WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of an Ohio public school science teacher who was fired for promoting the theory of creationism and refusing to remove religious materials from his classroom.

The justices on Monday let stand an Ohio Supreme Court ruling that found the Mount Vernon school district had grounds to fire John Freshwater in 2011 for insubordination for keeping religious books and a poster of a praying president.

The state court said the district infringed on Freshwater's First Amendment rights by ordering him to remove his personal Bible from his desk, but found he was insubordinate for keeping the other items.

Freshwater's attorney had argued that the firing violated the teacher's free speech rights.