Controversial Curriculum

WOAI-TV (San Antonio, TX)/October 18, 2005
By Danielle Austin

A San Antonio middle school is under fire tonight for trying to change the curriculum. Zachry Middle School tried to introduce a new way to help get students to learn with a kit called "Learning How To Learn."

The problem? The kit has a connection to a controversial religion called scientology.

13-year-old James Anderson is an 8th grader at Zachry Middle School and his mom, Christine, thinks the school dropped the ball with his education. "It makes me mad...I am very angry."

The learning kit includes grammar books, dictionaries and teaching manuals based on the beliefs of L. Ron Hubbard.

Christine looked him up. "It was the Scientology that knocked me over the head."

Hubbard is the founder of the Church of Scientology, a controversial religion.

The kit and cost to train the teachers on how to use the curriculum amounts to $13,599 of taxpayer money.

Christine thinks it's waste. "I want to see this taken out of the school and I don't want to see this in any NISD school."

The school district was listening.

"We want to use the taxpayers money the best way we can. We don't think the purchase of these materials is the best way to use those funds" said NISD spokesman Pascual Gonzalez

The kit doesn't appear to include any religious material, but what bothers NISD officials most is the fact that the materials are geared toward third graders.

The kits have been returned and the district is working to get all that money back.

And from now on, all schools within the district have to get approval to change any part of the curriculum.