A charter chain in Arizona is being sued in federal court for allowing the teaching of religion in school. One of the board members of the chain is a son of a member of the state board of education, appointed by Governor Douglas Ducey.
The Arizona Capitol Times reports:
A national organization filed suit Wednesday against an Arizona charter school with ties to a member of the state Board of Education, accusing it of using state funds to illegally teach religious doctrine.
The federal court lawsuit claims that Heritage Academy, with three campuses in Maricopa County teaching grades 7 through 12, is violating the First Amendment, state constitutional provisions and Arizona laws through the instruction provided to students as well as the required reading.
Attorney Richard Katskee, legal director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said that specifically includes teachings of founder, president and teacher Earl Taylor Jr. that the Ten Commandments, including those that mandate the worship of God, must be obeyed to attain happiness.
Other teachings, he said, include that socialism violates God’s laws.
And Katskee said the school engages in a form of proselytizing by telling students “they are duty-bound to implement and instruct others about these religious and religiously based principles in order to restore the United States to freedom, prosperity and peace.”
Among the academy’s board members is Jared Taylor, who is Earl’s son. Taylor was one of Doug Ducey’s first appointments last year to the state Board of Education.
Neither Taylor would comment on the specifics of lawsuit. But the elder Taylor said he has answered similar allegations in the past for the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools.
Calls to Whitney Chapa, the board’s executive director who has access to those files, were not immediately returned.
And gubernatorial press aide Daniel Scarpinato said his boss had no comment on the lawsuit.
Under Arizona law, private and even for-profit corporations can set up charter schools. They are considered public schools, entitled to state aid and cannot charge tuition.
They are exempt from some — but not all — of the regulations that govern traditional public schools. And there is a specific requirement that a charter school “ensure that it is nonsectarian in its programs, admission policies and employment practices and all other operations.”
There also is a state constitutional provision that bars the use of public money for religious instruction and a separate one forbidding the use of state taxes for any sectarian school.
Does the explicit language of the state constitution matter any more?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“Does the explicit language of the state constitution matter any more?”
No!
The billionaire authoritarians funding the end of traditional public schools ave already demonstrated with words and deeds that they despise democracy. Since the U.S. Constitution and state constitutions are the legal documents that support and define the republic and its participatory democracy, it stands to reason they despise all Constitutions and any laws that block the use of their autocratic, dictatorial corporate power.
If enough stupid, ignorant and foolish voters elect Donald Trump by not voting for Hillary Clinton to be the next President of the United States that will be the shot heard around the world that will end the U.S. Republic and its participatory democracy.
A vote for anyone other than HRC is a vote to end the experiment started by the American Founding Fathers more than 200 years ago. You might not like HRC but there is no evidence that she will destroy the Republic just like Obama hasn’t destroyed it. Even Ronald Reagan and G. W. Bush left the White House without taking the Republic with them.
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Why not? If “public” just means “publicly funded” then all bets are off.
If anyone at all chooses the school then it fits into the “choice” scheme. There are literally no limits on this education agenda.
The only logical end to ed reform is vouchers for everyone, which is why so many of them have adopted vouchers as a policy goal.
In 20 years we’ll be petitioning lawmakers for a “public option” in K-12 school and there will be so many entrenched private interests we’ll never get it.
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How are the public schools doing in Arizona under ed reform?
Oh, right. No one cares. They weren’t considered when this scheme was cooked up.
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Maricopa County? I believe another genius who is contemptuous of the Constitution, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, calls that part of the world his home. Man, I am glad I don’t live there….
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In St. Louis, where I have documented that slps is now two school systems. One has 10,500 in charters and is 70 percent black. The rest are in the regular schools, 14,500, 90 percent black. The racial differences are not as pronounced as the financial differences, and probably the special needs, including those with adhd difficulties. I just discovered that Hawthorn leadership for girls, the brainchild of John Danforth’s daughter has special constitutional privileges only available to charters. I doubt they have problems with racial balances…..but laws have been passed: The Office of Civil Rights
within the Department of Education promulgated rules in 2006 allowing public school districts to
create single-sex schools as long as enrollment is voluntary and a “substantially equal” single-sex or
coeducational school is available for members of the excluded gender. These rules exempt public
charter schools from the comparability requirement:A nonvocational public charter school that is a single-school local educational agency
under State law may be operated as a single-sex charter school without regard to the
requirements in paragraph (c)(1) of this section.(what is c-1)? a recipient that operates a
public nonvocational elementary or secondary school that excludes from admission any
students, on the basis of sex, must provide students of the excluded sex a substantially EQUAL SINGLE SEX SCHOOL or coeducational school. Not necessary for boys to have equality in charter schools……..the MO legislature passed the law….I am thinking they might have had some good political clout to get it done. Hawthorn is a good school, in a good neighborhood, and does not offer transportation to the girls. They have to have someone bring them to school.
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I attended an all girls public ‘magnet’ high school over fifty years ago in Philadelphia, and, yes, the city did offer a similar school to the boys before Title IX. It was a very good opportunity for girls to assume leadership roles without all the social pressure of boys. We didn’t call it a magnet school; we called these schools selective, non-districted schools.
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I think it is a good concept. But it should not be a special privilege available only to charters.
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speaking of the constitution…..I found buried in a pdf, the St. Louis Charter school “Hawthorn Leadership for girls” a special piece of legislation to allow them to circumvent the federal laws requiring districts which have an all girls school like Hawthorn (John Danforth’s daughter’s creation on the campus of Washington U.) there must be a comparable school available to boys. In Missouri, it is not necessary if the girl’s school is a charter……..I posted about it, but I do not think it was actually posted. It might have been too long, or inappropriate. if so, sorry.
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Misogynist sexist mansplaing at its finest, Joe!!
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Turn off mansplaining sarcasm now.
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I do not quite understanding. I said it is a good school. My point was…..the charter industry was able to pass a ;aw giving them rights not available to the regular schools. And there are a lot of built in levers to allow them to cherry pick the students they want.
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I was being facetious Joe!
I appreciate what you post about what is happening in St. Louis and the public schools.
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I provoke the same sort of reaction sometimes….but I am genuinely much relieved. There is such a tightrope to walk between taking the steps to create really great schools…..why should kids and parents not have the right to choose what is better when they are willing to sacrifice and do the things necessary while others are not? But efforts to keep the opportunities equal, sometimes cause resentment. I just read that the stats on adhd problems are three times more likely to affect boys than girls. There is the obvious advantage for boys and leadership in a lot of the emphasis on sports…less so, nowadays. What jumped out to me in this case, was the overall attitudes about education in Missouri’s politicians. They are willing to do special things for some at the expense of others, because it is generally less expensive to dispense favoritism.
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From this article I get the idea that teachers in Arizona charter schools are still considered public school teachers even though they work for a private company. Isn’t it true that in California that teachers working for a private charter school are not considered to be state employees and as a consequence are represented in all issues by NLRB and not the public employees equivalent; (PERS?). I believe in Washington, the state, their courts have ruled that for profit schools are not public schools and should not receive state education funds. Is it just me or is there some inconsistency between states on this issue? Where does the federal government fit in to this mishmash?
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Rod,
There was a federal court case from an Arizona charter school. A teacher as accused of misconduct. He si
Jed the school to get a hearing to clear him. The federal court ruled that the charter is not “a state actor, but a private corporation.
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In NC the state constitution makes provisions for a “free and uniform system of schools,” but because it’s not intuitive to our leadership that also giving provisions for s books that will compete with the free and uniform system sort of defeats the purpose of having the original provision.
To your point about state constitutions.
Now I would add that the language introducing such provisions gives deference to religion being a good thing. We are clearly in an age where a lot of assumptions on the part of constitution writers are being challenged and necessarily more defined. Or they should be.
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The school teaches obedience to the Ten Commandments.
Which of the Ten Commandments does Trump not break?
I think of his coveting of his neighbor’s wife (adultery), his bearing false witness (chronic lying), his incitements to murder, coveting ever more wealth, and stealing from creditors (cynical use of bankruptcy laws).
Christians who support him are hypocrites. More than ever mainstream Christianity seems to me stripped of all ethics. It’s all about personal salvation. Many Christians practice the opposite of true Christianity –they’re Satanists without even knowing it.
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Brother Ambrose always seems to come through when one needs him:
CHRISTIAN, n. One who believes that the New Testament is a divinely inspired book admirably suited to the spiritual needs of his neighbor. One who follows the teachings of Christ in so far as they are not inconsistent with a life of sin.
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Long post about religious curriculum used in “public” charter schools.
Out in the the high desert town of Adelanto, California, the local Adelanto school board voted to shut down first and only Parent Trigger school, Desert Trails Preparatory Academy, led by operator Debra Tarver. The local Adelanto board cited self-dealing, conflicts of interests, and overall corruption in its operations and governance. Though this was covered here on this blog, one aspect that was not talked about was the curriculum used at the school and its sister charter school in Hesperia.
This objection was added later when Tarver appealed to the SB County Board to take over as authorizer, essentially reversing the local Adelanto board’s closing of the school:
The currculum is called:
“A Beka”.
“Founded by Arlin and Rebekah (Beka) Horton in 1972, A Beka Book provides ‘excellence in education from a Christian perspective.’ Since 1977, A Beka Book has operated out of the unaccredited Arlin-founded Pensacola Christian College (PCC) in Florida. Among other rules, PCC has a zero tolerance policy for ‘optical intercourse’ or staring too intently into the eyes of a member of the opposite sex (also known as ‘making eye babies’).”
Huh ????!!!
“… a zero tolerance for ‘optical intercourse’… ‘also known as making eye babies (making babies with one’s eyes) ‘… ”
Are these people serious? Is this an ONION parody or something?
Unfortunately, it’s not. This curriculum is crazy as a soup sandwich, and being paid for by California taxpayers.
A prohibition against “optical intercourse” is just the tip of the looney-tunes fundamentalist iceberg. Mind you, the school in Adelanto is not a private school funded by vouchers, but an ostensibly public charter school — “charter schools are public schools,” says the canard. Tax dollars are used so that kids can learn this.
During the board meeting where the San Bernadino County Board of Ed. was deciding on whether or not to become DTPA’s new authorizer, the Adelanto Board also added to their objections the following:
Desert Trails Preparatory Academy is using “A Beka”, which is a wack-a-zoidal, hard-core Christian parochial school curriculum. In particular, DTPA and its sister school in Hesperia are using its history materials to teach 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. (SEE JUST BELOW)
In response, Charter school operator Tarver and DTPA claims that any religious content or preferences have been purged from the curriculum before its use at DTPA and its sister school.
Oh yeah?
Get a load of this!
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A QUICK WORD ABOUT THE “A Beka” CURRICUUM”
… that is now being employed by this supposedly “public school” called Desert Trails Preparatory Academy.
As you will see at the end of this blog post, I quote liberally from the “A Beka” website. Based on these shorter excerpts alone, one can get the gist of what the “A Beka” curriculum is all about:
— a unique approach to civics: “We present government as ordained by God for the maintenance of law and order, not as a cure-all for humanity’s problems”
— A Beka’s insistence of primacy of “The Bible” as “the foundation of all learning” ,
— “A Beka Books’ science texts teach that modern science is the product of Western man’s return to the Scriptures after the Protestant Reformation”
— staunchly creationist, A Beka “present(s) God as the Great Designer and Lawgiver, without Whom the evident design and laws of nature would be inexplicable,,, ”
— “The A Beka Book science and health program presents the universe as the direct creation of God and refutes the man-made idea of evolution.”
— its certifiably wacko view of human history that it teaches, and pins some kind of blame on “H.G. Wells” of all people.
— its bizarre caricature and rejection of what is taught in public schools as
“the Marxist/Hegelian conflict theory of history” that has humanity moving towards “a Satanic one-world government.”
Seriously, though, this “A Beka” folderol that is taught at Debbie Tarver’s two charter schools is nuttier than a bowl of bridge mix.
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Based on their extensive research with experts, the Adelanto Board maintains that “A Beka” has Christianity references marbled in throughout, has such an extreme “Christian perspective” embedded in the entirety of its curriculum, and thus, such purging is not possible.
As such, the Adelanto Board maintains that the charter school operator’s use of this curriculum is a violation of both the state and federal Constitutions, as is the existence of any publicly-funded school using that curriculum. (Private schools that are funded from parents’ tuition and from outside fundraising are free to teach this bat-sh%# crazy stuff all they want.)
Here’s a link to the minutes of the hearing / SBCOE
Board meeting: (go to page 15)
http://www.sbcss.k12.ca.us/att…
Here’s the relevant part of the hearing: (again, go to page 15)
San Bernadino County Board of Education minutes:
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
“Ms. Ahluwalia added there are issues relating to the curriculum used by DTPA. She state the charter petition indicates DTPA’s use of various texts from ‘A Beka’ that are being utilized at the school.
“In the footnotes, the charter indicates that any references to religious preferences are omitted at the time of instruction. Based on ASD’s research and review of the A Beka website, A Beka is part of a religious college and institution. Ms. Ahluwalia stated that it is clear that all A Beka curriculum is written in a religious perspective, thus is unclear what DTPA means by the statement that it is omitting any reference to religious preference or how it has supported implementation of omissions.
“She stated that ASD does not believe it is possible to use A Beka curriculum without violating the Constitution.
“Member Brown stated that he read the petition but does not remember reading about A Beka before and was it in ASD’s denial.
“Ms. Ahluwalia responded saying that it was not in the denial, it was in the petition.
“Member Sumpter stated it was in the petition, but it was not in the district’s response to the denial.
“Member Brown asked if ASD is now denying based on this finding even though it wasn’t in the denial.
“Ms. Ahluwalia stated no, and that it is being brought to the County Board’s attention.
Ms. Ahluwalia further stated the resolution specifically states that not all AD’s findings are stated in the denial.
“Member Brown stated if that’s not the reason for denying, then what is the purpose of bringing it up.
“Ms. Ahluwalia responded stating that not every single issue identified by ASD’s Board is included in the denial. In that case, the resolution could be 50, 60, 70 pages.”
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Here’s the website for “A Beka”:
“A Beka Book :: Excellence in Education from a Christian Perspective”
https://www.abeka.com/
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From the “A Beka” Website at the link above:
(You absolutely MUST read some of this pedagogical quackery, JACK)
“Distinctives
“Bible — The foundation for all learning
“The A Beka Book Bible program presents the Bible in the narrative style in which it is written. Stories of the Old and New Testaments in the lower grades lead up to the profound truths of the Gospels, Epistles, and other portions of Scripture for older students. The curriculum is designed to be specifically and systematically taught so that students in the Bible program will become thoroughly acquainted with the basic portions of Scriptures.
——–
“Science/Health
“The investigation of variety, order, and reasonableness revealed in creation.
“While secular science textbooks present modern science as the opposite of faith, the A Beka Book science texts teach that modern science is the product of Western man’s return to the Scriptures after the Protestant Reformation, leading to his desire to understand and subdue the earth, which he saw as the orderly, law-abiding creation of the God of the Bible.
“The A Beka Book science and health program presents the universe as the direct creation of God and refutes the man-made idea of evolution.
“Further, the books present God as the Great Designer and Lawgiver, without Whom the evident design and laws of nature would be inexplicable. They give a solid foundation in all areas of science — a foundation firmly anchored to Scriptural truth.
“Teachability is assured through accurate, interesting writing, carefully planned demonstrations that can be performed with a minimum of equipment, chapter terms and questions, full-color illustrations, consideration of the interests and comprehension skills of students at each grade level, and detailed curriculum/lesson plans.”
————
“History
“A realistic view of time, government, geography, and economics based on eternal truths
“Ever since H. G. Wells published his Outline of History in 1920, the theme of world history texts has been man’s supposed progress from savagery toward socialism, from tribal religions toward one-world government.
“American history is usually presented as a series of conflicts—rich vs. poor, black vs. white, North vs. South, labor vs. management, male vs. female, etc.
“A Beka Book history texts reject the Marxist/Hegelian conflict theory of history in favor of a truthful portrayal of peoples, lands, religions, ideals, heroes, triumphs, and setbacks. The result is positive, uplifting history texts that give students a historical perspective and instill within them an intelligent pride for their own country and a desire to help it back to its traditional values.
“We present government as ordained by God for the maintenance of law and order, not as a cure-all for humanity’s problems.
“We present free-enterprise economics without apology and point out the dangers of Communism, socialism, and liberalism to the well-being of people across the globe. In short, A Beka Book offers a traditional, conservative approach to the study of what man has done with the time he has been given.
————–
“History (of A Beka)
“Over four decades ago, Dr. Arlin Horton and his wife, Beka, started A Beka Bookwith the goal of providing high-quality traditional educational materials that would give students at their Christian school in Pensacola, Florida, a solid foundation for excellence in academics and success in life. At Pensacola Christian Academy—one of the largest Christian schools in America—teachers and parents have seen for several decades the excellent results of learning with A Beka.
“Purpose
“You want methods and materials that work. That’s what you’ll find with A Beka Book—comprehensive, quality curriculum and materials written from a Christian perspective.
“Now more than ever, each child needs a strong foundation in both academics and character; we’re here to help homeschooling families and Christian schools of all sizes give their students the knowledge and skills they need.”
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That’s your tax dollars at work, .. thanks to corporate education reform’s de-regulation of schools, and the law’s allowance for the creation of privately-managed, and unaccountable charter schools. Use of this curriculum will continue until and unless someone decides to sue to stop it.
Wait, here’s some more gems from “A Beka.”
You can find these at:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/8/8/1117894/-LA-Charter-School-Curriculum-Lies
This Daily Kos story says this stuff is in wide used in Lousiana’s charter schools as well:
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“God used the Trail of Tears to bring many Indians to Christ.”
— America: Land That I Love, Teacher ed., A Beka Book, 1994
Yeah, a loving God arranged this genocide for the benefit of those on the death march and human greed for land and gold in the Black Hills had nothing to do with it. (The link provides a timeline of events from the period. I leave it to all of you to decide if the former or latter is what happened.)
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and this
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8. SCOTUS enslaved fetuses: “Ignoring 3,500 years of Judeo-Christian civilization, religion, morality, and law, the Burger Court held that an unborn child was not a living person but rather the “property” of the mother (much like slaves were considered property in the 1857 case of Dred Scott v. Sandford).”—American Government in Christian Perspective, 2nd ed., A Beka Book, 1997
Interesting twist here. Slavery wasn’t bad for black people (see #5,) but it is a bad thing for fetuses.
\And, be afraid, be very afraid …
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and this
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9. The Red Scare isn’t over yet: “It is no wonder that Satan hates the family and has hurled his venom against it in the form of Communism.”
— American Government in Christian Perspective, 2nd ed., A Beka Book, 1997
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and this
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13. “Global environmentalists have said and written enough to leave no doubt that their goal is to destroy the prosperous economies of the world’s richest nations.”
— Economics: Work and Prosperity in Christian Perspective, 2nd ed., A Beka Book, 1999
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and this
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14. Globalization is a precursor to rapture:
“But instead of this world unification ushering in an age of prosperity and peace, as most globalists believe it will, it will be a time of unimaginable human suffering as recorded in God’s Word. The Anti-christ will tightly
regulate who may buy and sell.”
—Economics: Work and Prosperity in
Christian Perspective, 2nd ed., A Beka Book, 1999
Wait a minute, though. If 9, 13, and 14 are correct, why aren’t they pushing for these things to occur if it would lead to the Rapture — where all good Christians are saved, and then fly up to heaven?
Why aren’t they donating to socialist President Obama the same way thta they are supporting sending Jews to Israel — the reason being that backing Israel will hasten the Rapture?
With this load of crap, they’d better stay far away from teaching any kind of critical thinking skills.
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Some with more standing than I should sue the ever-lovin’ sh#@ out of San Bernadino County Board of Ed, Desert Trails Preparatory Academy, and Debbie Tarver personally over this flagrant violation of the separation of church and state … and using your and my public tax money to promote one particular — and one particularly CRAZY — religious perspective over any others.
That person or person could be, say, an Adelanto parent whose traditional public school — one that abides by the separation of church and state — is being starved of funding in order to pay for this Frankenstein-like charter school, and in particular, Debby Tarver’s $200,000+ combined salary. That kind of bread goes a long way out in the High Desert … i.e. DTPA leader Debbie Tarver’s sprawling Victorville mansion.
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http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a48717/massachusetts-charter-schools/
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Heritage Academy is not a new school, nor is it for-profit. It was one of the original charter holders in the state.
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Does that mean this charter school that is one of the first in the state, if it is under investigation, should be exempt from the law and considered a good guy no matter what they do because they were one of the first?
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