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California Family Minute

February 9, 2011

Protecting Free Speech at the “Schoolhouse”
 
by Rebecca Burgoyne, 
CFC Research Analyst

Battles over prayer – or the mention of God – in the classroom have been commonplace since 1963 when the United States Supreme Court decided that school-sponsored prayer was unconstitutional. 

Recently, a California high school teacher was forced to remove classroom banners that mentioned God – only to have his rights later upheld in court. In a case later overturned by the Montana Supreme Court, a high school valedictorian was unable to deliver her planned address because she refused to remove all mention of her faith in God, and a California school board decided to eliminate prayer at graduation only to have the community step up to make sure the graduates were covered in prayer. 

Two new California cases have once again put religious freedom in the public schools on trial. 

Palm Desert, California
A year ago, the parent-teacher organization at Palm Desert High School, with the approval of the principal, superintendent and school board, announced a fundraising project to raise money for the senior class. Parents, students, and community members could order commemorative engraved bricks to be included in a campus walkway on their new campus. No limitations were placed on the messages that could be used on the bricks, except for sizing and the number of characters. Parents Lou Ann Hart and Sheryl Caronna ordered pavers bearing biblical messages like “If God is for us, who can be against us” Romans 8:31 and “…be kind to each other…forgive one another. Eph. 5:32.” 

Summer came, and the women received the bricks, at a cost of several hundred dollars, but were told they would not be included in the walkway due to the age-old misinterpretation of “separation of church and state.” The women were given the bricks, but received no refund, despite the school’s refusal to use their pavers.

Other messages had been accepted, including a Bible verse in Spanish and a quote from Mahatma Gandhi – “Be the change that you want to see in the world.” Stones proclaimed, “Believe,” and “God bless you babe.”   Yet, the walkway was off limits to the biblical messages of Hart and Caronna. 

Last month, the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) sued the school district on behalf of the two women. They asked that the bricks be installed, attorney fees be reimbursed, and unspecified damages be awarded. David Cortman, ADF attorney, said, “Christians have the same First Amendment rights as everyone else does on public school campuses, and their messages are no less worthy of exposure than other individuals.” 

Los Angeles, California
Last month, a fifth grader auditioned for an after-school talent show by performing interpretative movement to a song entitled, “We Shine.” Several days later the boy’s mother was told by the school principal that her son would not be allowed to perform the act due to the song’s religious content, which the principal considered “offensive” and a violation of the “separation of church and state.” 

The mother explained that there had been no restrictions placed on student content, and her son’s song – which he had been practicing for months – represented who he is. The principal claimed other songs with vulgar or profane lyrics had also been denied, and questioned why the boy couldn’t select a song that didn’t say “Jesus” so many times. 

On January 28, the Alliance Defense Fund filed suit on behalf of the fifth grader. ADF’s Cortman said, “When religious content is censored by a public school while the content of other performances discussing similar topics is allowed, we have a major violation of a student’s constitutional rights.” Last week, on the very day that ADF filed a temporary restraining order, the school district relented and allowed the fifth grader to perform his chosen song in the February 4 talent show.

Throughout its history, America has been defined by its faith and freedom, and the protection of a person’s religious liberty is enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution. “It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate,” as the United States Supreme Court aptly stated in 1969. Yet those rights are – and have been – on trial in recent years. Ronald Reagan, whose centennial birth date was honored February 6, said, “If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.” History and legal precedent continue to support the protection of religious expression in the United States, but the few who object are working at the edges of the country’s foundations to silence people of religious faith. Public education is their primary target.

For more information on religious freedom in public education, and the meaning of the separation of church and state, give these links a look:
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