‘Religious Text’ Issue Stalls School’s Opening
An Idaho charter school is taking a curriculum battle to court.
By Pete Chagnon – OneNewsNow
Nampa Classical Academy is set to open its doors for the first time in a few days; however, the school’s curriculum has been rejected by the Idaho Public Charter School Commission.
David Cortman is with the Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing the school. He says the curriculum was rejected because the school incorporated religious text into its teaching — and the American Civil Liberties Union had a problem with that.
“Well, it’s interesting. Originally the focus was on prohibiting the use of the Bible, but then the defendants opened that up to exclude what they considered to be all religious documents and texts from the public school curriculum and from the classroom itself, which not only includes the teachers, but it also includes the students,” Cortman explains.
The attorney contends the curriculum was not designed to indoctrinate the students in various religious beliefs; the religious texts were only included in order to enhance the teaching of culture and literature where appropriate. Cortman says the curriculum was developed over a six-year period, yet the commission waited until just a few weeks before the launch of the school to make this ruling.
The ADF spokesman hopes the suit will get a quick hearing in court and the situation will be resolved before the first day of school.
(Source: OneNewsNow)
