Controversy Surrounds Three Forks Schools

Fear, anger, and distrust often dominate community controversy surrounding school issues. The Human Rights Network and its staff have been involved in confronting right-wing school groups in numerous communities from Fairfield to Columbia Falls. While the individuals and issues change, a disturbing pattern develops as controversy swirls around the local school. Wild accusations are made about the curriculum and the teaching staff. School board meetings become contentious. A person from another community comes to let people know what is really going on in the school. Right-wing literature begins to circulate in the community, petition signatures are gathered and turned in to the administration.. . . .the beat goes on.

Unfortunately, the Three Forks school district seems to be in the cross hairs of community controversy which fits the familiar profile of a right-wing attack. As is common in this kind of controversy, specific teachers have been singled out for attack. In early September, Steve Schwab was challenged for using an innovative teaching technique called "super learning" to help middle school students memorize Spanish vocabulary. The technique utilizes relaxation and music as an aid to learning and memorization.

In October, Susan Schwab (Steve Schwab's spouse), a high school English teacher, sent a note to parents informing them that she intended to show the film, The Dead Poets Society as part of her unit on Transcendental writers (e.g. Thoreau and Emerson). At the next school board meeting a small group of parents presented their concerns that Transcendentalism was being taught as a religion in the classroom. They were asked to fill out a complaint form.

The parents failed to turn in the formal complaint form and in the following month the concern about the Transcendental authors grew to include the entire English curriculum. Approximately 130 people attended the October 9th school board meeting, asking that the English curriculum be discussed. Also attending the meeting were a number of people from Belgrade with no apparent direct involvement in the Three Forks schools.

Among them was Paula Jermanson who is also active in the Gallatin County Parents Commission, a Bozeman group patterned on the right-wing Helena Parents Commission. Both "Commissions" draw their name from a national right-wing pressure group headed by Peg Luksik of Pennsylvania.

During this meeting, vocal parents repeatedly tried to get the district to immediately suspend use of materials they found offensive, rather than using the process in place for challenging curriculum. Superintendent John Overstreet was firm in staying with the established policy. A committee was established to hear the grievance of the concerned group.

The following month a petition circulated in the community which used out-of-context quotations from the junior year English text. The High Country Independent Press of Belgrade reported that some local churches were encouraging their congregations to attend the next school board meeting. In addition, a tract on educational reform from the right-wing John Ankerberg Show of Chattanooga, Tennessee circulated in the community.

A formal complaint was finally filed with the committee established by the school board. The committee held a hearing and allowed those opposed to the curriculum, as well as supporters of the curriculum, to make their case.

The complaint and the hearing brought forth concerns which are typical of religious right school controversies: the curriculum teaches religion, i.e., Transcendental Philosophies; violates constitutional separation of church and state; asks for very personal information in journals; puts teachers in the role of counselors; teaches eastern religious techniques such as visualization, hypnosis, meditation and yoga, while banning Christian prayer; teaches Siddhartha, includes mock trials in class; puts too much emphasis on negative emotions; and does not teach the basics (grammar).

But perhaps one comment in particular sums up the influence of the right in this dispute and, more importantly, the view of the right-wing in America generally: "If we look at the cultures where these relaxation techniques have been applied for centuries, we easily note that they have not produced the advanced technologies of Western culture."

The committee also took testimony from the Schwabs and others who supported the curriculum. In late November, the committee made its recommendations to the board. It called for continued use of existing texts until there is a complete review of the entire English curriculum (already scheduled for 1997). In addition, it urged parental involvement in developing options to provide students with a greater range of choices in the curriculum. The superintendent concurred and forwarded the recommendations to the board. In December, the board accepted the recommendations and, at the superintendent's suggestion, extended the time frame for appeal from 30 to 90 days.

Three Forks School Goes by the Book

The Three Forks school district has handled this matter in the best possible way. The superintendent and the board did not allow individuals to subvert the formal challenge process. They asked that allegations and concerns be presented formally and in writing within established procedures. They established an independent committee and charged it with gathering facts and making recommendations. People with concerns on all sides of the issue were given an opportunity to be heard. Recommendations were made for the board and the board made a decision based on facts, not on political pressure from one group in the community.

Unfortunately, doing everything right does not make the problem go away. In January, the parents of a high school student petitioned the board to permit their son to take an English class by correspondence because they objected to the use of the current curriculum. The parents were among those challenging the English curriculum.

This issue poses a far more complex question for the board. A student's ability to opt out of a class for personal reasons must be balanced against the school's capability to offer alternatives. It is generally an emotional issue which pits personal beliefs against community standards and the capability of a public institution (the school) to be all things to all people. There are a number of Religious Right funded groups that seek to litigate in this area, including John Whitehead's Rutherford Institute and Pat Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice.