To the editor:

Foothill High teacher Karen Vaughan's attempt to justify the specific discrimination against those who wish to express their spiritual beliefs in their "closed" public forum is another pitiful example of our scared school administrators not standing up for the very principles they claim to teach (letter, July 9 Review-Journal).

What is it about the mentioning of God or Christ that scares them so much? What is it that leads public schools all over the country to quake in fear of the ACLU and forget the "free exercise" part of that "establishment" clause they choose to hide under?

In a system that tolerates the profane outbursts of the worst of seat-warmers, and coddles the daily offenders with layers of special programs, why would they seek to silence the very best they have at their moments of reward and thanksgiving?

Ms. Vaughan asserts that if Brittany McComb had "started to talk about Donald Duck, her speech would have been stopped." Bluntly, that is a lie.

If Brittany had given thanks and acknowledgment to any other person or group for the positive influence that changed her life it would have been allowed -- any person or group, that is, except God or Jesus Christ, or possibly another religious figure. She could have acknowledged any sports star no matter what his criminal record, but not Jesus Christ.

That is specific discrimination.

Our Founding Fathers weren't as stupid as recent courts would like us to think. When they penned the words, "Congress shall make no law establishing a religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof ... " that's exactly what they meant. Never in their wildest dreams could they have imagined some judge ruling that a student in a local high school giving thanks and acknowledgement to God would be considered an attempt to "establish" a national religion. Never.

Even if Ms. Vaughn, the ACLU and Clark County School District want to stretch Ms. McComb's speech to claim it was proselytizing, the Founders would have laughed at them. Brittany's assessment that others might be rewarded the same way she was for taking God's plan into their lives was no different than if she had reminded them that "practice makes perfect" in the athletic arena. For her, God was her vehicle for success. And, she is not supposed to share that with the student body she cares about?

No, Ms. Vaughan, not sharing that precious information would be a disservice to all her friends.

Rather than hiding behind "school rules" and an administration and School Board scared to death of the ACLU, Ms. Vaughan needs to climb out of the indoctrination pit and look more closely at what our Founders and the courts said was true for most of our history.

The reason the district is having trouble getting good teachers is not due to the Brittany McCombs of the world giving their sincere thanks to God. It is the discrimination against top students such as Brittany while the classrooms are made intolerable because of the delinquents who don't embrace the God that could change their lives.

Ken Koester

LAS VEGAS

THE WRITER IS A FORMER MEMBER OF THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.