In Public Schools

The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from favoring one religious position over another, or singling out one religious position for disfavor. When it comes to the education of our children, the Supreme Court demands that the government be “particularly vigilant” in ensuring schools do not promote religious views that may conflict with the religious beliefs of students and their families.

At the same time, the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause protects private individuals’ right to freely exercise their religion, including on school grounds, so long as it does not disrupt the educational environment..

Students are free to engage in private, nondisruptive prayer at school.

However, public schools and school officials — including teachers and coaches — may never require or direct students to pray. In addition, school officials may not pray to the students in their course of their duties.

Public school officials’ responsibility to be “particularly vigilant” in ensuring schools do not promote religious views includes laws or policies which permit teachers to direct students in prayers, or religious songs or recitations. The Supreme Court has also concluded that school-organized prayers at graduation ceremonies, prior to or during sporting events, or other school-run activities, are coercive and constitute an impermissible government establishment of religion.

While school-authorized sectarian prayer is a violation of the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, not every instance of a student encountering religion in an educational setting is a violation of the Constitution. Context matters. Religious content and discussion which does not forward one particular religious viewpoint, such as a mythology or comparative religion course, may be constitutional, depending on the specific facts.

If your or your child’s school or school district, or a member of staff, have a policy or practice of demanding, directing, or endorsing student prayer, please let us know.

The Free Speech, Free Exercise, and Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution all prohibit compulsory participation in recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance and The Star-Spangled Banner. The Supreme Court has been as clear and forceful as possible on this issue:

If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. If there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us.

We think the action of the local authorities in compelling the flag salute and pledge transcends constitutional limitations on their power and invades the sphere of intellect and spirit which it is the purpose of the First Amendment to our Constitution to reserve from all official control.

Whether the policy involves the Pledge of Allegiance or The Star-Spangled Banner, the Supreme Court has made it clear that the government may not compel “the endorsement of ideas that it approves.”

The Equal Access Act (“EAA”) requires all secondary schools which receive federal funds (effectively all public schools) to permit students to hold meetings and form groups around particular religious points of view, so long as the school permits students to form any non-curricular groups in the first place.

• There are certain requirements which student groups must abide by in order to be protected by the EAA, including:
• The meeting is voluntary and student-initiated.
• There is no sponsorship of the meeting by the school, the government, or its agents or employees.
• Any teachers, employees or other school officials who attend the meetings for such a group may only observe the meeting; they cannot participate.
• The meetings cannot disrupt the orderly conduct of educational activities within the school.
• No one from outside the school may direct, conduct, control, or regularly attend activities of student groups.

If your school permits students to create groups which deal with topics independent of the courses at the school (non-curricular groups), it cannot deny you the opportunity to create an atheist group on the same terms (nor can they exclude a religious student group).

It is important to note that the information above only applies to student-led groups. Different rules and standards apply to outside groups. Because the Establishment Clause prohibits the government from favoring one religious position over another, or singling out one religious position for disfavor, if a school opens its door to outside groups, it cannot specifically exclude certain groups because they happen to be religious or atheist in nature.

If your school has prevented the formation of an atheist club while permitting religious student-led groups to form, please let us know.

The Establishment Clause prohibits public school teachers and administrators from promoting a particular religious view (or singling out a particular view for negative treatment) in the classroom, or as part of any other curricular activity.

However, not every instance of a student encountering a religious discussion in an educational setting is a violation of the Constitution. The context and purpose of the discussion matter. Religious content and discussion which does not forward one particular religious viewpoint, such as a mythology or comparative religion course, may be constitutional, subject to certain limitations.

For example, the course cannot promote a particular religious view. Furthermore, the age of the students matters. Elementary school students will be less able to disentangle the teacher’s role as an authority figure from the substance of the discussion than would their high-school-age sisters and brothers. A comparative religion class or a unit on the Bible as a literary work as part of a high school curriculum could very well be constitutional but the same class delivered to elementary students may not. Also, teachers may engage in religious exercise outside of the classroom when others are also free to do personal activities.

A school may not teach creationism or intelligent design as part of a science class. Doing so “alter[s] the science curriculum to reflect endorsement of a religious view that is antagonistic to the theory of evolution.” Courts throughout the country have struck down attempts to inject religious doctrine into the public school science curriculum. Students and parents have the right to request a list of course materials that may conflict with their sincerely held beliefs, including Humanism and other nontheistic belief systems.

If a teacher or staff member at a school in your community is endorsing or promoting any religion, or discussing religion with students outside the contexts described above, please contact our team for assistance.