Three San Diego parents have teamed up with a watchdog group to sue the State of California over its ethnic studies program for allegedly violating their constitutional right to freedom of religion. The Californians for Equal Rights Foundation (CFER) and parents Eric Gonzales, Steve Houbeck, and Jose Velazquez filed a lawsuit on Sept. 3 against the state government and its agencies the State Board of Education and the State Department of Education. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond was also named in the suit. CFER and the co-plaintiff parents allege that prayers to Aztec and Ashe gods in the state-approved Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC) violate the California Constitution’s free exercise of religion and no government aid clauses. In a statement, Velazquez suggested that the ESMC favors Aztec and Ashe gods over other religions and beliefs. “While we recognize the values of teaching history, cultures and world religions in …