Student Tapes Teacher's Sermon, School Says 'No More Taping'

Over at Blue Jersey, we revisit href="http://www.bluejersey.net/showDiary.do?diaryId=3210">the
story of a Kearny high school teacher, David Paszkiewicz, who told
his students that 'that evolution and the Big Bang were not
scientific, that dinosaurs were aboard Noah's ark,' and "you belong in
hell" if you "reject" Christianity. He also singled out a Muslim
student to tell her that she is definitely going to hell.

Kearny school officials have certainly taken their time in handling
the incident, which occurred at the start of the school year and
became public in November.

In December, the Kearny school board href="http://www.bluejersey.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=3478">continued
to obfuscate who was at fault, silently implicating the young
student who had secretly taped Paszkiewicz's classroom sermons for
fear officials wouldn't believe him. In January, the teacher href="http://www.bluejersey.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=3683">published a
rambling letter in the local paper, explaining why the
Constitution allows him to tell his students they are going to hell.
He even insinuated the student who taped him was a part of a broader
conspiracy:

It is my firm conviction that there is an
effort afoot to undermine the very underpinnings of our
freedoms.

This morning, the New York Times tells of
Kearny's official reaction:

href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/01/nyregion/01tape.html">Student's
Recording of Teacher's Views Leads to a Ban on Taping

After a public school teacher was recorded telling students they
belonged in hell if they did not accept Jesus as their savior, the
school board has banned taping in class without an instructor's
permission, and has added training for teachers on the legal
requirements for separating church and state.

In response,
the student's father said it the best, "Adoption of this rule at this
time sends all the wrong messages."

And while the school board says they've taken some undefined
"corrective action" against the teacher, Paszkiewicz still seems
intent on berating anyone who disagrees with
him.

Meanwhile, [the student] said that Mr. Paszkiewicz
recently told the class that scientists who spoke about the danger of
global warming were using tactics like those Hitler used, by repeating
a lie often enough that people come to believe it.