Florida - teacher's Bible ban sparks protest

[OakWood]

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2014/05/05/teachers-ban-on-reading-bibles-in-class-sparks-protest-change/

 

FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – A Broward County boy said he was banned from reading “The Good Book” during free-reading time in school. The boy and his father have hired an attorney, calling this a violation of the boy’s Constitutional rights. Meanwhile, the Broward County School District says this is all a big misunderstanding.

“I first started reading a little bit (of the Bible,)” says Rubeo. “Little by little, it started becoming my favorite book to read.

Giovanni Rubeo says the Bible was given to him as a gift from his church, Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, over Christmas.

The Park Lakes Elementary fifth grader said he started reading it during free-reading time in his first-period class. That’s when the boy’s attorney claims his teacher, Swornia Thomas, stepped in.

Rubeo’s attorney shared a voicemail the teacher left for Giovanni’s dad.

“Good morning, Mr. Rubeo,” says a woman. “Giovanni called you because I asked him to. I noticed that he had a book, a religious book, in the classroom. He’s not permitted to read those books in my classroom. He said if I told him to put it away, you said not to do that. So please give me a call. I need to have some understanding on direction to him about the book he’s reading opposed to the curriculum for public school. Ms. S. Thomas. Thank you. Have a wonderful day. Bye, bye.”

[Guest]

Bye

 

Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Mark 8:38

 

Bye

 

But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Matthew 18:6

[Guest LadyC]

didn't the exact same thing happen to a girl in texas a few weeks ago? i thought we were discussing it here, too. i'd say there are some educators that need to be educated!

[JustinM]

Notice how she said "my classroom" instead of "the classroom."  She is a public servant and her talent is on loan by the people that pay her salary, there is no "my", only "our", with publicly owned property.

 

This teacher needs to be lectured about how much authority in the classroom she really has.

[Willa]

Jesus is Lord--not Ceasar, not the state or even the surpreme court, and definitely not Obama. She would not dare stop a kid from reading the Koran. But that might also be part of the school curriculam. This is a wicked and perverse generation.

[kwikphilly]

On Tuesday, we brought you the tale of Giovanni Rubeo, a fifth-grade Park Lakes Elementary student who was told by a teacher that he was prohibited from reading his Bible in school.

Whatever anyone's thoughts and feelings on religion on school grounds might be, this was clearly a violation of Rubeo's rights. And the Pulp suggested that, perhaps, the Broward School Board should just sack up and offer the kid and his family a mea culpa.

And it did. On Tuesday afternoon, Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie apologized to Rubeo for the brouhaha.

See also: Broward Teacher Allegedly Tells Fifth-Grader Not to Read the Bible in School

"First, let me apologize to the student and his family," Runcie said per the Sun Sentinel. "This was a situation that should have been handled differently. It does not represent the values of our school system. Let me be clear. Broward County Public Schools respects and upholds the right to bring personal religious material to school, including the Bible."

Rubeo's teacher gave the student's father a call to let him know that reading the Bible was prohibited -- even though Rubeo was reading his Bible during free time.

The incident was brought up by a Dallas-based legal group called the Liberty Institute that advocates for religious freedom.

The group had a recording of a voicemail message left for Rubeo's father, telling him that his son is not allowed to read his Bible in class.

The Liberty Institute also said it had a copy of a letter written on April 16 to Rubeo's family from the school saying that the student could read his Bible, as long as it was during free time.

"As stated in our telephone conversation... your child is permitted to read the Bible, before school, after school, and during lunch, in accordance to the law," Principal Orinthia Dias' letter said.

The group demanded an apology and said the teacher's actions violated Rubeo's First Amendment rights.

Some of our readers agreed that the teacher was way off base:

[kwikphilly]

Blessings Everyone......

      I just thought I would post an update(previous post) of this Broward County incident,I know that area quite well & I was very surprised to hear  that this teacher would be so brazen as to act so discrimminately ,especially that this particular school is located in a large Christian community, Lauderdale Lakes.

     She single handedly put the school in a "no win" situation and I am glad it turned out this way,Praise the Lord!

                                                                                                                                       With love-in Christ,Kwik

[Guest LadyC]

i think the teacher herself should have given the apology. it's nice that the superintendent did so, but i'd be telling him he wasn't the one that committed the offense in the first place, and to get the cowardly teacher to come do her own grovelling.

[ayin jade]

So what happened to the teacher? Was the teacher reprimanded? Suspended? Fired? Or is the teacher unwilling to change and will continue to ban the bible in the classroom even during a free read?

[JustinM]

I said this in an earlier post:  "This teacher needs to be lectured about how much authority in the classroom she really has."

 

That seems to be exactly what the Superintendent did, which is why I believe he was the one that gave the apology.

 

This teacher was lectured and put back in place as an educator. She is not the final authority in her classroom, not by a long shot.

 

Hopefully she learned her lesson.  If not, I'm sure the school has already warned her that it won't tolerate anymore incidents like this from her.