Teacher Loses Job Over Failure to Observe ‘Moment of Silence’
A high school social studies teacher lost his job Thursday for opposing a Georgia law that requires a daily moment of silence in all public schools.
The Gwinnett County School Board voted in this Atlanta suburb late Thursday to support its superintendent’s recommendation that instructor Brian Bown be fired after spending the last month on paid suspension.
Bown defied a 40-second moment of silence Aug. 22, the first day of school at South Gwinnett High School, by continuing with a lecture on the Protestant Reformation.
He was ousted from school property a day later and has since filed a lawsuit against the school district and the state government in U.S. District Court.
Critics say the state law, which took effect in July, effectively allows for prayer in school by requiring students to spend a moment in quiet reflection.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled officially mandated school prayer contrary to the constitutional separation of church and state. Laws similar to Georgia’s are on the books in South Carolina, Tennessee and Massachusetts, but are rarely enforced.
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