[ChildofReagan]

Christian bigotry...but what's new on the Left Coast.

[ChildofReagan]

Also, here's the full contact information for this bigoted principal. Let her know what you think.

Patricia Vidmar - Principal
Kathleen Garfield - School Secretary
Leann Block - School Secretary

Telephone Numbers:
Office - (408) 245-3312
YMCA Sunshine Co - (408) 736-5041
YMCA Sceep Co - (408) 737-9844

Email:
block_leann@Cupertino.k12.ca.us

Fax:
(408) 245-7484

Address:
Stevens Creek Elementary School
10300 Ainsworth Drive, Cupertino, CA 95014

[proudofthesouth]

The Socialist school systems are doing their damndest to destroy our kids!

[little jeremiah]

Moral Absolutes Ping. Can't let this one slide. It's beyond belief.

He can't let the kids have the Declaration of Independence? Why are his superiors still keeping their seats warm?

Let me know if anyone wants on/off this pinglist.

More evidence that atheists and their buddies are trying to kill God. They are like moths flying into a fire. But in the meantime, we have to fight the fight. It's the right thing to do.

[clee1]

Would the last real American in California please turn off the lights when you leave?

[Paleo Conservative]

So when will they ban the Constitution?

[Klein-Bottle]

I thought it was a joke. This is for real? A founding document of our country is off-limits to children because it refers to God?

How did the people of California allow this to happen? Better question, will anything be done or do the parents agree with the school administration? If my child was in this class, she would find herself in a private school within a week.

[headsonpikes]

Effing Nuts!

Kids - disrespect wrongful authority!

[Mears]

Our currency will be next------Have they all gone mad?

[the_gospel_of_thomas]

This is SO SAD.

If these people build on their agenda for changing
our country one Judge, one principal, one news
anchor at a time ...

In 20 years I would hate to see what the country has
become ... if the trend continues.

[bjcintennessee]

ping

[McChordwatcher]

There has got to be more to this story.

I do not buy it at face value.

Go ahead. Flame away.

[Brandonmark]

It seems to me that the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War itself was as a result of this type of dictatorial attitude. King George told the colonists only what they could believe and that caused our forefathers to cause the rebellion for freedom. Why do we allow these ignorant PC artists today dictate how history is taught. As for me give me liberty....

[Winston7000]

This is a direct attack on the fundamental documents and principles of our country. Either she's mad or she's a traitor.

[A knight without armor]

Excuse me. I just finished pulling myself up off the floor from reading on another FR forum:

Judge rules Islamic education OK in California classrooms
Worldnetdaily ^ | December 13, 2003 | © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
Posted on 11/24/2004 10:30:01 PM EST by Exton1
Judge rules Islamic education OK in California classrooms
Dismisses suit opposing requirement students recite Quran, pray to Allah

Have I entered an alternate universe? Have I been captured by aliens and returned to the wild on an "Earth-like" planet?

[mhking]

From my web site this evening:

---

Cupertino, California school teacher Steven Williams has been barred from showing his fifth grade students the Declaration of Independance and other historic American documents, simply because they contain references to God.

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.

"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."

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.

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 School
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

I'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.

Have at it, true believers!

(More coverage from Wizbang, Woody's Woundup, The Education Wonks, Who Tends The Fires, In The Bullpen, Truth, Lies & Common Sense and others)

[mhking]

From my web site this evening:

---

Cupertino, California school teacher Steven Williams has been barred from showing his fifth grade students the Declaration of Independance and other historic American documents, simply because they contain references to God.

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.

"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."

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.

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 School
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

I'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.

Have at it, true believers!

(More coverage from Wizbang, Woody's Woundup, The Education Wonks, Who Tends The Fires, In The Bullpen, Truth, Lies & Common Sense and others)

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

Bet there'd be no problem if the Declaration reference Satan, or Allah (but I repeat myself), or Gaea....

[Carry_Okie]

Dear Ms. Vidmar,

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

[Carry_Okie]

The State of California Academic Standards Commission is currently meeting to develop K-12 Science and History-Social Science Standards. The names of the members of the Commission and the meeting schedule for the public session can be found at http://www.ca.gov/goldstandards/. A prototype model from which to start discussion of History-Social Science Standards was developed by Commission staff as in mid January. It is included below by grade level:

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

[DaveMSmith]

Jimmy Carter saying a few weeks ago on Hardball that the Revolutionary War was unnecessary and now this? Who ARE there people?!?

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.