Idaho Public Schools Face ‘Religious’ Textbook Ban

Idaho public school and university
students face a scary ban that would prohibit schools from using
“religious documents and text” in their curriculum.

The lawsuit Nampa Classical Academy v.
Goesling challenges the Idaho Public Charter School Commission’s
full ban on the use of texts and documents deemed to be
“religious”—even if they are classical books in Western Civilization
taught with regard to their literary and historical importance.

The school is contesting a federal judge’s decision to dismiss its lawsuit in May 2010; the hearing begins Tuesday morning at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

On behalf of Nampa Classical Academy,
the Allicance Defense Fund filed suit in September 2009 after the
commission threatened to revoke the academy’s charter if it used
the Bible or other religious books for any purpose whatsoever as part
of the school’s classroom resource list.

“The government’s hyperactive
censorship of classical religious texts severely limits the education
of students by leaving them with an incomplete understanding of
history and their heritage,” said ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman.
“A wholesale ban on such books conflicts with established U.S.
Supreme Court precedent stating that even ‘the Bible may
constitutionally be used in an appropriate study of history,
civilization, ethics, comparative religion, or the like.’ On these
grounds and others, we trust that the 9th Circuit will reverse the
district court’s decision.”

Nampa Classical Academy, which was
in the development process for more than six years, completed its
first year—and last—year of instruction in 2010 with more than
500 students. It received approval from the State Board of Education
in 2008 and got positive responses from the commission at each stage
of development.

However, the commission voted in 2009
to prohibit the academy from using any “religious documents and
text” in its curriculum or in its classroom—even if used
objectively as a curriculum resource.

If Nampa Classical Academy loses the
suit and the commission’s misrepresentation of the law is allowed to
stand, ADF says all Idaho public school and university students will
be subject to the ban.

Contrary to the conclusion of last
year’s district court ruling, the local school district—not the
charter school commission—is the entity allowed by law to make the
ultimate determination on how to implement the state’s curriculum
standards, Cortman explains.

Arguments in the suit Nampa
Classical Academy v. Goesling begin Tuesday, 9 a.m. PDT, at the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in Seattle. Attorney Bruce Skaug
of Nampa is serving as local counsel.