Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee

[Houston Chronicle]   Local school districts got a green light Friday to offer high school students an elective Bible course without the specific state standards that some contend are necessary to guide well-intentioned teachers from straying into religious proselytizing. State Board of Education members argued about whether they were obligated to establish specific state standards for the new course approved by state lawmakers last year or allow the 1,039 independent school districts to set up their own course, using existing general guidelines from English and ... Read More

[WBAL & WND] Public schools in Somerset County, MD will no longer allow the Gideons on school grounds to distribute Bibles. For years, The Gideons, an international Christian organization, has been passing out Bibles to interested fifth-graders. But Stephanie Kayhan says when she moved to the county three years ago, she was shocked by the Bible distribution. Kayhan says she is a practicing Christian, but she is against Bibles being passed out on school grounds because it blurs the line between church and state. She ... Read More

Is it just my imagination or does the state of Florida have more cases of inappropriate teacher-student relationships than anywhere else?  It seems that there is at least one story every week coming out of Florida about teachers (usually female) having sexual relations with underage students.  What is in the water there.  Check out these stories:   60 Year Old Teacher Accused of Sex with Student Mom Of Minor In Teacher-Student Sex Case Speaks Out End of line for teacher Police Say 16-Year-Old Had Sex With Teacher On Multiple ... Read More

[Cleveland Plain Dealer] The easy way out would have been to tell the graduates of Westlake High School that the misspelling on their diplomas was a final test. A test. Yeah, that's it. Instead, Principal Timothy Freeman fell on his red pen, shouldering responsibility for the diplomas issued to 330 Westlake graduates at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland on Saturday that read board of "educaiton," not "education." Read more here. [From me] I'm sure Bob Cleveland will love this one!  I'm just thankful it isn't a school in ... Read More

[Tampa Bay's 10]   Land 'O Lakes, Florida -- The stories in the news about inappropriate relationships between teachers and students have been overwhelming.  There was even a substitute teacher in New Port Richey who got in trouble after investigators say she had a relationship with an underage student. Well, another Pasco County substitute teacher's job is on the line, but this time it's because of a magic trick. The charge from the school district — Wizardry! Substitute teacher Jim Piculas does a 30-second magic trick where ... Read More