first amendment violations?

last week we had our first "public school" situation.

davian came home from school and got that question that we all loved as kids
so how was school today?
i was surprised by the response i got because it was not the expected fine.
the kids all get a writing journal and daily or weekly assignments. the first assignments she received were to write something that is important to you. so what did she write about? Jesus. she wrote about his death and resurrection and how he saved her from her sins. it was beautiful. so what was the problem? her teacher told her that she is attending a public school and she is not allowed to write anything about Jesus. the assignment was supposed to be read aloud to the class and so she was not permitted to read her entry.
of course dan and i got on the internet to see if she was really outside the line on this. we were both really surprised to discover that children have all sorts of first amendment protection when it relates to religion in the public school. we called a meeting with the teacher and the principal and to our delight the situation was rectified and her assignment was recognized as legitimate.
let me just say that we have NO issues with the teacher. she did not belittle davian or cause any problems. she was erring on the side of caution and was glad that the lines have now been better defined. i do fear however that many schools are not allowing students to express themselves.
the principal did have to take exception to the artwork that accompanied her journal entry.
wanna guess at what it was?
Jesus dying on the cross complete with lots of blood and wounds. biblically accurate but a little too violent for the schools taste. scary for other children, etc.

that's my girl!