If you think the approval of 165 vouchers for the New Living Word School in Ruston, with its lack of instructors, classroom space and textbooks, was a little over the top, you might wish to take a look at the Light City Christian Academy in New Orleans.
Light City, like New Living Word, was approved for only about half the vouchers requested (163 requested, 80 approved) but the fact it received even one should raise a few eyebrows.http://cenlamar.com/
And then there’s Delhi Charter School about 300 miles to the north in Richland Parish which feels that girls who get pregnant are not entitled to an education but looks the other way in considering discipline for the young fathers.
Schools in Westlake and DeRidder were disapproved after first having been approved for vouchers while one in Baton Rouge failed a state fire marshal’s inspection this week and will be forced to relocate.
State Education Superintendent John White and Gov. Piyush Jindal’s new approach to public education seems to be creating far more problems than it is solving.
But back to Light City Christian Academy, the school that teaches grades K-7, which will be siphoning off taxpayer dollars intended for legitimate public education.
“Light City Christian Academy…has been awarded 49 new scholarships and 31 to students who are continuing from the Orleans Parish program during the 2011-2012 school year,” according to information provided by the Louisiana Department of Education. The average tuition for the 80 students is $4,555 each, or a total of $364.400 per year.
It is not, however, The Light City School of Prophets that received the vouchers as erroneously reported in another blog, but its affiliated school, Light City Christian Academy. The confusion is understandable, however, since Leonard Lucas Jr. founded both organizations, as well as some three dozen other corporate entities in New Orleans.
Light City Christian Academy is operated by the same organization that runs the Light City School of the Prophets, an adult training program run by Lucas, a former one-term state representative who in 2002 received 5 percent of the vote in the New Orleans mayor’s race.
In 2009, Lucas, in an announcement containing numerous grammatical errors, announced his candidacy for New Orleans city council, a race he also lost.
He also founded the Light City Church and referred to himself as “Apostle.” His church became the focus of considerable negative publicity when, following Hurricane Katrina, he claimed credit for organizing the rescue of more than 1,000 residents, for gutting more than 1,000 homes, businesses and churches, and for bringing back more than 2,000 residents to work in jobs that paid $1,500 to $2,000 per week, none of which held up to scrutiny.
His Light City School of the Prophets web page reads thusly:
“The Light City Church School of the Prophets is a training institute for those who sense the flow and pull of the prophetic upon their lives. The mandate of the school of the Prophets just as it was in the Old Testament days is to train men and women effectively in the prophetic. It is a time of proper training, mentoring, and developing of the spirit in the prophetic realm. It is a time that you are taught how to hear from God, how to speak the mind of God, and how to nurture the gift of prophecy.
“Those individuals that accept the challenge to attend must have an understanding that they are yielding themselves to the tutelage of Apostle Leonard Lucas Jr., who walks in the fullness of his calling and wears the mantle of an Apostle and Prophet. If you believe this is the calling upon your life, we invite you to join us for dynamic teaching and thought provoking sessions. Classes are held every Friday at 7:00pm at Light City Church, located at 6117 St. Claude Ave. Please call 504-301-4593 for more information.”
The same web page announces a mentorship training class on Aug. 17. “Join Apostle Lucas for this life changing mentorship course designed to accelerate your anointing in the prophetic,” it says.
Delhi Charter School, meanwhile, has attracted the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union because of the school’s unusual policy over teen pregnancy. Delhi Charter, with 600 students, apparently does not subscribe to the theory that female students have the right to a discrimination-free education.
The policy not only prevents pregnant female students from attending school, but can even force girls to take a pregnancy test to continue attending school if administrators so much as “suspect” they might be pregnant.
“The school reserves the right to require any female student to take a pregnancy test to confirm whether or not the suspect student is in fact pregnant,” says the policy. The policy also gives the school the power to refer the student to a school-designated physician.
“If the test indicates that the student is pregnant, the student will not be permitted to attend classes on the campus of Delhi Charter School” but may be required to enroll in a home study course during the duration of the pregnancy.
Nothing in the policy addresses any disciplinary action against any male student who may have had a part in getting a female pregnant. Apparent the Old Testament doctrine that gives men dominion over women holds true at Delhi Charter School.
The ALCU, however, thinks otherwise.
“The (school’s) complete disregard for Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities, is astonishing,” the rights organization said in a prepared statement. “Title IX … explicitly mandate(s) that schools cannot exclude any student from an education program or activity…on the basis of such student’s pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy or recovery therefrom.”
The ACLU statement also said the policy also “treats female students differently from male students and relies on archaic stereotypes linked to sex and pregnancy.”
So apparently, if Delhi Charter School adheres to its policy of not taking action against male students, then it would be reasonable to assume that no males had any involvement in the pregnancy. The only possible course of action then would be for the girl to claim Immaculate Conception.
If the school administrators truly believe in the Immaculate Conception, that claim could place them in quite a quandary. Would they dare deny the possibility?
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