You are 100% correct. They conveniently "forget" that they work for the taxpayers. That makes them government employees, and subject to keeping their religious beliefs out of their jobs.

How do you then prevent the children from showing their religioud preferances.Metals hanging all over, crossing themselves before a test wearing ashes at Easter?

@Marine That's actually a different issue than the establishment clause as it applies to teachers. I'll have to give that more thought, as it seems stickier.

@bingst Years ago I got into it with the administration of my daughter's middle school. They were allowing students to wear cross pendants but were banning pentagrams. I took in documents pointing out that the IRS and the branches of the military recognize Wicca as a legitimate religion and that allowing only Christian symbols was blatantly illegal. Their claim was that pentagrams were 'gang signs'. When the principal was presented with my documentation they backed off really fast.I knew i wouldn't win if I argued all should be banned. So I took what I could get.

@Swordsmith ok

It DOES get dealt with on an individual basis. The Freedom From Religion Foundation takes these violators to court on a regular basis, and they usually win.
Public schools are no place for any mention of gods or religion, unless it's a specific class on ALL religions and the mythology of ALL gods.

@Gwendolyn2018; @KKGator What is considered to be religious clothing or jewelry and who is to call an item religious? As an example, a college ring from a school that has a religious icon on it considered religious and how would that encourage religious belief?

@buzz13 Easy, ANY depiction of anything that could be construed as representing any religion. Leave the religious jewelry at home. It's not that hard.

@Gwendolyn2018 My answer, 'Ms Gotcha', (you need to learn the English written language better) was to the question, "should public schools allow teachers to wear religious clothing/jewelery?". My answer was to the that question , not the oral utterances. I suggest you ask the original poster why two questions were asked but not any split answers in his poll.

@KKGator Right there you have violated someones right to wear clothing of their choice. So a teacher wearing a Ha-bib is not allowed to teach school? What about a Nehru jacket , common wear in India as it looks like a priest's collar? That thinking, you espouse, just clogs up our courts with frivolous hearings when that should be dealt with on an individual basis. That was my answer to the original poster's over choices, " somewhere in the middle".

@buzz13 I'm over it all. Give 'em an inch, and they'll take a mile.

@Gwendolyn2018 I highly doubt you teach composition , your lack comprehension of what people are trying to convey in the printed word. You read into what you wanted to read and proceeded from there. Atheists like you are just as bad as the the religious zealots you claim to detest. You and your ilk is true agnostics/atheists get a bad rap from society in general.

Doesn't the position in and of itself tend to push/promote the belief symbolized by what's being worn by the teacher, as an authority and/or role model?

@bingst what kind of jewelry are you thinking? I'm thinking a cross necklace or maybe little angel earrings. To reach the level of pushing/promoting, seems it would have to be like a Flava-Flav sized pendant reading "Only Jesus Saves" or "Repent Now" or something.

@Funnygir175 Why would the size matter? Symbols carry meaning, without the need for words. What would we say if a teacher decided to wear Nazi swastika and SS pins? Right, these are not religious symbols, but their symbolism is known, without words.

@bingst Since they're not religious symbols, they're not relevant to the conversation. Anything, and everything, can be a symbol to someone. Becoming so sensitive that any indication at all of someone else's beliefs is disallowed seems rather extreme.

@obviouspseudonym The relevance was about meaning in symbols. As for the rest, so my comment on this thread. Teachers are part of the government.

What about students?

@Marcie1974 Their religious beliefs have no business in public schools either. They also have homes and churches in which to exercise their delusions. I know courts have ruled that they're allowed to have religious prayer, as long as it's not lead by adults, but that gets abused all the time.
Coaches lead prayers in locker rooms and on football fields, etc. It's all ridiculous and should be stopped completely. Prayers are offered at graduation ceremonies.
No religious displays in public schools period.