mangrumsNet

UPDATE: 6/25/2010:  Looks like the state commission will be shuttering the Nampa Classical Academy.  In a unanimous vote, the school will have their charter revoked effective June 30, 2010.  This seems to be more a case of bullying and a means to silence a detractor than a legitimate closure.  The Idaho Statesman reports:

NCA leaders urged the Idaho Public Charter School Commission to give them more time to prove financial soundness and a new willingness to cooperate with the commission. But commission members needed virtually no discussion before accepting the hearing examiner’s recommendation.

...

“Bad day for charter schools,” NCA board member Erik Makrush said loudly as school representatives left the meeting room. He was quickly admonished by commission chairman Bill Goesling.

Just keep your mouth shut, your eyes down, and move along; nothing to see here, folks...

As I have mentioned before, the current interpretation of the separation between church and state is not the original intent of the First Amendment.  It was borne from a 1947 Supreme Court ruling.  Here is a good primer on the history.

There is a public charter school in the Nampa area that wanted to use the Bible as a source for history and literature.  Idaho officials origionally gave approval but then later changed their minds.  The school sued for the right to use the text but it was dismissed.

The headmaster and seven board members have since left over the issue.  And now the Idaho Public Charter School Commission then moved to shut down the school siting financial instability as the reason. Hmm...

I claim shenannigans.  There are numerous misinterpretations of the law, both current and historical.  There is plenty of precident set for the use of the Bible in classrooms.  Why is this school, and the Bible in particular among other religious texts on their list, being targeted?  And why the sudden change of plans?  Here is more on the story from WND:

The Alliance Defense Fund has filed a notice of appeal with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals of a trial court's affirmation of an Idaho state agency decision that it could ban any book, including the Bible, it determined to be "religious."

"Censoring classical books, including religious books, does not improve a student's education; it harms it," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman of the filing this week. "A wholesale ban on books with religious content 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.'"

The dispute centers on curriculum plans adopted by Nampa Classical Academy, which was preparing for its instruction of more than 500 students. Officials obtained approval from the state board of education in 2008 and then followed up with positive responses from the Public Charter School Commission as it developed its standards and curriculum.

Then, last year, the state commission suddenly raised objections and prohibited the academy from using any "religious documents and text" in its curriculum or in its classrooms, even if used objectively as a resource.

State officials threatened they would not allow the academy to open if school officials used the Bible or other religious texts on their classroom resource list. 

The ADF sued, but Judge Ed Lodge dismissed the complaint, ruling that the commission members "have control over the content of the curriculum."

His ruling came "despite the fact that numerous public schools throughout the state and country constitutionally allow the objective study of the Bible as an education resource," the ADF said.

"Nampa Classical Academy is endeavoring to exercise its right to provide the best possible education for its students and has decided to include the Bible, along with dozens of other religious and secular writings, as resources in its curriculum to enrich instruction of literature, history, and culture, among other topics," Cortman explained. "Schools have been doing this throughout American history."

He explained that, contrary to the ruling from the court, the local school district is assigned by law to make the determination on implementation of the state's curriculum standards.

He said if the commission's misinterpretation of the law is allowed to stand, all Idaho public school and university students will be subject to the ban.

"And the curriculum [the academy] chose, in this case, is fully within what the U.S. Supreme Court has stated is acceptable and constitutional," Cortman said. "On these grounds alone, we trust the decision will be reversed on appeal."