A
Primer for Christian Teachers in Public Schools
By Jim Jenkins and Kevin Theriot
Publisher’s Note…
With Christian children and
Christian educators returning to public (government) schools soon, we thought it
would be important for parents and educators to know exactly what their
religious rights are within the public education system. There are two articles
in this issue which we highly recommend that readers make copies of; the
following article, which addresses teachers and administrator’s rights and Freedom of Religious Expression in Public
Schools - What Every Student and Parent Needs to Know, which addresses student’s
rights.
We recommend that copies of
both of these articles be made and posted on your church bulletin board. In addition, we recommend that the
article relating to student’s rights be copied and handed to every parent in
your congregation whose child attends a public school. We especially recommend
that parents make additional copies of the following article and either
personally hand a copy to any Christian educator in their congregation or, if
you know that one of your child’s teachers or school administrators are
Christian, send a copy along with your child on the first day of school so that
they may give it personally to them.
A Primer for
Christian Teachers in Public Schools
One of the most fundamental
concepts Christian teachers in public schools should understand is that
RELIGIOUS SPEECH OF PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS IS PROTECTED BY THE FIRST AMENDMENT
OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION! The Supreme Court has held that school
officials can only restrict a teacher’s religious speech if; (1) the expression
materially and substantially interferes with the requirements of appropriate
discipline in the operation of the school, or interferes with the teacher’s
obligations to teach; or (2) the expression infringes upon the rights of
others.
Therefore, school officials
must have a reasonable basis for concluding that a teacher’s speech threatens to
impair the interests of the school, and it is not justified in restricting a
teacher’s speech if it is merely an inconvenience or an annoyance. Teachers may
teach ABOUT religion, as long as the students can distinguish between the
teacher’s personal views and those of the school board.
However, when speaking on
religious matters, a public school teacher must be careful to avoid violating
the Establishment Clause of the First
Amendment, since they represent the school when in the classroom. A state
entity, like a public school, is prohibited from endorsing religion, or coercing
students to participate in religion. This is especially true in elementary
schools, where courts have applied stricter standards then they do in secondary
schools or in universities.
In teaching about religious
matters, for instance, the Bible can
be studied for literary and historic qualities; but in teaching about religious
matters teachers must remain neutral and cannot engage in religious
indoctrination or proselytizing. Teaching about the religious aspects of
holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving, by studying religious literature, is
clearly permissible. Students may be allowed to perform and participate in
holiday art, literature, drama and music which contain religious themes.
If the school allows teachers
to conduct meetings unrelated to school business on school premises, it cannot
prohibit discussions promoting religion, or that are proselytizing in nature,
among teachers when they are not involved in actual classroom instruction.
Teachers may freely associate and speak outside the classroom, and may lead
off-campus Bible study, even in the
presence of a student. Moreover, teachers may act as non-participating observers
or monitors to ensure order and good behavior in campus Bible Clubs.
Teachers are also protected
by academic freedom. Courts have held that individual instructors are at liberty
to teach that which they deem appropriate in the exercise of their professional
judgment. Administrators cannot prohibit teachers from discussing all forms of
religion in the class room. Such a
rule would keep a teacher from referring to historical facts that relate to the
subject matter because of the religious nature of the facts. School officials
cannot prohibit teachers from the dissemination of information to students; they
can only prohibit indoctrination with the teacher’s views.
Academic freedom also means
that teachers cannot be made to simply read from a script prepared or approved
by the school board. Teachers are constitutionally protected to inform students
that there are other approaches to a given subject. Consequently, a teacher
required by the school board to teach Darwinism may also inform students about
the scientific facts supporting alternate theories, such as Creationism.
Problems only arise if the teacher uses excessive class time to discuss topics
unrelated to the subject matter and does not communicate to the students a
substantial portion of the subject matter which the teacher has been assigned to
teach.
The Establishment Clause of
the Constitution does not preclude
public school teachers from teaching about religion or using the Bible as an historical or literary
document. The First Amendment
guarantees that teachers are free to teach about religion, as long as the
teacher remains neutral and does not attempt to inculcate their own religious
beliefs. Teachers also have the right to freely discuss religion among themselves. Violation of these constitutional rights, even
for a moment, results in irreparable injury. If any Christian public school
teacher is threatened with a denial of these constitutional rights the Alliance
Defense Fund is available, without cost, to assist in the protection of those
rights. For more information please call our Midwest Regional Office at (913)
829-7755.
Jim
Jenkins and his office associate,