Lawsuit accuses Arizona charter schools of teaching history with religious slant
Garrett Mitchell, The Republic | azcentral.com 6:04 a.m. MST September 16, 2016
A lawsuit filed this month against a prominent Valley charter school and the state charter schools board challenges how it incorporates religion in its teaching of history.
The lawsuit against Mesa-based Heritage Academy, a publicly funded charter school, is the latest in a years-long fight by a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit to remove two controversial textbooks.
In the Sep. 7 filing in U.S. District Court, the non-profit Americans United for Separation of Church and State alleges that instruction by the school's founder and American government instructor Earl Taylor Jr. teaches that socialism violates God's laws and that "true patriots" believe in a universal religion of mankind that incorporates tenets of some Christian denominations as well as religious concepts.
Richard Katskee, Americans United for Separation of Church and State's legal director, said, "Charter schools are public institutions. Public schools are not Sunday schools. The choices about religion and religious instruction belong to the parents. It's a disservice to students and also an affront to religious institutions."
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/mesa-education/2016/09/16/lawsuit-complaint-issued-school-accused-teaching-history-religious-slant/90384538/
