A Tomah High School student has filed a federal lawsuit alleging his art teacher censored his drawing because it featured a cross and a biblical reference.
The lawsuit alleges other students were allowed to draw "demonic" images and asks a judge to declare a class policy prohibiting religion in art unconstitutional.
"We hear so much today about tolerance," said David Cortman, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal advocacy group representing the student. "But where is the tolerance for religious beliefs? The whole purpose of art is to reflect your own personal experience. To tell a student his religious beliefs can legally be censored sends the wrong message."
Tomah School District Business Manager Greg Gaarder said the district hadn't seen the lawsuit and declined to comment.
According to the lawsuit, the student's art teacher asked his class in February to draw landscapes. The student, a senior identified in the lawsuit by the initials A.P., added a cross and the words "John 3:16 A sign of love" in his drawing.
His teacher, Julie Millin, asked him to remove the reference to the Bible, saying students were making remarks about it. He refused, and she gave him a zero on the project.
Millin showed the student a policy for the class that prohibited any violence, blood, sexual connotations or religious beliefs in artwork. The lawsuit claims Millin told the boy he had signed away his constitutional rights when he signed the policy at the beginning of the semester.
The boy tore the policy up in front of Millin, who kicked him out of class. Later that day, assistant principal Cale Jackson told the boy his religious expression infringed on other students' rights.
Jackson told the boy, his stepfather and his pastor at a meeting a week later that religious expression could be legally censored in class assignments. Millin stated at the meeting the cross in the drawing also infringed on other students' rights.
The boy received two detentions for tearing up the policy. Jackson referred questions about the lawsuit to Gaarder.
Sometime after that meeting, the boy's metals teacher rejected his idea to build a chain-mail cross, telling him it was religious and could offend someone, the lawsuit claims. The boy decided in March to shelve plans to make a pin with the words "pray" and "praise" on it because he was afraid he'd get a zero for a grade.
The lawsuit also alleges school officials allow other religious items and artwork to be displayed on campus.
A Buddha and Hindu figurines are on display in a social studies classroom, the lawsuit claims, adding the teacher passionately teaches Hindu principles to students.
In addition, a replica of Michaelangelo's "The Creation of Man" is displayed at the school's entrance, a picture of a six-limbed Hindu deity is in the school's hallway and a drawing of a robed sorcerer hangs on a hallway bulletin board.
Drawings of Medusa, the Grim Reaper with a scythe and a being with a horned head and protruding tongue hang in the art room and demonic masks are displayed in the metals room, the lawsuit alleges.
A.P. suffered unequal treatment because of his religion even though student expression is protected by the First Amendment, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Friday.
"Students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate," the lawsuit said. "No compelling state interest exists to justify the censorship of A.P.'s religious expression."
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
High School Graduation Rates Plummet Below 50 Percent in Some U.S. Cities
Seventeen of the nation's 50 largest cities had high school graduation rates lower than 50 percent, with the lowest graduation rates reported in Detroit, Indianapolis and Cleveland, according to a report released Tuesday.
The report, issued by America's Promise Alliance, found that about half of the students served by public school systems in the nation's largest cities receive diplomas. Students in suburban and rural public high schools were more likely to graduate than their counterparts in urban public high schools, the researchers said.
Nationally, about 70 percent of U.S. students graduate on time with a regular diploma and about 1.2 million students drop out annually.
"When more than 1 million students a year drop out of high school, it's more than a problem, it's a catastrophe," said former Secretary of State Colin Powell, founding chair of the alliance.
His wife, Alma Powell, the chair of the alliance, said students need to graduate with skills that will help them in higher education and beyond. "We must invest in the whole child, and that means finding solutions that involve the family, the school and the community." The Powell's organization was beginning a national campaign to cut high school dropout rates.
The group, joining Education Secretary Margaret Spellings at a Tuesday news conference, was announcing plans to hold summits in every state during the next two years on ways to better prepare students for college and the work force.
The report found troubling data on the prospects of urban public high school students getting to college. In Detroit's public schools, 24.9 percent of the students graduated from high school, while 30.5 percent graduated in Indianapolis Public Schools and 34.1 percent received diplomas in the Cleveland Municipal City School District.
Researchers analyzed school district data from 2003-2004 collected by the U.S. Department of Education. To calculate graduation rates, the report estimated the likelihood that a 9th grader would complete high school on time with a regular diploma. Researchers used school enrollment and diploma data, but did not use data on dropouts as part of its calculation.
Many metropolitan areas also showed a considerable gap in the graduation rates between their inner-city schools and the surrounding suburbs. Researchers found, for example, that 81.5 percent of the public school students in Baltimore's suburbs graduate, compared with 34.6 percent in the city schools.
In Ohio, nearly 83 percent of public high school students in suburban Columbus graduate while 78.1 percent in suburban Cleveland earn their diplomas, well above their local city schools.
Ohio Department of Education spokesman Scott Blake said the state delays its estimates by a few months so it can include summer graduates in its calculations. Based on the state's methodology, he said Columbus graduated 60.6 percent of its students in 2003-2004, rather than the 40.9 percent the study calculated.
By Ohio's reckoning, Columbus has improved each year since the 2001-2002 school year, with 72.9 percent of students graduating in 2005-2006, Columbus Public Schools spokesman Jeff Warner said.
Warner said the gains were partly because of after-school and weekend tutoring, coordinated literacy programs in the district's elementary schools and bolstered English-as-a-second-language programs.
Cleveland's current graduation rates are also higher than the statistics cited in the new report, school district spokesman Ben Holbert said.
Spellings has called for requiring states to provide graduation data in a more uniform way under the renewal of the No Child Left Behind education law pending in Congress.
Under the 2002 law, schools that miss progress goals face increasing sanctions, including forced use of federal money for private tutoring, easing student transfers, and restructuring of school staff.
States calculate their graduation rates using all sorts of methods, many of which critics say are based on unreliable information about school dropouts. Under No Child Left Behind, states may use their own methods of calculating graduation rates and set their own goals for improving them.
The research was conducted by Editorial Projects in Education, a Bethesda, Md., nonprofit organization, with support from America's Promise Alliance and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The alliance is based on a joint effort of nonprofit groups, corporations, community leaders, charities, faith-based organizations and individuals to improve children's lives.
The report, issued by America's Promise Alliance, found that about half of the students served by public school systems in the nation's largest cities receive diplomas. Students in suburban and rural public high schools were more likely to graduate than their counterparts in urban public high schools, the researchers said.
Nationally, about 70 percent of U.S. students graduate on time with a regular diploma and about 1.2 million students drop out annually.
"When more than 1 million students a year drop out of high school, it's more than a problem, it's a catastrophe," said former Secretary of State Colin Powell, founding chair of the alliance.
His wife, Alma Powell, the chair of the alliance, said students need to graduate with skills that will help them in higher education and beyond. "We must invest in the whole child, and that means finding solutions that involve the family, the school and the community." The Powell's organization was beginning a national campaign to cut high school dropout rates.
The group, joining Education Secretary Margaret Spellings at a Tuesday news conference, was announcing plans to hold summits in every state during the next two years on ways to better prepare students for college and the work force.
The report found troubling data on the prospects of urban public high school students getting to college. In Detroit's public schools, 24.9 percent of the students graduated from high school, while 30.5 percent graduated in Indianapolis Public Schools and 34.1 percent received diplomas in the Cleveland Municipal City School District.
Researchers analyzed school district data from 2003-2004 collected by the U.S. Department of Education. To calculate graduation rates, the report estimated the likelihood that a 9th grader would complete high school on time with a regular diploma. Researchers used school enrollment and diploma data, but did not use data on dropouts as part of its calculation.
Many metropolitan areas also showed a considerable gap in the graduation rates between their inner-city schools and the surrounding suburbs. Researchers found, for example, that 81.5 percent of the public school students in Baltimore's suburbs graduate, compared with 34.6 percent in the city schools.
In Ohio, nearly 83 percent of public high school students in suburban Columbus graduate while 78.1 percent in suburban Cleveland earn their diplomas, well above their local city schools.
Ohio Department of Education spokesman Scott Blake said the state delays its estimates by a few months so it can include summer graduates in its calculations. Based on the state's methodology, he said Columbus graduated 60.6 percent of its students in 2003-2004, rather than the 40.9 percent the study calculated.
By Ohio's reckoning, Columbus has improved each year since the 2001-2002 school year, with 72.9 percent of students graduating in 2005-2006, Columbus Public Schools spokesman Jeff Warner said.
Warner said the gains were partly because of after-school and weekend tutoring, coordinated literacy programs in the district's elementary schools and bolstered English-as-a-second-language programs.
Cleveland's current graduation rates are also higher than the statistics cited in the new report, school district spokesman Ben Holbert said.
Spellings has called for requiring states to provide graduation data in a more uniform way under the renewal of the No Child Left Behind education law pending in Congress.
Under the 2002 law, schools that miss progress goals face increasing sanctions, including forced use of federal money for private tutoring, easing student transfers, and restructuring of school staff.
States calculate their graduation rates using all sorts of methods, many of which critics say are based on unreliable information about school dropouts. Under No Child Left Behind, states may use their own methods of calculating graduation rates and set their own goals for improving them.
The research was conducted by Editorial Projects in Education, a Bethesda, Md., nonprofit organization, with support from America's Promise Alliance and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The alliance is based on a joint effort of nonprofit groups, corporations, community leaders, charities, faith-based organizations and individuals to improve children's lives.
Police: Teacher Told Class to Hit Tardy Student
A Delta high school English teacher punished a student who was late for class by ordering him to do push-ups and sit-ups and letting other students hit him when he failed to complete the exercise, police said Monday.
Brian Havel, 22, faces charges of child abuse in the case, which allegedly happened March 14, said Delta Police interim Chief Roger Christian. He said police began investigating after the student, who is 15 or 16-years-old, told his parents what happened.
Christian said Havel demanded that the student do a certain amount of push-ups or sit-ups in a set amount of time when he arrived late for class. Christian said the student either refused to do the exercise or didn't finish in time.
"This was a disciplinary process that this teacher had used or was using," Christian said.
He said one of the students suggested they be allowed to hit their classmate for not completing the exercise and Havel let them. Christian said about 10 to 15 students participated in hitting him.
The student suffered no injuries, Christian said. The case is now being handled by the Delta District Attorney's Office.
It's unknown whether Havel still works at the high school. He has an unlisted phone number and could not be reached for comment.
He will appear in court next month.
Brian Havel, 22, faces charges of child abuse in the case, which allegedly happened March 14, said Delta Police interim Chief Roger Christian. He said police began investigating after the student, who is 15 or 16-years-old, told his parents what happened.
Christian said Havel demanded that the student do a certain amount of push-ups or sit-ups in a set amount of time when he arrived late for class. Christian said the student either refused to do the exercise or didn't finish in time.
"This was a disciplinary process that this teacher had used or was using," Christian said.
He said one of the students suggested they be allowed to hit their classmate for not completing the exercise and Havel let them. Christian said about 10 to 15 students participated in hitting him.
The student suffered no injuries, Christian said. The case is now being handled by the Delta District Attorney's Office.
It's unknown whether Havel still works at the high school. He has an unlisted phone number and could not be reached for comment.
He will appear in court next month.
Probe Expanded of Junior High Students' Exchange of Nude Pics by Cell in Utah
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,344433,00.html
An investigation into naked photos exchanged by cell phone among a group of junior high students has expanded to include at least 28 cases.
The Davis County Attorney's Office is looking into cases at five junior high schools and three high schools.
The case originated from a report from a parent of a Farmington Junior High student that kids there were exchanging naked pictures.
County Attorney Troy Rawlings says even if it's consensual, such pictures are legally child pornography. He says one student told him "everybody with a cell phone" is doing it.
An investigation into naked photos exchanged by cell phone among a group of junior high students has expanded to include at least 28 cases.
The Davis County Attorney's Office is looking into cases at five junior high schools and three high schools.
The case originated from a report from a parent of a Farmington Junior High student that kids there were exchanging naked pictures.
County Attorney Troy Rawlings says even if it's consensual, such pictures are legally child pornography. He says one student told him "everybody with a cell phone" is doing it.
Fife high school teacher takes plea deal in harassment case
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/323246.html
A Fife High School teacher has pleaded guilty to sending sexually suggestive text messages to a former student.
But the six other charges against business teacher Steven Weidenbach were dropped in a plea agreement.
Weidenbach, 28, was charged last November with seven misdemeanor counts based on text messages and phone calls a prosecutor said he sent to two current and three former Fife High students, all females.
Weidenbach asked current and former students in text messages what was the “most scandalous” thing they have ever done and who they would bring to a desert island, police records say.
Weidenbach, who is on paid administrative leave, pleaded guilty to one count of telephone harassment. He did not admit guilt, and entered the plea because he believed a jury would find him guilty, court records say.
Weidenbach received a two-year deferred sentence and must undergo a psychological evaluation. If he is not found guilty of a crime in the next two years, his conviction will be dismissed.
Four counts of telephone harassment and two counts of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes were dropped.
Jeff Short, deputy superintendent for the Fife School District, said Weidenbach will remain on paid administrative leave while the district completes its own investigation. He said Weidenbach’s guilty plea is “not necessarily” grounds for dismissal, since he pleaded guilty only to harassing a former student.
The former student told police that Weidenbach started text-messaging her in November 2006, when she was 18. She graduated in June 2006.
She said Weidenbach asked her who she’d slept with, what teacher she would want to spend time with and what the “most scandalous” thing she’d ever done was. The former student said Weidenbach, who lived near her, also said, “Too bad they put the fence up in your backyard, can’t see you in the hot tub anymore,” police records say.
She said she never felt threatened by the comments, “maybe just a little weirded out,” police records say.
The teacher’s text messages were first reported in October of last year; the district then put Weidenbach on leave.
Weidenbach pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to a $5,000 fine and one year in jail.
Fife prosecutor John Rodabaugh, who offered the plea deal, couldn’t be reached for comment Monday. Fife Municipal Court Judge Kevin Ringus accepted the agreement March 25.
Weidenbach pleaded not guilty to all seven counts in November.
He was in his fifth year of teaching at Fife High. He also was adviser for the school’s Future Business Leaders of America club.
Weidenbach did not return phone calls Monday from The News Tribune.
“My client’s position was a lot of what he was alleged to have said was misinterpreted,” said Donald Winskill, Weidenbach’s attorney. “The prosecutor knew he had proof problems. We knew we had exposure. It was a compromise.”
Steve Maynard: 253-597-8647
A Fife High School teacher has pleaded guilty to sending sexually suggestive text messages to a former student.
But the six other charges against business teacher Steven Weidenbach were dropped in a plea agreement.
Weidenbach, 28, was charged last November with seven misdemeanor counts based on text messages and phone calls a prosecutor said he sent to two current and three former Fife High students, all females.
Weidenbach asked current and former students in text messages what was the “most scandalous” thing they have ever done and who they would bring to a desert island, police records say.
Weidenbach, who is on paid administrative leave, pleaded guilty to one count of telephone harassment. He did not admit guilt, and entered the plea because he believed a jury would find him guilty, court records say.
Weidenbach received a two-year deferred sentence and must undergo a psychological evaluation. If he is not found guilty of a crime in the next two years, his conviction will be dismissed.
Four counts of telephone harassment and two counts of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes were dropped.
Jeff Short, deputy superintendent for the Fife School District, said Weidenbach will remain on paid administrative leave while the district completes its own investigation. He said Weidenbach’s guilty plea is “not necessarily” grounds for dismissal, since he pleaded guilty only to harassing a former student.
The former student told police that Weidenbach started text-messaging her in November 2006, when she was 18. She graduated in June 2006.
She said Weidenbach asked her who she’d slept with, what teacher she would want to spend time with and what the “most scandalous” thing she’d ever done was. The former student said Weidenbach, who lived near her, also said, “Too bad they put the fence up in your backyard, can’t see you in the hot tub anymore,” police records say.
She said she never felt threatened by the comments, “maybe just a little weirded out,” police records say.
The teacher’s text messages were first reported in October of last year; the district then put Weidenbach on leave.
Weidenbach pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to a $5,000 fine and one year in jail.
Fife prosecutor John Rodabaugh, who offered the plea deal, couldn’t be reached for comment Monday. Fife Municipal Court Judge Kevin Ringus accepted the agreement March 25.
Weidenbach pleaded not guilty to all seven counts in November.
He was in his fifth year of teaching at Fife High. He also was adviser for the school’s Future Business Leaders of America club.
Weidenbach did not return phone calls Monday from The News Tribune.
“My client’s position was a lot of what he was alleged to have said was misinterpreted,” said Donald Winskill, Weidenbach’s attorney. “The prosecutor knew he had proof problems. We knew we had exposure. It was a compromise.”
Steve Maynard: 253-597-8647
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