Repeating History

(Fox News) - An eighth-grade history teacher in Chico, California thought it would be a good idea to send home with his students a letter featuring a modern-day take on the Declaration of Independence.

A Chico newspaper reports the letter was addressed to President Bush and basically declared the parents' intentions to renounce their citizenship — as the American colonists had done with Britain. But the teacher did not send any explanation with the letter and several parents took it seriously. Some were outraged. But a few signed the letter and returned it to the teacher.

The head of the school system says the teacher now realizes he should have made his point a little differently and has sent home a second letter with students explaining the situation.