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Justices Hear Arguments In School Bible Case

An Ohio school board lawyer says a now-fired public school science teacher waved a Bible at his students, handed out religious pamphlets and espoused creationism in his evolution lessons. The attorney for former teacher John Freshwater says such accounts are exaggerated and that Freshwater simply exercised his academic freedom to explore controversial ideas. Attorneys for Freshwater and the Mount Vernon School Board have left the Ohio Supreme Court with competing accounts on whether the teacher unconstitutionally inserted his personal religious beliefs into the classroom. Justices sparred with both lawyers during hour-long oral arguments today. The school board dismissed Freshwater in 2011 after investigators reported he preached Christian beliefs in class when discussing topics such as evolution and homosexuality and became insubordinate in failing to remove the Bible from his classroom.

Mike Foley joined WCBE in February 2000, coming from WUFT in Gainesville, Florida. Foley has worked in various roles, from producing news and feature stories to engineering Live From Studio A sessions. A series of music features Foley started in 2018 called Music Journeys has grown into a podcast and radio show. He also assists in developing other programs in WCBE's Podcast Experience. Foley hosts The Morning Mix, a weekday music show featuring emerging and established musicians, our Columbus-area and Ohio-based talent, and additional artists that inspire him.