Boy's parents want teacher fired in pledge flap. Lakeport eighth-grader punished for not saluting flag, mother says.
January 8, 2003
By
UCILIA WANGThe parents of a Lakeport middle school student Thursday will ask the school board to fire a teacher who told the student to leave the classroom for refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
Victoria Kearney said she will ask the Lakeport Unified School District board to dismiss David Laven because she is dissatisfied with the district's handling of her complaint about Laven's treatment of her son, Jim Woodbury.
Laven told Woodbury to stand outside the classroom when he wouldn't say the Pledge of Allegiance in his U.S. history and constitution class last semester.
"We are appalled that this can go on in the school," Kearney said. "My son's rights were violated. We are trusting that the Constitution is behind us on this."
Woodbury, an eighth-grader, said he refused to say the pledge because of his political beliefs.
"I believe the flag is a symbol of the government, and I think it's corrupt and I don't agree with some of the choices it made," he said.
After investigating Kearney's complaint, district Superintendent John Burke decided in December to send a warning letter to Laven.
Burke said in his written response to Kearney's complaint that students cannot be compelled to stand or recite the pledge. Pupils also should not be left outside of the classroom unsupervised, he added.
Laven didn't return calls seeking comment. But Laven told Burke during Burke's investigation that Woodbury was disruptive and tried to incite other students not to say the pledge, according to Burke's written report.
Kearney disputed Laven's claim. She contended that when her son presented a packet of information about students' rights to refuse to say the pledge, Laven threw the materials into a trash can and said he didn't care what the law is.
Burke declined to comment further on the issue, saying information about a teacher's job performance or a student's conduct is confidential.
The school board is scheduled to consider Kearney's request in closed session. The board could uphold Burke's decision or decide to look into the issue further.
California law requires students to participate in patriotic exercises daily, and saying the pledge meets that requirement. But the state Department of Education also has told school districts that saying the pledge is not mandatory.
A landmark 1943 U.S. Supreme Court case, West Virginia State Board of Education vs. Barnette, established that students cannot be compelled to recite the pledge.
