Christian Curriculum in Public Schools
SACRAMENTO (CN) - A public schoolteacher says she was harassed and reprimanded and that her principal called her an "anarchist" because she objected to Christian faith-based curriculum in her elementary school. She claims the Yuba City Unified School District "has a history of promoting Christianity and/or accommodating Christian faith-based organizations and churches in violation of the California and federal Constitutions."
Lisa Polonsky-Britt, who is Jewish, claims Yuba City schools retaliated by suggesting she transfer to one of two other schools: "St. Isidore's and Faith Christian, both religious schools."
Polonsky-Britt sued the Yuba City Unified School District and four of its administrators in Federal Court.
Polonsky-Britt says that in March 2008, April Lane Elementary School in Yuba City incorporated Christian education into its curriculum, "based, in part on a program called 'Character Counts' a Christian faith based program."
Polonsky-Britt says defendant Angela Huerta, the principal, pushed the unconstitutional program at a staff meeting, saying "that she needed the entire faculty to be 'on board' with the program."
Polonsky-Britt says she "expressed concern about this particular program insofar as it might violate federal and state laws regarding separation of church and state by requiring district resources, i.e., teachers, to implement
