Teachers complain about staff shirts bearing church's name

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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Some Tampa-area teachers are complaining after being issued staff T-shirts bearing the logo of a sponsoring megachurch.

The Tampa Bay Times reports (http://bit.ly/1NLpJFV ) that more than 2,000 Hillsborough County public school teachers received T-shirts that say "Staff" on the back. Underneath, the shirts say "In Partnership with Idlewild Baptist Church" and have the church's logo.

Teachers aren't required to wear the shirts, but their union contacted the district after members complained that the shirts give the impression that the schools endorse the church.

The church says it has helped the schools for five years, including projects where its children raise money for low-income students. The church says the T-shirt donation has no agenda except "to bless the schools."

The district compared the partnership to those it has with sports teams.