Letters
Navigating Religion

Any teacher who's good at what he does--especially in the upper grades--has been working religion into his presentations all along (November Cover Story). In my history and behavioral science classes, we're always discussing aspects of scripture and faith, from the psychology of Job to the creation myths of the Koran to Carl Jung's ideas on faith and superstition.

But that's not what's meant when people use the buzzwords "religion in the classroom." The only people making an issue of this are the religious right. They aren't about nuance or diversity or tolerance, they're about sectarian prayer and repudiating 2,000 years of philosophy, science, and rational thought.

Right-wingers all over the country are trying to get the Ten Commandments posted in public schools, in the name of religious freedom. Think they'd put up with quotations of love and learning from Buddha or Confucius, or even the Five Pillars of Islam? Or even just Commandments five through ten (the common-sense morality stuff)?

My suggestion for those teachers still free of the far-left's PC arrogance and the far right's Jesus-or-else agenda is to follow your instincts and teach the children well. We wouldn't be the nation we are without a strong background of faith, and just reinforcing that is a powerful lesson in what it means to be American.

David Siegle
Ware, Massachusetts

I was very disappointed that NEA Today propagated the lie about the separation of church and state. Nowhere in the Constitution or Bill of Rights is the separation of church and state mentioned! That is a myth being spread by forces that don't want religious morals and ethics "messing things up." The First Amendment simply prohibits Congress from creating a state religion. The phrase "separation of church and state" came from a letter by Thomas Jefferson.

The truth is that the separation is only a one-way street. The state is to stay out of religion but religion is allowed and expected to influence the state. It is only when office holders bring morality to their office that government behaves honorably. When God is told to stay out of government, why is it a surprise when we see office holders behave ungodly?

The article did a good job of explaining how educators can teach about religion without teaching a religion. Hopefully the article will encourage more teachers to bring their religious values to the classroom so that students (and perhaps other faculty and staff) will learn by example about moral behavior.

John Draftz
Phoenix, Arizona

I enjoyed "Navigating Religion in the Classroom." I teach AP history and I cover the history of religion in my classes. How can I talk about the Reformation, the Great Awakening, the Enlightenment, or colonization without talking about religion?

I don't advocate any religion.

My students have no idea what my personal religion is, nor do they need to know because it is completely irrelevant to my teaching history. There is a difference between teaching religion (historically) and advocating a religion. I would say the guidelines you set out in the article were good ones.

John Irish
Katy, Texas

I teach high school literature. How can we seriously discuss Macbeth without addressing the fate of his soul if he should kill the king? How can we discuss Eliezer's loss of faith in Night, if we don't know anything about his Jewish faith? How can we consider the competing visions of Christianity and Marxism in Cry, the Beloved Country if we don't first expose those visions? Why does Rebecca Nurse in The Crucible refuse to break the commandment "Thou shalt not lie," thus condemning herself to hang for witchcraft? Why does Govinda in Siddhartha follow the Buddha after hearing his Four Noble Truths, while Siddhartha himself does not? How can we laugh at Chaucer's satirical exposé of the Medieval Christian church in The Canterbury Tales without understanding something about Christian belief?

If we want students to think critically, how can we not include religion in our classrooms?

Matthew Wilson
Portland, Oregon

Thank you for your informative, balanced, unbiased, and respectful article "Navigating Religion in the Classroom." It's too bad the NEA can't be so informative, balanced, unbiased, and respectful when it comes to politics.

Debbie Meservey
Appleton, Maine

Don't Crush Crushes
I was shocked at most of the advice I saw in the article on student crushes (Dilemma, November). Crushes are very normal for everyone at some time in their lives! To have a student removed from class is crazy and mean.

Keeping your distance, talking about your spouse or significant other, is all you should ever have to do for a crush. Do not humiliate a student for having natural feelings. Crushes take care of themselves over time. I'm glad none of the teachers I had crushes on were like some of the teachers who wrote in!

Dave Oland
Kansas City, Kansas

Why People Leave
Bravo on Reg Weaver's "A Respect Shortage" (President's Viewpoint, November). I agree that teacher shortages are linked to working conditions, such as class size and shrinking resources. I would add that teachers need to be able to remove chronically disruptive students, and elementary teachers need more planning time! We're well-trained in delivering quality instruction, but are never provided the time it takes to implement it. It's that kind of needless frustration that has a record number of people leaving the profession.

John Letz
Medford, Oregon

I would like to add to what Reg Weaver said that what is in short supply is respect for our children. What do children think when they pass the beautiful new courthouse or Department of Motor Vehicles building and get dropped off at the old, rundown school with row upon row of portable classrooms, broken windows, shredded carpet, and outdated textbooks? Why should they respect education?

Judith Valen
Rancho Murieta, California

Thinkology
John Desmond (Degrees in Thinkology, November) hit the nail on the scarecrow's brainless head when it comes to standardized testing. These tests wash out all individual differences, eliminate creativity, and disregard the essence of excellent teaching.

Anita Charles
Windham, Maine

Do As You Are Told
I've made a poster out of the following words from Sara Poppish's letter (September) and have it posted in my classroom:

"Children need to understand that everything in life is not a choice.

Sometimes you have to do as you are told."

Karen Fyke
Eureka, Illinois

If I Wrote the Special Education Law...
I have been a special education teacher for 28 years and have become increasingly frustrated and disenchanted ("If I Wrote the Special Education Law," November).

Our jobs have been totally taken over by meaningless paperwork, and we are being meetinged to death.

I spend every free moment making sure I am setting up meetings by the due dates, phoning parents to check their schedules, checking the schedules of principals, teachers, and other IEP team members to find a mutual time. Then the endless sea of paperwork begins.

I work with a new, young, enthusiastic LD teacher who is a great asset to our profession. She is already disenchanted by the meetings and paperwork and has proclaimed many times that she just wants to teach!

She is already planning for a new career--what a loss!

Fran St. Andre
New London, Wisconsin

Paperwork is a burden, but it may be a necessary evil to force districts to provide services. How many times have we heard that unless it is in the student's IEP, they don't get it? If districts lived up to their commitment to provide quality education for all students, IEPs would not be necessary. Look at your district and ask yourself what would be your student's fate with no IEP.

I hate paperwork, but it allows students to get the services that they rightfully need.

Dave Hegner
Newton, New Jersey

I am a special education teacher. My suggestions for changing the law are:

Limit self-contained classrooms to 12 children;

Guarantee sufficient time to write IEPs;

Separate low-functioning kids with behavior problems from low-functioning kids who do not have horrendous behaviors and are ready to learn.

It is not fair to the children who can really make gains in an academic, self-contained environment when one or two children are throwing furniture or screaming or hurting others and take all the time of the professional staff.

It is not fair to the kids with behaviors, either. They are not being served because they are not in a classroom that focuses on behavior.

Merrie Miller
Portland, Oregon

I am a resource teacher. Working in this field for 10 years, I have experienced the frustration of a system that enables one maladapted behavior after another.

Behavioral contracts are regularly broken, only to be followed by more behavioral contracts, which in many cases are violated again.

The problem is there is no bottom line!

Shane Walter
Oroville, California

The biggest change that NEA needs to make regarding the IDEA is a change in attitude. NEA continually sets up a We versus They paradigm. Mainstream, "regular" education students are the We, who are being shortchanged, impinged upon, inconvenienced, by the They--the special education students who take away funding, lower standards, and disrupt the teaching that is really intended for the We.

NEA Today is all about those We students. Rarely are the They recognized inside its covers, except if they are mainstreamed into the We classes or participate as honorary We's in some schoolwide affair.

It's time NEA practiced Full Inclusion. You could feature the achievements of special education students. Celebrate what works for these students on their own terms. Special education pupils should not be considered lesser people who need to be fixed to be just like the "regular" pupils. Nor should they ever be blamed because they cost more to educate or require intensive services.

Sue Douglass
Castro Valley, California

In response to Don Brothers in Indiana: I understand that you like to have your students together and enjoy building strong relationships with them. Your special students are also very special to the other educators in your building. Please don't take away our time with them.

Inclusion, with necessary support personnel, benefits all students. Those with disabilities need to feel that they are a part of the "real" world. Working in cooperative learning groups helps them develop a deeper understanding of the course material and build self-esteem.

The other students learn that special needs kids can add ideas and share expertise during the variety of classroom activities.

All students can learn to be compassionate and caring people. It has to be a good thing.

Ada Zimmerman
Canton, Ohio

I am a middle school art teacher. I am disturbed by the idea that special education students should be mainstreamed into elective classes without regard to their ability, behavior, the size of the class, or the need for support from an aide. Don't get me wrong: If a child can handle it, I embrace them with open arms. But this blanket policy is not always best.

The misconception that special ed students will be fine in our classes because they are "hands-on" is, quite frankly, insulting. Students in my class are expected to be able to read directions, write intelligible answers to questions, and do their homework just like in any other class. Why do we put students who require extra attention, small class settings, and structured learning environments into the largest classes with tools and equipment that could be dangerous if not used properly?

Heidi Baker
Plainfield, Illinois