Religion and Public Schools

Religion and Public Schools

Stephanie Vivas
Education 210

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Religion and Public Schools

Schools have been around since the 17th century and one of the main reasons they came

into existence was because many people believed students should be educated in the bible. In

present day that is one of the things public schools avoid. Since the 1st amendment gave the right

to freedom of religion many parents and students are making sure their rights are not being

violated. At the same time teachers have to make sure that they are not teaching anything that

may be seen as educating students towards a specific religion. Bill Ward, a school principal is

questioning whether he should fire Ms.White, a kindergarten teacher. The reason he recommends

her dismissal is due to the fact that Ms. White has refused to decorate the classroom for holidays,

sing “Happy Birthday”, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and do gift exchange during Christmas.

She is a Jehovah’s Witness and states that these activities would go against her religion. The

following cases are great examples for the court to rule in favor of Ms. White.

Public schools are not supposed to show interest in a specific religion. In the case of

Stone v. Graham (1980) the school had posted the 10 commandments in each classroom. The

Supreme Court found that this statue violated the Establishment clause of the first amendment

because it had nothing to do with the curriculum. It also violated the first amendment because it

was promoting religious views onto the students. Since it had nothing to do with the curriculum

it did not have to be presented to the students.

Another court case that would help Ms. White’s case would be West Virginia State Board

of Education vs. Barnette (1943). This specific case was brought forward by Jehovah’s

witnesses. Students were forced to salute the flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. If the

student’s refused the school could take disciplinary action and expel them. The parent’s argued

that this was unconstitutional since pledging allegiance and saluting the flag went against their

religious beliefs. The court decided 6-3 that the school did in fact violate the first amendment.

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Religion and Public Schools

DeNooyer v. Livonia Public Schools (1993) is a case where the teacher did not allow a

student to present a videotape of her performing a religious song at a church service. The student

had earned the right to bring an item in to discuss with the classroom and chose this particular

video tape. The question at hand would be whether this violates the student’s first amendment

rights. The court ruled in favor of the teacher because they believe the teacher should have

control over what items can be used to complete a specific exercise. This would be a great

example against Ms. White if the court would have ruled against the teacher. Ms. White and this

teacher are trying to avoid any type of religion to come up in class; if the court would have ruled

against this teacher they would rule against Ms. White

With these cases as examples; the court would rule in favor of Ms. White. Most cases use

the lemon test which came from the case of Lemon V. Kurtzman (1971). The lemon test is a

simple three part test with 3 specific factors; 1. The statue must not result in an “excessive

government entanglement” with religious affairs. 2. The statue must not advance nor inhibit

religious practice. 3. The statue must have a secular legislative purpose. Since Ms. Whites case

would answer no to all three factors her case should be dismissed. In my opinion the best

example would be West Virginia State board vs. Barnett (1943). This case has similarities with

Ms. White’s case because they both talk about the pledge of Allegiance. Since the court found

that enforcing someone to salute the flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance was

unconstitutional, I don’t think it should be any different for teachers. None of the activities Ms.

White is refusing to do will harm the curriculum that the school has set up for Ms. White to

teach. In conclusion I would find that Ms. White should not be dismissed from the school.

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References

Stone v. Graham 449 U.S. 39 (1980)

West Virginia State Board of Education vs. Barnette 319 U.S. 624 (1943)

Denooyer vs. Livonia Public Schools U.S. App. Loxis 30084 (6th Cir. 1993)

Lemon v. Kurtzman 403 U.S. 602 (1971)