Gilman school board should reject parent appeal on curriculm

Gilman School Board members should not allow the religious convictions of any one family to dictate curriculum decisions for the entire district.

Gilman Board members should respect the process and follow the recommendation that came from the Complaint Procedure Committee and leave the curriculum unchanged when teaching about world religions while continuing to provide alternative instruction to any student whose family wishes it.

If this is objectionable to parents, they have the option of utilizing school vouchers and attending a parochial school, or having their child be given an alternative lesson. This is a decision that parents can make for their own children rather than imposing their beliefs on everyone.

Earlier this school year, the family of a Gilman Elementary School student filed a formal complaint with the district after their second grader was introduced to Buddhism and Hinduism as a part of world culture studies involving the indigenous people of the Indus River Valley in India.

Religion is intrinsically tied to the culture and people of a region and its history. With more than two-thirds of the world’s people practicing a religion other than Christianity, it is inevitable that there will be exposure to world religion in the study of any nation or region. A basic-level of understanding of other mainstream religions is essential to gaining an understanding of other civilizations.

It is up to parents to ensure their children have a firm foundation in their family’s personal religious beliefs. Churchbased religious instruction routinely begins at a young age and is reinforced by families throughout childhood.

The thimbleful of exposure to other faiths gained through an elementary school lesson is not an attack on those core beliefs, but rather a recognition of the reality of the world. Even in the United States, only about two-thirds of people identify as being Christian.

There is also a real danger in treating Christianity as if it is a monolithic institution with a universally accepted set of beliefs and practices. There are more than 200 Christian denominations practiced in the United States and globally there are estimated to be about 45,000 different Christian denominations. To the followers of one denomination, the practices and beliefs followed by another’s may seem strange and alien. There is a modern era of ecumenicalism among Christian denominations, recognizing that the doctrinal and theological differences are often well beyond the understanding level of most lay people. This ecumenicalism is a relatively recent phenomenon. Historically, this has not been the case with wars, sectarian violence, bigotry and mass persecutions based on whose version of Christianity was seen as the correct version.

In a nation as large and as diverse as the United States, public education must constantly walk a tightrope, ensuring that students have the knowledge they need to thrive in the world; while ensuring they do not infringe on the rights and responsibilities of parents to shape foundational religious beliefs.

Gilman, like other public schools across Wisconsin, has policies and procedures in place to ensure that they remain on the narrow path. In this case, the process was followed. The family made the complaint. An independent committee of community members, educators and board members reviewed the complaint and looked at the materials and made a decision to continue to follow the curriculum. As is their right, the family appealed to the full board.

With the absence of evidence to suggest the committee failed in its task, board members should support the findings of the committee and keep the curriculum in place rather than undermining the work done by the committee.