Taking Religious Liberty Seriously in School.

Before we amend the Constitution to secure the religious liberty rights of students, we should try the amendment we have. Properly understood and applied, the religious liberty clauses of the First Amendment are all we need to ensure a proper role for religion in the public schools in ways that protect the conscience of every student and parent.

Fairly or unfairly, many of the supporters of a "religious equality amendment" see the public schools as places hostile to religion. This may be because we have gone from a Protestant-dominated school culture to, in more recent decades, virtual silence about religion. Neither approach is consistent with the religious liberty principles of the First Amendment.

When the Supreme Court struck down state-sponsored prayer and devotional Bible reading in the early 1960s, we failed as a nation to support the proper, constitutional role of religion in public schools. Instead of finding ways to accommodate religious conscience and to be fair to religious perspectives, textbook publishers largely ignored the role of religion, and some schools told students they could not speak about their faith, distribute religious literature, make religious art, or form religious clubs.

We do not need a new constitutional amendment to end these conflicts about religion in schools. Under the First Amendment, we can correct the mistakes of the past and, at long last, make religious liberty a reality in public education. Earlier this year, I helped draft a statement of principles that 19 educational and religious groups (including AASA) now have endorsed.

One of the key principles addresses the meaning of religious liberty in public schools:

"Public schools may not inculcate nor inhibit religion. They must be places where religion and religious conviction are treated with fairness and respect. Public schools uphold the First Amendment when they protect the religious liberty rights of students of all faiths or none. Schools demonstrate fairness when they ensure that the curriculum includes study about religion, where appropriate, as an important part of a complete education."

This statement has been endorsed by everyone from the Christian Coalition to People for the American Way. Other signers include such diverse groups as the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the National Association of Evangelicals, and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. We contend that a common vision for the common good is possible in public education.

The challenge before us is to make the principles of the First Amendment work in school policies and programs that give religion an appropriate role while simultaneously protecting liberty of conscience for all--believers and non-believers alike. It can be done. I have worked in scores of school districts across the nation where people of many faiths, liberal and conservative, have joined to create a place for religion that is constitutionally permissible and educationally sound.

Schools can begin to take religious liberty seriously by:

(1) Working with parents and community leaders to adopt policies that protect the religious liberty rights of students in such areas as student speech, distribution of literature, and formation of clubs, yet keep the school neutral in matters of faith.

(2) Inform teachers and administrators of the rights of students, including the right to speak from a religious perspective in a class discussion, the right to pray alone or in groups, and the right to share one's faith with others as long as it is not disruptive and does not infringe upon the rights of others.

(3) Prepare teachers to include study about religion in the curriculum, especially in history, literature, art, music, and wherever topics about religion naturally arise.

After more than 30 years of bitter, fruitless debate about school prayer, it is past time for public schools to take religious liberty seriously. The goal is neither a naked public school where all religion is excluded or a sacred public school where religion is imposed. The goal must be a civil public school where people of all faiths and none are treated with fairness and respect.