Chicago Public School Students Awarded $2.6 Million in Damages for Forced Transcendental Meditation

Federal Judge Approves Class Action Settlement Over Mandatory “Quiet Time” Indoctrination

Contact: Tom Ciesielka, 312.422.1333, tc@tcpr.net

(May 13, 2025 – Chicago) — The Chicago Board of Education and the New York-based David Lynch Foundation will pay out $2.6 million to former Chicago Public Schools high school students over forced Transcendental Meditation indoctrination. On May 13, 2025, Judge Matthew Kennelly of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois approved the class action settlement.

The funds will be distributed among 773 individuals who, while students at Chicago public high schools, were either required to participate in Transcendental Meditation as part of their in-school curriculum or were deprived daily of a half-hour of academic instruction and required to maintain silence while their classmates focused their minds on secret mantras.

The Chicago Board of Education partnered with the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace, which was founded by filmmaker David Lynch to fund Transcendental Meditation instruction in schools. Though presented as a nonreligious exercise, Transcendental Meditation is rooted in Hinduism. The Hindu American Foundation describes the practice as “wholly and unequivocally Hindu.”

The schools’ compulsory participation violated students’ rights and even included nondisclosure agreements. At least one student shared how she and a classmate were instructed not to tell anyone—including their parents—about the program. A representative from the David Lynch Foundation allegedly warned them specifically not to inform religious parents.

Attorney John Mauck of Mauck & Baker represented the student class, along with court-appointed lead plaintiff Kaya Hudgins.

“This settlement vindicates the concerns of former students and parents that the initiation ceremony and daily meditation regime were effectively demonic invocations and thus violated the Establishment Clause of the Constitution,” stated Mauck. “We hope this settlement will deter those who exploit young people and that it will encourage the Chicago Board of Education to be wary of harming students by allowing wolves to prey on the sheep they are obligated to protect.”

Hudgins, now 22 years old, was the lead plaintiff in the class action lawsuit. She recounted that, at age 16, she was forced to take part in the program called “Quiet Time.” Her participation was mandatory, despite any personal objections. She described how, despite its innocuous title, the program included a private one-on-one Hindu “Puja” worship ceremony in a darkened room, chanting, religious paraphernalia, and secret mantras that were actually the names of Hindu gods.

“I was just a teenager when I was pressured into a program I didn’t understand and wasn’t allowed to question,” said Kaya Hudgins. “No student should ever be forced into a religious practice against their will—especially not in a public school. This settlement is a step toward accountability and a reminder that our constitutional rights don’t stop at the classroom door.”

Hudgins’ attorneys petitioned the court for class action status, which was granted on April 19, 2024, for all students who participated in the Quiet Time program in Chicago Public Schools during the academic years from Fall 2015 through Spring 2019 and who reached age eighteen on or after January 13, 2021.

In a similar case, former Chicago Public Schools student Mariyah Green, also represented by Mauck & Baker, was awarded $150,000 in damages and legal fees by Illinois Circuit Court on October 23, 2023. The court found that the Board of Education of the City of Chicago and the David Lynch Foundation had violated her constitutional rights by requiring participation in Hindu rituals under the guise of a public-school program. Green’s complaint was filed in February 2023.

Read the Final Order and Judgment Confirming Class Certification, Approving Class Action Settlement, Award of Attorneys’ Fees, Costs, and Class Representative Service Award issued May 13, 2025, by District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, awarding a $2.6 million settlement to former CPS student Kaya Hudgins and others included in the class action lawsuit, Hudgins v. Board of Education of the City of Chicago et al here.

About Mauck & Baker, LLC
Mauck & Baker, established in Chicago in 2001, is nationally known for its practice in the area of religious liberty. It works with individuals, religious institutions, and businesses. For more information, please visit mauckbaker.com.

We need to start a revolution in every school district!

Our schools have hit rock-bottom, and the children are the victims. It must be completely changed.

This situation must be completely reversed.

March 27, 2025
ALT TEXT
This is an example of what special interests and teachers' unions have brought into schools across the country - replacing real civics and academics.

Public school enrollment across the country is going down. Families are leaving their local schools. By the thousands, they’ve had enough. They are paying to send their children to private schools or they are taking on the burdens of homeschooling.

It’s not hard to see why. By virtually every measure, public school education in America is worse than ever before in history. High percentages of children in every grade are reading below their expected grade point level. They can’t do complex (or even easy) math problems. Their knowledge of civics, American government, and history is abysmal. They can’t write coherent paragraphs.

As a result, when students graduate, their reading levels, critical thinking ability, and general knowledge are far below even that of a few decades ago. Most colleges must now require remedial classes in basic subjects for students to simply catch up. Even Stanford, Harvard, and MIT are offering remedial math classes.

But there are some things that the public schools seem to excel at. Most parents are just becoming aware of how thoroughly dominated their schools are by leftist ideology, radical indoctrination, and other toxic non-academic materials and activities. Homosexuality, secret transgender grooming, gender ideology, Planned Parenthood-style sex-ed, pornographic books, anti-Americanism, and far-left political fads (anti-Semitism, “climate change,” etc.) have become standard fare. LGBT “GSA” clubs are in most high schools and many middle schools. There is even a push to start “rainbow clubs” in elementary schools!

Students go through school embracing a range of destructive ideas. And their mental health issues have skyrocketed.

Not surprisingly, good teachers are also leaving the schools. They’ve had enough of the radicalism, the absurd non-learning atmosphere, and the horrible discipline problems caused by “woke” policies imposed by administrators.

It’s not just children who are being irreparably harmed. It’s their families and all of society.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Children are capable of great learning. Public school students used to study (and appreciate) Shakespeare, Dickens, Twain, and other great authors. They learned algebra, calculus, and trigonometry. They studied chemistry and physics. They knew geography, history, civics, and astronomy as well as most adults. They could debate and write well (with very good penmanship) and had a larger vocabulary. They learned musical instruments, sang in chorus, and learned to appreciate classical music and even opera.

And beyond that: When Winston Churchill was a boy, his classmates could compose poetry in ancient Greek and Latin. He sometimes reminisced about reading Thucydides in the original Greek in high school.

We can restore education in America! Public schools should be uplifting beacons of learning instead of cesspools of ignorance, propaganda, and perversion.

Parents should want to send their children to the local public schools. Teachers should want to teach at them.

President Trump has opened the door to positive change. His Executive Orders are requiring that school systems that receive federal funding (i.e., all of them) abandon illegal and discriminatory DEI policies and teaching, identity propaganda, destructive gender ideology, and boys in girls’ sports  – and implement pro-America courses of study for students.

That is a great start. For the first time in memory, parents have a friend – not an enemy – in their federal government in this regard.

This is an incredible opportunity. It’s time for parents across the country to jump in and use that starting momentum from the top to force change on the local level. An American revolution in education: All the bad curriculum (and methods) must go. The whole radical perversion must go. It must be replaced with true quality.

But in every community, there are big obstacles to making this vision happen. Special interests, big money, and children are a dangerous combination. National LGBT groups, teachers’ unions, radical teachers, woke administrators, leftist school committees, and local unhinged leftist activists are all strongly against the reforms that parents want.

In most communities in America, the public schools take up over half of the town’s entire operating budget. Taxpayers – everyone’s taxpayers – are paying many times the per-pupil cost at similar private schools. We must insist on getting our money’s worth from the public schools.

Like every revolution that’s worth fighting, this will be a very nasty battle. Unfortunately, the conservative movement is not stepping up in any forceful way. But MassResistance has aggressively geared up to help parents make this happen in their communities. The only requirement is that the parents must really want this change. It’s not a fight for cowards. But it will really be worth it.

We’re already at work in a few school systems. But we want this education revolution to be a national movement! If you know of people in your community who are tired of the Left ruining the lives of everyone’s children with their tax money, drop us a line!

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Our success depends on people like you.

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Education Secretary Linda McMahon Makes Historic Visit To Jewish Day School

Education Secretary Linda McMahon visited an Orthodox Jewish Day School in Miami, the first education secretary to do so in years. McMahon reaffirmed this administration's commitment to fighting antisemitism and ensuring Jewish students feel safe on campus. Yehuda Kaploun helped facilitate the visit and joined One America's Stella Escobedo to talk about the historic visit.

GLENN BECK: Mom Thanks Trump for Restoring Sanity After School Targeted Her Daughter

Under President Trump, moms like January Littlejohn are no longer alone in their fight for their children. Littlejohn, who was invited to Trump’s Address to Congress, joins Glenn to explain just how much has changed. Her daughter’s school socially transitioned her daughter without her knowledge and under Biden, things like that were praised by the government. But under Trump, the government message “to every child in America is that you are perfect, exactly the way God made you." When Trump said that, she says, “it felt incredible. It felt like reality and sanity were returning to our great nation.” But the battle was far from over.

Wisconsin: At Least 3 Dead, Including Juvenile Suspect, 6 Injured In Christian School Shooting

Madison Police Department
(Photo via: Madison Police Department)

OAN Staff Abril Elfi
10:47 AM – Monday, December 16, 2024

UPDATE- 12/16- 11:25 a.m.: Police have made an error, retracting their death toll back down to three people, not five. However, in today’s press conference, Police Chief Shon Barnes initially said that five people have been killed in the incident.

 

 

Police have reported that at least three people have died, including a juvenile suspect, and at least six others were transferred to a hospital after a shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin.

Barnes called today a “sad, sad day,” not just for the community, but for the country, after the shooting on Monday.

“Yet another police chief is doing a press conference to speak about violence in our community, specifically in one of the places that’s most sacred to me as someone who loves education and to someone who has children that are in schools,” Barnes said.

He stated that officers discovered multiple gunshot victims after responding to an active shooter call at the school at 10:57 a.m.

The shooter was reportedly a student at the school, according to NBC News.

According to Chief Barnes, at least three people were transported to local area hospitals for treatment after officers and emergency personnel performed life-saving efforts on those discovered injured.

Barnes did not specify how many deaths were students versus staff. The police’s incident website stated that the injuries “range from minor to life-threatening.”

“I’m not going to give any information about who the victims are, whether they’re students, staff or parents, because we need to make sure that we can notify people,” Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said.

Authorities told CNN that officers are now working to clear the school. They also stated that multiple main roads in the vicinity have been closed and locals have been asked to avoid the area.

According to their website, Abundant Life Christian School is a K-12 school serving approximately 390 students.

President Joe Biden has been briefed on the incident, a White House spokesperson said.

“The President has been briefed on the school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin. Senior White House officials are in touch with local counterparts in Madison to provide support as needed,” senior deputy press secretary Emilie Simons said.

Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI.) responded to reports of the shooting, in which multiple injuries have been reported, in post on X.

“My sincere condolences and prayers for all the victims of the tragedy at Abundant Life Christian School,” Johnson wrote. “I will continue to closely monitor the situation.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts

The Invasion of False Science Into Medical Schools and Medical Journals

"Medicating Normal" | Docu | 76-min ADD TO YOUR POST FROM YESTERDAY

This full-length, award-winning documentary unearths the shattering truth that millions of people worldwide are injured by prescribed psychiatric medications. Interweaving stories of harm with expert testimony, the film reveals how a profit-driven industry hides the risks of long-term use. This untold story is a compelling call to examine the consequences of medicating normal human suffering.

Ohio Gov. DeWine Sending State Police To Springfield Schools Amid Bomb Threats

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine takes part in a sound check at the Fiserv Forum ahead of the 2024 Republican National Convention on July 14, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The convention will take place from July 15th to the 18th. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine takes part in a sound check at the Fiserv Forum ahead of the 2024 Republican National Convention on July 14, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff James Meyers
12:03 PM – Tuesday, September 17, 2024

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/ohio-gov-dewine-sending-state-police-to-springfield-schools-amid-bomb-threats/; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced on Monday that he has authorized state troopers to be stationed at each school building in Springfield, Ohio after a series of “unfounded bomb threats” took place. 

DeWine has said all 33 bomb threats received so far have been hoaxes.

Former President Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance have been blamed for recent bomb threats in the media, claiming they’re the reason these threats are taking place.

“We have people, unfortunately overseas, who are taking these actions. Some of them are coming from one particular country. "We think that this is one more opportunity to mess with the United States,” DeWine said during a Monday afternoon news conference. “We cannot let the bad guys win. Our schools must remain open. They’re going to remain open.”

However, DeWine declined to name which country the threats were coming from. 

The troopers will deploy explosive sniffing dogs and will work alongside the Springfield Police Department. Three dozen troopers will be assigned to provide security before, during and after school hours at the city’s 18 school buildings for the foreseeable future. 

DeWine also stated that the Haitians who relocated to the area of Springfield for work are there under legal status. 

“There are issues about immigration that anybody has the legitimate right to talk about and to debate. "The fact that our southern border is porous and is a total mess is a legitimate issue in a presidential campaign, a Senate campaign or any other campaign,” DeWine said.

Starting on Tuesday, 36 state troopers from the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Mobile Field Force will be stationed throughout the school district. 

They will start sweeping school buildings for threats each day before students and faculty arrive, remaining on-campus throughout the day “to provide security throughout the school day and during dismissal.”

“None of the threats that have come into Springfield to date have been legitimate. "We're doing this purely as a precaution to prevent further disruption within the Springfield City School District,” DeWine said.

Additionally, the Ohio Governor said he also directed Ohio Homeland Security to conduct vulnerability assessments on “critical infrastructure” in the city, as well as provide surveillance cameras to the local police department.

DeWine also stated that the problems with illegal immigration are legitimate issues to debate and something to think about when voting. 

Meanwhile, nearly 20,000 Haitians have moved to Springfield over the past few years, a dramatic increase for a town that had 59,000 in it as of the 2020 census. 

Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts

Georgia High School Received Warning Call Before Shooting

A 14-year-old student is accused of fatally shooting four people, two students and two teachers, and wounding others at Apalachee High School in Georgia. Authorities said one of the resource officers “engaged” the shooter, who surrendered.

Apalachee High School Shooting: No Bail for Father, Son Charged

Both the 14-year-old shooting suspect and his father appeared in court for the first time since four people were killed at Apalachee High School. Prosecutors say Colin Gray gave his son the gun used to carry out the massacre.

12 Disturbing Details of Georgia School Shooting and Suspect Colt Gray

Colt Gray, 14, and his father Colin Gray, 54, are both behind bars in connection with a deadly rampage inside a north Georgia high school. After being read his rights, the teen reportedly told investigators, “I did it.” His father was arrested for allowing his son easy access to a gun. The father reportedly gave Gray an AR-style rifle for Christmas. Two teachers and two students died at Apalachee High School in Winder on September 4. Nine others were wounded. Law&Crime's Elizabeth Millner has the latest developments.

NYC: High school students call teacher ‘dirty Jew,’ praise Hitler, write ‘Free Palestine’ on classroom door

Jewish teacher suing NYC school that won't discipline antisemitic teens

The kids are all reich. A Brooklyn high school has become a haven for Hitler-loving hooligans who terrorize Jewish teachers and classmates, The Post has learned. On Oct. 26, just three weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre of 1,200 Israelis, 40 to 50 teens marched through Origins HS in Sheepshead Bay waving a Palestinian flag and chanting “Death to Israel!” and “Kill the Jews!” staffers said. The hateful procession was shocking even for Origins, a school rife with bias and bullying, insiders told The Post.“I live in fear of going to work every day,” said global history teacher Danielle Kaminsky. According to interviews with multiple staffers, and a Jewish student’s safety transfer request, recent hate incidents include:The teen tormenters have so far faced no serious discipline under interim acting principal Dara Kammerman, who has done little beyond contacting parents in an effort to practice “restorative justice,” staffers said.“She is perpetuating an antisemitic environment and a school of hate,” said Michael Beaudry, campus manager of the Sheepshead Bay building that houses Origins and three other schools. “The students continue these behaviors because they know there won’t be any consequences.”In a disturbing instance in late January, a group of boys came into Kaminsky’s classroom at the end of the day, and cornered her, laughing, she said.“Miss Kaminsky, do you love Hitler?” one asked.“I was so taken aback,” she said. “I did not respond, and they all gave the heil Hitler sign.”Frightened, Kaminsky quickly left her classroom. One boy waved to his friends to chase her inside the building, a scene captured on security footage, Beaudry said. Kaminsky immediately reported the harassment to the acting principal — who refused to suspend the boys because she found they did nothing wrong, records show.“We can’t do anything because the students claimed they were trying to have an ‘academic conversation,’” staff quoted her as explaining. Antisemitism at Origins HS has festered for several years, Kaminsky and Beaudry said. At Kaminsky’s request last March, Kammerman arranged for a group of students to visit the Museum of Jewish Heritage, which had a new program to educate students about antisemitism and the Holocaust. The museum, in Battery Park City, first sent two female interns to Origins to prepare the teens for what they would see. Several boys nearly brought the young women to tears with rude and appalling comments, according to emails with the museum and staff accounts. One teen said he would have sex with a dead Jewish woman. Another said he would “take money from the dead Jewish people’s corpses.”Others made derisive remarks like “Who cares about the Jews?”The museum canceled the visit. When another group of Origins kids went later that year, some stuffed trash in the donation box. The museum omitted a meeting with a Holocaust survivor because some kids were so disrespectful. About 40% of Origins students are Muslim.

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/03/nyc-high-school-students-call-teacher-dirty-jew-praise-hitler-write-free-palestine-on-classroom-door; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

It’s impossible to tell from this report whether these students are under the influence of the likes of Sneako, a popular “influencer” who has converted to Islam and praises Hitler, and Nick Fuentes, a supposedly “America First” agitator who mocks the Holocaust, or whether they are Muslim students. Either way, dark clouds are on the horizon.

“Antisemitic teens terrorizing Jewish teacher with Hitler jabs, death threats as NYC school refuses to discipline them: ‘I live in fear’: lawsuit,” by Susan Edelman, New York Post, March 2, 2024:

A Brooklyn high school has become a haven for Hitler-loving hooligans who terrorize Jewish teachers and classmates, The Post has learned.

On Oct. 26, just three weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre of 1,200 Israelis, 40 to 50 teens marched through Origins HS in Sheepshead Bay waving a Palestinian flag and chanting “Death to Israel!” and “Kill the Jews!” staffers said.

The hateful procession was shocking even for Origins, a school rife with bias and bullying, insiders told The Post.

“I live in fear of going to work every day,” said global history teacher Danielle Kaminsky.

According to interviews with multiple staffers, and a Jewish student’s safety transfer request, recent hate incidents include:

A student painted a mustache on his face to look like Hitler, and banged on classroom doors. When someone opened, he clicked his heels and raised his arm in the Nazi gesture, security footage shows.
Three swastikas in one week were drawn on teachers’ walls and other objects, a manager found.
A 10th-grader told Kaminsky, 33, who is Jewish, “I wish you were killed.”
Another student called her “a dirty Jew” and said he wished Hitler could have “hit more Jews,” including her.
Students pasted drawings of the Palestinian flag and notes saying “Free Palestine” on Kaminsky’s classroom door. One scribbled note that said simply, “Die.”
The teen tormentors have so far faced no serious discipline under interim acting principal Dara Kammerman, who has done little beyond contacting parents in an effort to practice “restorative justice,” staffers said.

“She is perpetuating an antisemitic environment and a school of hate,” said Michael Beaudry, campus manager of the Sheepshead Bay building that houses Origins and three other schools. “The students continue these behaviors because they know there won’t be any consequences.”

In response, the city Department of Education said it will launch a probe: “There is currently no evidence that these claims are true, but we are investigating the claims.”

In a disturbing instance in late January, a group of boys came into Kaminsky’s classroom at the end of the day, and cornered her, laughing, she said.

“Miss Kaminsky, do you love Hitler?” one asked.

“I was so taken aback,” she said. “I did not respond, and they all gave the heil Hitler sign.”

Frightened, Kaminsky quickly left her classroom….

Islamic scholar who endorses Hamas, Hizballah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad lands job at Columbia University

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/02/islamic-scholar-who-endorses-hamas-hizballah-and-palestinian-islamic-jihad-lands-job-at-columbia-university; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

Yeah, this is like posting that water is wet. Mohamed Abdou will fit right in at Columbia, and won’t meet any professors there who don’t share his point of view, or who dare to say so if they really do dissent. What would be news would be if Columbia or any other university hired an opponent of jihad violence and Sharia oppression of women. But that would never happen in a million years.

“He Endorsed Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Then He Landed a Professorship at Columbia University.” By Jessica Costescu, Washington Free Beacon, February 27, 2024:

During a Jan. 5 interview with socialist podcast Revolutionary Left Radio, Islamic scholar Mohamed Abdou declared his support for Hamas and “the resistance.” The terror group’s “dedicated few,” he said admiringly, worked in “stealth mode” on Oct. 7 to defeat a “larger enemy” in Israel.

Just days later, on Jan. 16, Columbia University’s Middle East Institute extended a “warm welcome” to Abdou, the Ivy League school’s latest visiting professor in modern Arab studies.

As part of that role, Abdou teaches a weekly class on “Decolonial-Queerness & Abolition,” where his students discuss “transnational feminist discourses” and “queer of color critiques.” The self-described “Muslim anarchist” has also emerged as a friend to Columbia’s anti-Israel community. In a Feb. 11 social media post, Abdou revealed that he organized a protest in which Columbia students interrupted a panel featuring Hillary Clinton. One demonstrator called the former secretary of state a “war criminal” who “will burn” before chanting, “Free, free Palestine.”…

Abdou offered a more explicit endorsement of Hamas four days after the terrorist group’s attack on Israel. “Yes, I’m with the muqawamah (the resistance) be it Hamas and Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad,” he wrote in an Oct. 11 Facebook post, which also lamented “false reports accusing Arabs and Muslims of decapitating the heads of children and being rapists.” Months later, Abdou’s assessment remained the same.

“I might be with Hamas and support the resistance, absolutely,” the Columbia professor told Revolutionary Left Radio in January. “Look what 1,500 did … they were organized and they worked in stealth mode and they divested.”

“And nobody expected that this was the direction that Hamas and the Hamas leadership, or at least the political leadership, was going to take,” Abdou continued. “But look what the dedicated few [did] … how much a small group have defeated a larger enemy.”

Neither Columbia nor Abdou responded to requests for comment. Abdou’s role as a visiting professor will keep the Islamic scholar on Columbia’s campus through the spring 2024 semester. Abdou on his website acknowledges that the campus sits “on the ancestral and traditional homelands of the Lenni-Lenape and Wappinger peoples.”

While Abdou has already worked to organize anti-Israel protests at Columbia, he encourages those who oppose the Jewish state to go further.

“DON’T just go to Pro-Palestinian rallies DON’T just post on social media,” he wrote in November. “ORGANIZE revolutionary alternatives to capitalism & the state ON THE LAND you live alongside BIPOC kin who share similar anti-imperialist & anti-settler-colonial ETHICAL-POLITICAL commitments as YOU.”