After long legal fight, Sacramento City Unified has clear path for Waldorf-method schools
Published: Sunday, Jun. 17, 2012 - 12:00 am | Page 1B
After 14 years and more than half a million dollars in legal fees, Sacramento City Unified School District appears to have cleared its final hurdle in its fight to offer Waldorf-inspired instruction in its public schools.
The nonprofit group – People for Legal and Non-Sectarian Schools, or PLANS Inc. – sued the district in 1998, alleging that Waldorf schools teach the religion anthroposophy and thus should be barred from public funding.
Anthroposophy is a philosophy of Waldorf method founder Rudolf Steiner that supporters say is meant to encourage personal thought and self-reflection.
"The PLANS case started with: Is anthroposophy a religion?" said Allegra Alessandri, a longtime Waldorf educator who now teaches at a Waldorf- inspired high school in Sacramento City Unifie
