As a backdrop for the discussion of education and religious beliefs, the author conveys a sense of the terrain of this debate from a legal point of view. Both the U.S. and the various state constitutions are implicated and the law on many central questions is unsettled. At the end, the author expresses her view that the law should resolve on the side of strong separation of church and state, which is desirable for political, institutional, and educational reasons.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abington School District v. Schemmp, 374 U.S. 203, 222 (1963).
2.
Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203 (1997).
3.
Aguilar v. Felton, 473 U.S. 402 (1985).
4.
Atwood, M.
(1995). From "In the secular night."Morning in the burned house (p. 12). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
5.
Breen v. Runkle, 614 F. Supp. 355 (W.D. Mich. 1985).
6.
City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1996).
7.
City of Concord v. New Testament Baptist Church, 118 Nh. 56, 382 A.2d 337 (1978).
8.
Cloud, J.
(1999, September 13). Law on bended knee: Will a new federal law give religious freedom even more protection than it has now? Or will it erode other basic liberties?Time, 152, 32.
9.
Crocket v. Sorensen, 568 F. Supp. 1422 (W.D. Va. 1983).
10.
Cubberly, E.
(1920). A history of education. Cambridge, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
11.
Davis v. Grover, 166 Wis. 2d 501, 480 N.W. 460 (1992).
12.
Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U.S. 578 (1987).
13.
Edwards v. Cal. Univ. of Pa. 119 S. Ct. 1036 (1999).
14.
Ely, J. H.
(1996). On Constitutional ground. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
15.
Employment Div. v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990).
16.
Everson v. Bd. of Educ. of Ewing, 330 U.S. 1, 12 (1947).
17.
Freed, E. C.
(1986). Secular humanism, the establishment clause, and public education. New York University Law Review, 61, 1149.
18.
Gibson v. Lee County Sch. Bd., 1 F. Supp. 2d 1426 (M.D. Fla. 1998).
19.
Grand Rapids Sch. Dist. v. Ball, 473 U.S. 373 (1985).
20.
Helms v. Picard, 151 F. 3d 347, 356-357 (5th Cir. 1998).
21.
Jackson v. Benson, 218 Wis. 2d 835, 578 N.W.2d 602 (1998).
22.
Johnson, P.
(1976). A history of Christianity. New York: Atheneum.
23.
Keller, S.
(1998a). Something to lose: The Black community's hard choices about educational choice. Journal of Legislation, 24, 67.
24.
Keller, S.
(1998b). Two tales of a city: Agostini and private vouchers. Stanford Law & Policy Review. 10(85), 90-91.
25.
Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971).
26.
Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 687, 692 (1984).
27.
McCollum v. Bd. of Educ., 333 U.S. 203 (1948).
28.
McQuillin, E.
(1985). The law of municipal corporations (3rd ed. & Supp. 1990). New York: Clark Boardman Callaghan.
29.
Milligan, J. A.
(2000). Mapping the road toward Bethlehem: Parameters for discourse on the relationship between religion and public education. Educational Policy, 14, 685-702.
30.
Mitchell v. Helms, 120 S.Ct. 2530, 68 U.S.L.W. 4668 (2000).
31.
Mozert v. Hawkins County Pub. Sch., 647 F. Supp. 1194 (E.D. Tenn.), rev'd 827 F. 2d 1058, cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1066 (1986).
32.
Provenzo, E. F., Jr.
, & McCloskey, G. N. (2000). Religion and public education: An introduction to the special issue. Educational Policy, 14, 541-547.
33.
Reiler v. Tangipahoa Parish Bd. of Educ., 975 F. Supp. 819 (1997).
34.
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA), 42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.
35.
The Religious Liberty Protection Act of 1998 (RLPA), H. R. 4019, 105th Cong. (1998).
36.
Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitors of the Univ. of Va., 515 U.S. 819 (1995).
37.
Sherbert v. Vemer, 374 U.S. 398 (1963).
38.
Smith v. Bd. of Sch. Comm'rs, 655 F. Supp. 939 (S.D. Ala. 1987), rev'd, 827 F.2d 684 (11th Cir. 1987).
39.
Stolzenberg, N. M.
(1993). He drew a circle that shut me out: Assimilation, indoctrination, and the paradox of a liberal education. Harvard Law Review, 106(581), 645.
40.
Sullivan, K.
(1994). God as a lobby. University of Chicago Law Review, 61, 1655.
41.
Texas House endorses religious freedom bill. (1999, May 18). Dallas Morning News, p. A7.
42.
Torasco v. Watkins, 367 U.S. 488 (1961).
43.
Tribe, L.
(1988). American constitutional law (2nd ed.). Mineola, NY: Foundation.
44.
Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 89 (1987).
45.
Vallarelli, J. H.
(1992). State constitutional restraints on the privatization of education. Boston University Law Review, 72, 381.
46.
Vaughn v. Reed, 313 F. Supp. 431 (W.D. Va. 1970).
47.
Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38 (1985).
48.
Wexler, J. D.
(1997). Of pandas, people, and the First Amendment: The constitutionality of teaching intelligent design in the public schools. Stanford Law Review, 49, 439.
49.
Witters v. State Comm'n for the Blind, 112 Wash. 363, 771 P.2d 1119 (1989).
50.
Witters v. Wash. State Dep't of Services for Blind, 474 U.S. 481 (1986).
51.
Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills Sch. Dist., 509 U.S. 1 (1993).
