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Judge Agrees, Patriotic Banner OK for Classroom
publiusforum.com ^ | 09/15/08 | Warner Todd Huston

Posted on 09/15/2008 6:29:41 AM PDT by Mobile Vulgus

A Federal judge said that it was OK for a Poway, California school teacher to sue his school district for forcing him to remove a banner that featured well known, patriotic American references to God in an early September ruling.

Math teacher Brad Johnson who teachers at Westview High in San Diego County, California, had the banner on his classroom wall for the last 20 years but only last year was told by school administrators that the banner was supposedly an affront to the principles of separation of Church and State. After two decades without complaint, Johnson was told his banner suddenly offended his students because the banners "were an impermissible attempt to make a Judeo-Christian statement to his students."

The suddenly banned banner included the phrases "In God We Trust," "One Nation Under God," "God Bless America," and "God Shed His Grace on Thee."

Teacher Johnson decided to take his school district to court to restore to his classroom wall the common American slogans while the school system sought to have the suit tossed out claiming that Johnson, as a public employee, had only limited 1st Amendment rights and that the principal had authority over what appeared on the walls of the classroom...

Read the rest at Publiusforum.com...


TOPICS: Education; Government; History; Politics
KEYWORDS: churchandstate; education; firstamendment; patriotism; pcism
Our fetid schools need to be torn down. Homeschooling is an answer, vouchers a better one.
1 posted on 09/15/2008 6:29:41 AM PDT by Mobile Vulgus
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To: Mobile Vulgus

Hm.. vouchers would be issued from the government. Government doesn’t give *anything* without conditions. In this case, their hands would be in the classroom, no matter the classroom.

Independent private study program (PSP). Independent private school.

No vouchers.


2 posted on 09/15/2008 6:38:19 AM PDT by mrs tiggywinkle
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To: mrs tiggywinkle

Back in the 90’s when I was involved in the “voucher/tax credit” debate, we advocated tax credits. Once the government takes your money and gives it back in the form of a voucher, they can dictate to the school who takes the voucher. We always viewed vouchers as a trojan horse.


3 posted on 09/15/2008 6:41:59 AM PDT by FrdmLvr ("I don't know of a single thing Obama has done except talk and write". -- Newt Gingrich)
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To: Mobile Vulgus

Does this public school who forced the teacher to take down his patriotic banner allow their students time to pray for Ramadan?


4 posted on 09/15/2008 6:43:18 AM PDT by FrdmLvr ("I don't know of a single thing Obama has done except talk and write". -- Newt Gingrich)
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To: FrdmLvr

Exactly.


5 posted on 09/15/2008 6:55:00 AM PDT by mrs tiggywinkle
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To: Mobile Vulgus

“an affront to the principles of separation of Church and State”

Are these legal principles of which you speak? If so, can they be found in a legal document of some sort? No? Okay, thanks.”


6 posted on 09/15/2008 7:15:28 AM PDT by Tublecane
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To: mrs tiggywinkle
Hm.. vouchers would be issued from the government. Government doesn’t give *anything* without conditions. In this case, their hands would be in the classroom, no matter the classroom.

And that is the heart of the matter. What needs to be done is to either remove or get control of the RAT-backed NEA. Unless you are willing to squarely address that, and take the bull by the horns, then vouchers are just dancing around the problem.

7 posted on 09/15/2008 8:24:04 AM PDT by NurdlyPeon (Sara Palin: Americas' last, best hope for survival.)
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To: Tublecane

Always makes me laugh (and cry) when people start yelling about the separation of church and state when in fact it’s not written like that at all.


8 posted on 09/15/2008 8:41:11 AM PDT by YoungHickey ("Those who say it can't be done should not interupt those doing it.")
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To: Mobile Vulgus
He said the principal made her decision after receiving a complaint about the banners...

I hope that principal was forced to divulge the name of the complainant.
Two possibilities: a pervert or a muslim, or their avatar/supporters.

I will leave to the reader the assessment of whether these two groups are patriots or very angry activists...

Meanwhile, the taxpayers of the school district are looking at $30k, at least, perhaps much more, and possibly punitive damages.
I would seriously reasses the competence of that principal.

On a related matter, to all the attorneys out there...
Is it possible for legal action like this, affecting a person's 20-yr employment career, to take place based on a complaint where the initiating party remains anonymous throughout? That is a serious question.

9 posted on 09/15/2008 10:12:33 AM PDT by Publius6961 (Change is not a plan; Hope is not a strategy.)
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To: Mobile Vulgus
Our fetid schools need to be torn down. Homeschooling is an answer, vouchers a better one.
I actually place Homeschooling above vouchers...

But considering the fact that not everyone is up to the task of Homeschooling, vouchers are an excellent alternative.

Just as long as we can keep the NEA's sticky paws off of them.

Time to flush the failing public school system down the toilet.
10 posted on 09/15/2008 11:10:51 PM PDT by Fichori (ironic: adj. 1 Characterized by or constituting irony. 2 Obamy getting beat up by a girl.)
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To: Tublecane

Oh, they aren’t of “which I speak” but what the school is claiming.


11 posted on 09/16/2008 1:01:01 AM PDT by Mobile Vulgus
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