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Swing-vote trustee: Not all classes should post ‘In God We Trust’
| Monday, Oct 22 2007 10:26 PM
Last Updated: Monday, Oct 22 2007 10:26 PM
It doesn’t look like “In God We Trust” posters are going to go up in every Kern High School District classroom — even if they’re accompanied by other historical documents.
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Photos:
Chad Vegas, left, listens as fellow KHSD trustee Bryan Batey makes a statement on the "In God We Trust" issue.
Kern High School District trustee Joel Heinrichs explains the problems he has with "In God We Trust" posters being placed in classrooms.
Al Steuart tells the KHSD Board of Trustees why he is opposed to having "In God We Trust" posters in high school classrooms.
Eighty-one-year-old Jane Prewett finishes her statement to the KHSD Board of Trustees on the "In God We Trust" motto. She was against having it posted in classrooms.
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The swing vote on the board of trustees, Bryan Batey, said at a special meeting Monday morning he can only support displaying the posters in some — not all — classrooms.
That makes three votes against trustee Chad Vegas’ proposal — that calls to post the motto, U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence — on a five-member board.
“I believe that the (founding) documents ... have a place in the school. ... But I would see them being more appropriate in civics, history, world history classes ... but I don’t currently see how that’s going to work for me in every single classroom,” Batey said.
A telephone message for Vegas asking if he would narrow the scope of his proposal was not returned Monday.
Trustee Ken Mettler, who supports posting the motto, said it should not be limited to civics rooms.
“It is appropriate in every classroom,” Mettler said. “Because without that foundation, without our country in its form, everything else may not be in the present form that it is today. We would not have the freedoms we have.”
The board will vote on Vegas’ proposal on Nov. 5. Trustees Bob Hampton and Joel Heinrichs have spoken against it.
Vegas first pitched the idea of displaying “In God We Trust” posters created by the conservative Christian group American Family Association earlier this month. Bakersfield City Councilwoman Jacquie Sullivan had asked him to take up the cause.
He proposed an amended version Monday to put up the founding documents as well.
Heinrichs, while acknowledging the necessity of civic education, said he opposed any move by the district to link religion and patriotism.
“Some of the proponents of the initial proposal … have clearly equated patriotism and faith, and that deeply offends me,” Heinrichs said.
Vegas said understanding the link between faith and country is necessary for understanding the nature of the United States.
“God grants (citizens) rights, and we grant power back to the government on loan from the people,” Vegas said. “What is frightening to me is when we remove that educationally, people don’t understand that anymore. They actually start to think that the Bill of Rights is the reason they have rights.”
Some citizens spoke out at Monday’s meeting.
“If we want to take and put religious objects on a wall somewhere — as long as we don’t force people to accept that as fact — we can put that out there,” said Ernest Morse.
One woman, Jessica Korcok, said she and her husband will submit an alternative policy on Nov. 5. It would, among other things, propose the board limit the display of federal documents to those published prior to 1800. “In God We Trust” became the national motto in the 1950s.
“We wanted to come up with an alternative that would help support the goal of education and to bring up patriotism in the classroom without the inclusion of some of the more divisive language,” she said.