the easy way or the hard way. They insisted on doing it the hard way. In the end, they did more than we asked them to do initially. There is absolutely no basis for blaming us for the expenditure of these monies.

You can get a handle on this now, or wait until it bites you again. If you wait and it bites you, you’ll probably find another unreasoning excuse to blame someone else, but it’ll still cost you money.

From reading the hundreds of posts you have blogged here, I find it difficult that you would have begged this Administration anything. Your usual start of your posts with the words "respectfully" or "honest" and then proceed to do neither as you continue through your post.

What is your motive? Your children have graduated from this school system and yet your vendetta against Paszkiewicz continues. This is just to keep your name in the news and the ones you are harming are these children who did nothing wrong. Your actions will make it impossible for any club to form in this school system.

You call yourself a lawyer yet you really nothing more than an embarrassment to this town and the community in which you live.

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What is your motive? Your children have graduated from this school system and yet your vendetta against Paszkiewicz continues. This is just to keep your name in the news and the ones you are harming are these children who did nothing wrong. Your actions will make it impossible for any club to form in this school system.

You call yourself a lawyer yet you really nothing more than an embarrassment to this town and the community in which you live.

The fact that Mr. LaClair's children have graduated from the Kearny school system does not end Mr. LaClair's right to object to Mr. P's behavior. It is obvious that Mr. P cannot separate his role as a public school teacher and being a pastor. He simply has chosen to ignore the fact that he is a teacher is a public school or his religious beliefs do not allow him to conform to the requirement that he not impose his religious views on others while he is in any school related activity. The Kearny Board of Education has been more than kind to Mr. P, it is time that they call him out on his selfish behavior that is putting the school district (the Kearny taxpayers) at risk from getting sued which will result in a large award and additional counsel fees.

I don't object to Mr. P expressing his religious views and even preaching. He simply should do it outside of school.

The separation of church and state is fundamental to our democracy and must be respected. Mr. P's does not understand or he simply does not respect others right to practice their religion (if any).

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From reading the hundreds of posts you have blogged here, I find it difficult that you would have begged this Administration anything. Your usual start of your posts with the words "respectfully" or "honest" and then proceed to do neither as you continue through your post.

What is your motive? Your children have graduated from this school system and yet your vendetta against Paszkiewicz continues. This is just to keep your name in the news and the ones you are harming are these children who did nothing wrong. Your actions will make it impossible for any club to form in this school system.

You call yourself a lawyer yet you really nothing more than an embarrassment to this town and the community in which you live.

His letters to the Board and the administration begging them to resolve the matter before it went public are public record. People like you are the embarrassment.

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Some people think we have a good Constitution and the church-state separtion is a good idea. You're the one who raised the subject of fear.

It is quite obvious that Paul intended the threat of a Evangelical push toward theocracy as a fearsome possibility in order to encourage opposition to its supposed schemes. If he were merely concerned with church/state separation per se, then he could have left out the term "theocracy" very easily. The reason he did not is that people don't fear the mention of God in the classroom quite as much as they do having one particular denomination with exclusive or near-exclusive influence over a nation's central government. Any idea why that would be? :lol:

If the trip had to be justified on educational grounds, then it makes no difference. Young-earth cr(e)ationism is anti-scientific.

I think that justifying the trip on educational grounds is dead easy. Students will learn about the beliefs of a large number of Americans through a visit to a museum like the one in question. So, does the law require all field trips to be justified as science education, or is your rationale crumbling?

Do you bother to look at the links to that ridiculous "museum"?

Yes. I looked at the whole slide show hosted at an .edu site (attacking religion using resources aided by federal funding, interestingly enough).

It's not a museum, it's a theme park. It's also a farcical and cynical attempt to mislead and distort young minds.

To the contrary, it is very likely that the theme park organizers believe the vision they present. Is the effort misguided? I think it probably is, to a large degree. But should it be against federal law to take a voluntary public school club there? That seems a bit much, and you haven't done a very good job of making the case.

The evidence has been presented ad nauseam. You just refuse to acknowledge it.

Am I not dealing with your attempt to present evidence?

Your continued insistence that anyone you disagree with must re-invent the wheel at your demand doesn't cut it with me.

That's OK. Since everyone agrees with you that Paszkiewicz is, in effect, always saying that he wants to break the law I'm sure that somebody who agrees with you will step up to the plate with evidence. I will continue to eagerly await the presentation of at least some reasonable evidence in support of the attack on Paszkiewicz.

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From reading the hundreds of posts you have blogged here, I find it difficult that you would have begged this Administration anything. Your usual start of your posts with the words "respectfully" or "honest" and then proceed to do neither as you continue through your post.

What is your motive? Your children have graduated from this school system and yet your vendetta against Paszkiewicz continues. This is just to keep your name in the news and the ones you are harming are these children who did nothing wrong. Your actions will make it impossible for any club to form in this school system.

You call yourself a lawyer yet you really nothing more than an embarrassment to this town and the community in which you live.

Since you don’t understand what he’s talking about, you assume that he must not be talking about it. You assume it’s about Paszkiewicz. It isn’t. It’s about separation of church and state, science and education.

You don’t think church-state separation is important, so you can’t imagine that anyone else does. You’re probably a Christian, like most people in Kearny, so you’ve never been threatened by religious intolerance or discrimination. So you don’t see it and you can’t imagine why anyone would think these things are important.

You don’t think a good science education is important, particularly evolution. You can’t imagine that anyone else could understand that evolution is the one principle that organizes not only biology but every dynamic system, including politics, economics, marketing – everything. Anyone who doesn’t understand evolution cannot understand the modern world.

Meanwhile, Kearny is stuck with a tenured teacher who is out there poking fun at the single most important idea in education today. The guy is an embarrassment. Some of us get why that matters. Apparently you don’t.

That’s why this discussion goes ‘round and ‘round and never gets anywhere. People like you have no idea why this is important, and you won’t listen. And tomorrow or next week or next month, you or someone just like you is going to post the same stupid stuff, as though none of this was ever said.

You don't learn anything. That's the embarrassment.

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What is your motive? Your children have graduated from this school system and yet your vendetta against Paszkiewicz continues. This is just to keep your name in the news and the ones you are harming are these children who did nothing wrong. Your actions will make it impossible for any club to form in this school system.

You call yourself a lawyer yet you really nothing more than an embarrassment to this town and the community in which you live.

The fact that Mr. LaClair's children have graduated from the Kearny school system does not end Mr. LaClair's right to object to Mr. P's behavior. It is obvious that Mr. P cannot separate his role as a public school teacher and being a pastor. He simply has chosen to ignore the fact that he is a teacher is a public school or his religious beliefs do not allow him to conform to the requirement that he not impose his religious views on others while he is in any school related activity. The Kearny Board of Education has been more than kind to Mr. P, it is time that they call him out on his selfish behavior that is putting the school district (the Kearny taxpayers) at risk from getting sued which will result in a large award and additional counsel fees.

I don't object to Mr. P expressing his religious views and even preaching. He simply should do it outside of school.

The separation of church and state is fundamental to our democracy and must be respected. Mr. P's does not understand or he simply does not respect others right to practice their religion (if any).

ARRRRRRGH There is NO SUCH THING as "Separation of Church and State" in the constitution. That was ONE sentence, from a private correspondance between Thomas Jefferson and a Friend. The ONLY thing the Constitution says about LILITING religion, is forbidding the Establishment of a "State Religion" such as the Church of England, or elevating Catholicism as in Spain and france at the time, where the King had amongst his ttiles "His most Catholic Magesty".

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I’ll respond to the last several posts in one.

I have the documents pertaining to the trip, as supplied to me by the district under the applicable law. Unless documents were withheld, the club did not reimburse anything for the bus. They paid a total of $2,050 for the two drivers, their meals, rooms, tolls and gas.

As a lawyer, I deal with notice issues all the time. There is a clear pattern of conduct and intent by a teacher who is obviously on an evangelical mission to promote his religion within the public school system in any way he can. He has said so explicitly, and his public comments and behavior since the last episode only reinforce his maintenance of this view. This renders our position indefensible if he acts up in a way that subjects the district to liability. The mere fact that you like what he is doing is not a defense.

The parent who complained about late notice that the bus would not be allowed to leave until after school hours is absolutely right. The administration screwed up. Don’t blame it on us. We acted as soon as we received the documents. You may see comment from someone else on this point.

The same parent is also correct that another group should not have been allowed to go to Six Flags during a school day. Your complaint should be directed to the administration. Obviously they are not enforcing the standard, which is that a trip during school time must be justified by an educational purpose.

In no way do I compare the club to Nazis. Furthermore, I do not question the good it may do for students who participate. My issue pertains solely to the promotion of scientific illiteracy and ignorance by this trip to the so-called Creation Museum, and to Mr. Paszkiewicz’s rather obvious over-involvement in the club.

When the first issue arose with Mr. Paszkiewicz, I practically begged the administration to resolve it quietly. If they had done it, it wouldn’t have cost you a cent. When they refused, I told them we could do it the easy way or the hard way. They insisted on doing it the hard way. In the end, they did more than we asked them to do initially. There is absolutely no basis for blaming us for the expenditure of these monies.

You can get a handle on this now, or wait until it bites you again. If you wait and it bites you, you’ll probably find another unreasoning excuse to blame someone else, but it’ll still cost you money.

Are you now going to start requesting that the BOE stop all field trips? The trips to Great Adventure on certain days are for math and science. These are planned events by Six Flags. Other clubs also go for the business aspect.

When you were in school I'm sure you were allowed to be a kid, so why don't you stop the rubbish and allow the kids that are in the high school have their high school experience.

If you are so bored that all you have to do is follow this teacher and what he does, why don't you try to be more productive.

You are always commenting about lawsuits and costs to taxpayers, well you should watch that the parents of this club or the teacher himself don't go after you for harrassment!

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Since you don’t understand what he’s talking about, you assume that he must not be talking about it. You assume it’s about Paszkiewicz. It isn’t. It’s about separation of church and state, science and education.

You don’t think church-state separation is important, so you can’t imagine that anyone else does. You’re probably a Christian, like most people in Kearny, so you’ve never been threatened by religious intolerance or discrimination. So you don’t see it and you can’t imagine why anyone would think these things are important.

You don’t think a good science education is important, particularly evolution. You can’t imagine that anyone else could understand that evolution is the one principle that organizes not only biology but every dynamic system, including politics, economics, marketing – everything. Anyone who doesn’t understand evolution cannot understand the modern world.

Meanwhile, Kearny is stuck with a tenured teacher who is out there poking fun at the single most important idea in education today. The guy is an embarrassment. Some of us get why that matters. Apparently you don’t.

That’s why this discussion goes ‘round and ‘round and never gets anywhere. People like you have no idea why this is important, and you won’t listen. And tomorrow or next week or next month, you or someone just like you is going to post the same stupid stuff, as though none of this was ever said.

You don't learn anything. That's the embarrassment.

I do not need to defend myself here and especially to you. Your reference to my religion shows your prejudice before you even state your case. It's like me saying you are probably an illegal citizen so you wouldn’t understand anything. Your postings here are nothing more than amusing since this is nothing more than a blog in which people vent their frustrations. And the most frustrated blogger of them all is that so-called lawyer. And like most schools in New Jersey, the majority of the teachers are tenured. There is nothing wrong with that. This is just what LaClair wants so this so that he and his son get some form of recognition. It's their little pet peeve and I just post here when I get some free time. So you and I fall right into their trap. School will be over June 19 and this is them just being children and trying to get their last hurrah before the end of the year.

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I do not need to defend myself here and especially to you. Your reference to my religion shows your prejudice before you even state your case. It's like me saying you are probably an illegal citizen so you wouldn’t understand anything. Your postings here are nothing more than amusing since this is nothing more than a blog in which people vent their frustrations. And the most frustrated blogger of them all is that so-called lawyer. And like most schools in New Jersey, the majority of the teachers are tenured. There is nothing wrong with that. This is just what LaClair wants so this so that he and his son get some form of recognition. It's their little pet peeve and I just post here when I get some free time. So you and I fall right into their trap. School will be over June 19 and this is them just being children and trying to get their last hurrah before the end of the year.

But you are a Christian, aren't you, or at least you think you are. You didn't deny it, you just don't think it's important. Of course not, to you. You're a member of the insulated majority, so to you it's no big deal. So much for doing unto others . . .

And you don't get evolution, do you. I know you don't get it, because if you did you would understand why the people who do get it are outraged by this 1,500 mile trip to America's Mecca of ignorance.

You can't conceive that someone might think the issues are important, so you can only assume that their motives are bad. The truth doesn't satisfy you, so you have to make up another explanation. No problem: To you, everything is about self-interest, so that's all you can see in anyone else. Which is exactly what I said the first time. You just proved it.

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I'd like to know what any of the kids learned at this place. Some of their parents posted here saying what a great trip it was. What did they learn?

Don't hold your breath waiting for an answer to this. If the people defending this trip had any integrity - any real morals - they would answer this question. You will never see that happen. That's because this so-called "museum" is a joke, and even they know it.

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Are you now going to start requesting that the BOE stop all field trips? The trips to Great Adventure on certain days are for math and science. These are planned events by Six Flags. Other clubs also go for the business aspect.

When you were in school I'm sure you were allowed to be a kid, so why don't you stop the rubbish and allow the kids that are in the high school have their high school experience.

If you are so bored that all you have to do is follow this teacher and what he does, why don't you try to be more productive.

You are always commenting about lawsuits and costs to taxpayers, well you should watch that the parents of this club or the teacher himself don't go after you for harrassment!

Can you explain how trips to Great Adventure are for math and science? I'm open to it, but please explain.

You guys never address the issue, all you ever do is shift it and change the subject. Kids should have fun but the rule is that school days are for education. Field trips on school days are supposed to be for educational purposes. The recent trip to Kentucky had nothing to do with education; just the opposite, its purpose was the promotion of ignorance and the selling of nonsense. I'm not buying the idea that this "just happens" to be Mr. Paszkiewicz's favorite issue. So while a trip to Great Adventure is harmless fun, a trip to the "Creation Museum" is offensive to anyone who cares about science education. That doesn't mean that a trip to Great Adventure during school hours can be justified; it just means that a trip to the "Creation Museum" is worse. It's a slap in the face to the taxpayers who are funding the education of the kids who took the trip, and care about the quality of that education.

Feel free to criticize my point of view, but have the integrity to criticize what I believe, not a distortion of what I believe.

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ARRRRRRGH There is NO SUCH THING as "Separation of Church and State" in the constitution. That was ONE sentence, from a private correspondance between Thomas Jefferson and a Friend.

From the famous letter:

Mr. President

To messers Nehemiah Dodge, Ephraim Robbins, & Stephen S. Nelson a committee of the Danbury Baptist association in the state of Connecticut.

Gentlemen

The affectionate sentiments of esteem & approbation which you are so good as to express towards me, on behalf of the Danbury Baptist association, give me the highest satisfaction. my duties dictate a faithful & zealous pursuit of the interests of my constituents, and in proportion as they are persuaded of my fidelity to those duties, the discharge of them becomes more & more pleasing.

A rather odd way to begin a private correspondence with a friend, don't you think?

It is an interesting letter. I suggest reading it in its entirety rather than just extracted quotations.

It's short, so I'll quote it here. Continuing from where it left off above:

The affectionate sentiments of esteem and approbation which you are so good as to express towards me, on behalf of the Danbury Baptist association, give me the highest satisfaction. my duties dictate a faithful and zealous pursuit of the interests of my constituents, & in proportion as they are persuaded of my fidelity to those duties, the discharge of them becomes more and more pleasing.

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.

I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection & blessing of the common father and creator of man, and tender you for yourselves & your religious association, assurances of my high respect & esteem.

Th Jefferson

Jan. 1. 1802.

Notice that what you dismissively refer to as "ONE sentence, from a private correspondence" refers very specifically to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution as "building a wall of separation between Church & State".

Your reference lays waste your own claim that "There is NO SUCH THING as "Separation of Church and State" in the constitution.". Speaking of that reference in dismissive terms doesn't change that.

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1. Mr. LaClair isn't threatening anybody. He's warning you that you're going to have a problem if you don't deal with this teacher. Since you've already had a costly problem with the teacher before, and he's acting up again, the warning makes sense.

2. Why are you so concerned with how Mr. LaClair spends his time? Obviously he's making you think about things you would rather ignore. You know, sweeping them under the rug . . . burying your head in the sand.

Makes the rest of us wonder what's wrong with the water in Kearny, New Jersey. If this is any indication of what Kearny is like, I'm glad I don't live there.

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1. Mr. LaClair isn't threatening anybody. He's warning you that you're going to have a problem if you don't deal with this teacher. Since you've already had a costly problem with the teacher before, and he's acting up again, the warning makes sense.

2. Why are you so concerned with how Mr. LaClair spends his time? Obviously he's making you think about things you would rather ignore. You know, sweeping them under the rug . . . burying your head in the sand.

Makes the rest of us wonder what's wrong with the water in Kearny, New Jersey. If this is any indication of what Kearny is like, I'm glad I don't live there.

So in Mr. LaClair comment on Jun 7 2009, 06:53 AM: "We have no defense if Mr. Paszkiewicz puts us in a position of having to defend what could be a very expensive lawsuit. The district spent over $120,000 on legal fees over our issue with Mr. Paszkiewicz before, even though we spent the whole time trying to work it out with them and avoid any expense. If the next person to complain is looking for a payday, he or she just might get it. It could cost us millions."

Or this one Jun 9 2009, 07:14 PM: "When the first issue arose with Mr. Paszkiewicz, I practically begged the administration to resolve it quietly. If they had done it, it wouldn’t have cost you a cent. When they refused, I told them we could do it the easy way or the hard way. They insisted on doing it the hard way. In the end, they did more than we asked them to do initially. There is absolutely no basis for blaming us for the expenditure of these monies. You can get a handle on this now, or wait until it bites you again. If you wait and it bites you, you’ll probably find another unreasoning excuse to blame someone else, but it’ll still cost you money." They both sound very much like threats to me.

So he is going to sue if this spoiled brat doesn't get his way. That is his only way. He threatened before and will threaten again, respectfully speaking of course. Thinking back to the movie Hook - "You need a mother very, very badly!". I am Mr. LaClair's position on religion has made his own parents very unrewarding.

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