Many public charter schools in the state of Hawaii are explicitly religious. For more than two decades, students at Hawaiian-focused schools have offered chants and prayers to the pantheon of gods who rule over skies, seas, and earth, including to the volcanic god, Pelehonuamea ("she who shapes the sacred land"), popularly known as Madam…

The United States Supreme Court in Kennedy v. Bremerton Sch. Dist. held that a local school district violated the First Amendment freedom of religious expression rights when it directed an assistant football coach to stop praying on the fifty-yard line of a high school football field after each game. In finding for the high-school football coach,…

This book offers an examination of the related topics of school prayer and character education in the United States, advocating for their return to public schools. In 1962 and 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court made rulings that removed prayer and Bible reading from public schools. But in the aftermath of the rulings, the nation endured one of the worst…

Religion plays an important role in social studies content and is difficult to ignore, especially because of current world events. In our global society, it is more important than ever to know about and understand the religious beliefs of others. The social studies curriculum is infused with religion, but teachers circumvent the issue, mistakenly…

This paper uses the ideas of William James and John Dewey to buttresses an opposition to any effort to amend the United States Constitution to encourage or compel elementary and secondary school students to recite daily an oral prayer. The first section is a selection of the views of Dewey and James. The second section utilizes these ideas to…

A letter from Rod Paige, United States Secretary of Education, introduces a booklet which provides guidance to state educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), and the public on constitutionally protected prayer in U.S. public elementary and secondary schools. The guidance also sets forth and explains the responsibilities of…

In Britain, every publicly funded school is obliged by the law to provide religious education and daily collective worship, of a broadly Christian character, for all its pupils. Examines the statutory provisions dealing with daily collective worship and religious education in British schools. (66 footnotes) (MLF)

Increased school violence has heightened advocacy of school prayer. However, an ecumenical, one-size-fits-all approach depersonalizes prayer and ignores its spiritual character and diverse forms of expression. More important are the reintroduction of religious dimensions of culture into the curriculum and an accurate understanding of church-state…

The U.S. Supreme Court, the Congress, state legislatures, and city councils can ask for divine guidance, but public schools are denied this advantage. The First Amendment was designed to protect religious minorities from oppression by a religious majority, not to protect people from religion. Tapping into a higher power would civilize, not…

Jerry Cammarata's poignant article provides a valuable opportunity to discuss the Supreme Court's wisdom in prohibiting nondenominational prayer in public schools in 1962 ("Engel v. Vitale") and to review current case law. The Constitution permits prayer chosen and spoken privately by a student, supported by family, friends, and clergy.…

Suggests that the Supreme Court's Santa Fe v. Doe decision (involving voluntary, student-led prayer at high school football games) was erroneous. Concludes that the Supreme Court's jurisprudence in this area has effectively expunged religion from the public square, particularly public schools, by writing into the Constitution a strict wall between…

Church-state issues in education have a long history in America. Although the U.S. Supreme Court has made several landmark decisions with regard to the separation of church and state in schools, strong conservative influences in Southern states, including Louisiana, have resulted in state statutes and individual school-district policies and…

A number of recent studies represent a growing consensus among many religious and educational groups about the constitutional and educational role of religion in the public schools. This pamphlet is designed to build on these agreements and to encourage communities to find common ground when they are divided. The pamphlet presents 15 questions and…

In 1992, a high-school student and a math teacher sued the Cleveland Public Schools in Federal District Court, contending that the board's opening prayers violated the establishment clause and the Ohio Constitution. The 6th Circuit Court upheld this suit, saying school-board prayer differs from permissible legislative prayer. (MLH)

Examines various key positions that have been put forth in the dispute concerning religion and public schools, discussing several important rulings concerning religion and public schools, noting that religious differences pose a special challenge to the conduct of a pluralist public life, and calling for a closer examination of other perspectives…