Legal Leeway on Church-State in School

School Administrator, Jan, 1999 by Oliver S. Thomas

* Creationism: Laws requiring the teaching of creationism have been struck down by the courts for promoting a particular religious viewpoint. On the other hand, the Supreme Court stated in Edwards v. Aguillard: "Teaching a variety of scientific theories about the origins of humankind to schoolchildren might be validly done with the clear secular intent of enhancing the effectiveness of science instruction."

In the interest of fairness and of a liberal education, students should be exposed to the prevailing scientific theories as well as given some understanding of the debate that continues both inside and outside the scientific community on the subject of origins.

* Released Time: The Supreme Court long has recognized the right of school districts to release students for off-campus religious instruction during the school day. Schools are not required to create released-time programs, however, nor should they give academic credit to students who participate in such a program.

* Character Education: Schools can and should promote moral and civic values throughout the school culture. But which values? Those expressed in our Constitution and Bill of Rights (e.g., freedom of religion, speech and press; equal protection/nondiscrimination; due process/fairness), as well as the shared values of local communities (e.g., honesty, kindness, courage, responsibility and respect for others) can and should be reinforced.

Schools may not invoke religious authority. However, they can and should recognize and respect the fact that most Americans derive their values from a religious tradition. For that reason, schools should be careful not to undermine those traditions by teaching students that values are merely a matter of personal choice or that there are no moral absolutes. Remember that the primary moral educators of children are their parents, and it is our duty to cooperate in that endeavor.

Lingering Disagreement

Despite the new consensus that has emerged on most questions of religion and schools, at least one area of disagreement persists. Not surprisingly, it involves drawing a line between the right of the speaker to share his or her religious viewpoint and the right of the audience to be left alone.

A classroom is not a public forum. The teacher maintains discretion to exercise reasonable judgment over what she or he believes is appropriate in the classroom. Several recent court decisions indicate that a teacher may prohibit a student from delivering what amounts to a sermon to a captive audience of schoolchildren. On the other hand, some teachers may be jumping to this remedy too soon, needlessly stifling legitimate student expression simply because it is religious.

Most would agree that a student who is asked to give a speech on the topic of his choice should be allowed to recount a life-changing experience at a Catholic youth camp where he learned to pray the rosary and recommitted his life to Christ. On the other hand, we would not allow the student to distribute beads to each student and have the entire class pray the rosary together. At some point the teacher must step in to protect the rights of the captive audience of young, impressionable children.