Books rejected for merely mentioning God: California father of five takes charter school fight to the Supreme Court

California father of five John Woolard 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 resources he says other parents could access with public funds.

Woolard said he and his wife Breanna initially had no problems using a public charter school program that allowed them to educate their children at home. He said they eventually discovered that their curriculum choices were being scrutinized for religious content.

Any book or curriculum purchase that referenced God or faith in even an adjacent way was being denied, Woolard said. He described what he called a "publisher blacklist" and said the restrictions extended beyond explicitly Christian instructional materials.

He said he even encountered problems with books examining the religious beliefs of America's Founding Fathers. Those were choices he would have thought non-controversial, he said, yet they too were denied.

Woolard said the charter program had provided a cost-effective way to tailor the curriculum to each of his five children's individual needs. But when the school rejected curriculum purchases, his family was left covering the costs themselves, for resources other parents could obtain with public funds.

He said he pressed school officials to explain the rejections. He asked whether the curriculum met California standards and whether it was academically rigorous enough, and according to Woolard the answer to both questions was yes. He then asked whether the only objection was the faith component, and he said both a teacher and a principal acknowledged that the religious component was the objection.

"What that tells me is that equality only extends as far as what the government approves," Woolard said. He said he hopes the Supreme Court will tell California it got the decision wrong and show how to correct it, a ruling he said could "break open California for a lot of families."

Stephanie Taub, senior counsel with First Liberty Institute, characterized the policy as discriminatory toward families seeking a faith-based education. She said California has a policy that singles out parents who want to give their children a faith-based education and excludes them from homeschooling benefits that would otherwise be available.

Taub said the family is seeking Supreme Court intervention after an unfavorable lower-court decision. The Supreme Court is considering whether to take the case, and she expects to hear whether the justices will review it in the next few months.

A spokesperson for the California Department of Education said the department cannot comment on pending litigation.