Cupertino Union School District

Attorneys for the Cupertino Union School District asked a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by an "orthodox Christian" fifth-grade teacher who argued that he has a 1st Amendment right to give students handouts about the American founders' religious beliefs.

A San Jose federal judge has tossed out three of four claims made by a fifth-grade teacher in a lawsuit alleging that Cupertino school officials illegally banned him from teaching students about the religious context of America's founding. U.S. District Judge James Ware, writing in a 17-page order handed down Thursday, dismissed allegations that Stephen J. Williams' constitutional rights of religious freedom, free speech and equal protection were violated.

A San Jose federal court judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Cupertino schoolteacher who accused his principal and other officials of illegally forbidding him from teaching about the religious context of America's founding. U.S. District Judge James Ware dismissed the suit, filed by fifth-grade teacher and avowed "orthodox Christian" Stephen Williams, after both sides in the case agreed to a voluntary settlement. Details of the agreement were not available.

These have not been the happiest of holidays for Stevens Creek Elementary. The Silicon Valley school has been engulfed in a media storm of allegations that it prohibited lessons on the Declaration of Independence -- even banned it from classrooms -- because the hallowed document contains religious references.