Judge tosses out suit over Waldorf method in 2 Sacramento schools
by Denny Walsh
A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit that has kept the Sacramento City Unified School District in court for nearly 13 years fending off a challenge to the Waldorf teaching method used in two district schools.
People for Legal and Non-Sectarian Schools, or PLANS Inc., sued the district in 1998, claiming the method is inextricably linked to anthroposophy – the philosophy of Waldorf method founder Rudolf Steiner. The suit contended anthroposophy is a religion and that its use in public schools violates the First Amendment's establishment clause, which precludes mixing religion with government institutions.
A lawyer for PLANS said Saturday that an appeal is likely.
School district spokesman Gabe Ross said the district was pleased with the ruling. "The schools in our district that utilize Waldorf-inspired methods are extremely popular with our students and families for their innovative, creative approach to student learning. We look forward to putting this lawsuit behind us," he said.
John Morse Waldorf Methods School, established in 1996 with grades K-8, was the original target of the lawsuit. The district opened a small Waldorf high school – George Washington Carver School of Arts and Sciences – three years ago.
In Waldorf education, the arts are integrated into all subjects, including math and science. Students begin each school day with a two-hour main lesson, learning subjects in intensive three-to-four-week blocks. Storytelling, reading of myths and legends, and learning handcrafts, cooking, gardening, painting, music and movement are part of the method.
At a non-jury trial Aug. 31 before U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr., PLANS attorney Donald Michael Bush put on a single witness – Betty Staley, founder of the Rudolf Steiner College in Fair Oaks – and presented the few exhibits Damrell allowed into evidence.
At the end of Staley's testimony, school district attorney Michelle Cannon asked Damrell to dismiss the lawsuit, contending Bush did not make his case. The judge allowed the lawyers to argue and then ordered further briefing.
In a 20-page order issued Friday, Damrell agreed that Bush had failed to show that anthroposophy is a religion, and he dismissed the lawsuit.
"Plaintiff's apparent theory of the case was that anthroposophy, in its current manifestation, is synonymous with the beliefs of Steiner," the judge wrote. "In that regard, in large part, plaintiff attempted to elicit testimony from Staley regarding Steiner's beliefs. The court precluded such testimony as rank hearsay – Staley was not qualified as an expert and thus, could not opine as to the nature and meaning of Steiner's beliefs.
"For similar reasons," Damrell continued, "the court also precluded the admission of the majority of plaintiff's proffered exhibits, which were various writings of Steiner; these writings again were hearsay, and plaintiff had no witness to authenticate nor lay a foundation or testify to the contents of the writings."
He also said Bush "wholly failed to offer evidence establishing Steiner's identity."
"The court, however, has gleaned from some of Staley's testimony and argument from plaintiff's counsel that Steiner is viewed as the central figure in the history of anthroposophy, and that he was apparently a European educator in the early 20th century."
Staley is director of the Waldorf teacher education program at Rudolf Steiner College, and has been a member of the Anthroposophical Society in America since 1963. She testified the group has certain membership requirements, holds meetings and has an identified purpose to support Steiner's work and thought.
"Significantly, the ASA admits anyone, without regard to religious affiliation, and … expressly rejects any sectarian activity and provides that no dogmatic stand whatsoever may be taken by the organization," Damrell pointed out.
"Contrary to plaintiff's argument, neither Staley's testimony nor the four admitted exhibits (internal ASA documents) establish that anthroposophy is a system of belief and worship of a 'superhuman controlling power' involving a code of ethics and philosophy requiring obedience thereto."
Staley testified that anthroposophical writings are meditative tools meant to encourage personal thought and self-reflection. She also said there are no formal or external signs of anthroposophy akin to religious symbols or manifestations.
Bush relied heavily on Staley's testimony defining anthroposophy as a "path from the human being to the realm of the spirit." She described that realm as "the unseen. … We have things we can weigh and measure and see and we have things we can't see and measure. … All that is not physical."
But Damrell said her "reference to the 'spiritual' or non-physical world does not establish that anthroposophy, itself, is a system of belief."
"My strong sense is we are going to go ahead and appeal," Bush said Saturday in a telephone interview from his home in Orange County. Damrell "kind of brushed aside this philosophy linking the physical world with the spiritual world," and that will be the main thrust of the appeal, he said.
The judge "has a very tight reading of evidentiary and procedural rules," Bush said. "He's like an umpire with a small strike zone, but he's consistent. We weren't able to get in a lot of evidence. It's real important to get in information about how the founder of anthroposophy interpreted his own philosophy."
It won't be the case's first trip to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The school district appealed Damrell's 1999 ruling that PLANS, a nonprofit group dedicated to keeping Waldorf methods out of public education, has taxpayer standing to sue, but an appellate panel denied the petition without comment.
Damrell tossed the case out in 2001 after a 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opinion prompted him to revisit the issue of standing. The 2nd Circuit held that a broad challenge to expenditures for the ordinary costs of operating schools is insufficient to confer taxpayer standing on a plaintiff.
Two years later, the 9th Circuit reversed Damrell and reinstated the lawsuit, ruling that the 2nd Circuit case was dissimilar because it was based on "the comprehensive curricula" of the schools in question, not just specific activities.
This article was found at:
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/11/06/3165452/judge-tosses-out-suit-over-waldorf.html
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One News Now - November 19, 2010
Cult not religion, OK to be taught in school
Bill Bumpas - OneNewsNow
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against a California school district that claimed two public schools were violating the First Amendment's Establishment Clause by teaching a controversial education philosophy based on an unusual belief system. [see earlier article below]
Two public schools in Sacramento use the Waldorf teaching method, which is based on anthroposophy. That was inspired by 19th century Austrian philosopher, Rudolf Steiner, who formulated his own teachings and cult-like following by mixing religions. But a judge has ruled that anthroposophy is not a religion, so public schools can continue to utilize its methodology.
Pacific Justice Institute was involved in the lawsuit that originated in 1998. Chief Counsel Kevin Snider tells OneNewsNow the ruling illustrates the double standard seen too often in public education in which widely-held beliefs like Christianity and Judaism are excluded, while unusual beliefs like anthroposophy are promoted.
"We don't believe that a separation of church and state requires [an] eradication or censorship of historical realities," he explains. "What we are against is to have religious practice and indoctrination, and that's exactly what anthroposophy is calculated to do. We think that there is a heightened level of state scrutiny when you're dealing with children."
But Snider says the judge excluded nearly all the evidence presented against Anthroposophy, and his group thinks that "was an error of law." So there will be an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
This article was found at:
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=1235478
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One News Now - August 18, 2010
Schools claim Lucifer as model and guardian
Bill Bumpas - OneNewsNow
While a California school district is seeing a boom in interest in a controversial educational philosophy that goes back more than 100 years, at the same time it's fighting a lawsuit over whether the system is legal in public schools.
California's capital city offers two Waldorf-inspired public schools -- John Morse Waldorf Methods School (K-8), and the high school George Washington Carver School of Arts and Sciences. The Sacramento City Unified School District now is facing a trial in federal court on allegations that those schools are religious, making them ineligible to receive taxpayer dollars.
The lawsuit, filed in 1998 by the group People for Legal and Nonsectarian Schools, is just now making it to trial after several appeals. In an interview with The Sacramento Bee, the president of PLANS uses phrases like "cult-like religious sect" and "new-age religion" to describe the activities at the schools.
Dr. Bruce Shortt, author of The Harsh Truth about Public Schools, explains to OneNewsNow that the Waldorf system is based on a dangerous philosophy called "anthroposophy" from the writings of 19th-century Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner.
"And in those writings he basically posits that the universe is driven by conflict between Lucifer and the god of darkness called 'Ahriman' -- and his educational philosophy is built around that conflict," says Shortt. "...In fact, in his view Christ came to earth as a 'son god' to balance the forces of light and darkness."
The author says these views are reflected in The Waldorf Teachers Survival Guide.
"As a matter of fact, quoting from the guide, it says 'most of what contributes to our work as teachers -- preparation work, artistic work, even meditative work -- is under the guardianship of Lucifer. We can become great teachers under his supervision....' And it continues in that vein."
Although the Waldorf system is primarily offered through private education, the demand for Waldorf public schools has grown to more than 40 across the country, including two dozen in California.
This article was found at:
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=1126896
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