A California father of five says his family's public charter school rejected homeschooling materials that merely mentioned God or faith, even when the books met state academic standards, forcing his family to pay out of pocket for educational resources he says other parents could access with public funds.John Woolard told Fox News Digital that he and his wife initially had no problems using a public charter school program that allowed them to educate their children at home.But he said they eventually discovered that their curriculum choices were being scrutinized for religious content."Any book or curriculum purchase that we wanted to make that referenced God or faith in even like an adjacent sort of way was being denied," Woolard said.CALIFORNIA SCHOOL DISTRICT SUED OVER FIELD TRIP TO MOSQUE WHERE STUDENTS ALLEGEDLY DONNED MUSLIM GARBJohn Woolard, his wife Breanna, and their family.
(First Liberty Institute)He described what he called a "publisher blacklist" and said the restrictions extended beyond explicitly Christian instructional materials.Woolard said he even encountered problems with books examining the religious beliefs of America's Founding Fathers."You would think that that would be something that would be non-controversial, but those curriculum choices would be denied," he said.For Woolard, the dispute goes beyond religious expression.As a father of five, he said the charter school program provided a cost-effective way to tailor the curriculum to each child's individual needs.But when the school rejected certain curriculum purchases, he said, his family was left covering the costs."If our curriculum choices are denied, then we have to pay for those resources, we have to pay for those curriculum choices out of pocket," Woolard told Fox News Digital.WASHINGTON FATHER SUES SCHOOL DISTRICT FOR DENYING RELIGIOUS OPT-OUT FOR 5TH GRADER FROM LGBTQ INSTRUCTIONThe Woolard kids studying.
(First Liberty Institute)Woolard said he pressed school officials to explain...