To the editor:

A classroom is not a church. A teacher is not a preacher. Students are not a congregation. If one religion is permitted in school, all faiths must be permitted (unless a student is enrolled in a privately funded religious school). If displaying the Judeo / Christian 10 Commandments is allowed in Florida public schools, the door opens for the Five Pillars of Islam, the Five Precepts of Buddhism, the Rastafarian Commandments, the Dharma of Hinduism, the Five Principles of Shinto, the Diasporic Religion of Haitian Vodou, to mention but a few of the 6,000-plus religions practiced in the USA. Theology (the study of world religions) would be an eye-opening course, but it is a branch of social studies. Social studies is on the chopping block across Florida schools.

Overburdened school teachers feel the pressure to bring students up to reading level while cutting interesting science, arts, and history curricula and disenfranchise students. Fear for students’ futures that are based on incomplete and erroneous coursework and ignores the pleas of marginalized students for representation, drags down morale and erodes staffing. …And for what? To pass along the intricacies of faith traditions that should be the responsibility of parents and faith leaders? Our founding families who demanded the separation of church from state and visa versa must be rolling over in their graves.

Karyn Edison

Fort Myers