Answers on Kearny HS teacher controversy

[Guest Blake]

Thank you Paul, and tell Matthew that there are alot of people out there that respect and amire his will to fight for what is right. It is clear that this teacher stepped over the line and his pride is what is pressing this matter, all he had to do was apolligize and make the corrections, but his pride prevented him from doing so.

To all the christians, is pride one of those deadly sins i've heard so much about?

[Guest Southern Christian]

I totally support you and your son. On the issue of church and state, I don't think anybody's said it better then the Man himself:

'Render unto God what is God's and unto Cesar what is Cesar's'

'And when thou prayest thou shalt not do as the hypocrites, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.'

And for those that are disparaging this child and his family, perhaps you should try to remove the log from your own eye before looking to the speck in your neighbors'...who, incidentally, you should be loving as you love yourselves.

-A Southern Christian

[Guest S. Dice-Goldberg]

Dear Mr. LaClair:

I read about your son and you in the New York Times. I want to reach out to support you and your son. It is people like you that protect religious freedom. I bet if the teacher had been preaching Judaism or Islam in the same way as he was preaching Christianity, the same people who are attacking you would be supporting you now.

Even if we leave aside the legalities of this situation, it is simply wrong for a teacher, who has a strong influence over his students, to exercise that influence in such a disrespectful way as to tell a student that she would go to hell becuase she is Muslim! What a terrible thing to say to a child! I am glad your son taped the teacher, because I am sure no one would believe it if a student said that a teacher had said such a thing, unless there was the proof of an audio tape.

I am a public employee, and I know that we who are paid by the taxpayers have a duty to keep our personal views to ourselves when we are at work, regardless of the first amendment. I also have a child in High School, and your son's action will help ensure that she is free of proselytizing in the classroom, no matter the type of religion being pushed.

Please don't let local prejudice stop you in your efforts to stand up for our freedom, and know that the courage that your son has shown is deeply appreciated.

Sincerely, Suzanne Dice-Goldberg

[Guest Morgan]

Matthew made a wise and commendable choice to bring to light his teacher's inappropriate statements. I feel embarrassed for those who have reacted in opposition to Matthew's actions. A teacher's use of the classroom as a forum in which to put forth his personal religious beliefs (which, I think, is putting mildly what seems to have occurred in Mr. Paszkiewicz's classroom) is utterly unacceptable. Regardless of how unclear one considers the official line separating church and state to be, I think it is quite clear that Mr. Paszkiewicz crossed it.

[Guest Daniel]

The fact that this has been going on for 30 days on this board amazes me.

If their were so many anti religious zealots around-- yes zealots - this would have ended long ago. The majority of this town and the surrounding area believe in God and Christ and no matter what anyone says that is fact and can not be changed. We are a conservative bunch in this town regardless of what the outcome of local elections are or what the past media hype on this story was. The teacher is still teaching. That is fact and cannot be changed. The teacher was dealt with by the BOE- that is fact and cannot be changed( I could be a member of the board--you have no idea- that is fact and cannot be changed). Look at the Seattle Airport-that is fact and cannot be changed.

There are quite a few interpratations of "Seperation of Church and State". The school, town , state government, BOE or anyone in that room advocated  that Christianity must be practiced here or else.

An opinion is an opinion.  If your  son- child, adult  by age of majority in some states was offended--too bad. He should get used to being offended by most of what he sees or hears in his life. I know I am-- just turn on the TV or radio. I bet he has no prblem with that crap. I do. But you know what? To each his own. I should have to turn on the TV or radio and listen to that crap?

Now you will say that government is funding the school and is different.

How much government funding do the airwaves get? I can turn on free radio stations and hear religious programming all day long.

I can just turn it off. The government funds a lot of that you know. Most of it is hosts opinions. Just like the teachers. here is an option-- private school. I'll bet you will here an opinion like that teachers too. Does it make it any different when the money is coming out of your pocket instead of the taxpayers?  Of course you can always stop attending the private school if it offended so---

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School is a place for learning - for developing critical thought. It is also a right, for every child regardless of religious difference. We place trust in our teachers to do this with our children - welcome them and teach them.

This teacher violated that trust. He proselytized. He created an environment not of thoughful deliberation, but exclusion.

Religion is a reality of our world and should be taught in the curriculum. Teach students to understand religious difference and to critique religious statements and outcomes for themselves. Perhaps the approriate questions for an 11th American History course is what role religion play in the founding or this country? What role did the founders intend to play in the future of the country? NOT does believing in Jesus Christ determine if a person goes to heavan. That is a question for church.

This teacher should have an opportunity to be trained and demonstrate appropriate class content, maybe then I could trust this teacher to teach my children again.,

[Guest Guest]

If Mr. P was promoting atheism, Paul LaClair and the rest of us would not be dicussing this at all.

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You're right. If Mr. P were promoting atheism, none of this would've happened because he would've been fired in a nano second.

All of you who support the teacher and attack the student, your bigotry and hypocrisy is sickening. Ask yourself this: if Mr. P were a Wiccan promoting Wicca in classroom and telling his Christian students they'd go to hell, would you still be saying he has a right to do that in his classroom?

Thought so.

[Guest Joe]

Perhaps you people who are OK with a government employee using taxpayers' dollars to indoctrinate a captive audience of children other than his own into his particular religion should consider moving to somewhere that is not America. You might find it more to your liking.

[Guest Nate]

Paul and Mathew,

Thank you for taking the time to stop this bad teacher. I too have been on the receiving end of hatemail for pointing out people's unethical behavior. It is clear that what Mr. P. initially did was wrong, his failure to stop was wrong, and his lying about remarks he made was wrong. I hope you get things worked out!

[Guest Kearny resident]

Paul and Mathew,

Thank you for taking the time to stop this bad teacher. I too have been on the receiving end of hatemail for pointing out people's unethical behavior. It is clear that what Mr. P. initially did was wrong, his failure to stop was wrong, and his lying about remarks he made was wrong.  I hope you get things worked out!

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These guys have stopped no one. The Kearny Board of Education has done nothing to this teacher and they will likely do nothing to him. What's the big deal gentlemen, so the teacher cannot teach and he send kids to hell. In Hudson County New Jersey, it is not how qualified you are it is who do you know. Corruption is the norm. Look at the story on the town worker in neighboring town of Harrison, he stole $30,000 in quarters a month (yes, that's a lot of quarters) and the Hudson County Prosecutor's office believes that he did it alone.

This teacher is going now where. Maybe they'll give him time off with pay while he recovers from the trauma of having his name published in the New York Times.

Viva Hudson County.

[Guest Dave]

Mr. Paszkiewicz has done a great disservice to Kearny by turning his lectern into a pulpit. He should have known better than to drag his evangelism into a state-run, secular school.

Mr. P insulted all American non-Christians, and degraded himself and his students. He has little or no respect for law, the truth, his community, his religion, or his country. He demonstrated this in his disregard or the First Amendment, the basic principals on which this country was founded; in lying, and destroying his credibility to protect his job and social status; in his reprisal against Matt; and in his statements toward people of other faiths.

Mr. P, numerous members of the Kearny Community, and many so-called Christians across the country: Your actions are screaming at the top of their lungs while your words are ringing hollow in your persecution of this boy. Those attitudes were outdated over 2000 years ago, when Christ spoke out against them.

Matthew 22:39 "...Love your neighbor as yourself"

Matthew 5:43-44 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you"

It is this savage hypocrisy that brings shame to the Christian Faith, and disgust from non-believers. If you live your lives according to your a strict moral code, you are worthy of respect, even from people who don't follow that code. When you claim to adopt that code while blatantly ignoring it, you are worthy of somthing else entirely.

[Guest another Kearny resident]

These guys have stopped no one.  The Kearny Board of Education has done nothing to this teacher and they will likely do nothing to him.  What's the big deal gentlemen, so the teacher cannot teach and he send kids to hell.  In Hudson County New Jersey, it is not how qualified you are it is who do you know.  Corruption is the norm.  Look at the story on the town worker in neighboring town of Harrison, he stole $30,000 in quarters a month (yes, that's a lot of quarters) and the Hudson County Prosecutor's office believes that he did it alone. 

This teacher is going now where.  Maybe they'll give him time off with pay while he recovers from the trauma of having his name published in the New York Times.

Viva Hudson County.

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and it should be noted that many, many, many Kearny residents support Matt LaClair and believe the teacher should be properly dealt with. But it is true that this is Hudson County and the town of Kearny is run by the teachers' union. Here comes another Board of Ed cover-up - just like the janitor on drugs that wasn never suspended until it was reported in the newspaper that he was busted two months later!

Please don't judge my town by the few narrow-minded thinkers that populate this website.

[Guest JeezumCrow]

Paul, I offer my support and admiration for all you and your son have been through, and I am sure that the worst is yet to come.

I am truly sickened by the comments of the people who somehow can condone what Mr. P did. I can only hope his "popularity" with the constitutionally ignorant will come to it's proper conclusion, with Mr. P stripped of his license to "teach".

[Guest Jonah]

Mr. Clair,

I just saw the interview on CNN with your son.

If I have a word of advice as an activist against many forms of discrimination:

Press the teacher's defenders to put themselves in the shoes of the Muslim student whom the teacher said was going to hell because of her beliefs:

Ask them if they would find it acceptable if a Muslim teacher suddenly singled them out and told them they were going to hell because they believed Jesus was the son of Allah, and not just a prophet, and because they didn't believe that Mohammed was the final prophet of Allah.

Would they feel fine? Or would they feel under personal attack?

Would those claiming freedom of speech covers a teacher's religious opinions still say that? Or would their opinions change once the teacher is expressing a different belief than the one they hold?

I myself have used this rationale in cases where people back someone in authority who engaged in religious discrimination, or overstepping their bounds and expressing their religious beliefs, it works like a charm.

Also, I find that mentioning your belief in science takes away from your position, as it may make it appear (to some, not myself) that this is motivated more by your belief in sciences like evolution (which as we know is not universally accepted) than it is by the law and constitution - which are universally accepted. It may come off to some people that you are using this issue as a cover for some sort of secular campaign against (Christian) religious beliefs. I don't feel it hurts your case to simply not mention your beliefs.

Anyways, just some constructive criticism, best of luck to you.

[Guest Guest]

Honestly Paul... don't you have a bit too much time on your hands? I know many "successful" attorney's who wouldn't put this amount of effort into something unless of course there was a payout at the end of the day.

Is that your motive?

Okay, here's the rundown from my point of view (* and many others I'm sure)

#1) You have strong beliefs

#2) You do not value others who think differently than you do

#3) You had your son ask questions, bait a teacher, and record it

#4) You did eveything you could to get this teacher fired

#5) You are now "obviously" going to pursue this legally

There are 21 county's in New Jersey... can't you find another one to play your games in? THe majority of us in Kearny happen to appreciate this teacher. I cannot say the same for you.

Okay, I know you want a more thoughtful and insightful conversation about this incident... Sorry, I'd rather everyone just forget about you and your "15 minutes of fame" crusade.

C'mon Paul, you're an aethiest and an attorney... that's already two strikes... do you really want a third?

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Here's something better for you: there're over 200 countries in this world. If you hate the separation of religion and state so much, why don't you go live in a country where the two are freely comingled? Like Iran.

So now being an atheist is a "strike"? Luckily unlike Iran, in America we do have religious freedom. People here can freely choose to believe or not to believe in any religion they want.

Have fun in Iran.

[Guest Guest]

another thought..

you say in your  claims that  this type of teacher "has been going on for years" and it was well known. Being that this taping occurred within the first few days of school, Matthew had to have some "previous" knowledge about how Mr. P teaches. Most stundets do not know what to expect fromt heir teachers for the first few days. WHY WOULD HE STAY IN THE CLASS. Why didn't he go to his counselor WITH YOU and request a change. It happens all the time. There are other level 1 history teachers. He didn't because that would be no fun for Matt. This was an absolutely planned scheme. It's truly ashame. I shudder to think about how this child will be treated within the next year and half he is in the school. I can't imagine how any teacher would be comfortable with him in a classroom. Unfortunately matt has been charcterized.

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Let me get this straight. You think that when a student find his teacher repeatedly breaking the law, he should just request to transfer to a different class without trying to address the root cause of the problem, which is the fact that the teacher is breaking the law and betraying the trust that is being put on him?

Using your logic, if your son has a teacher who repeatedly molests him, you would just request a change to a different class and not report the violation to authorities?

[Guest Guest]

As far as your example of the muslim teacher goes.  It would probably play out in a very similar way.  Matthew would have encouraged the teacher to discuss his beliefs.  Probably more so because I'm sure he hates Muslims more than Christians.  You and probably slightly more supporters would look to drag the teacher through the justice system.

The country was doing just fine and was not tearing itself apart over religion before this type of situation became an issue in the fifties and sixties.  That is when the justice system decided to mutate the church-state seperation provided in constitution.

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You are "sure" Mathew hates Muslims more than Christians? How? Since when have you become the spokeperson of Mathew's? Don't project your belief onto him. What you're really saying is: you hate Muslims. No surprise here.

"The country was doing just fine and was not tearing itself apart over religion before this type of situation became an issue in the fifties and sixties."

That's laughable. I'm sure it was just fine for you. Just like a Klansman would think "The country was doing just fine and was not tearing itself apart over race before this type of civil rights situation became an issue in the fifties and sixties."

But guesss what? It's not just about you.

[Guest Guest]

And while you're reading the constitution, you might notice that NO WHERE does the constitution say anything about talking about religous topics in class. This business of "separation of church and state" has been blown way out of proportion.  The founding fathers were god fearing people, they never intended the word "god" to be taboo in our schools. 

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The founding fathers were also slave owners. Does that mean you want to bring back slavery just because the founding fathers owned slaves? I'm sure you'd love that. Luckily (not for you, but for the minorities whose rights you're so ready to trample on) we do have a Consitution that stop you from either owning slave or preaching in a public school classroom.

[Guest Elijah]

The founding fathers were also slave owners. Does that mean you want to bring back slavery just because the founding fathers owned slaves? I'm sure you'd love that. Luckily (not for you, but for the minorities whose rights you're so ready to trample on) we do have a Consitution that stop you from either owning slave or preaching in a public school classroom.

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Just a voice of support. The amount of hate this thing has spawned is amazing. I think you guys did the right thing, and I respect you all for it. If only more people would stand up for their rights...

[Guest J. Owens]

Thank God for this teacher, I wish I had one like him in my 11th grade history class. If I lived in the New Jersey area, I would like to see him keep on teaching.

[Guest Guest]

Along time ago my father gave me some wise advice. It was to "pick my battles". In other words, know when to ignore things that don't harm you personally, know when to look the other way, and know when to fight.  I think this was a situation where you choose to ignore it.

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Indeed. And protecting the Constitution from the the attacks of the radical rights is a battle that no patriotic Americans should ever retreat from.

[Guest Supporter of Matthew]

Matthew,

As I'm sure you're aware, you definitely did the right thing. Your teacher should be fired. Not just for preaching in class, but for placing fault on you for the change in his classroom. What you did was not wrong and so there is no fault in it.

If your teacher had any courage of his own, he would resign and not put the school board in the very awkward position in which they find themselves.

Know that there are many rational minds and hearts out there that would be proud to call themselves your friend. While I understand you are trying to stay out of the media, I hope that somehow this whole ordeal connects you with new and more steadfast friends than those who've abandoned you over this. I suspect that with this new outpouring of outside support, some of your old friends may be inclined to come back to you.

Best of luck to you from a faraway friend!

[Guest Guest]

You should be very proud of your son. (Reminds me of how I was.) I do think you should follow through with the law suit. Religion does not belong in public school. I would have been so offended had I been in the class. Americans of late have been too willing to give up the very things that made our country great. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights. If we don't defend them we will lose them.

[Guest Guest]

Amen! I mean, thank doorknob.

As a newspaper editor in Texas of all places, I am:

Appalled the teachers union doesn't know what the First Amendment does and does NOT protect (court rulings have regularly found public school students to be a captive audience, therefore teachers don't have the same protections as outside);

Appalled the teachers union is not instead calling for certification revocation of someone incredibly unqualified to teach.

Shocked that a supposedly liberal and enlightened part of America (at least as compared to mythical understandings of places like Texas) is so bigoted.

[Guest Guest]

Just read the story on the NY times, good job to the kid for barking.

For the sake of the true Christians, we need to come up with a new term for identifying “Fundamentalist Christians.” Jesus would never spend a moment with these “holier-than-thou” ulterior motive hypocrites. They're no better than Islamic Fundamentalists. When will they begin using terrorist tactics "in the name of 'God'?"

[Guest Guest]

I am Paul LaClair, father of Matthew LaClair. I am opening this topic to invite all concerned, in whatever way they may be concerned, to ask questions and engage in a respectful and thoughtful discussion of this incident. I may post threads myself to initiate topics.

I am doing this because if people are going to discuss this, it should be discussed in a thoughtful and respectful way. There is no call for the vicious attacks that have been publicly posted against a young man whose actions were not motivated by self-interest, but by a passionate commitment to our Constitution, separation of church and state, the integrity and value of science, the quality of education and the rule of law. With all due respect to those who have presumed to know Matthew's motives --- who have not been the least bit respectful in some cases --- I am certain that I know him better than you do.

All appropriate and respectful questions will be answered. All personal attacks will be ignored.

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