Textbooks on hold

Sacramento Bee/June 8, 1998

A publishing arm of the Church of Scientology submitted a series of study-skills books to the Department of Education more than a year ago, hoping it would allow school districts to buy the books with state funds.

The materials are based on the work of L. Ron Hubbard, late founder of the controversial religion and author of "Dianetics: the Modern Science of Mental Health."

But the department's Legal Compliance Review Panel was only concerned about the depiction of people with disabilities and the poor representation of people of color, not over inappropriate religious content.

In October, Church of Scientology representatives said the materials would be revised and presented later in the fall.

Now: Department of Education officials have met with the series' publishers, according to Rovina

The publishers brought a list of what they would change, but that wasn't good enough, Salinas said.

"It seemed like they had done all of the work and preparation," she said. "But we can't just approve it on what they say they're going to improve."

The publishers agreed to return in December, but canceled and have not rescheduled.

Representatives of Applied Scholastics, the church wing that licenses the use of Hubbard's learning methods, could not be reached for comment.