Posted on 11/24/2004 8:01:22 PM PST by ChildofReagan
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California teacher has been barred by his school from giving students documents from American history that refer to God -- including the Declaration of Independence.
Steven Williams, a fifth-grade teacher at Stevens Creek School in the San Francisco Bay area suburb of Cupertino, sued for discrimination on Monday, claiming he had been singled out for censorship by principal Patricia Vidmar because he is a Christian.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Entitled to your opinion, obviously. But, how on earth could you think that, even if there is more to the story, that it justifies the banning of the Declartion of Independence.
There is ridiculous.
I can't find the article, but I read the other day that in the next decade the Southwest will be technically be a third world country.
Folks, it's slipping away from us in this Country. A some point, the foot must be put down and an end must be put to this type of crap.
Since May, Williams has been required to submit lesson plans and teaching materials to the principal of Stevens Creek Elementary School, Patricia Vidmar, for approval.
Monday, Williams filed a discrimination suit in US District Court in San Jose, claiming he had been singled out for censorship because he is a Christian.
"It's a fact of American history that our founders were religious men, and to hide this fact from young fifth-graders in the name of political correctness is outrageous and shameful," said Williams' attorney, Terry Thompson.This needs to stop. Teaching historical documents and about those who created those documents has no business being watered down to satisfy someone's notion of political correctness. And to have the very audacity to eliminate the Declaration of Independance from a school curriculum is unconscionable."Williams wants to teach his students the true history of our country," he said. "There is nothing in the Establishment Clause (of the U.S. Constitution) that prohibits a teacher from showing students the Declaration of Independence."
Williams asserts in the lawsuit that since May he has been required to submit all of his lesson plans and supplemental handouts to Vidmar for approval, and that the principal will not permit him to use any that contain references to God or Christianity.
Among the materials she has rejected, according to Williams, are excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, George Washington's journal, John Adams' diary, Samuel Adams' "The Rights of the Colonists" and William Penn's "The Frame of Government of Pennsylvania."
"He hands out a lot of material and perhaps 5 to 10 percent refers to God and Christianity because that's what the founders wrote," said Thompson, a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, which advocates for religious freedom. "The principal seems to be systematically censoring material that refers to Christianity and it is pure discrimination."
I'm proud of this nation, and proud to be an American. All three of my children are taught about what those documents are and what they mean, and should mean to each and every person in this country. And I defy any educator --and I come from a family of educators who agree with me-- to try to tell me otherwise.
On checking the website for Stevens Creek Elementary, I found that the site is down this evening. Whether that was due to the interest from around the nation, or due to some action by the school or the Cupertino Unified School District is not known at this point.
John Bambenek has graciously supplied us with the contact information for the school and school district:
Stevens Creek SchoolI'm sure they are tired of all the calls, faxes and e-mails, but this is one case where, quite frankly, I don't give a damn.
http://www.cupertino.k12.ca.us/Stcreek.www/
10300 Ainsworth Drive
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 245-3312
Patricia Vidmar, Principal
(408) 245-3312 x 110
Fax (408) 245-7484
Part of the Cupertino Union School District:
http://cupertino.ca.campusgrid.net/home
10301 Vista Drive
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 252-3000
William E. Bragg, Superintendent
bragg_bill@cupertino.k12.ca.us
Board:
board@cupertino.k12.ca.us
Have at it, true believers!
Since May, Williams has been required to submit lesson plans and teaching materials to the principal of Stevens Creek Elementary School, Patricia Vidmar, for approval.
Monday, Williams filed a discrimination suit in US District Court in San Jose, claiming he had been singled out for censorship because he is a Christian.
"It's a fact of American history that our founders were religious men, and to hide this fact from young fifth-graders in the name of political correctness is outrageous and shameful," said Williams' attorney, Terry Thompson.This needs to stop. Teaching historical documents and about those who created those documents has no business being watered down to satisfy someone's notion of political correctness. And to have the very audacity to eliminate the Declaration of Independance from a school curriculum is unconscionable."Williams wants to teach his students the true history of our country," he said. "There is nothing in the Establishment Clause (of the U.S. Constitution) that prohibits a teacher from showing students the Declaration of Independence."
Williams asserts in the lawsuit that since May he has been required to submit all of his lesson plans and supplemental handouts to Vidmar for approval, and that the principal will not permit him to use any that contain references to God or Christianity.
Among the materials she has rejected, according to Williams, are excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, George Washington's journal, John Adams' diary, Samuel Adams' "The Rights of the Colonists" and William Penn's "The Frame of Government of Pennsylvania."
"He hands out a lot of material and perhaps 5 to 10 percent refers to God and Christianity because that's what the founders wrote," said Thompson, a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, which advocates for religious freedom. "The principal seems to be systematically censoring material that refers to Christianity and it is pure discrimination."
I'm proud of this nation, and proud to be an American. All three of my children are taught about what those documents are and what they mean, and should mean to each and every person in this country. And I defy any educator --and I come from a family of educators who agree with me-- to try to tell me otherwise.
On checking the website for Stevens Creek Elementary, I found that the site is down this evening. Whether that was due to the interest from around the nation, or due to some action by the school or the Cupertino Unified School District is not known at this point.
John Bambenek has graciously supplied us with the contact information for the school and school district:
Stevens Creek SchoolI'm sure they are tired of all the calls, faxes and e-mails, but this is one case where, quite frankly, I don't give a damn.
http://www.cupertino.k12.ca.us/Stcreek.www/
10300 Ainsworth Drive
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 245-3312
Patricia Vidmar, Principal
(408) 245-3312 x 110
Fax (408) 245-7484
Part of the Cupertino Union School District:
http://cupertino.ca.campusgrid.net/home
10301 Vista Drive
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 252-3000
William E. Bragg, Superintendent
bragg_bill@cupertino.k12.ca.us
Board:
board@cupertino.k12.ca.us
Have at it, true believers!
To think these repressive socialist huns have anything to do with education is nothing less than frightening. A world war was fought to prevent this very thing from happening here in the U.S. Many taxpayer fought and died for the right to believe that rewriting history and burning books were a thing of the past.
It is sad that the taxpayers in this school district got saddled with such an intolerant (un)educated idiot. If the principal was really sincere in her beliefs, perhaps she and her other NEA endorsed cronies wouldn't mind working through all holidays related to religion (e.g. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, etc.)
If these folks remain in power I wonder how much longer it will be until Christians are banned and confined to camps where they can't harm anyone with their anit-progressive belief system -- or given post natal abortion to cleanse the electorate?
Bet there'd be no problem if the Declaration reference Satan, or Allah (but I repeat myself), or Gaea....
Death to the NEA.
Ahem. NorCal indeed. Not here in Placer County. 51.3% Republican registration, 70%+ voter turnout. Reddest county in California.
Moves like This will {hopefully} shatter the Teachers Union. If their "national" comes out against this teacher & for this principal, The Union is TOAST.
"Fly-Over Country" teachers won't stand for the forced deletion of the Declaration Of Independence!
Those that "love to teach" & "live to teach" are becoming very aware of the "Indoctrinate LEFT" agenda of their "National". They don't like it.
If you want to take the passive side & see the government take away our founding fathers principles or will we TRUE AMERICANS take back the country by ACTIVISM -yea the activism that the left has imposed on us for 50 years.
Your apparent ignorance of the First Amendment Establishment Clause notwithstanding, that you would deny American citizens a full reading of the Declaration of Independence in the classroom as part of a history lession implies that you believe that you have the intellectual and legal authority under California statute to rewrite history itself! It is an arrogance so deeply apalling that you deserve to lose your job on that cause alone.
Further, it is entirely clear that you have no understanding of why unalienable rights, as endowed by a Creator are so important TO YOU. The construct means that government has no legitimate authority or power to violate those rights. It is a concept so important that, if there wasn't a Creator, we'd be best off maintaining whatever pretense necessary that there was. Your disrespect fot that idea not only reveals your lack of education or qualification for your post, but an equal lack of appreciation for the freedoms you enjoy as a citizen.
Finally, I hope the citizens of Cupertino, many of whom escaped the leftist tyranny with which you are so enamored to come to America, have their way with your career. Perhaps you would prefer to be teaching in the Ukraine, where the wretched citizens of that country might tell you a thing or two about atheist socialism, seeing as it is stealing their franchise without a word of protest from you.
With no respect whatsoever,
Signature
While there were other issues involved, the rebellion didn't start until they came for the colonials arms. Gun Control is what set off the American Revolution. The main issue leading up the attempted arms confiscation was high taxes. The Brits wanted the colonies to help pay for the war with France, (Called the French and Indian war in North America, but the war was wider than just North America). They neglected the fact that proportionally many more American subjects of the King had fought against the French, and thus the tazes had been paid with blood. The colonies also paid for those colonial troops and their equipment in most cases. They did not pay for the British regulars and British officers that also fought in North America.
Because only one side would say anthing. It's a Reuters article for goodness sakes. Hardly a hotbed of right wing radicalism.
On the Grade 5 page it goes on:
5.5 Students analyze the important ideas and aspirations that form the foundation of the American republic, in terms of the philosophy of government expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the principles of "consent of the governed" and "all men are created equal" and how they justified American independence, and are related to the important notion of limited government
The left's only purpose seems to be to rewrite history to satisfy their whacked agenda to espouse their 'enlightened' beliefs. I'm sorry to inform them but this nation's founding was smack dab in the middle of the Age of Enlightenment and if these Godless creatures wish to destroy this nation to satisfy their hedonistic selves, perhaps they should just LEAVE.
The last place these clowns belong is determining the educational agenda for our childen. Arrgh.
book mark
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