Heritage Academy: Public Charter School Teaching & Promoting Religion??

According to a report   by Heather Clark yesterday in the Christian News Network 

Church-State Separation Group Demands School Remove God from Government Class

MESA, Ariz. — A prominent church-state separation group is demanding that officials at an Arizona high school cease referencing Christianity in its government class under threat of a lawsuit.
“In sum, we have confirmed that Heritage Academy’s mandatory government class for seniors teaches and promotes religion—through written material, oral instruction, and assignments students must complete—in plain violation of the U.S. and Arizona Constitutions,” the letter reads.

You can read the 5-page letter and all the attachments from Americans United for Separation of Church and State by going to this link:
 https://www.au.org/files/Demand%20letter%20to%20Heritage%20Academy%20--%20with%20exhibits.pdf

Copies of the letter and attachments were also sent to:

• Whitney Chapa Executive Director Arizona State Board for Charter Schools P.O. Box 18328 Phoenix, AZ 85009 whitney.chapa@asbcs.az.gov 
• Diane Douglas State Superintendent of Public Instruction Arizona Department of Education 1535 W. Jefferson Phoenix, AZ 85007 adeinbox@azed.gov

Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. 

Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.

On August 28, 2015 Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent out this press release:

Ariz. Public Charter School Must Stop Promoting Religion In Government Classes, Americans United SaysHeritage Academy In Mesa Teaches Religion Instead of Civics, Says Church-State Watchdog

This is the third letter Americans United has sent to Heritage Academy. 

The first was mailed in December 2013 and the second in June 2014. Heritage Academy Principal Earl Taylor Jr. has denied any wrongdoing.

The letter asks for a response within two weeks and warns that Americans United is prepared to file suit if Heritage Academy does not cease its promotion of religion. 

Founder/Principal Earl Taylor

The same allegations were written about back in July of 2014 in the Arizona Republic
www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/ mesa/2014/07/14/mesa-charter-school-religion/12615041/.
The National Center for Constitutional Studies (NCCS) is a conservative, religious-themed constitutionalist organization, founded by Latter-Day Saint political writer Cleon Skousen. It was formerly known as The Freemen Institute.
Impeached Arizona governor Evan Mecham was also a regular donor to the center.In the early 1990s, an effort to build a conservative community in Southern Utah to house the center collapsed amid the developer's unfulfilled promises.

The NCCS has found a number of new organizational allies among Constitutionalist groups such as the John Birch Society, the Eagle Forum, and the Oath Keepers.

Heritage Academy charter school in Mesa, Arizona is partial to the writings of Cleon Skousen, a conservative Mormon theologian and former FBI agent who declared that the founding of the United States was a divine miracle.
Don’t know Skousen? If you were a Tea Party–type, you might; he is largely read in those circles. Christina Botteri, a spokeswoman for the California-based National Tea Party Federation, was quoted in this article by Cathryn Creno in The Republic to say that one of Skousen’s books is considered “a handbook of tea-party ideals” and specifically inspired her to join the Tea Party movement. TV and radio personality Glenn Beck, who rediscovered religion in the late 1990s when he became a Mormon, is a fan of Skousen and wrote in the foreword for Skousen’s The 5,000-Year Leap that the book was “divinely inspired.”

According to the profile for Heritage Academy available on Public School Review 

• Minority enrollment is 19% of the student body (majority Hispanic), which is less than the state average of 58%.
• The school district's 67% graduation rate is lower than the AZ state average of 74%.
• 37% Male / 63%Female
• Mesa, AZ public schools have a diversity score of 0.59, which is higher than the Arizona average of 0.42. Heritage Academy's diversity score is .33
• AZ School average for hispanic students is 43% while Heritage Academy's school average is 13%
• Heritage Academy has a white enrollment of 81%, while state average is 42%
• Spending/student of $6,588 is less than the state average of $8,323.

TEA PART PATRIOTS 
HERE IN MESA??
New Old Glory and a new flag for the State of Arizona are hoisted up on a flagpole at the school entrance on 32 S Center Street - they're there 24 hours/day, not being raised or lowered every day as is the usual custom with flags on public school premises.
But, any inquiring mind might want to know why the Tea Party Don't Tread On Me yellow flag is raised on a flagpole 24 hours/day in front of the classroom annex building right next door at 42 S Center Street.

Does anyone know if there's a requirement, or a permission, to display the Gadsden Flag on public education school buildings in Arizona??

BTW the Gadsden Flag has a history and a heritage going back to South Carolina, just like the recent much-in-the-news reactions to the Confederate Flag that was removed by state buildings.

In its place, up went this flag: