Monday, January 27, 2014

Seriously‽ In THIS day and age‽

OK, y'all know about the rulings of Engel v. Vitale and Abington v. Schempp, right?  Well, if not (and the wikipedia articles are tl:dr) they say that public schools cannot endorse religion or prayer.  At all.  I mean that if you lead the class in prayer or cite a bible verse every morning in the school announcements you're breaking the goddamned law.

It seems that some dumbasses in Louisiana haven't figured that out...

Really, just read that and get back to me...

First, some specific violations...

..official prayers, typically led by the principal or teachers, are routinely incorporated into class and school events like assemblies, and sporting events. The school even requires students to attend "See You at the Pole" each year, where they must take part in prayer and worship.

Wow...a violation of both Engel and Schempp in one activity...

When we went to the school to meet with the principal, we saw ... a Bible verse on the school's electronic marquee, and numerous religious posters[, ]pictures[,]... images and messages ... displayed throughout the school...

Clear violation of Schempp (Schempp was specifically about Bible reading, but has been interpreted [when combined with Engel] to mean any religious activity)...

On a science test, their teacher had included a fill-in-the-blank question: "ISN'T IT AMAZING WHAT THE _____________ HAS MADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" When my stepson didn't know the answer ("Lord"), she belittled him in front of the entire class. When he wrote in "Lord Buddha" on another exam, she marked it wrong. As she was returning that exam to students, one student proclaimed aloud that "people are stupid if they think God is not real." In response, my stepson's teacher agreed, telling the class, "Yes! That is right! I had a student miss that on his test."

Fairly certain that this one breaks SEVERAL laws, and not just church-state separation ones.  At the very least, it's an ethics violation (assuming teachers have an ethics code.  If not, this demonstrates the need for one)...

Something that REALLY hit hard is that the superintendent thought that the whole thing was just swell.  The person who is hired to know better thought that there was nothing wrong with this behavior when it was brought to her attention.  Hell, the shitdicker sent the principal of the school in question a letter praising them for their faithfullness.  There are no damn words...

 Oh...and here's a copy of the complaint.  Go read it too.

 You done?  'Cuz we gon' be talkin' bout dat...  No, really.  READ THAT SHIT. 'S important.

Yes, I know it's long and boring.  Legal documents tend to be.

...

Done?  Good.  Let's get started again.

Notice paragraph 29.  This science teacher thinks that evolution isn't happening today.  This shows how damned unqualified for her job she is (hell, I'M more qualified, and I don't even have a college degree).  Evolution is still fucking happening.  You notice how your kids are slightly different from you?  THAT IS FUCKING EVOLUTION, BITCH!  Also, the fact that she thinks modern monkeys will evolve into man shows she doesn't understand the timescales that evolution works on.  I'm willing to bet that she also doesn't even have a basic understanding of the mechanisms behind it, either.  I'm more interested in the legal side, though, so let's stick there...

Paragraph 30 (and 31) claims that she routinely added bible mini-quizzes into her science tests.  An obvious violation, if true.  Sadly, the example cited is not included in the complaint  Disregard that I suck cocks the evidence is in a separate location that I neglected earlier like a dumbass, and can be found here.  Also sadly, I have no doubts that the claim is true, given the nature of the geographic stretch that the school is located in.

From there, things get REALLY interesting, but then we hit Paragraph 52, which cites posters in the hallway citing bible verses, of which a large number are rather obvious proselytizations.  This alone should be enough to get a very hefty punitive strike on the district, but when combined with everything else, I'd be amazed if the school district had money to pay the utilities after this...

Section E is effectively a list of Engel violations, including:

  • Teacher led prayer in classes. (56)
  • Starting all assemblies in prayers (58)
  • Inviting a preacher to hold a mandatory group prayer session (60)
  • A compulsory "See You at the Pole" (61)
  • Faculty-led prayer at athletic events (62)
  • Faculty passing out religious literature "while on the clock" (64)

Again, this alone would be enough to put the school board in hot water, but when combined with everything else, I wouldn't be surprised if the district had to shut down...

I'll try to keep a handle on this story, but I don't expect to hear anything more on this for a WHILE, if at all:  I expect the district will try to make this go away quietly.


UPDATE:  They did.

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Honestly, I want you guys to comment at this point. I don't know fucking everything.