As American students prepare to return
to school during the next month, a national legal watchdog group is calling on
school officials around the country to uphold the Constitution in the classroom
and not censor student religious expression.
The Rutherford Institute, a Charlottesville, Va.-based civil liberties
organization, sent a memorandum to more than 15,000 public school
superintendents warning of potential violations of students' rights over zero
tolerance policies and misunderstandings over "the separation of church
and state."
John Whitehead, president of the institute, said the mailing was meant to
"raise awareness as well as fuel debate on the continuing vitality of our
first liberties."
The group said it noted an increase of instances of censorship of religious
expression by public school administrators in recent months.
Attorneys for the institute filed suit in July on behalf of a Bible club that
was not allowed to meet in a school district in Punxsutawney, Pa. A federal
appeals court ruled in favor of the Bible club last month, holding that the
school district violated both the federal Equal Access Act and the First
Amendment.
The 1984 Equal Access Act prohibits public schools from discriminating against
student groups based on the religious, political, philosophical or other
content of the group's speech.
Moreover, the act requires that schools grant religious student groups official
recognition under the same conditions they grant recognition to non-religious
student groups.
The institute also filed a lawsuit on behalf of Rachel Honer, who was not going
to be permitted to sing "He's Always Been Faithful" at her graduation
ceremony in Winnecone, Wis., because of the song's reference to God. School
officials eventually agreed to let Honer sing the song.
Family policy groups also are concerned with what they see as strong opposition
to any mention of God in a public forum.
Many school boards feel threatened by potential lawsuits if they allow
religious activity in the classroom, said Jan LaRue, chief counsel for
Concerned Women for America.
"Clearly, a public school student can pray anytime he or she wants to pray
silently or to meet with other students before or after school, or during
lunchtime, to pray together, and nobody can stop that because that is the
individual's right to both speech and religious expression," LaRue said.
The Supreme Court has ruled that violations of the Establishment Clause can
occur when a public school teacher begins the school class with prayer, legal
analysts said.
Rob Boston, a spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and
State, said, however, that it was rare to encounter a school district seeking
to sponsor school prayer.
"I think that the major issue, when we're looking at school prayer these
days, is one of parental rights and parental authority," Boston said.
"Parents are the ones who should decide what religion, if any, their
children are exposed to. It's not the job of school officials, teachers,
principals or administrators to promote religion before young people,"
Boston added.
Most disputes nowadays center on prayers at graduation, prayers before an
assembly or the rights of students to form religious or non-religious clubs.
"I think that we are moving toward a consensus, or at least an
understanding, that school-sponsored prayer is not appropriate," Boston
said.
In February, the Department of Education issued an update on what is
constitutionally protected prayer in public elementary and secondary schools.
School districts that allow censorship of student religious expression
jeopardize their federal education funding under the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965.
As a condition of receiving funds under this act, education agencies are
required to certify to their state educational agency they have no policies
that prevent or deny participation in constitutionally protected prayer.
"The Supreme Court has made it very clear that neither students nor
teachers leave their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate,"
LaRue said.