Posted on 12/05/2007 2:07:21 PM PST by Coleus
BATON ROUGE, La. After Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorneys filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court, school officials decided that an immediate course correction was in order. They have now agreed to permit a Christian student to use school buses for a field trip for her One Way Club, just like her classmates in the Arabic Club or the Gay-Straight Alliance can.
According to its official website, the school is "[a] Celebration in Excellence and Creativity and Individuality . . ." As their initial decision was a clear denial of granting equal access to all students, that celebration of "Individuality" somehow missed toleration of the Christian faith. Therefore, we are gratified that the school has since decided to abide by existing Constitutional law rather than create their own skewed version of selective rights.
"It is clear that the Constitution requires that religious students and clubs should be treated on an equal basis with secular ones. The tiresome phrase of "separation of church and state" should never justify discrimination against private religious speech," asserted David Cortman, Atlanta-based ADF attorney.
I encourage all students to avail themselves of their legal rights. I also encourage them to attend the Just for Jesus event that will both educate and encourage them in the Christian faith this coming Wednesday, December 5 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, LSU Campus, Baton Rouge.
A Louisiana school that denied a Christian club access to school buses for a field trip reversed its decision last week after attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) filed a lawsuit.
School officials had denied a student’s request to use school transportation for her Christian group called One Way Club, but granted permission to other student groups on campus, including D.A.R.E and the Arabic club.
“Christian student groups should be allowed access to the same benefits that other student groups receive,” ADF's David Cortman said. “The Constitution does not allow school officials at Baton Rouge Magnet High School to discriminate against this student group merely because it is Christian in nature. We are pleased that the school has decided to reverse course and do the right thing.”
I’m glad the school woke up. It’s just nuts what is taking place all over the map these days.
*somehow missed toleration of Christian faith*??????
What a crock. As believable as *forgetting* to put Christmas on a calendar in December.
All it takes is seeing those $$$$$$$ signs when you know you’re going to lose.
The “Arabic” Club...now that’s at trip.
Muslim alert.
Probably so. It’s still nice to win one for a change.
Yeahhhhh. :)
;-)
Sorry, but they didn't "wake up". They knew the lawsuit would kick their butts and so they caved in and did what the constitution of this country calls for. These schools(read that public schools) have been taken over by liberals and, in some cases, gays.
They woke up to the fact that they were going to lose the case. That’s all I care about. If they’re too stupid to figure it out on their own, this is the right outcome.
Every time and everywhere there is discrimination, go after it with the full weight of the membership of the Church. Coalitions of smaller Churches could get together and retain lawyers (yeah, that does leave a nasty taste in my mouth...) ready to go on the offensive at a moments notice.
A guarantee of immediate and ongoing litigation against schools, cities and anyone who would deny Christians equal access would put an end to a lot of this kind of chicanery.
I totally agree. I only meant they did not wake up in the sense they figured out what was the right thing to do, only in the sense that they knew they would lose any lawsuit filed against them(unless they happened to have a Clinton judge on the payroll).
I don't know how that school system works, but in the one where I work, students can't request field trips or buses - that has to be done by a teacher or other adult sponsor; someone who works in the school system.
I googled around and found this article, which gives a bit more information about the situation. Here's part of the controversy:
Bertrand [organizer of the event] has aggressively pushed some Baton Rouge-area school districts to allow all their students to attend this event, even though it’s occurring during school hours. The only restriction is that parents sign permission forms.*snip*
“We pleaded with them to find a way we could support this without disruptions to our instructional time,” said Domoine Rutledge, general counsel for the school system. Bertrand deliberately holds his rallies during school days. In an interview with The Advocate, he wouldn’t explain why.
The Arabic club, by the way, is apparently for students studying the Arabic language, similar to the French Club and the Spanish Club at our school. Our school doesn't offer Arabic.
See post #14...how do your schools handle this sort of thing?
However, concerning this event and the timing, it is a very, VERY strict county policy that any field trip must be shown to support at least 3 Standards of Learning for a core class (core being English, Science, Math, or History) if the field trip happens during school hours.
Field Trips have to be submitted by staff, and approved by the administration. Even then, it must be aligned to the Georgia Performance Standards...similar to the SOL in VA.
A GLBT club would last all of about 30 seconds at our school. The gays, and we do have them, keep a very, VERY low profile. S. Georgia farmboys and girls don’t take very nicely to any alternative lifestyles.
I must admit, the opportunity to study Arabic is pretty neat, but takes a big back seat to Latin imo.:)
we live in a very field trip rich area, but like the others
have already stated, trips must tie into the sols or core
subjects. the teachers or sponsors must submit a request
for each trip.
chris is in the 7th grade and studying french this year,
after 4 yrs of spanish. he will spend spring break with his
french teacher on a trip to quebec. his algebra 1 teacher
just took the class to a math themed performance at howard
university.
kelly is in first grade. her class went to the national
gallery of art in d.c. on monday. the first graders at my
school will go to the museum of natural history next friday.
all of these trips are directly related to the curriculum
and co-ordinated by teachers.
As far as I know the same goes here........and since I'm in Virginia, and some of the VA contingent has chimed in, I demur to their much vaster knowledge.
As an aside, the marquis in front of my daughter's elementary school states very specifically "December 10th Christmas Concert." The reminder notice that came home from school also specifically stated "Christmas Concert."
We'll be there Monday night because it is the 4th grade putting it on, and our daughter is in the 4th grade.
Yeah, Muslims on a bus...sounds like a bang old time!
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