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On a typical elementary campus, the local Boy Scout troop meets after school in an empty classroom. A few rooms away, another group of primary students may be meeting to learn lessons from the Bible. While traditional after-school clubs like the Scouts have been welcomed on campuses, faith-based clubs are increasingly turning to public school facilities for meetings and often find they have to fight their way in. The First Amendment carves out the ability for these clubs to meet and provide students with a convenient way to expand their knowledge of faith with peers. It’s a protection that has been affirmed in courts in recent years. But it’s only a beginning: The debate over religion in public schools is again being tested by the increase of partnerships between faith-based groups and public school districts. And California’s teachers are learning how to address religious lessons, now required by the state’s academic standards, in the classroom. Add to that an increasingly diverse population representing a variety of religious beliefs and practices, and the public debate about religion and schools continues to expand and transform. Increasingly, California’s schools are turning to groups like the California 3Rs Project for assistance on sorting through the issues. Most recently, the Project hosted a conference in San Bernardino for Southern California educators to learn more about partnering with faith-based groups. “These issues have been around always,” says Dr. Margaret Hill, California state leader for the California 3Rs Project. “As diversity in California increases, people are bringing belief structures as well as ethnic and racial differences. That means there are more places for these issues to arise. As public schools, their students’ religious rights have to be protected, but at the same time you’ve got the whole school to run. Sometimes it’s important to talk these questions through.” An emotional history The modern story of religious freedom in public schools has been an emotional and sometimes turbulent one. Around the 1960s, a movement began to scale back religion in the classroom. Curriculum was stripped of all religious references and teachers were trained not to discuss faith in the classroom. But in 1984, in response to concerns that religious groups were being treated unfairly by schools, Congress passed the Equal Access Act. “While schools can’t organize religious activities, that’s not the same thing as saying that students don’t have religious freedom in the schools,” says Dr. Bruce Grelle, director of the Religion and Public Education Resource Center at Cal State Chico. “The point is to not discriminate against religious groups just because they’re religious groups. The school is supposed to be neutral.” The central issue is basic First Amendment rights religious speech, like other forms of speech, must be protected. The courts have consistently held that religious clubs should be treated equally by schools. That means, if a campus allows non-academic clubs and meetings on campuses, then it must allow religious groups access as well. For instance, if a Boy Scout troop meets on campus for free after school, then a religious group must be allowed to meet there as well for no fee. If a student ski club can have meetings in a multi-purpose room at lunch, then so can a student Christian club. A school still retains the right to exercise control over groups meeting on its campus it can set restrictions on the time, place and manner in which the groups meet. Or, it can decide to ban all clubs that are not academic. Capistrano Unified had a policy banning all non-academic clubs for about a decade, but opened up its campuses to non-academic groups in 2001 as long as they do not discriminate or promote hatred. Saddleback Unified briefly banned non-academic clubs in 2001 after a legal fight over allowing a student to form a chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. The district reversed its decision a few months later, allowing non-academic clubs, including religious clubs, back on campuses. Saddleback isn’t alone. A number of disagreements around equal treatment of religious clubs have ended in the courts. In 2003, Los Angeles Unified School District settled a federal lawsuit with the Child Evangelism Fellowship and agreed to stop charging religious groups a facility use fee. Howard Taylor, Orange Coast director for the Child Evangelism Fellowship, says the number of the Fellowship’s Good News Clubs has grown in recent years as the courts affirmed their right to meet on campuses. These clubs, which meet after school on elementary school campuses around the country, now number 158 in Southern California. The after-school clubs provide an opportunity for students to learn about biblical stories and lessons. “Some of the kids may not go to church, but their parents may want them to have those values,” he says. Opposition unfolds The Good News Clubs have drawn opposition from some parents as well as organizations like Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. While the Equal Access Act protects student religious expression at the secondary level, many feel elementary students are too young to understand that a religious meeting on campus is not endorsed by the school. Rob Boston, spokesman for Americans United, says that while older students can make that distinction, it is lost on elementary-aged students who attend these meetings in their usual classrooms. “We have very serious concerns about these Good News Clubs, which meet in some cases two minutes after school has ended, and practice aggressive proselytism,” he says, adding that he also recognizes the courts have spoken on this issue and affirmed the clubs’ rights to meet on elementary campuses. “It’s not the job of the public school system to tolerate that kind of thing. We believe that should be parents’ decision. Parents should understand some of the groups meeting in public school arena are interested in proselytizing to children. There is no requirement that these groups be non-denominational.” Boston says he anticipates new issues around clubs will emerge now that they have access to meet on campuses. For instance, some groups now want access to a school’s communication channels by inserting flyers into the “backpack mail” going home with kids. Again, equal access is the central issue. If other non-academic groups can use this channel, then so can a religious group. Taylor says that he dislikes defending the Good News Clubs’ right to be on campuses, because the courts have clearly spoken on the issue. Referencing a colleague’s comments, he adds, “Schools should be a garden, not a battlefield over these issues.” Teaching values Jeff Maguire, pastor to high school students at Mariners Church in Irvine, agrees that the focus shouldn’t be on how or why the clubs can meet. He says his focus is on the students’ actions leading life with Christian values, helping students who are isolated or hurting, and educating curious classmates about their religion. Maguire says he will give students help on their right to meet, but generally the clubs find a way to meet regardless of whether they understand their rights or not. “When it becomes, ‘How are you going to meet?’ that misses the big picture,” he says. He adds that the clubs can be subversive in a positive way, particularly on high school campuses where the norm often places priority on popularity and nastiness to less fortunate students. That passion for reaching out to others in need has spurred many religious groups to get involved in faith-based partnerships with civic or public education organizations. In recent years, more federal funding has been set aside to support such partnerships, a movement President Bush has strongly supported. Since many of the partnerships are still new, schools are looking to groups like the California 3Rs Project for guidance on how to form partnerships and what issues they should be aware of before taking grant money. The Project, a partnership between the First Amendment Center and the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, promotes “Rights, Responsibility and Respect” in its quest to find common ground on issues of religion and values in public schools. Newport-Mesa Unified School District will be trying out the faith-based partnership approach with Lighthouse Ministries of Mariners Church in Irvine. Mariners will help recruit and train mentors who will work with fourth- through-eighth graders through the Project Caring Connections program. The church started working with other community groups about eight years ago to set up mentoring programs and says it has received high marks from participants on the quality of its mentors. The mentors, who will work with about 210 students over a three-year period, will be recruited from local colleges, universities, businesses and church organizations. They will meet with students once a week and serve as role models and sources of encouragement. Mentors will cover a range of topics, including improving citizenship, attendance and grades. John Lorenz, mentoring director for Lighthouse Ministries of Mariners Church, says Mariners is identified as a faith-based organization in the grant and plans to continue its current model of mentoring leading by example, while accepting mentees for who they are and the beliefs they have. “We model what a good Christian looks like and model Christian behavior. We share our particular understanding and love of our faith, but we don’t require anyone to accept that faith. Lorenz has high hopes for the growth of faith-based partnerships with public schools and other civic organizations, and hopes partnerships with districts like Newport-Mesa will build trust within communities for more faith-based initiatives. “They’ve got a captive population of people who want to serve,” he says. “It’s a population that can be trusted and that can model appropriately. And it’s financially advisable, because most faith-based organizations do it for free. I’m really hopeful this can grow beyond this particular program and allow faith-based organizations to work with governments to provide services to the needy.” Religious groups’ participation in social services is not necessarily new. Boston points to efforts by groups like Catholic Charities to help the needy. However, he says, partners in faith-based programs need to be careful because the rules around proselytizing seem to be blurring now. Religion in the classroom The debate over religion on public school campuses is not just focused on after-school activities or faith-based partnerships. Grelle says both the Center at Cal State Chico and the 3Rs Project also focus on educating teachers about how to handle religion in the classroom while being “constitutionally appropriate.” This has become even more important with changes to California’s academic standards, requiring teachers at most levels to touch on religion in a historical context. For instance, fourth-graders study about the Spanish missionaries and traditional religions of Native Americans. Fifth-graders look at the role of religion within the context of U.S. History. And in sixth grade, students learn about ancient Hebrews and Hinduism. “We help (teachers) learn how to deal with religion in the public school setting without feeling overly nervous,” he says. Boston adds that learning about the world’s religions and religion in a historical context is an important way to open students’ minds to the world around them. “Our organization never advocated for a system that completely divorces the discussion of religion from public school. It needs to be done in an objective manner that doesn’t get into dogma or value judgments. It is becoming an increasingly difficult thing to do where there is a lot of diversity and people are sensitive.” Jennifer Leuer of Yorba Linda is an education reporter. For Letters: ocfamily.com Online resources If you are looking for additional information about religion and public schools, here are some online resources to get you started. • The Freedom Forum’s First Amendment Center http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/ • Americans United for Separation of Church and State www.au.org • American Center for Law and Justice www.aclj.org • American Academy of Religion www.aarweb.org |
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