Fire, Brimstone Over Faith

These have not been the happiest of holidays for Stevens Creek Elementary.

The Silicon Valley school has been engulfed in a media storm of allegations that it prohibited lessons on the Declaration of Independence -- even banned it from classrooms -- because the hallowed document contains religious references.

“It’s been there for years,” school secretary Kathleen Garfield said as she pointed to a framed replica of the declaration on a library wall, a few steps from a row of books devoted to religious customs. “This has just been devastating.”

The Stevens Creek experience, complete with raging talk show commentary and a deluge of angry e-mail and telephone calls, is a primer on how painful and divisive the debate over God in public schools can be.

Some e-mail and calls have been vulgar and threatening, frightening school staffers and parents in this San Jose suburb. And though the initial furor has eased -- the campus curtailed extra security patrols -- a lasting resolution might be some time off.

The turmoil began when fifth-grade teacher Stephen Williams brought a federal civil rights lawsuit Nov. 22, accusing the Cupertino Union School District of illegally forbidding him to instruct students on the religious context of America’s founding.

A self-described orthodox Christian, Williams claims he is being discriminated against because of his faith.

Excerpts from the Declaration of Independence are among the materials he is not allowed to teach, according to the suit.

District officials have denied the charges. Their formal response to the suit is due in court Jan. 14.

The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative legal group representing Williams, announced the suit with a news release headlined, “Declaration of Independence Banned From Classroom.”

The release and some early media accounts did not mention that the full declaration is part of the Stevens Creek curriculum, that it is presented in the fifth-grade history textbook or that it is displayed on walls throughout the district.

The assertion that the declaration had been barred proved enough to make Stevens Creek fodder for reasoned discussion about the line between church and state, and Web-fueled attacks labeling the school godless, unpatriotic and communist.

“One guy told me he hoped I burned in hell,” said Garfield, who told of crying so hard that she wondered if she could return to work.

On his attorney’s advice, Williams, who continues to teach, no longer gives interviews.

He became an overnight darling of the Christian right thanks to coverage by programs such as Fox News’ “Hannity & Colmes,” which traveled to Cupertino for a broadcast on the suit.

“It’s just sad to me that the separation of church and state has been just kind of warped to mean that we can’t even include some of our founding documents in the classroom,” Williams said on the show.

In the suit, Williams says he had no intention of proselytizing.

Parents have accused him of doing just that.

Their complaints prompted Stevens Creek Principal Patricia Vidmar in May to begin screening Williams’ lesson plans for religious content.

According to court documents, Vidmar, who declined to be interviewed because of the litigation, disallowed a batch of writings by George Washington, John Adams and William Penn, as well as a list of what nine presidents have said about the Bible (Thomas Jefferson: “The Bible makes the best people in the world.”).

In addition, Vidmar ordered Williams not to assign an Easter exercise.

Several parents said the lesson would have involved reading the Easter story in the Bible, reviewing some teachings of Jesus Christ and interviewing Christian families and church workers.

Cupertino schools Supt. William Bragg, who monitored Vidmar’s dealings with Williams, said she excluded the Declaration of Independence passages from Williams’ lesson plans because “they were embedded in all this material” that mainly focused on religion.

Bragg added that he had grown concerned that the 38-year-old teacher was overemphasizing religion to the point of violating the rights of students and parents.

And he said much of the material Williams wanted to use was far too sophisticated for fifth-graders, such as a selection from “The Principles of Natural Law,” in which 18th century Swiss jurist and professor Jean Jacques Burlamaqui addresses the existence of God.

“We had no inkling a lawsuit was coming,” said Bragg, sitting in his office in the district’s worn but tidy headquarters. “We try to work through these things. We felt it was under control.”

The superintendent said his schools follow state guidelines in teaching students of the historical importance of religion, do not subscribe to the position that “under God” should be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance, and have featured Christian carols in holiday music programs.

“There are a lot of churches around,” he noted of Cupertino, a high-tech hub that is the home of Apple Computer. “It’s upsetting when you see people being characterized as communists, stupid, nonbelieving.”

Gary McCaleb, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which promotes expanded teaching of Christianity in schools, said the principal and district went too far.

“No public school teacher should abuse his office by trying to indoctrinate his students,” McCaleb said. “But they have a right to teach about religion. Williams was singled out for this particular treatment because he was a Christian.”

McCaleb stressed that the alliance and Williams were appalled at the flood of hate mail and calls to the school, and have received plenty themselves.

“Unfortunately, there are people out there on both sides of the fence who don’t know how to behave as a civilized human being,” McCaleb said. “This media thing has exceeded my experience.”

But he defended the headline on the alliance’s news release . “I think it’s a fair summary,” he said.

McCaleb said his client has been hurt by the reaction of many teachers and parents.

Williams’ critics say they are now cool toward him, but professionally courteous.

And they credit the Stevens Creek staff for shielding students from the fallout of the controversy.

One teacher spoke in Williams’ favor.

“I believe that he is teaching to the standards,” said Donna Axelson, a third-grade instructor. “I feel bad for what Steve’s going through.”

Axelson said Williams is vocal about his faith, but she does not believe he preaches to students. Any parent who was worried about his teaching, she said, should have asked to observe his classroom before complaining.

“It’s unfortunate that there are a lot of people who have passed judgment,” Axelson added.

A devout Christian, she said a parent complained earlier this year when she sent home a newsletter containing a verse that included a stanza about prayer. During a phone interview, Axelson cried as she read lines about a child overhearing a parent praying. Williams’ detractors say they welcome instruction on religion within the bounds of its historical and cultural significance. In his case, they contend, it came across as advocacy and made some children uncomfortable.

Mike Zimmers, whose daughter was in Williams’ class last year, is among those who complained.

“After the second day of class, my daughter said, ‘I don’t think he’s very respectful of other people’s religions.... He talks about Jesus 100 times a day.’ ”

Zimmers was at a gathering of eight parents in a home near Stevens Creek, in a hilly neighborhood shaded by pines.

All but one described themselves as Christians. Two said they were political conservatives.

Sarah Beetem, a veteran fifth- and sixth-grade teacher, was also there.

“The young teachers who live alone are afraid,” she said. “A single-parent teacher got a call at 1 a.m.: ‘You teach at that godforsaken school, you better never do that again.’ ”

One of the conservative parents, Larry Woodard, said Stevens Creek had been smeared by “blatant, out-and-out lies.... We bought our house here because of this school.”

Maria Segal, the parent who opened her home to the meeting, summed up the sentiments.

“Who are these people to inflict this upon us?” she said. “How do we go about getting our reputation back?”