Next week in Bangor, Maine a federal jury trial will begin in a suit by a teacher against his school district alleging that changes in the school district’s Social Studies curriculum were motivated by religious objections of Christian fundamentalist parents. According to a report in today’s Bangor Daily News, the school board denies this claim, arguing that the changes were instead a response to curriculum standards, called Learning Results, adopted by Maine’s Department of Education in 2000.
The dispute began, however, back in 1997 at Presque Isle Middle School when two parents complained that the teacher's lessons on Cro-Magnon man violated their religious beliefs about the age of the earth. The teacher, Gary Cole, claims that shortly after the complaint, he was informed that he could only teach European history. For an earlier opinion in the case denying the school district's motion for summary judgment, see Cole v. Maine School Adm. Dist. No. 1, 350 F. Supp.2d. 143 (USDC D Maine, Dec. 3, 2004) [LEXIS link].
