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CHAPTER 9: Legal Aspects of Education
9-4f Government Guidelines Regarding Prayer and Religion in Schools In 2003, the Department of Education issued more detailed guidelines involving prayer and related activities in public schools. Guidelines and commentary included the following:78 ●● Students may organize prayer groups and religious clubs before school to the same extent that students are permitted to organize other noncurricular student-activity groups . . . . ●● Teachers may . . . take part in religious activities where the overall context makes clear that they are not participating in their official capacities. Before school or during lunch, for example, teachers may meet with other teachers for prayer or Bible study to the same extent that they may engage in other conversation or nonreligious activities . . . . . ●● If a school has a “moment of silence” or other quiet periods during the school day, students are free to pray silently, or not to pray . . . . Teachers and other school employees may neither encourage nor discourage students from praying during such time periods . . . . ●● Students may express their beliefs about religion in homework, artwork, and other written and oral assignments, free from discrimination based on the religious content of their submissions. Such home and classroom work should be judged by ordinary academic standards of substance and relevance and against other legitimate pedagogical concerns.
9-4g Government Regulation and Support of Nonpublic Schools: A Legal Muddle In 1925, Pierce v. Society of Sisters established that a state’s compulsory school-attendance laws could be satisfied through enrollment in a private or parochial school. Attention then turned to the question of how much control a state could exercise over the education offered in nonpublic schools. A 1926 case, Farrington v. Tokushige, gave nonpublic schools “reasonable choice and discretion in respect of teachers, curriculum, and textbooks.” Within that framework, however, states have passed various kinds of legislation to regulate nonpublic schools. Some states have few regulations; others require the employment of certified teachers, specify the number of days or hours the school must be in session, or insist that schools meet state accreditation standards. Many of these regulations may also apply to homeschooling; thus several current controversies involve the possible application of state standards (such as permitting participation in public-school athletics) to homeschooled students. Charter schools that are nonpublic also may or may not be required to provide special education, depending on the state where it is located.79
78 Rod Paige, “Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools,” 2003 paper posted at the US Department of Education Internet site, available at www.ed.gov. See also Edwin C. Darden, “Pause and Ponder,” American School Board Journal (May 2008), pp. 48–49; and Mark A. Chancey, “How Should We Teach the Bible in Public Schools?” January 7, 2014, posting by Religion & Politics, available at www .religionandpolitics.org. 79 Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 US 510 (1925); and Farrington v. Tokushige, 273 US 284 (1926). See also Julia Zhou, “State Regulation of Private Schools,” June 24, 2014, posting by Private School Review, available at www.privateschoolreview.com/articles/9; and Paul T. O’Neill and Lauren M. Rhim, “Equity at Scale,” January 2015 posting by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, available at www.publiccharters.org.
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