Equity & Diversity News in Brief

Parents Lose Federal Challenge on Gay-Tolerant School Materials

By Mark Walsh — February 05, 2008 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

A federal appeals court last week ruled against two Massachusetts families who objected to their children being exposed in public school to books and discussions promoting tolerance for gay marriage and families led by same-sex couples.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, in Boston, ruled unanimously that the Lexington, Mass., school system did not violate the rights of the parents or children by exposing them to books they found objectionable on religious grounds. There was no word late last week on whether the families plan to appeal.

In its lengthy opinion on Jan. 31 in Parker v. Hurley, the 1st Circuit panel said, “Public schools are not obliged to shield individual students from ideas which potentially are religiously offensive, particularly when the school imposes no requirement that the student agree with or affirm those ideas.”

See Also

See other stories on education issues in Massachusetts. See data on Massachusetts’ public school system.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the February 06, 2008 edition of Education Week

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Unlocking the Full Power of Fall MAP Growth Data
Maximize NWEA MAP Growth data this fall! Join our webinar to discover strategies for driving student growth and improving instruction.
Content provided by Otus
Classroom Technology K-12 Essentials Forum How to Teach Digital & Media Literacy in the Age of AI
Join this free event to dig into crucial questions about how to help students build a foundation of digital literacy.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Special Education Webinar
Taking Action: Three Keys to an Effective Multitiered System to Supports
Join renowned intervention experts, Dr. Luis Cruz and Mike Mattos for a webinar on the 3 essential steps to MTSS success.
Content provided by Solution Tree

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Equity & Diversity Opinion 13 Ways Educators Get Culturally Responsive Teaching Wrong
Some teachers believe adding a few culturally relevant texts or activities to the existing curricula is sufficient. It's not.
13 min read
Images shows colorful speech bubbles that say "Q," "&," and "A."
iStock/Getty
Equity & Diversity Explainer Religion in Public Schools, Explained
Public schools cannot promote any particular religion, and they must respect the individual religious beliefs of students and staff.
10 min read
Bible laying on a school desk in an empty classroom full of desks.
E+
Equity & Diversity Interactive Equitable Access to AP Courses: How Each State Is Doing
College Board data broken down by race and ethnicity helps educators assess gaps in equity, researchers say.
3 min read
An illustration of a diverse  group of professionals standing on a very large laptop studying various data and charts on the screen in front of them.
iStock/Getty
Equity & Diversity Interactive How Student Access to AP Courses Has Changed Over Time
The College Board offers national data broken down by race and ethnicity to assess any issues with access in the AP program.
1 min read
Vector illustration of a hand with a magnifying glass looking closely at pages of varying types of charts and data.
iStock/Getty