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Trends in Politics and Religion

Two recent publications have been in the news lately, so I thought I'd point out what I know of them, if only because I thought they were interesting.

Judge Rold M. Treu recently ruled in Vergara V. California that California teacher tenure laws-- laws that protect teachers from being fired-- are unconstitutional because they encourage the retention of inadequate teachers. More specifically, the judge concluded that teacher tenure laws harm low-income and minority students because schools that serve these populations contain a larger proportion of inadequate teachers compared to schools that serve white and higher-income groups.

In regard to religion, authors of a recent Pew Research poll found that Republicans and Democrats are more ideologically divided now than at any point in the past twenty years. While the survey's authors and commentators alike have highlighted this aspect of the poll, Danny Westneat of the Seattle Times pointed out an interesting finding: Authors asked the following question, followed by ideological, racial, and other groups: "How would you react if an immediate family member were to marry...." Regardless of political leaning, Americans generally responded with tolerance. Members belonging to conservative and liberal groups were found to be relatively accepting of family members marrying outside their own races, political parties, nationalities, and other groups. The one area about which this was not true, however, was belief in God. Forty-nine percent of people who were asked said that they would feel unhappy if a family member married an atheist.

Vergara Case
1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/06/19/arent-california-tenure-policies-in-fact-unreasonable-plus-4-more-vergara-questions-asked-and-answered/
2. http://laschoolreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/SM_Vergara-v.-California-COMPLAINT.pdf

Pew Research Center Survey
1. http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/section-3-political-polarization-and-personal-life/
2. http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2023899462_westneat22xml.html

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