Escondido School Board Takes No Action on Reading of Play

A fundamentalist preacher and dozens of his supporters urged the Escondido school board Wednesday night to ban the vocal reading of the award-winning play “Death of a Salesman,” which they sharply criticized for “taking the name of God in vain.”

The Rev. Billy Falling and his fellow opponents of the play, which was read aloud by seniors this year in an Orange Glen High School English class, also presented 1,354 signatures on petitions calling on the board to take the unusual step of not censoring the Arthur Miller play, but simply banning students from reading it aloud and being subjected to its harsh language.

However, the members of the Escondido Union High School District Board of Education declined to take any action on the group’s recommendation. Board President John K. Cherrington and Supt. John L. Cooper said students always have the option of reading alternate materials if they fear they will be offended.

“In my experience, our teachers are and will continue to be sensitive in the classroom,” Cooper said. “I do not recommend that the board do anything this evening beyond what they are, which is to listen to these concerns.”

Cherrington also said the board would not act on the recommendations.

“I don’t believe the teacher was promoting profanity by allowing the reading of the classics in the classroom,” he said. “I think our system works. I think our teachers are very sensitive in what they do.”

Falling said after the meeting that he will call a July 10 meeting of his supporters to begin work on a recall of Cherrington.

During the meeting, Falling contended that “the real issue underlying the current profanity controversy is neither censorship nor profanity, but rather who owns the children.”

‘State Does Not Own Child’

“My efforts to responsibly oversee the education of my daughter have been resisted by both the government school and much of the media,” he said. “I would like to unequivocally state that the state does not own the child. Neither, in fact, do the parents . . . . “Children belong to God. They are entrusted to parents as a reward of their love for each other, to be raised to respect, love and obey God. The state cannot legitimately assume ownership of the children by a godless educational system contrary to the laws of nature.”

Falling said he is raising the issue with the goal of restoring “a godly public education system” to his community.

Falling is a founder and head of the Escondido-based Christian Voters League, a fundamentalist religious-political group. His 17-year-old daughter, Becky, was a senior this year at Orange Glen High.

The girl told her father that her class was reading aloud from the Arthur Miller play and that she was bothered by some of the harsh language in the play, and Falling himself then began reading the Pulitzer Prize-winning play.

He said he immediately found the opening scenes objectionable, finding pain in words such as goddammit, hell and sons of bitches. He just as quickly launched his crusade to ban the reading of the work.

Also supporting the minister’s position was a large group of North County parents and community leaders, including a teacher, a single parent and a Carlsbad attorney.

The attorney, Richard Macgurn, said the issue was not one of censorship but of parents trying to teach good social values to their children.

“What must students be compelled to listen to?” Macgurn asked. “Well, I believe profanity and blasphemy should not be permitted. My kids are compelled to go to school, and I don’t want them to hear it.”

Echoing his concern was Jerry Harrington, a 20-year teacher in San Marcos. He said the Orange Glen English teacher “made a mistake, and it’s difficult to admit you’ve made a mistake,” by subjecting all of the classroom students to the play.

Leah Duet, an Escondido businesswoman and single parent, told the board she was deeply concerned that the language in the play would jeopardize the hard work of parents trying to raise their children. She said she is just thankful her daughter was not in that classroom.

“I can assure you,” she said, “that I would have been very angry.”