Cupertino teacher sues district for barring religious references

modbee ^ | 11-25-04

[LouAvul]

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) - A public school teacher is suing his district and principal for barring him from using excerpts from historical documents in his classroom because they contain references to God and Christianity.

Steven Williams, who teaches fifth grade at Stevens Creek Elementary School in the Cupertino Union School District, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Jose on Monday.

In the suit, Williams argues that he had a First Amendment right to teach the history of the country and its founding fathers, which includes religious references.

The lawsuit alleges the school's principal prevented Williams from using handouts from several documents, including the Declaration of Independence, "The Rights of the Colonists" by Samuel Adams and George W. Bush's presidential 2004 Day of Prayer proclamation.

The suit also claims the principal singled out Williams in reviewing his lesson plans and handouts. Williams' attorney, Terry Thompson of the Alliance Defense Fund, said the principal's policy violates the teacher's First Amendment rights and is blatant censorship of the writings of great men because they mention God or Christianity.

District officials said they received the lawsuit and referred it to their attorneys, but would not comment further.

[Rummyfan]

Good for you Steven Williams!

[maine-iac7]

we all should flood him, in care of the school, with 'hard copy' letters of support and send letters to the editor of the local papers of same...make those libs quake a little

[Safrguns]

How come more people aren't doing this??? It's about time SOMEONE DID! TIME TO QUIT BENDING OVER AMERICA!

[Knitting A Conundrum]

n case you are interested, the phone and fax number of the school is:
Main Telephone Number: (408) 245-3312
Fax Number: (408) 245-7484
Email: (school)
block_leann@Cupertino.k12.ca.us
Principal
vidmar_patti@cupertino.k12.ca.us
address:
10300 Ainsworth Dr
Cupertino, CA 95014
Cupertino School Board : William Bragg, Superintendent : bragg_bill@cupertino.k12.ca.us
School Board : Pearl Cheng, Chairman Ben Liao Josephine Lucey Gary McCue George Tyson board@cupertino.k12.ca.us
Cupertino School Board 10301 Vista Dr Curpetino, CA 95014 408-252-3000

[Safrguns]

I'm not interested in the school backing off...
I'm interested in seeing this guy win the law suit... in court!

[Safrguns]

The ACLJ needs to get hold of this one.

[maine-iac7]

Let's email the local paper and send letters of support to the teacher - fill his mailbox to let those b*stards know we're watching. (Wouldn't hurt for him to be able to take stacks of mail to court with him to let the judge know too)

email address for local paper -

the Cupertino Courier

courier@svcn.com:

Teacher:

Steven Williams,

Stevens Creek Elementary School

10300 Ainsworth Dr Cupertino, CA

Cupertino, CA 95014

phone: (408) 245-3312

[Knitting A Conundrum]

The Smoking Gun website has his complaint online...haven't read it, but someone posted it last night...didn't bookmark the site. But there are two or three other threads on this general story from yesterday.

[Baraonda]

America is a Christian nation founded on Christian European principles.

Those who disagree with this notion will eventually have to settle their discord with those that do -- in the streets of America.

Heed the writing on the wall and be prepared. Time is of the essence.

[blue-duncan]

The Alliance defense Fund is more than capable of handling this suit. It is funded by a consortium of Christian groups and holds regular seminars, taught by law school professors and practicing attorneys, for participating lawyers.

[Mr. Keys]

Letters, e-mail, phone calls, lawsuits etc. will do nothing to end this BS. This is but one of many thousands of examples of the agenda that the left has to destroy America from within. This continues day after day, city after city and most people don't seem to care. Where is the anger? America is being surrendered to its enemies within. What will this nation be like if the left gains control of our govt.? They already indoctrinate through most schools, universities, entertainment and media. Activist judges take the power of the people away by making laws from the bench. The leftist ACLU proves time and time again that it is anti-American. The divide in this country is way beyond politics. It is a cultural war. It is a war of ideologies. It is no less than defending this nation from those who would destroy it from within. Our great military is doing its part to defend this nation and what it stands for against our foreign enemies. Those in and out of our govt. who truly love this country must make their voices herd and their will felt by our domestic enemies. It is now past time to stand up and be counted and take this country back. God Bless America!!

[valkyrieanne]

A California teacher friend tells me that this school's actions not only violates the teacher's individual civil rights, the action also violates the state board of education directives for what needs to be taught in the curriculum. CA teachers are *supposed* to teach the founding documents of the country, as well as teach the major world religions - *including* Judaism and Christianity.

[malakhi]

America is a Christian nation founded on Christian European principles.

America is a nonsectarian nation with a predominantly Christian population.

[the invisib1e hand]

Go man, GO!

[DennisR]

"America is a Christian nation founded on Christian European principles."

Okay - I will go along on half of this ("founded on..."). But there is no way you can have a "Christian nation," right? The would mean everyone is either Christian or forced to be Christian.

[the invisib1e hand]

,i>we all should flood him, in care of the school, with 'hard copy' letters of support and send letters to the editor of the local papers of same...make those libs quake a little

we should flood the defendant with hard copies of the founding documents.

[jakeflip]

This isn't a liberal/conservative issue, it's an idiot in a position of responsibility who has no clue.

I'm as liberal as they come and think we MUST flood the School District with support for the Teacher. We must also demand that the idiot in question, Ms. Vidmar, be dismissed since she lacks the judgement necessary to function in her position.

Schools should not be politicized, you guys. They are WAY too important, especially now that China and India are lapping at our heels. Let's fund our schools and demand accountability.

Regards, a liberal in a conservative forum.

[jakeflip]

Sad, sad comment.

As a flaming liberal, I totally disagree.

But we MUST support the teacher in question and try to remove the incompetent principal. On that we agree.

Let's not turn everything into left/right when it simply is not.

[VOA]

"The Alliance defense Fund is more than capable of handling this suit."

Yep. I even heard one of the Alliance lawyers on the Al Rantel Show (www.kabc.com)
on maybe Wed. night. He was doing fine.

And here's a useful link:

http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/story/?id=549