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Prayer in Schools

Public School LawLecture Notes

William Allan Kritsonis, PhD

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Recent Court Decisions aboutPrayer in Schools

• By the 1990s the courts beganaddressing prayer at schoolextracurricular events with lessclarity. While some courtsallowed student prayers fromthe podium at graduation

exercises, a federal appellate court in Houston ruled in 1999that the recent controversy hasrevolved around prayer atschool athletics events.uidance was provided by the!upreme "ourt in!anta #e $ndependent !chool %ist. v. %oe 

&'000( when it upheld a lowercourt ruling invalidating prayersconducted over the publicaddress system prior to high

school games at state schoolfacilities before a school)

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Continued from Slide 2

•*hose in favor of sponsored prayerin state schools publicly often saythat +prayer+ is forbidden in stateschools. &1( rayer is not and neverhas been forbidden. -egarding the#ree xercise "lause of the #irst/mendment

, the courts have consistently ruledthat students expressions ofreligious views through prayer orotherwise cannot be abridged unlessthey can be shown to causesubstantial disruption in the school.

• -einstatement of state)sponsored

 prayer has been attempted indifferent forms in a number of areasof the .!. !ome introduced a+moment of silence+ or +moment ofreflection+ when a student may, ifhe or she wishes to, offer a silent

 prayer.

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ACL on Constitutional Amendmenton School Prayer !r "oment of

Silence #2$$2%ome, like former ecretary of!ducation "illiam #ennett blamethe $%&' decision, !ngel v. (itale,banning official prayer from public

schools, for everything from low)* scores to high teenagepregnancy rates. #ut manyeducators and other experts tell usthat these problems flow from theenormous and increasing gulf inwealth and opportunity and

education, between the richest andpoorest people in our society. ) one+minute prayer or moment of silencein school everyday will do nothing tochange that.

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Prayer at &raduation Ceremonies

Recently, some high schoolshave

banned prayer fromgraduation

ceremonies. In May 2006, theAC! of "ennessee convincedMunford #igh $chool%s

principal toban o&cial prayer atgraduation.'2( In response,

students pulled out cards)ith the

ord%s *rayer )ritten on themand

began to read. Also, somehave

concluded that the school%sAC!

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'n Different Re(ions of the

World!nited -ingdom• $n ngland and Wales, the School Standards

and Framework Act 1998 states that all pupilsin state schools must ta2e part in a daily actof collective worship, unless their parentsre3uest that they be excused from attending.&1( *he ma4ority of these acts of collective

worship are re3uired to be +wholly or mainlyof a broadly "hristian character+, with twoexceptions5

• -eligious schools, which should provideworship appropriate to the schools religion6although most religious schools in the 7are "hristian.8

• !chools where the ocal ducation /uthority

s !tanding /dvisory "ouncil on -eligiousducation has determined that "hristianworship would not be appropriate for part orall of the school.

• %espite there being a statutory re3uirementfor schools to hold a daily act of collectiveworship, many do not. :#!*%s '00')0;annual report &'(, for example, states that<0= of secondary schools are failing to

 provide daily worship for all pupils

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)he *istory of Prayer in Schools• School Sponsored or Employee- Led

 Prayer. >ore than?0 years ago, the .!.!upreme "ourt handed down two ma4orschool prayer decisions. *he first, Engelv. Vtale!19"#$% involved adenominationally neutral prayercomposed by the @ew Aor2 !tate Board

of -egents5 /lmighty od, weac2nowledge our dependence upon*hee, and we beg *hy blessings uponus, our parents, our teachers, and our"ountry.C *he second case, School

 &strct o' A(ngton v. Schempp !19")$%involved state laws re3uiring selection

and reading of passages from the Bibleand recitation of the ordDs rayer. *he"ourt ruled against the state) endorsed

 prayers in both cases. !ince the statehad in effect made a law respecting anestablishment of religion in these cases,the "ourt ruled that the "onstitution

was violated.

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Doe +s Duncan+ille 'SD• $n 199E the #ifth "ircuit ruled in a long

running case involving the %uncanville $.!.%.that school districts and their employees maynot lead, encourage, promote, or participatein prayers with or among students duringcurricular or extracurricular activities,including before, during, or after) school

related sporting events 6%oe v. %uncanville$.!.%., 2nown as %uncanville $$8. *he appealscourt re4ected the contention that such arestriction denies school employees aconstitutional right to 4oin students in prayeractivities. articipation by coaches and otherschool employees would signal anunconstitutional endorsement of religion,C

the court noted, since they are representativesof the school. However, employees are notre3uired to leave the room when students

 pray on their own, or otherwise treat studentreligious beliefs with disrespect. $n short thelaw is clear that neither the public school norits employees may sponsor prayer at schoolor at extracurricular activities and athletic

events.

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)he Lee Case- Clear Cree. 'SD• When it decided the Lee case, the !upreme

"ourt returned a somewhat similar case tothe #ifth "ircuit. $n that case the #ifth"ircuit had upheld the "lear "ree2 $.!.%.school boardDs resolution leaving theinclusion of invocation and benediction atgraduation exercises to the discretion ofthe senior class. nder the resolution, if

the senior class votes in the affirmative,then an invocation and benediction can begiven by a student volunteer. * Hemessage must be nonsectarian andnonproselytiFing. *he #ifth "ircuit pointedout that, unli2e the disfavored Lee practice, the "lear "ree2 prayer program

did not implicate school officials in prayerdecision)ma2ing and did not have thesame psychologically coercive effect onob4ecting students. *he ruling wasappealed to the .!. !upreme "ourt,which refused to hear it in Gune of 199;,thus leaving the #ifth "ircuit decisionstanding.

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!+erall Conclusion

• Both the federal courts and the *exasducation "ode recogniFe thatstudents can engage in personal prayer at school and at school)sponsored extracurricular and athleticevents separate and apart from school

involvement. $n &oe v. &*ncanvlle +.S.&. +% the trial court pointed outthat !tudents may voluntarily praytogether, provided such prayer is notdone with school participation.C *he 4udge added, /thletes may pray before or after the games, but again ,

the activity must not suggest thatschool officials are sponsoring or participating in the prayer in anymanner.C *he #ifth "ircuit affirmedthe decision. *" 'E.901 declaresthat a public school student has anabsolute rightC to pray or meditate inschool in a nondisruptive manner.

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Credits

/Prayer in Schools0• Course AD"'N- 1$23 Prairie 4iew A5" ni+ersity

• Professor- Dr Petterway• 6y- Lelia 7ones

Sourceshtt8-33wwwcleff8ublishin(com3articles399:22;$2htm

htt8-33wwwinfidelsor(3library3modern3church<state3

8rayerhtml