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Teacher Dismissed After Ignoring Opt-Out Request from Parents


(AgapePress) - A charter school teacher in Colorado has been fired for not permitting a seventh-grade student to opt out of an explicit classroom discussion about sex, even though her parents had requested such.

The Aochi family asked that their 13-year-old daughter Haley be excused from any discussion regarding sex education at Knowledge Quest Academy in Milliken, a community of about 6,000 just north of Denver. But physical education teacher Joel Chase ignored their request, and led his class in a discussion of sexual practices and his own views on dating.

Chase's actions prompted Liberty Counsel to send a letter of protest to the school on the family's behalf. Liberty Counsel founder and chairman Mat Staver says it is "paramount" that parents' rights, which are protected by the Constitution, be honored when they wish their children to be educated according to their own religious beliefs and moral objectives.

The Liberty Counsel attorney says the board responded to the protest letter by firing Chase.

"The Aochi family are certainly distressed over the fact that their parental rights were violated -- but pleased with the prompt reaction of the school," he offers. "And I think teachers ought to learn a lesson from this, and that is that they are not de facto parents."

According to Staver, the ability to opt a child out of certain class discussions is often disregarded by educators. "Most people would be surprised to learn that most states actually grant parental rights and have laws that say that students and children cannot be exposed to sex ed or HIV education without the knowledge of the parents, and have the right to be able to opt-out of these programs," he says.

"Despite the fact that most states have these laws, many of these schools or teachers ignore them -- and oftentimes parents don't realize that they can assert their parental authority."

Staver says Chase had even tried to convince Haley to change her answers on a sex-ed test to reflect his own personal views. He says the school acted appropriately in dismissing the teacher who he says "tried to indoctrinate [the Aochi's daughter] with his own views on dating and sexual practices."