The massive media machine that is the Alliance Defence Fund is opposed by....We the Parents, a group of Stevens Creek School parents who are seeking to tell their view of the Williams suit.
If you would like to help offset the costs of the Alliance Defense Fund attack on this school, you can make a tax-deductible donation through the Stevens Creek Parent Teachers' Organization> or by mailing a check to:
Stevens Creek Parent Teacher's Organization
Stevens Creek Elementary School
10300 Ainsworth Drive, Cupertino, CA 95014
Cupertino parents back school on Web--THEY AIM TO COUNTER NEWS REPORTS IN RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION SUIT--By Luis Zaragoza
``Stevens Creek Elementary has not banned the Declaration of Independence.'' And a group calling itself We the Parents says it has the pictures to prove it. (Mr. Zaragoza, they don't only say they have the photos, they show all and sundry
Pictures of the document hanging on the top-ranked Cupertino public school's walls and a statement on the purported ban are the first things you see on www. stevenscreekparents.org, the group's new Web site.
Members of the group say they organized and launched the Web site to counter criticism the school has faced since a fifth-grade teacher sued the Cupertino Union School District for discrimination. In his lawsuit, Stephen J. Williams alleges his civil rights were violated when officials restricted his use of handouts with religious references.
No one was prepared for the resulting media frenzy. (Except for the Alliance Defense Fund, which was counting on it.
Early media reports repeated assertions from the teacher's lawyers that the school had banned the Declaration of Independence because it contained religious references. The Allied Defense Fund, the Christian ministry-backed legal aid group representing Williams, still has the news release posted on its Web site.
Without questioning the assertion, (because it was repeated verbatim in many mainstream newspapers and fundamentalist websites 3,000 people from around the country, many claiming to support the teacher, e-mailed the school, according to school officials. The angry tone of some messages -- including one that reportedly said: ``We hope you burn in hell'' -- prompted extra sheriff's patrols and security measures on campus that left staff and students uneasy, parents said.
Before We the Parents' Web site went live last week, parents vented their frustration at public meetings, in letters to the editor and in countless conversations. Ultimately, parents worry that the mistaken belief that Stevens Creek banned the Declaration of Independence will linger in people's memories and in cyberspace.
``The public has the right to hear the other side of the story,'' Maria Segal, a spokeswoman for the group who described herself as a Christian mother of three, wrote on We the Parents' Web site. ``Our principal and the members of the school board are reluctant to publicly refute any of the claims because they are involved in this lawsuit. We, therefore, see it as our responsibility to set the record straight.''
Segal, an active member of the school's Parent-Teacher Organization, organized a community meeting last month attended by William Bragg, the district's superintendent, and Patricia Vidmar, Stevens Creek's principal. About 60 people attended, and many expressed support for Vidmar, who is named in the lawsuit.
We the Parents says it has about 100 members, mostly parents at the public school.
Among the reasons parents say they decided to become more vocal is to protect the school's reputation as a desirable school. Stevens Creek, which has about 600 students in grades K-6, scored 925 out of 1,000 points on the state's Academic Performance Index, the most comprehensive measure of a public school's achievement. ``When we moved here, we moved here so our kids would be able to attend this school,'' parent Larry Woodard said.
Paul Crouch, a group founder, has been vocal about the community's frustration over unfolding events. ``We have been wrongly portrayed as a school that has banned founding documents of our nation and that wants to take God out of the classroom and none of those assertions are true,'' Crouch writes on the site. ``We have the Declaration of Independence posted in our library, as well as the Constitution, and both documents are, and always have been, in the textbook used by all our fifth-grade teachers and approved by the state and the board.''
Students routinely say ``under God'' when reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, he noted.
He and others also have pointed out that Williams participated in an after-school Bible study group, the Good News Club, that meets on campus. Williams has declined interview requests. We the Parents plans to sponsor community forums beginning this month to allow anyone with questions or concerns about the case to speak up.
Bragg, the district's superintendent, has said he can't discuss specifics of the lawsuit. The district has issued news releases refuting the Allied Defense Fund's claims that the Declaration of Independence was banned at Stevens Creek.
School officials also reassured parents at a special meeting last month that students at the school are safe and that keeping them that way is a top priority.
November 27, 2004:
- Was Williams Proselytizing to the Heathen?
- Read The Easter Assignment Yourself
- Why Did Williams Avoid Resolving Grievance with School the Normal Way?
- Many Parents Object to Williams Proselytizing in Class
- Williams is Presenting a Forgery as George Washington's Work
- Armed Guards Stationed at School after Threats on Behalf of Williams
- Alliance Defence Fund Uses Big Lie Technique
- Is the Evangelical Mr. Williams Teaching Evolution or Creationism?
- Nat Hentoff's Column Inaccurate
- Mainstream Media Fail to Factcheck Alliance Defense Fund's Mendacious Claims
- L.A. Times Blows Chance to Investigate Williams & ADF's Claims
- Parents Speak Up to Balance the Story
December 10, 2004:
January 2, 2004:
The massive media machine that is the Alliance Defence Fund is opposed by....We the Parents, a small, unfunded group of Stevens Creek School parents who are seeking to tell their view of the Williams suit.
If you would like to help offset the costs of the Alliance Defense Fund attack on this school, you can make a tax-deductible donation through the Stevens Creek Parent Teachers' Organization or by mailing a check to:
Stevens Creek Parent Teacher's Organization Stevens Creek Elementary School 10300 Ainsworth Drive, Cupertino, CA 95014
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