Declaration of Independence Banned at California School

Looking for the real skinny on the Reuters story on how the nasty California liberals are trying to ban the Declaration of Independence from schools? Mike Lane from At Ease has posted a solid, link-filled, fact-based post on the PBA HQ site showing that the story isn't quite what it's reported to be. (Great job, Mike!) Powerline even steps up and reminds us that "most allegations asserted in pleadings are untrue. So news reports based on what someone has stated in a legal complaint should always be taken with a huge grain of salt."

The bottom line is that the teacher in question is using quotes from founding fathers and founding documents to build a case that the country is founded on Christianity. The teacher isn't providing a balanced view to the fifth graders in his class - just the teacher's view. Only quotes supporting the teacher's position are included, not quotes that might undermine the teacher's view. The teacher's effort seems evangelical, not educational.

The teacher claims that his first amendment rights are being violated. But since when is free speech applicable to teachers in the classroom? Are they free to say teach revisionist history and deny the holocaust, to advocate for segregation, to promote racist perspectives? No? Then the free speech argument of this teacher doesn't hold. Teachers are limited in their speech. And teachers all over the country have to turn in their lesson plans to the principal every week. It's not unusual, although teachers hate it.

The teacher's attorney talks as though the school is excising all references to God. But what's really happening is that extra handouts created by the teacher for the express purpose of teaching that the country was and is a Christian nation have been rejected as unsuitable curricular material.

Most fifth graders have American History so I suspect that's what this teacher is teaching. Most fifth graders have American History textbooks that cover the founding fathers and the founding documents. They cover the bill of rights, including freedom of religion. They even include the fact that many people who came to the new world were escaping religious prosecution. But they don't provide the equivalent of a fifth grader's case for arguing that this was and should remain a Christian country. So teachers don't preach, uh, I mean teach that.

It's important to note that California has curriculum standards that include fifth grade American history. The standards require that all students "learn about the colonial government founded on Judeo-Christian principles, the ideals of the Enlightenment, and the English traditions of self-government." This requirement is addressed explicitly in standard 5.4: Students understand the political, religious, social, and economic institutions that evolved in the colonial era. This is further refined in the standards' subpoints quoted below. Remember, this is what the state mandates fifth graders study in American history.

5.4.3. Describe the religious aspects of the earliest colonies (e.g., Puritanism in Massachusetts, Anglicanism in Virginia, Catholicism in Maryland, Quakerism in Pennsylvania).

5.4.4 Identify the significance and leaders of the First Great Awakening, which marked a shift in religious ideas, practices, and allegiances in the colonial period, the growth of religious toleration, and free exercise of religion.

Of course, the curriculum in use has to adequately address these standards. If it doesn't, then teachers might be expected to produce additional handouts in order to meet the standards. But I'm quite sure the textbook companies adhere to the standards very closely (I once worked for a K-8 textbook publisher). Of course, you don't have to take my word for it. California has retained David Barton (as reported by Barton) to consult on the curriculum they approve. (Story here.) Barton's focus is on the teaching of evolution, and accurate depictions of American history and holidays in textbooks. His organization is WallBuilders and their slogan says all you need to know: Rebuilding the constitutional, moral, and religious heritage of America. WallBuilder's stated goal is:

"to exert a direct and positive influence in government, education, and the family by (1) educating the nation concerning the Godly foundation of our country; (2) providing information to federal, state, and local officials as they develop public policies which reflect Biblical values; and (3) encouraging Christians to be involved in the civic arena.

My guess is that Barton would be sounding the alarm if California's state-approved curriculum gave short shrift to the role of Christians and the Christian religion in the founding of our country.

In his post, Mike also provides a peek behind door number one by supplying information on the organization providing lawyers for the teacher who is suing. The filing is the primary source of information for the news reports and not surprisingly, it's heavily tilted in the teacher's favor. Go see Mike's post for details, but don't be surprised to find that the lawyers' organization is connected to the leaders of the politicized religious right.

I plan to bookmark Mike's post and reference it every time I hear a conservative whine about the liberal media. I think this Reuter's report, based on a legal filing with  no information on the other side of the story, twists facts and makes my case quite nicely.

UPDATE: Only fourteen hours after its release, the Reuters story is being picked up by numerous California papers and by MSNBC news. Given the slow news days ahead due to the holidays, the story is unlikely to be fleshed out in the near term. This is just bad journalism.

And here's a very short list of conservative blogs already citing the story.

• Powerline notes that "most allegations asserted in pleadings are untrue. So news reports based on what someone has stated in a legal complaint should always be taken with a huge grain of salt." But then again, they go on to say that it's only a matter of time until the Constitution is unconstitutional.
• Wizbang - interesting comment thread including hints of a class action law suit, the usual "freedom of, not from religion" comments, the labeling of liberals as anti-Christian, arguments that evolution isn't scientifically supported, dismissal of separation of church and state as valid, accusations of rewriting history, et al. It's a good overview of righty positions.
• In the Bullpen - a descendent of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence
• Ravings of John C.A. Bambenek - includes contact information for the school and district along with an invitation to contact them and let them know what you think. Also includes link to Smoking Gun post of law suit filing.
• Who Tends the Fires - also includes contact information
• Young Pundit - picked it up from Drudge, claims separation of church and state is being used as a political card, that extreme liberals are anti-Christian (at least he said 'extreme'.
• Truth, Lies and Common Sense - refers to the liberal left's agenda to destroy our culture, refers to those behind the "banning" domestic enemies

In his post on PBA HQ, Mike reported and linked to the Drudge Report's post on the Reuters story - but surprise, surprise, Drudge has removed the link (no update or correction, just a wholesale deletion).

UPDATE: Even the teacher who is suing has said that it's an overstatement to claim that the Declaration has been banned. "Cupertino, Calif. teacher Stephen J. Williams, who filed a lawsuit challenging Stevens Creek Elementary School's decision to prohibit his supplemental teaching materials -- which related to the importance of Christian faith in American history and included excerpts from the Declaration of Independence -- admitted that his students had "read the Declaration, so that's a little bit of a stretch" to claim that "the Declaration was banned." You can see a clip of this at Media Matters where the teacher explains that the principal's decision to review this guy's supplemental materials happened after he included a hand-out on Bush's decaration of a national day of prayer in his lesson plan. In the same clip, the teacher explains that his students have read the Declaration of Independence, that it's not banned in his school.

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Comments

[MIke Lane]

Thanks and excellent work on furthering the investigation yourself!

Mike

[Streak]

This is so very frustrating. Thanks for your work on this. David Barton is a real tool.