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the time that it trickles down to the school board or the public school classroom,
the teaching of the United States Supreme Court derived from its many decisions
regarding religion in the public schools is often misunderstood. Many incorrectly
conclude that the high court disapproves of any religious insight, religious expression,
and study of religion and sacred texts in public schools. In 1995, a diverse coalition
approved the summary which rejects the claim that public schools are "religion
free zones" and explains the relevant law. RJ&L
Religious Institution Group RELIGION
IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: A
JOINT STATEMENT OF CURRENT LAW APRIL
1995 Drafting Committee American
Jewish Congress, Chair American
Civil Liberties Union American
Jewish Committee American Muslim
Council Anti-Defamation League Baptist
Joint Committee Christian Legal
Society General Conference
of Seventh-day Adventists National
Association of Evangelicals National
Council of Churches People
for the American Way Union
of American Hebrew Congregations Endorsing
Organizations American Ethical
Union American Humanist Association Americans
for Religious Liberty Americans
United for Separation of Church and State B'nai
B'rith, Intemational Christian
Science Church Church of the
Brethren, Washington Office Church
of Scientology International Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs Federation
of Reconstructionist Congregations and Havurot Friends
Committee on National Legislation Guru
Gobind Singh Foundation Interfaith
Alliance Interfaith Impact
for Justice and Peace National
Council of Jewish Women National
Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council (NJCRAC) National
Ministries, American Baptist Churches, USA National
Sikh Center North American
Council for Muslim Women Presbyterian
Church (USA) Reorganized Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Unitarian
Universalist Association of Congregations United
Church of Christ, Office for Church in Society
Table
of Contents Initial
Statement (Initial Section) Student
Prayers - Section 1 Graduation
Prayer and Baccalaureates - Sections 2, 3 0fficial
Participation or Encouragement of Religious Activity - Section 4 Teaching
about Religion - Sections 5,6 Student
Assignments and Religion - Sections 7, 8 Distribution
of Religious Literature - Sections 9, 10 "See
You at the Pole" - Section 11 Religious
Persuasion Versus Re1igious Harassment - Section 12 Equal
Access Act - Section 13 Religious
Holidays - Section 14 Excusal
from Religiously Objectionable Lessons - Section 15 Teaching
Values - Section 16 Student
Garb - Section 17 Released
Time - Section 18 Appendix
- Organizational Contacts (regarding this Joint Statement) (Final
Section)
Religion
In The Public Schools: A Joint Statement Of Current Law The
Constitution permits much private religious activity in and about the public schools.
Unfortunately, this aspect of constitutional law is not as well known as it should
be. Some say that the Supreme Court has declared the public schools "religion
free ones" or that the law is so murky that school officials cannot know what
is legally permissible. The former claim is simply wrong. And as to the latter,
while there are some difficult issues, much has been settled. It is also unfortunately
true that public school officials, due to their busy schedules, may not be as
fully aware of this body of law as they could be. As a result, in some school
districts some of these rights are not being observed. The
organizations whose names appear below span the ideological, religious and political
spectrum. They nevertheless share a commitment both to the freedom of religious
practice and to the separation of church and state such freedom requires. In that
spirit, we offer this statement of consensus on current law as an aid to parents,
educators and students. Many
of the organizations listed below are actively involved in litigation about religion
in the schools. On some of the issues discussed in this summary, some of the organizations
have urged the courts to reach positions different than they did. Though there
are signatories on both sides which have and will press for different constitutional
treatments of some of the topics discussed below, they all agree that the following
is an accurate statement of what the law currently is. Student
Prayers 1. Students
have the right to pray individually or in groups or to discuss their religious
views with their peers so long as they are not disruptive. Because the Establishment
Clause does not apply to purely private speech, students enjoy the right to read
their Bibles or other scriptures, say grace before meals, pray before tests, and
discuss religion with other willing student listeners. In the classroom students
have the right to pray quietly except when required to be actively engaged in
school activities (e.g., students may not decide to pray just as a teacher calls
on them). In informal settings, such as the cafeteria or in the halls, students
may pray either audibly or silently, subject to the same rules of order as apply
to other speech in these locations. However, the right to engage in voluntary
prayer does not include, for example, the right to have a captive audience listen
or to compel other students to participate. Graduation
Prayer and Baccalaureates 2. School
officials may not mandate or organize prayer at graduation, nor may they organize
a religious baccalaureate ceremony. If the school generally rents out its facilities
to private groups, it must rent them out on the same terms, and on a first-come
first-served basis, to organizers of privately sponsored religious baccalaureate
services, provided that the school does not extend preferential treatment to the
baccalaureate ceremony and the school disclaims official endorsement of the program. 3. The
courts have reached conflicting conclusions under the federal Constitution on
student-initiated prayer at graduation. Until the issue is authoritatively resolved,
schools should ask their lawyers what rules apply in their area. Official
Participation or Encouragement of Religious Activity 4. Teachers
and school administrators, when acting in those capacities, are representatives
of the state, and in those capacities, are themselves prohibited from encouraging
or soliciting student religious or anti-religious activity. Similarly, when acting
in their official capacities, teachers may not engage in religious activities
with their students. However, teachers may engage in private religious activity
in faculty lounges. Teaching
About Religion 5. Students
may be taught about religion, but public schools may not teach religion. As the
U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly said, "[ijt might well be said that one's education
is not complete without a study of comparative religion, or the history of religion
and its relationship to the advancement of civilization." It would be difficult
to teach art, music, literature and most social studies without considering religious
influences. The history of religion, comparative religion, the Bible (or other
scripture) as literature (either as a separate course or within some other existing
course), are all permissible public school subjects. It is both permissible and
desirable to teach objectively about the role of religion in the history of the
United States and other countries. One can teach that the Pilgrims came to this
country with a particular religious vision, that Catholics and others have been
subject to persecution or that many of those participating in the abolitionist,
women's suffrage and civil rights movements had religious motivations. 6. These
same rules apply to the recurring controversy surrounding theories of evolution.
Schools may teach about explanations of life on earth, including religious ones
(such as "creationism"), in comparative religion or social studies classes. In
science class, however, they may present only genuinely scientific critiques of,
or evidence for, any explanation of life on earth, but not religious critiques
(beliefs unverifiable by scientific methodology). Schools may not refuse to teach
evolutionary theory in order to avoid giving offense to religion nor may they
circumvent these rules by labeling as science an article of religious faith. Public
schools must not teach as scientific fact or theory any religious doctrine, including
"creationism", although any genuinely scientific evidence for or against any explanation
of life may be taught. Just as they may either advance nor inhibit any religious
doctrine, teachers should not ridicule, for example, a student's religious explanation
for life on earth. Student
Assignments and Religion 7. Students
may express their religious beliefs in the form of reports, homework and artwork,
and such expressions are constitutionally protected. Teachers may not reject or
correct such submissions simply because they include a religious symbol or address
religious themes. Likewise, teachers may not require students to modify, include
or excise religious views in their assignments, if germane. These assignments
should be judged by ordinary academic standards of substance, relevance, appearance
and grammar. 8. Somewhat
more problematic from a legal point of view are other public expressions of religious
views in the classroom. Unfortunately for school officials, there are traps on
either side of this issue, and it is possible that litigation will result no matter
what course is taken. It is easier to describe the settled cases than to state
clear rules of law. Schools must carefully steer between the claims of student
speakers who assert a right to express themselves on religious subjects and the
asserted rights of student listeners to be free of unwelcome religious persuasion
in a public school classroom. a. Religious
or anti-religious remarks made in the ordinary course of classroom discussion
or student presentations are permissible and constitute a protected right. If
in a sex education class a student remarks that abortion should be illegal because
God has prohibited it, a teacher should not silence the remark, ridicule it, rule
it out of bounds or endorse it, any more than a teacher may silence a student's
religiously-based comment in favor of choice. b. If
a class assignment calls for an oral presentation on a subject of the student's
choosing, and, for example, the student responds by conducting a religious service,
the school has the right--as well as the duty--to prevent itself from being used
as a church. Other students are not voluntarily in attendance and cannot be forced
to become an unwilling congregation. c. Teachers
may rule out-of-order religious remarks that are irrelevant to the subject at
hand. In a discussion of Hamlet's sanity, for example, a student may not interject
views on creationism. Distribution
of Religious Literature 9. Students
have the right to distribute religious literature to their school mates, subject
to those reasonable time, place and manner or other constitutionally-acceptable
restrictions imposed on the distribution of all non-school literature. Thus, a
school may confine distribution of all literature to a particular table at particular
times. It may not single out religious literature for burdensome regulation. 10. Outsiders
may not be given access to the classroom to distribute religious or anti-religious
literature. No court has yet considered whether, if all other community groups
are permitted to distribute literature on common areas of public schools, religious
groups must be allowed to do so on equal terms subject to reasonable time, place
and manner restrictions. "See
You at the Pole" 11. Student
participation in before-or-after-school events, such as "see you at the pole",
is permissible. School officials, acting in an official capacity, may neither
discourage nor encourage participation in such an event. Religious
Persuasion Versus Religious Harassment 12. Students
have the right to speak to, and attempt to persuade, their peers about religious
topics just as they do with regard to political topics. But school officials should
intercede to stop student religious speech if it turns into religious harassment
aimed at a student or a small group of students. While it is constitutionally
permissible for a student to approach another and issue an invitation to attend
church, repeated invitations in the face of a request to stop constitute harassment.
Where this line is to be drawn in particular cases will depend on the age of the
students and other circumstances. Equal
Access Act 13. Student
religious clubs in secondary schools must be permitted to meet and to have equal
access to campus media to announce their meetings, if a school receives federal
funds and permits any student non-curricular club to meet during non-instructional
time. This is the command of the Equal Access Act. A non-curricular club is any
club not related directly to a subject taught or soon-to-be taught in the school.
Although schools have the right to ban all non-curriculum clubs, they may not
dodge the law's requirement by the expedient of declaring all clubs curriculum-related.
On the other hand, teachers may not actively participate in club activities and
"non-school persons" may not control or regularly attend club meetings. The Act's
constitutionality has been upheld by the Supreme Court, rejecting claims that
the Act violates the Establishment Clause. The Act's requirements are described
in more detail in The Equal Access Act and the Public Schools: Questions and Answers
on the Equal Access Act *, a pamphlet published by a broad spectrum of religious
and civil liberties groups. Religious
Holidays 14. Generally,
public schools may teach about religious holidays, and may celebrate the secular
aspects of the holiday and objectively teach about their religious aspects. They
may not observe the holidays as religious events. Schools should generally excuse
students who do not wish to participate in holiday events. Those interested in
further details should see Religious Holidays in the Public Schools: Questions
and Answers*, a pamphlet published by a broad spectrum of religious and civil
liberties groups. Excusal
from Religiously Objectionable Lessons 15. Schools
enjoy substantial discretion to excuse individual students from lessons which
are objectionable to that student or to his or her parent on the basis of religion.
Schools can exercise that authority in ways which would defuse many conflicts
over curriculum content. If it is proved that particular lessons substantially
burden a student's free exercise of religion and if the school cannot prove a
compelling interest in requiring attendance, the school would be legally required
to excuse the student. Teaching
Values 16. Schools
may teach civic virtues, including honesty, good citizenship, sportsmanship, courage,
respect for the rights and freedoms of others, respect for persons and their property,
civility, the dual virtues of moral conviction and tolerance and hard work. Subject
to whatever rights of excusal exist (see 15 above) under the federal Constitution
and state law, schools may teach sexual abstinence and contraception; whether
and how schools teach these sensitive subjects is a matter of educational policy.
However, these may not be taught as religious tenets. The mere fact that most,
if not all, religions also teach these values does not make it unlawful to teach
them. Student
Garb 17. Religious
messages on T-shirts and the like may not be singled out for suppression. Students
may wear religious attire, such as yarmulkes and head scarves, and they may not
be forced to wear gym clothes that they regard, on religious grounds, as immodest. Released
Time 18. Schools
have the discretion to dismiss students to off-premises religious instruction,
provided that schools do not encourage or discourage participation or penalize
those who do not attend. Schools may not allow religious instruction by outsiders
on premises during the school day. ______________________________ * Copies
may be obtained from any of the undersigned organizations.
Appendix Organizational
contacts for "Religion in the Public Schools: A Joint Statement of Current
Law" American
Civil Liberties Union, Beth Orsoff, William J. Brennan Fellow, 202-544-1681 (x306) American
Ethical Union, Herbert Blinder, Director, Washington Ethical Action Office, 301-229-3759 American
Humanist Association, Frederick Edwords, Executive Director, 800-743-6646 American
Jewish Committee, Richard Foltin, Legislative Director/Counsel, 202-785-4200 American
Jewish Congress, Marc D. Stern, Co-Director, Commission on Law and Social Action,
212-360-1845 American
Muslim Council, Abduragman M. Alamoudi, Executive Director, 202-789-2262 Americans
for Religious Liberty, Edd Doerr, Executive Director, 301-598-2447 Americans
United for Separation of Church and State, Steve Green, Legal Director, 202-466-3234 Anti-Defamation
League, Michael Lieberman, Associate Director/Counsel, Washington Office, 202-452-8320 Baptist
Joint Committee, J. Brent Walker, General Counsel, 202-544-4226 B'nai
B'rith, Reva Price, Director, Political Action Network, 202-857-6645 Christian
Legal Society, Steven T. McFarland, Director, Center for Law and Religious Freedom,
703-642-1070 Christian
Science Church, Philip G. Davis, Federal Representative, 202-857-0427 Church
of the Brethren, Washington Office, Timothy A McElwee, Director, 202-546-3202 Church
of Scientology International, Susan L. Taylor, Public Affairs Director, Washington
Office, 202-667-6404 Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs, Kay S. Dowhower,
Director, 202- 783-7507 Federation
of Reconstructionist Congregations and Havurot, Rabbi Mordechai Liebling, Executive
Director, 215-887- 1988 Friends
Committee on National Legislation, Ruth Flower, Legislative Secretary/Legislative
Education Secretary, 202- 547-6000 General
Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Gary M. Ross, Congressional Liaison, 301-680-6688 Guru
Gobind Singh Foundation, Rajwant Singh, Secretary, 301-294-7886 Interfaith
Alliance, Jill Hanauer, Executive Director, 202-639-6370 Interfaith
Impact for Justice and Peace, James M. Bell, executive Director, 202-543-2800 National
Association of Evangelicals, Forest Montgomery, Counsel, Office of Public Affairs,
202-789-10 11 National
Council of Churches, Oliver S. Thomas, Special Counsel for Religious and Civil
Liberties, 615-977-9046 National
Council of Jewish Women, Deena Margolis, Legislative Assistant, 202-296-2588 National
Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council (NJCRAC), Jerome Chanes, Director,
Domestic Concerns, 212- 684-6950 National
Ministries, American Baptist Churches, USA, Renee’ Ladue, Program Assistant, Office
of Government Relations,
202-544-3400 National
Sikh Center, Chatter Saini, President, 703-734-1760 North
American Council for Muslim Women, Sharifa Aikhateeh, Vice-President, 703-759-7339 People
for the American Way, Elliot Mincberg, Legal Director, 202-467-4999 Presbyterian
Church (USA), Eleonora Giddings Ivory, Director, Washington Office, 202-543-1126 Reorganized
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, W. Grant McMurray, First Presidency,
816-521-3002 Union
of American Hebrew Congregations, Rabbi David Saperstein, Director, Religious
Action Center, 202-387-2800 Unitarian
Universalist Association of Congregations, Robert Alpern, Director, Washington
Office, 202-547-0254 United
Church of Christ, Office for Church in Society, Patrick Conover, Acting Head of
Office, Washington Office, 202- 543-15
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