An American-born Christian teacher has been fired from a Scottish school for answering her students’ questions about life in the United States, including her pro-life views.
Sarah Morse, 66, is taking Arbroath High School, run by Angus Council, to an employment tribunal, alleging discrimination.
The incident that led to her dismissal happened last November.
Ms. Morse said she was teaching history to students around ages 14 and 15 and had assigned them a worksheet on the rise of Adolf Hitler.
She said her students began asking her about the US including her views on abortion.
WHAT CHRISTIAN TEACHER TOLD HER STUDENTS
She said she responded: “I am a faithful Roman Catholic, and I am against it.”
When a student asked about abortion in cases of rape, the Christian teacher explained her belief that the preborn child shouldn’t be punished in that scenario.
She added that she recognised others, including the students, might disagree.
At least one of them disagreed strongly enough to complain to senior staff, because later that day Ms. Morse was fired — allegedly for discussing religion and abortion with her students.
PRO-LIFE TEACHER DESCRIBES HER SACKING AS “AN ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE”
She vowed to never teach in Scotland again, calling her experience an “absolute nightmare.”
“I was not offered any sort of right of reply, asked for my account of what happened or how my legally protected beliefs were raised in the context of a history class.”
“The head teacher wouldn’t even see me.”
Ms. Morse insists she never tried to influence the students’ views and that she answered their questions with “short, factual statements of personal belief.”
She reiterated that she told them it was fine to disagree with her.
“SCOTLAND HAS A FREE SPEECH PROBLEM”
The American who has taught in several countries, including England and Canada, said she has never felt “discriminated against” before.
She believes Scotland has a free speech problem.
“To be ‘cancelled’ and lose my livelihood because of my religious identity is a terrifying precedent for the teaching profession in Scotland,” she declared.
PRO-LIFE GROUP SUPPORTS HER LEGAL ACTION AGAINST SCHOOL
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) is supporting her legal action.
“The dismissal of a teacher for respectfully answering a student’s question truthfully according to her conscience is a grave matter,” observed executive director of SPUC Michael Robinson.
“Government guidelines on political impartiality in the classroom do not prohibit the mention of a teacher’s legally protected beliefs, provided there is no attempt to persuade,” he explained.
Mr. Robinson described Ms. Morse as a teacher with “considerable experience” who “acted as a facilitator of open, respectful dialogue — for which she has been punished with the loss of her career, pay and damage to her reputation.”
“THE SCHOOL DID NOT FOLLOW DUE PROCESS”
He said she faced a “veiled threat” to “go without a fuss,” or her pro-life views would be noted in her record, potentially affecting her future job prospects.
“The school did not follow any due process,” Mr. Robinson asserted.
“There was no attempt to ascertain from Sarah what had happened.”
“This latest incident of trying to silence someone with traditional or religious views is utterly disgraceful and should worry us all.”
TEACHER PREPARING FOR HER DAY IN COURT
“Sarah did nothing wrong; she simply answered questions from a group of young people about her legally protected beliefs,” Mr. Robinson continued.
“As she said, it was normal, along with questions about more of the trivial aspects of living in the US.”
“Our legal team is now preparing legal action against the school and the local authority for discrimination, and Sarah is looking forward to her day in court,” he concluded.
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