Southern California school district's move to introduce a yoga regimen has angered parents
who believe that it amounts to introducing religion in classrooms.
A comprehensive yoga program for students was first introduced at the Paul Ecke Central Elementary School in Encinitas, an affluent suburb north of San Diego. It sparked a controversy with some parents expressing concern that the exercises might nudge their children closer to ancient Hindu beliefs. According to the website of the Encinitas Union School District, the classes are offered twice a week for 30 minutes each to roughly 5,000 students from kindergarten through sixth grade.
Highlighting the controversy is the source of the program's financing – the pilot project is supported by a $533,000 grant from the Jois Foundation, a nonprofit founded in memory of Indian yoga teacher Krishna Pattabhi Jois, The New York Times reported. Jois’ teachings are said to have popularized Ashtanga yoga in the West and attracted disciples such as Madonna and Sting. Russell Case, program director for the Jois Foundation, said Encinitas is building a national yoga model for public schools.
Parents and an advocacy group say the classes represent a violation of the First Amendment. According to local reports, opponents of the yoga classes have started an online petition to remove the course from
the district's curriculum.
Mary Eady, the parent of a first-grader, told the Times that the classes were rooted in the deeply religious practice of Ashtanga yoga, in which physical actions are inextricable from the spiritual beliefs underlying them. "They're not just teaching physical poses, they're teaching children how to think and how to make decisions," Eady was quoted as saying.
Dean Broyles, the president and chief counsel of the National Center for Law and Policy, a nonprofit law firm that champions religious freedom and traditional marriage, told the Times that the classes show that there is a transparent promotion of Hindu religious beliefs and practices in the public schools. Broyles has threatened to sue if the school board does not address the concerns about yoga.
But Tim Baird, the schools superintendent, has defended the yoga classes as merely another element of a broader program designed to promote children's physical and mental well-being. The notion that yoga teachers have designs on converting tender young minds to Hinduism is incorrect, he told the Times, adding, "That's why we have an opt-out clause."
Case also said the parents' fears were misguided. "They're concerned that we're putting our God before their God," he told the Times. “We're good Christians that just like to do yoga because it helps us to be better people."
The Associated Press reported on Dec. 17 that starting January, the Encinitas Union School District will offer yoga instruction at all of its nine schools despite the protest.
