My tendency in such a situation would probably be to be vigilant but try to lay off a direct confrontation if possible at the beginning of the school year.  In other words, I probably wouldn't send an email such as the one he posts.

Looking back, I had some teachers who were fundamentalist, and in some cases they were pretty batty and didn't keep their views to themselves.  For example, I had an Algebra II teacher who - I am not making this up - "chased the devil" out of our classroom one morning with a broom when the students were not performing well.  (The poor performance didn't have anything to do with her teaching, of course; it was that dang devil causing us to fail.)

While I would prefer that my children be taught by freethinking people who accept science, the flip side is that the occasional challenge to one's beliefs can provide the opportunity to think about and strengthen them.  I don't think that one nutty teacher is going to turn my kids against me.

At the same time, however, you have to be vigilant, I think, that what is going on in the classroom is appropriate.  Teachers should for the most part be keeping their political and religious views mostly to themselves.  In a situation like the above I'd want to talk to my kids regularly to make sure that he/she didn't step over the line.

But the bottom line is that you want to have a productive relationship with the teacher, and it doesn't seem to me that going off on them on the very first day of school is a good way to achieve that.

I read the teacher's email and supak's entire response, and I found supak's letter to be an entirely offensive over-reaction. The teacher's email was self-effacing, polite, tolerant and concilliatory, and he was completely blasted in response. He calls his response 'fair minded,' but my summation of this email would be, "Thank you for trying to be reasonable with me, but I am too angry to stop myself from launching a tirade in your direction."

The whole point of this wonderful social experiment called America is that you can believe what ever you want and still be afforded a modicum of respect. It may not always play out that way, but that is the grand design.

We have much to learn from people with whom we disagree, but it won't happen if we don't let it.

I don't know that I have a problem with my child being exposed to a different POV, so long as the facts are being presented as well.  It serves DD poorly to be sheltered from debate.  We can't argue on one hand against book burning/banning from school libraries, and then try to ban POVs we don't agree with.

As passionate a liberal Dem as I am, I just could not send this email.  Its just too abrasive, too confrontational.  I work with the military, and believe me, I run into my share of Rethugs.  There is a time and a place.  If I have to work with the people (and you definitely have to work with your child's teacher!), I'm not going to get into these issues.  There is no benefit.

If it's a public school, the teacher's beliefs should not appear during the school day. If it's private, that's to be expected.
The email was a rant, which should have been more strenuously edited before sending to the teacher. It seemed aimed at picking a fight, rather than resolving a conflict.
That said, however, as a parent, I would have a difficult time respecting that teacher's pedagogy for the remainder of the school year. I would feel the need for constant vigilance against belief-creep, and would want to visit the classroom several times throughout the year, particularly during science education.

Old enough to know if his teacher starts spouting off Biblical points during lesson time, I think.  Therefore, I'd just watch, and probably advise my child that the teacher might have some beliefs that are different than ours.

For some reason, when my younger kids were in elementary school, there seemed to be a clustering of teachers who were Jehovah's Witness.  For that reason, the kids got no real holiday celebrations.  I'm still not sure how I feel about this, but plenty of parents were not too happy.

While I don't believe my students have a right to know my political views and I certainly do not make them known to them, I don't see how a parent sending an e-mail like this could ever accomplish anything in the interest of the child.

As long as the teacher wasn't spouting off his views in class, then I would never write a letter like that.  Totally inappropriate.  The teacher is entitled to believe what he or she wants to believe.  

Is there more to this story that I am missing?  How does this parent even know that the teacher is a creationist?

my biology teacher refused to teach evolution for similar reasons.  No one really questioned why she never had an evolution lecture, we just knew we would never get one.

Needless to say, I am now going to be beginning my PhD in Biological Oceanography.  I took an evolution class as soon as I got to college, so I could be more educated.  It has never really impacted me or my learning one way or another.  I think that we should be taught evolution in the classroom, but I think people can teach themselves as well.

I would hold my own evolution class with my child if my kid had this teacher.  I am sure there are information packets and books we could read together.  Could be a fun bonding experience too.

I don't know what Supak and his wife were trying to achieve with that e-mail. I found the teacher's note to be fair minded and intended to reassure him that despite differing views, the pupil would get a teacher who emphasized "critical thought and appropriate skepticism."

I think there's a time and a place to make a public stance and raise the sturm und drang, but in this case, I don't think this benefits anybody - particularly the pupil in question.

To answer the question, I'd take your tack, pat of butter, and be vigilant but not confrontational, particularly if the situation doesn't warrant it.

But after reading the comment, two reactions come to mind:

1. Yep. Totally over the top. Agreed.

2. I completely understand the reaction and have the same violent reaction these days to the smallest mention of creationism in a teacher. Didn't use to be the case, but I think culturally we have just HAD it. Those gaskets have to blow somewhere and in this case it blew at this nice but ultimately uninformed teacher.

I teach college biology in louisiana, and let me tell you, these kids have never had a science teacher that didn't believe in creationism. It's scary. They have no idea what the difference is between science and belief. A lot of them are in my class to be science teachers precisely because they'd like to fight against the evil that is evolution.

I am so anxious about what this means for the country.

http://www.dailykos.com/...

unfortunately wandered into the path of a tornado. I would never send an e-mail like that to one of my child's teachers. Sounds hystrionic and disrespectful. And rather off-topic.

I have no problem with creationism being taught in the schools-- in religion, poly sci, or history classes, where it belongs, as it is not a science.

Incidentally, my Catholic high school biology teacher gave us extra credit for bringing in treats on Darwin's birthday. I learned about creationism in history class, during a discussion of the Scope Monkey trial. I thought creationism as a belief was long gone until I went to college and met my first creationist. Weird.

The teacher isn't even teaching Supak's kid science. He's just teaching English. So I don't really see how the creationism v evolution debate would come up in a way that would be detrimental to the pupil's science education. And if it helps Supak's son become a more critical thinker/writer to discuss the creationism/evolution debate so much the better.

Does this diary change anybody's mind? It reinforces mine, but I'm also pleased to see that Supak doesn't seem to be channeling rage, but rather trying to reach a connection with this guy. That's how we win!

Holy venting your anger at the nearest moving target, Batman!

While I can understand the basis for concern, that's not really how I'd choose to handle it.

I really dislike it when people cite wikipedia as a reference to try to make a point, though.