A South Florida student says he wanted to read the Bible Teacher Told Him No!!!

A South Florida student says he wanted to read the Bible during some free time in class, but what the teacher did next has his family furious. Fifth grader Giovanni Rubeo said he pulled out the Bible for free reading time at Park Lakes Elementary School on April 8. He said the teacher asked him twice to put the Bible on her desk, but he refused.

It was enough to shake anybody’s faith in the system.

But a Florida boy and his father are fighting back after the fifth-grader said his teacher banned him from reading his Bible during free-reading time in school, violating his constitutional rights.

The Broward County School District says it’s all “a big misunderstanding,” but that’s not what the evidence shows. Giovanni Rubeo and his dad have turned to Liberty Institute, “the largest legal organization dedicated solely to defending and restoring religious liberty in America,” to get things straightened out.

• On April 8, 2014, a teacher at Park Lakes Elementary School in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, sternly ordered a 5th-grader — Giovanni Rubeo — to stop reading his beloved Bible during free reading time. She told him, “Put it on my desk!”
• The teacher then left a voicemail for Giovanni’s father, telling him that “those books” (meaning books like the Bible) were not allowed in “her classroom.” Listen to actual audio of the teacher’s voicemail here.
• When Giovanni’s dad, Paul Rubeo, protested his son’s treatment, the school officials sent him a two-sentence reply dodging the key issue of whether students could read religious material during free time.
• Giovanni’s father retained Liberty Institute to represent himself and his son.
• On May 5, 2014, Liberty Institute sent a letter to the Broward County schools on behalf of Paul Rubeo, and his son Giovanni. Our letter demands a written apology within 10 days, and restoration of the rights of children in the Broward School District.

This is a transcript of the voicemail from the teacher :

“Good morning Mr. Rubeo, Mrs. Thomas.  Uh. Uh. Giovanni called you because I asked him to.  I noticed that he has 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 as opposed to the curriculum for public school.  Mrs. S. Thomas.  Thank you.  Have a wonderful day. Bye-bye.”

The case has caused national outrage and press coverage is only just beginning for the school officials that violated federal and state law, according to Liberty.

Link: http://www.bizpacreview.com/2014/05/06/i-bet-the-fla-school-that-banned-boy-from-reading-bible-during-free-time-is-sorry-now-117269

Defiant high school changes pledge of allegiance; replaces ‘God’ with ‘peace’

A Wisconsin high school is defying state law by removing “God” from the Pledge of Allegiance.

Instead of saying, “One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,” Madison East High School has students say, “One nation under peace, with liberty and justice for all,” according to RedState.

For years, atheists have railed over including God in the pledge, and the courts have consistently ruled against them. This time, a courageous sophomore, Samantha Murphy, told her family that her school ignored state law and did not recite the Pledge of Allegiance at all, RedState reported.

When her parents raised the issue with school Principal Mary Kelley and the School Board, school officials dithered for months before reluctantly agreeing to follow the law – but only to a point.

In the beginning, Murphy told RedState, the school deleted the phrase, “one nation under God.” Then it just omitted the words, “under God,” before making one final change, replacing “God” with “peace.”