As many others have pointed out, the article provides too few specifics to know why the teacher was singled out for lesson plan review. Some have suggested that the supplemental handouts given to students may have been inappropriate for the classroom or may have been proselytizing in nature. I searched for more information and finally found Complaint filed by the attorneys on behalf of Stephen Williams, the 5th grade teacher. Included is a list of the supplemental teacher material which Mr. Williams used to teach his students. Note, this is a .pdf document, so I couldn't cut and paste the list for this post.
http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/media/WilliamsvCupertinoComplaint.pdfThis will be an interesting case to follow. The State of California has established content standards for each grade level for all California students. The content standards are very specific regarding what a child must learn before being promoted to the next grade.
One of the standards is: ''The student must understand the political, religious, social, and economic institutions that evolved in the colonial era.'' Another is ''Describe the religious aspects of the earliest colonies (Puritanism in Massachusetts, Anglicanism in Virginia, Catholicism in Maryland, and Quakerism in Pennsylvania.'' There are several other standards which include religion in their theme. So, Mr. Williams can claim that the State of California's standards require teaching about religion.
In addition, the social studies textbook which the Cupertino School District uses for 5th graders does not cover all of the material required by the State of California. Therefore, supplemental teaching material is necessary in order for students to meet the State content standards.
I think I found out what caused Mr. Williams to be singled out for lesson plan review. Evidently last year Mr. Williams taught a lesson on 'Presidential Proclamations'. He used President Bush's (#43) Proclamation on the National Day of Prayer as an example of a Presidential Proclamation, and provided a handout. One parent complained....
