For this teacher, silence isn't golden

Brian Bown has fought the moment of silence before and lost, but that's not stopping him from protesting the new law in his Waukegan classroom.

Citing religious and constitutional beliefs, Brian Bown, a special education teacher at Waukegan Unit District 60, argued teachers should not be forced to be mediate between religions in the classroom.

"This is a deep religious and constitutional issue, where the legislators are pitting teacher against teacher," Bown said. "Those who refuse to do this should go to their unions and stand against it."

He vowed to continue teaching and lecturing in class and not to observe the moment of silence.

Bown said he wants district officials to refrain from the requirement. He asked the Waukegan Federation of Teachers to stand behind him and contacted the ACLU of Illinois to file a lawsuit barring the measure.

"Once again, these politicians are pushing teachers out on a plank," he said. "They won't do anything to help education funding at the state level, but they will do something like this."

Bown was suspended and eventually released in 1994 from South Gwinnett High School in Georgia for refusing to take part in a state-mandated 60-second moment of silence each day.

He fought the legislation in court, where it was upheld by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, according to published reports.