Unfortunately, the two parents had already spoken with the Superintendent and the Board of Education, requesting that this game be banned from all schools in the district because of its satanic influence. The Superintendent had already drafted a memo to Mrs. Backer and the principals in the other district elementary schools. He placed a 30 day moratorium on playing the game while he reviewed the cards and sought evaluations from utside psychologists.

Although the game was deemed not harmful by these consultants the Superintendent later required that students now must obtain written permission from their parents or guardians in order to continue to play this game. He also stressed that although this game practiced the same skills embedded in the curriculum, such as the development of math strategies, it was not part of the school curriculum. Mrs. Backer felt that the action was not threatening to the school program, and took little notice of the Superintendent's directive. She believed that the issue had little implications for instruction within the Pine Brush Elementary School.

In September of 1995, these two parents (both had children in the fifth grade at the time) began to go farther than just criticizing the card game. They began to scrutinize the educational practices of the school in general. One parent expressed her concern that the "new Ageish approach to learning in the school, where Ouija boards, psychics, and fantasy role-playing games are used as learning tools," was negatively affecting the minds of their children. The two parents formed a group called the Concerned Parents, Citizens, and Professional Association Against the Seduction of Children. They conducted a seminar in September inviting the public to hear spokespersons, such as ex-clergymen and cult experts from around the country, espouse the perils of the current educational practices. At this seminar members of the audience were not given the opportunity to speak or question these experts until the very end of the presentation and then only screened questions were addressed.

These two women and their association began to attract an enormous amount of media attention, from ABC's 5 o'clock news and local CNN reports to articles in the local community papers and the Gotham Gazette, a respected regional newspaper based in Gotham, the urban center where many of Pine Brush residents worked. They used this "media blitz" to single out specific teachers and classroom practices which they claimed promoted a curriculum of death. Some of the strongest protests surrounded the following:

• a science experiment in the fourth grade that studied owl pellets to learn about the animal's eating habits;
• a second grade study of India, and the making of clay gods of Ganesha that they claimed children were encouraged to worship; and
• the fifth grade study of the Aztec culture of Mexico, which they claimed focused on death rituals.

The morale and the confidence of many of the teachers in the school has been greatly shaken. They felt that the Association misinterpreted their teaching practices and was causing disruptions in their classrooms. For example, the children of these two parents were told not to participate in any journal writing, discussions of visual imagery, any literature group that dealt with books with strong emotional issues, and teaching of culture and customs that are not Judeo-Christian in their origin, or participating in the DARE program, a nationally recognized program of drug prevention for children. Recently, two of the children walked out of class during a discussion of Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson, a Newberry Award winner. These fifth grade teachers, both new and non-tenured, have approached the principal, asking him whether they should change their teaching practices in order to avoid conflict with these parents. The parents wanted them to provide alternative instruction while the "satanic teaching" goes on. Both the principal and the Superintendent have encouraged the teachers to continue what they were doing, and not provide additional or alternative instruction for these students, but instead reflect their lack of participation in report card grades. These teachers were also told not to engage in a debate with these parents, and to forward all letters to the Superintendent's office for review.

The People for the American Way, a watchdog group based in Washington, DC, has stated that it is their belief that this Association is similar to an organized national movement whose "eventual goal is to take over school boards and control the curriculum, helped by religious groups who are sometimes disguised as taxpayer groups." Other parents and teachers interpreted the Association as being ultra conservative and completely off-base, misinterpreting and redefining multicultural learning to suit their own agenda. Most parents in the community feel that the Association has gone too far with their criticisms and has caused unnecessary negative attention to their school. These parents and community members responded to these allegations by taking out a full page ad in all the local papers, expressing their support for their teachers, administration and the school curriculum. The petition stated their belief that the agenda of the school is not pro-pagan, or pro-witchcraft in nature and does not promote evil as the Association claims. They asked that the Superintendent hold an Open Forum to discuss the issues, to which he willingly agreed.

Prior to this forum the Superintendent issued a memorandum to all teachers and principals stating, "while I believe, as educators, that we need to demonstrate sensitivity to the diverse values and beliefs held by all residents of this school district, I consider it of critical importance that we are aware of the efforts by a very small handful of people to substitute their judgment about appropriate material and teaching for that of our well-trained and highly able professional staff. Further, I regard their apparent agenda as inconsistent with the wishes of the vast majority of the community, many of whom have contacted me personally to express their support of us and the school."

The Superintendent's Colloquium to End the 'Witch Hunt' (this was how the Superintendent advertised the forum) took place on November 20, 1995. The Superintendent was assuming that this forum would resolve the conflict and put the matter to rest. However, even the night before the forum was held, he received criticism on the editorial page of the local paper because he had decided to allow only district residents, staff and media, and planned for police officers to check drivers' licenses at the door. Staff living outside of the district were given special passes. The Superintendent defended this position stating that he was restricting attendance to ensure that there would be enough room for any residents who wanted to attend and to avoid the repetition of the September forum which was dominated by outside "experts" and participants and was an orchestrated showcase of only one view.

The Colloquium drew a very large crowd of parents, teachers, high school students and community members. Police officers were on hand to check identifications, and when the auditorium of 648 seats was filled, the remaining 300 people were seated in the lobby and watched the over three hour forum on closed-circuit television. As people were being seated, a montage of the television coverage of the past few months was played on a large screen. Copies of many of the news accounts were on tables at the doors for people to take as they walked in. When the forum began, the Superintendent spoke at a podium with 5 out of 7 members of the Board of Education seated up front facing the audience.

The Superintendent reviewed a history of this case to date and stated that he hoped this forum would put to rest the "baseless, damaging accusations.quot; During his opening remarks and review of materials challenged, he made many jokes, some that people felt were very sarcastic and caustic in nature. After he spoke, he stated that he had agreed to allow one of the parents to have her 15 minutes. Her ideas were summarized in the next morning's newspaper report in the Gotham Gazette: "They call it diversity (referring to lessons on the Aztecs). I call it perversity. It's total immersion in paganism. If you want to teach about Mexico, why not give us modern religion? The Mexicans got over Quetazlcoatl. Why not give us the Virgin of Guadalupe?"

Yet the overwhelming majority of residents, students, and teachers who lined up at the two microphones spoke eloquently and at times with anger and a great deal of passion about preserving academic freedoms, warning the public of the hidden agenda of these two women and condeming them for wanting to impose their views and restrictions on other parents in the district. "If we learned anything from Salem in 1692, from Munich in 1938, and from Washington in the early 1950's, it is that when the witch hunt begins, it is not only morally wrong but ultimately dangerous for good citizens to remain silent. When the witch hunt begins, we must all come together to say, "Nonsense," and "Not in the community you don't," one parent stated. The forum ended with a question from a student: "Is this it? Will all this go away now?" Certainly everyone present, especially the teachers, administrators, board members, and the Superintendent hoped that now it would.

While many people felt that the forum revealed the unity of the district and showed the ridiculous nature of these parents' claims, there were criticisms leveled at the Superintendent for his sarcastic remarks and for turning the forum into an opportunity to treat unfairly two parents who had expressed legitimate concerns and were forced to endure the indignity of a kangaroo court.

A week later, one of the parents removed her children from the school and placed them in the local parochial school. The other parent kept her child in the public school. But some parents are beginning to question the multicultural education that is taking place at the school and beginning to ask if so much time is being spent learning about Aztec culture, for example, what is not being learned?

Currently there is a lull in the din of criticism, but the undercurrent of criticism is still there. Mrs. Backer finds herself with the following interests, all of which appear to be competing with one another:

• To support the Superintendent's directives without appearing to support his insensitive remarks;
• To encourage teacher autonomy in making professional judgments about the content of classroom instruction;
• To encourage parental involvement in their children's education; and
• To maintain balance between the beliefs of two parents and the rest of the community without damaging the education of an entire community of students.

Under normal circumstances, Mrs. Backer thought these interests were compatible and not mutually exclusive. She believed that when working together, these interests provide synergy. In the current situation, these forces are tearing her school community apart.

QUESTIONS:

1. What would you do next if you were Mrs. Backer?
2. What is the core issue that appears to be driving continued conflict in this community?
3. What strategies should Mrs. Backer use to effect a more productive balance among these forces?