Outrage After Texas Student Says Teacher Told Class 'God Is a Myth' (Video)
A 12-year-old Texas Christian student from the Katy Independent School District and her mother are now fighting back after alleging a teacher told students in her class that "God is a myth" and it is wrong to present the idea of God as fact.
Jordan Wooley, a seventh grader at West Memorial Junior High, told FOX 26 that students in her class, many of whom are also believers, were asked on a classroom assignment to differentiate between fact, common assertion and opinion.
When it came to an item on the assignment that stated "There is a God," Jordan said she told the teacher that the statement is factual based on her religion but the teacher shut her down.
"I told her it was a fact, indeed true, based on my religion, and she said that I was incorrect. I was wrong," Jordan told FOX 26.
Jordan stood by her belief in the statement as fact and quickly brought the challenge to her mother's attention.
"The majority of the kids believed in God," Jordan's mother, Chantel Wooley, told FOX 26, "and they're being told by their teacher that there's no God."
Jordan explained that after she and other students argued with the teacher about the statement, the teacher revealed that the assignment was a flashpoint for students in all her classes on Monday.
"They were really really upset. Jordan told me that one kid slammed her books on the desk that she wanted it [the discussion] to stop. Another kid went home crying," Chantel Wooley said.
That's exactly what her mom said! Here's their text conversation. @kathryneast@Fox26Houston#standwithjordanpic.twitter.com/wDkcf3IC4g
— Andrea Watkins (@watkinsfox26) October 28, 2015
Jordan pushed the issue all the way to the Katy ISD School Board Monday night, but when school board members started asking her questions, Superintendent Alton Frailey ended the discussion.
"I can tell you that while she was up there at the school board speaking, I was crying," said Chantel Wooley. "Here's my kid, braver than most adults, speaking about her faith and how she felt violated at school."
The disgruntled mother also noted that she was surprised that she was fighting this battle about God in Texas.
"In New York, California, Vermont, the liberal states, I could totally see this as happening. But in Houston, Texas, where it's red, white and blue, and stars all over, and God bless the USA, and 'Don't Mess With Texas,' you know, Texas is messing with my kid," she said.
Reacting to the furor over the assignment, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott praised Jordan for speaking out against her teacher.
"I'm proud of this 7th grader's unyielding commitment to God. She's Texas tough," he noted in a tweet.
I'm proud of this 7th grader's unyielding commitment to God. She's Texas tough. #IStandWithJordan#tcot#PJNEThttps://t.co/hvxZ4OSXjO
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) October 28, 2015
WATCH JORDAN BEFORE THE ISD SCHOOL BOARD: