Christians and all of those who believe in the consitutional principal of religious freedom will suffer a major setback if U.S. District Judge S. James Otero rules that it is legal for the University of California institutions to reject high school credits for courses that are Biblically based. Judge Otero’s ruling is expected soon. If the ruling is unsconstituional, it will be appealed.

The University of California system adopted a policy in May, 2007 that dictates that courses based on the major Christian book publishers, such as The Bob Jones Univerisity Press, A Beka Book and Alpha Omega Publications, do not qualify as a core admission requirement due to the fact that those courses are taught from a Christian perspective.

The Association of Christian Schools International, which represents schools serving more than 1.1 million students worldwide brought a civil action against Robert Dynes, the President of the University of California accusing President Dynes of unconstiutional and discriminatory policies that trample upon upon some of the most sacred principles of the American people, specifically the right to religious freedom.

Robert Tyler, who is representing Calvary Chapel Christian School and five students in the case against the University of California, told WND that the university’s discriminatory policy creates an ultimatum for Christian schools. “If you want courses to be approved in private education, so your students are qualified to attend (UC) institutions, you must teach from a secular point of view,” he said.

“We believe that UC’s discrimination is clearly unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment, because UC is attempting to secularize Christian schools,” Tyler said.

Mimi Rothschild, CEO if Learning By Grace, Inc. the leading provider of online Christian educational programs, commented “If Judge Otero upholds Robert Dynes and the UC system’s clearly discriminatory and illegal practices, the implications to Christians and to the principle of religious freedom could be catastrophic.”

Rothschild said “It would essentially be allowing the government to tell us that to qualify for admission to a university, we must eradicate God from our high school teaching. This is beyond unacceptable.”

Rothschild implores Christians to speak out against this affront to their beliefs and their freedoms, “Please send me an email telling me how you feel about this issue at mrothschild@learningbygrace.org. I will include it in a filing to the court so that His Honor will know that the freedom to practice one’s beliefs and teach them to our children is sacred. Judge Otero must know that Christians will not tolerate being deprived of that right.”

——————————————————————————–
Posted: July 19, 2008
12:00 am Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily

Arguments were heard today in a federal district court case to determine whether a state university system can dictate that private Christian schools in the state teach their college prep courses from exclusively secular, Bible- and God-free textbooks.

As WND reported earlier, the University of California system adopted a policy last year that basic science, history, and literature textbooks by major Christian book publishers wouldn’t qualify for core admissions requirements because of the inclusion of Christian perspectives.

Robert Tyler, who is representing Calvary Chapel Christian School and five students in the case against the University of California, told WND that the university’s discriminatory policy creates an ultimatum for Christian schools. “If you want courses to be approved in private education, so your students are qualified to attend (UC) institutions, you must teach from a secular point of view,” he said.

“Christian schools will have to decide: teach from a Christian worldview and eliminate your student’s ability to attend a UC school, or teach from a secular worldview, so that the kids can enter the UC school system,” he explained.

“Essentially what’s happening is the UC has to pre-approve courses taught in high school,” Tyler said. “It’s pretty shocking, because in depositions UC reps made it clear: whether it be English, history or science, the addition of a religious viewpoint makes it unacceptable.”

Tyler also told WND that though a decision from Federal District Court Judge Otero is expected in the next two to three weeks, he fully expects the case to be appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and perhaps even the U.S. Supreme Court, since both sides are firmly entrenched and likely to appeal if Otero decides against them.

“We believe that UC’s discrimination is clearly unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment, because UC is attempting to secularize Christian schools,” Tyler said.

“The UC is intent upon defending some ‘right’ to discriminate unlawfully,” he said. “They seem steadfast that students will not be adequately prepared for college because a Christian worldview was added to their curriculum.

“We won’t accept that, and we’re resolved to take this to higher court if necessary.”

(Story continues below)

Under the admissions guidelines to University of California colleges, in-state students must either score in the top two to three percent on standardized tests or complete a core curriculum of approved preparatory classes (called “a-g” classes) to be deemed eligible for entrance into the state university system.

According to the lawsuit, more than 90 percent of UC students achieved eligibility by completing an approved a-g curriculum.

Under the disputed policy, however, a-g classes based on books that mention God or the Bible don’t count, effectively making a secular education a prerequisite for admission.

After reviewing textbooks from major Christian publishers Bob Jones University Press and A Beka Book, UC officials deemed them insufficient, specifically because the books supplemented the basic material with a Christian perspective.

Burt Carney, an executive with the Association of Christian Schools International, said he’s met with officials for the university system, and was told that there was no problem with the actual facts in a BJU physics textbook that was disallowed.

In fact, an ACSI report said, UC officials confirmed “that if the Scripture verses that begin each chapter were removed the textbook would likely be approved …”

“Here’s the very university that talks about academic freedom,” Carney said. “It’s very discriminating. They don’t rule against Muslim or Hindu or Jewish (themes) or so forth, only those with a definite Christian theme.”

According to the lawsuit, a variety of textbooks with supplemental perspectives were accepted – just not those with a Christian perspective.

For example, “Western Civilization: The Jewish Experience” and “Issues in African History” were accepted, but “Christianity’s Influence on American History” was rejected. “Feminine Roles in Literature,” “Gender, Sexuality, and Identity in Literature” and “Literature of Dissent” were accepted, but “Christianity and Morality in American Literature” was not.

Most strikingly, “Intro to Buddhism,” “Introduction to Jewish Thought,” “Women’s Studies & Feminism” and “Raza Studies” were deemed acceptable electives, but “Special Providence: American Government” was unacceptable, both as a civics and elective course.

“In other words, (UC schools) routinely approve courses which add viewpoints such as non-Christian religion, feminism, an ethnic preference, a political viewpoint, or multiculturalism, or that focus on religions such as Buddhism or Judaism, (and plaintiffs believe they should evenhandedly approve such courses), but disapprove courses which add viewpoints based on conservative Christianity,” the court filings said.

The official court documents also charge, “Methodically and ominously, (UC schools) have assumed increasingly more authority over secondary schools in California by expanding the reach and impact of requirements for students in nonpublic secondary schools to be eligible for admission to the University of California (and effectively also to the California State University system). Even without authority for and guidance in doing so, (UC schools) press onward from deciding admission guidelines to determining what viewpoints may and may not be taught in secondary school classrooms, which books may and may not be used, and what students with the same tests scores are and are not eligible for admission to the University of California.”

The ACSI, with the help of Advocates for Faith and Freedom, a non-profit law firm dedicated to protecting religious liberty in the courts, contends the university system’s discrimination is unconstitutional on several grounds, including an unlawful intrusion and entanglement of the government in the church.

The court documents state, “Entanglement with religion results from (UC schools) and the state parsing through the viewpoints and content of Christian school instruction and texts to ferret out disapproved religious views, and intruding into the content of religious schools and texts, and doing that when there is no deficiency at all reflected in their scores or grades.”

“Every teacher teaches from a point of view,” Tyler told WND. “We all have a worldview, and if you teach from secular perspective, it’s a viewpoint.

“Our argument is that the government has to be neutral when it comes to viewpoint.”

John McCain, Republican nominee for President in 2008, recently expressed his beliefs about the need for expanded opportunities in virtual learning. He said in a speech given at the 99th Annual Convention of the NAACP, “We can also help more children and young adults to study outside of school by expanding support for virtual learning. So I propose to direct 500 million dollars in current federal funds to build new virtual schools, and to support the development of online courses for students. Through competitive grants, we will allocate another 250 million dollars to support state programs expanding online education opportunities, including the creation of new public virtual charter schools. States can use these funds to build virtual math and science academies to help expand the availability of Advanced Placement math, science, and computer science courses, online tutoring, and foreign language courses.”

ENGLISH
Senior
Literature
Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton ISBN: 0743262174

Language 12 AP -
Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson

Junior
American Literature Honors -
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald ISBN: 0743273567

Sophomore
Literature- Western Civilization Honors -
Dante’s Inferno, by Dante Alighieri

Literature- Western Civilization Regular -
Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan

Freshman
Expository Writing Honors -
Any novel by Charles Dickens

Expository Writing Regular -
The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton ISBN: 014038572X

One of the reasons why parents choose not to homeschool their children is because of the extracurricular that public schools offer like team sports, clubs, music competitions, and others. Most homeschoolers are not allowed to participate in those things because they are reserved for students who attend that particular public school system full time. So, many parents give in to the pressure and ultimately trade a better education for their children’s social life.

Certainly homeschooled children need to learn social skills, just as we all do, but parents must not let them spend the bulk of their time with others who will not be a good influence or example to them.

It has been shown that more often than not, homeschooling parents in general are very diligent about the people their children socialize with. They want more control over their children and situations with those people their children are spending their time with, so they choose to monitor their children’s friendships and relationships more closely.

When we began homeschooling our children, one of the first concerns others would convey to us was about the “extras” that our children would miss out on. We were constantly being warned that our children would be isolated and socially inept when it came time to get a job, go to college, date, or just make friends. They even called them social misfits. However, now that our kids are grown and have moved on with their lives and their own families, those same people have come to us with a different story.

Now these folks are telling us how happy, encouraging, congenial, and respectable our children are, how wonderfully they get along with people of all ages, and how proud we must be of them. One gentleman even told us he had been wrong about his statements in the past, and he apologized.

My encouragement to you is to keep your children’s academic education first and foremost, and let their social skills develop naturally through time.

More than 3 million enrolments in online courses in the USA are reported by American sources. The essay investigates the role of online studies within the American educational system and tries to find out more about the exact meaning of these extremely high figures. The research discovers astonishing facts and relations: Public schools offer more online courses (82%) than private schools, and 52% of all online courses are offered by 2-year colleges for the associate degrees (and only 8% for the bachelor). A majority of online courses fulfill the role as “remedial courses” that serve for “credit recovery” (U.S. department of Education).

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a department of the U.S. Department of Education, is a rich source of data on the American college system, the courses it offers, distance education and the students of America. NCES reported in the Statistical Analysis Report February 2002 “Distance Education Instruction by Postsecondary Faculty and Staff” (Ellen M. Bradburn, NCES 2000-155)(43) that the USA had an impressive 16.5 million students, of which 3.3 million enrolled in at least one online course, that 5.9 % of courses were being offered as online courses (Distance Education, DE) and that 6% of the teaching staff at colleges offered at least one DE course. This would indeed not only be a significant number of students in eLearning and of online courses but also of dedicated teachers.

In the NCES Report “Distance Education at Degree-Granting Postsecondary Institutions” (2003-017) Tiffany Waits and Laurie Lewis estimate that the number of “credit-granting” distance learning courses offered at various college levels is 118,000. However 76% of these courses are designed for undergraduates. They estimate that 2,876,000 students enrolled in online courses, 82% of which are undergraduates (I will explain the meaning of ‘undergraduate’ in this context at a later point). Hans Weiler (2005)(55) who was previously a professor at Stanford University and co-founded the Viadrina University is also of the opinion that “the U.S. Distance Learning market has expanded rapidly in the last few years”. Although he advises caution “the figures should be handled with care”, he is, nonetheless, clearly impressed by their magnitude:
“But the dimensions and growth rates are striking: from 1997-98 to 2000-01 the number of students taking DE courses more than doubled to 2.8 million; almost all public colleges (97 %) now offer at least part of their courses online; in 2004 approximately 3 million students availed of some part of this service, 600,000 for their complete course of study”.

In their report “Entering the Mainstream: The quality and Extent of Online Education in the United States, 2003 and 2004″, carried out for the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Elaine Allen and Jeff Seaman reported that 1,602,970 students took at least one online course in 2002 and 1,971,397 in 2003. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) which is part of the Department of Education has published projections which forecast a tremendous increase of up to 20% in the number of students by the year 2013. This figure is sure to frighten many European education policy-makers involved in tertiary education.

By: Mimi Rothschild

The California Ruling that effectively renders it illegal to homeschool without teaching credentials has multiple ways in which it violates parental rights, limits education choices and marginalizes the religious convictions of American citizens. All of which makes the ruling dangerous for every American.

Firstly, the three judges in the California case, Justices Croskey, Klein and Kitching, unanimously determined that it is unconstitutional for Californians to homeschool, which significantly sets back the clock on parental rights. It is the government’s responsibility to ensure that all parents are guaranteed the freedom of choice regarding education, the freedom of religion and the freedom to raise their child; not the government’s role to decide how, what and where a parent’s child is educated. My children belong to me, not to the state. The government is meant to serve me, not the other way around. Limiting any of these fundamental freedoms to dictate the course of my child’s upbringing is not only an egregious injustice, but a serious violation of our alienable rights as Americans that millions have given their lives to preserve.

Secondly, the judges’ ruling attempts to limit our educational choices to the one government option. While there is a provision for children to attend private schools as the education code stands now, private tuitions are usually financially prohibitive for most families. How great it is for one arm of the government to issue a ruling that supports the monopoly that another arm of the government has over education? One of the reasons that the educational system is considered broken by many, many people is because it is functioning as a monopoly in which people have no other choices. Many schools lack accountability, or the desire to improve their services, because they are the only game in town. With educational choices, comes more competition to do a better job, at a cheaper cost. This fundamental economic principal known as capitalism is being disregarded by the Judges who insist that all children attend government schools or have government credentialed teachers. Choice in education causes everyone in the education field to do it better, and more cost effectively.

Last, but certainly not least, this ruling marginalizes the religious convictions of every American citizen. The judges stated that “sincerely held religious beliefs” are “not the quality of evidence that permits us to say that application of California’s compulsory public school education law to them violates their First Amendment rights. Such sparse representations are too easily asserted by any parent who wishes to homeschool his or her child.” The judges have insulted every American who’s deeply held religious beliefs dictate their choices. They have singlehandedly questioned the integrity of all people of faith.

The California homeschool ruling states that parents can only homeschool if one of the parents has a teaching credential. The vast majority of those who homeschool do not have a teaching credentials, yet this vast majority are dedicated and committed parents who earnestly want what’s best for their children, oftentimes sacrificing a second income to better provide for their children. To label these folks as criminals because they don’t possess teaching credentials and want the best for their children is sheer lunacy and it must be reversed.

We have set up http://www.reversetheruling.com/ to provide Americans with the forum to stand up and be counted on this issue. Please check it out today. I look forward to your comments.

As a parent, I oftentimes find myself struggling with the exact words to express my children’s experiences. It’s as if there should be more than merely 26 letters in the alphabet to combine and capture the feelings and emotions that we share.

Today I was forwarded the poem below. Without knowing the specific child in Arizona who wrote it, I was told that it was inspired from the banishment of the Pledge of Allegiance within public schools due to the use of “God” in its verse.

Amazing is defined as “to overwhelm with surprise or sudden wonder; astonish greatly.” How our children can combine letters to form pure expression is, in one word, amazing…

WRITTEN BY A 15 yr. OLD STUDENT IN ARIZONA:
New Pledge of Allegiance

NEW School prayer :
Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.

If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That’s no offense; it’s a freedom scene.
The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all.
In silence alone we must meditate,
God’s name is prohibited by the state.

We’re allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks..
They’ve outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.
We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the ‘unwed daddy,’ our Senior King.
It’s ‘inappropriate’ to teach right from wrong,
We’re taught that such ‘judgments’ do not belong.

We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.

It’s scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school’s a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; My soul please take!
Amen

Homeschooling is sharing - with our children, the Christian community and fellow homeschoolers. We share what works for us, knowing that not everything will work for everyone. My words are only from one person’s perspective; so I’ve taken some time to gather a few others’ thoughts and share with you their blogs…enjoy!

*          *          *

•1.      What’s a homeschool blog for? ~ by Yellow House Homeschool

Penny shares about the unexpected disappearance of her blog that led her to reflect on her purpose in having a homeschooling blog in the first place.

• 2. Our Day (homeschool and all) ~ Laura Williams’ Musings

Laura shares about a day in her homeschool and some links to her basic menu plans.

• 3. Handling the Student with Difficult Behaviors ~ Colleen Palat

Colleen Palat shares methods on handling students with difficult behaviors.

• 4. Unit Study for Medieval History (The Middle Ages) ~ My Home Sweet Home

Dawn gives us an overview of her 9-week unit study on medieval history.

• 5. 10 Things That Were Better “Way Back When” ~ The Weekly Muse from Love 2B Homeschoolers

Love2B Homeschoolers says, “It’s amazing how I am so ensconced in my role as mother, that even a simple list that might start out elsewhere leads to my children and why I homeschool…”

*          *          *

Feel free to share your thoughts, other blogs or what has worked for you and your homeschooling students…we can all learn from each other!

John Christensen’s changed lives through his inspiring words spawned from Seattle’s Pike Place Fish Market during three days in 1988, while he watched, talked and listened to the owners and co-workers enjoy their time on land and sea. These employees inspired Christensen with a zest of life and a vision of individualism - awakened from their slumber only to question their own daily activities; regardless of the Public School of Thought around them.

Be There - on time, ready, willing to be the active person that contributes to the solution; not the problem

Make Their Day - have an open heart and mind for the world around you, and share that mentality with a kind, thoughtful gesture; for no other reason than to make someone else smile

Choose Your Attitude - not your emotional balance, but rather who you want to be right now; pleasant, helpful, a joy to be around

Play - have fun; enjoy breathing, congratulate yourself for not locking the keys in the car, reward yourself for being the best you that God intended you to be

Sounds familiar, right?

Truth is Christensen was about 1,988 years or so late to the party, right?

Before Christensen, there was Christ - There, Making Our Day, He Chose to die for us. And in Him, we Pray.