Sophia Academy is the only Christian school in the great state of Georgia that is dedicated solely to students with learning difference.  Many of these students had problems catching on in regular schools and classrooms settings.  It is now located in 2880 Dresden Drive, Atlanta, GA 30341.  It used to be located on a church property in Sandy Springs.  One would expect any Christian school located in a holy compound would be a place of high learning, quality discipline, exceptional moral values, and fairness for all children of God, but I found out that it is the exact opposite.   

Atlanta is made up of about 65% Blacks, but like in most unholy places of employment around Atlanta, only 2 of the teachers were Blacks out of about 16 staff members – 12.5%.  One of the Black teachers was a middle school math and science teacher and was the only Black person in middle school, including students, and the other was the art teacher (female).  A lot of the parents and students liked the Math teacher because he cared about the students, disciplined them when appropriate, never made work easy for them, and he also challenged them in note taking and reading in the science classes.  Many parents were happy with the progress of their children especially in the math area and the principal was happy to have another male teacher in the classroom.   

All went well until the month of February 2005 (Black History Month) when he gave them African/African American history from educational sites like the University of Pennsylvania math department.  He had four problem children who acted badly because they had very bad parents.  These were parents who always wanted to cover up their children’s shortcomings by blaming it on the teacher or sending negative e-mails to the principal without first discussion the issue with the teacher.  Despite numerous warnings from the principal to see the teacher first before assuming or taking their child’s side, they were determined to smear the teacher.  One of them had good leadership skill but used it to lead other children the wrong way.  He enjoyed making sexual noises and drawing marijuana on the board to amuse others.  Another was lost in space and could no longer do the course work.  He even refused to meet after class for help.  A third was a brilliant student but enjoyed disrupting class for the other students by his unnecessary jokes that usually had nothing to do with class.  He got scolded a couple of times by his own classmates to be quiet, but would never stop.  The last students, fought almost every student, was rude to all teachers, was angry at the world, was suspended a couple of times, and both the director and the principal advised (threatened) the mother that the child might have to go elsewhere if things did not change.   

During Black History month, all the students did their assignment excerpt the last two problem children.  One of the parents pretended not to understand the assignment, and the other told the son not to do it.  The assignment was to read a short essay which was already printed for them from an educational site.  They were also supposed to summaries it and teach it to the class.  The problem was that they were used to Black histories of inventors of tools, but could not comprehend the vast history of Black innovation in math, science, astrology, culture, religion, and even astrology referenced by one of America’s most prestigious universities.  My others students enjoyed the assignment.  One girls was amazed that a woman from the Congo invented the first known mathematical instrument in prime numbers to calculate menstrual cycles, another student marveled at the fact that the African Egyptians brought the idea of one God in a many gods world, another talked about how Africans were the first to use the ocean currents to sail between continents for trade, and yet another about how hot African fire was compared to the maximum capability of today for engineering purposes.  The joking problem student actually said that the assignment was an insult to them and tried to encourage the class not to participate.       

In March 2005, the student that the director (Marie Corrigan) threatened to send away if he did not change called the teacher “the only rat here” after the teacher told him to put a rodent pet away and do his work.  The issue was reported to the school and the parent.  The next month, the teacher was terminated, despite the fact that he had two “far above average” reviews in October 2004 and February 2005, got a new contract, and the maximum 5% pay increase.  Marie Corrigan, who has a picture of Dick Cheney in her office, claimed that the school had the right to make use of the “terminate at will” clause in the contract that is permitted in the great state of Georgia.  This means that employers can terminate an employee for any reason without justification.  Talk about Christianity and fairness on holy ground.   The teacher did sue the school in a civil case in a Federal Court, but the Judge is yet to rule and she is procrastinating.  Judge Janet King is a fellow Republican appointed judge and she has chosen to view the case as a racist case instead of a retaliation case.  This is because racism is more difficult to prove than retaliation.  Judge King even went as far as threatening the teacher’s attorney for taking the case.  The attorney appealed her view and insisted that it was a retaliation case and not a racist case.  The retaliation case forces the judge to decided why a teacher with two good reviews, a new contract a month ago, and maximum pay raise should be terminated without a reason just a month after he complained about a racist comment.  We are still waiting for the Republican judge to rule against Cheney’s bosom friend, assuming that she has the courage to rid America of the behaviors and mentality processed by Director Marie Corrigan.