Abington School District v. Schempp
Supreme Court of the United States, 1963. 374 U.S. 203, 83 S. Ct. 1560
In the case, Abington School District v. Schempp, the issue addressed was one of whether or not the school requiring bible reading and prayer at the beginning of each school day was in direct violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court of the United States in 1963 said that it was. There was a precedent set by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Dec. 17, 1959) that said, “Any child shall be excused from such Bible reading, or attending such Bible reading, upon the written request of his parent or guardian.” The Schempps argued that this was a violation of their Fourteenth Amendment rights under the constitution. The courts said, “Nor are these required exercises mitigated by the fact that individual students may absent themselves upon parental request, for that fact furnishes no defense to a claim of unconstitutionality under the Establishment Clause….”
Due to the Constitution, I must agree with the court in both instances. This looked to me like it was a blatant attempt to establish, condone, and practice a particular religion over another by teachers employed by the school.
On the converse side of that, I took a Philosophy of Religion class in undergrad which used the Bible in relation to literature, as a reference to history, and a back drop for civilization. So I believe, in that context along with the education of other religions as they pertain to the existence of man is beneficial to the learning experience of children.
I would use Domain 1.3 based upon the application of legal guidelines used to protect the rights of students and staff and to improve learning opportunities.
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14 comments:
I will have to agree with the findings of the blogger, I feel as if the actions were in direct violation of the Establishment Clause. As much as I hate to admit it I feel the court, based on the constitution, made the correct decision. This particular case can relate to my school because we do not have religious activities in the school because of cases like this.
SHOOTER
I have to agree with the blogger on this case, Bible readings in class are a violation of the First Amendment and to the Establishment Clause. It has been established in the courts that the practice of religion in public schools is unconstitutional. This can be relavantly used at my school, that religion can only be discussed in the classroom setting only as a comparison or study of particular cultures throughout the world and this is concept should be conveyed to students that are learning the material. I would think that this would alleviate any problems with students trying to excuse themselves from a particular subject area based on religious differences
posted by ironman25
I have to agree with the blogger. Bible readings are a violation of the First Amendment in this case because it became a religious ceremony enforced by the state. Because of that fact, the courts were compelled to agree with Schemmpp. As much as I would like to have Bible readings in school, I would not want to be forced to incorporate another viewpoint. This is a violation of the First Amendment and Free Exercise Clause because it states "Congress will make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." This clearly is a violation of the amendment and was deemed unconstitutional. This case also brought out an interesting point about the students being excused by a note. This still did not change the outcome of the case. It was not a reasonable solution. I have learned that this would not be an appropiate course of action to take or an answer to a problem because it did not change the fact it was a violation to petitioner's rigts.
Trout Fish
Like previous posts, I too would have to agree with the blogger and the constitution in this case. This was a direct violation with the Establishment Clause and First Amendment. Christianity may not always be the major religion in the US as great diversity is taking hold in our schools, and I would resent another religion taking hold in schools that "Congress will make no law respecting an establishment of religion.." protects us from.
Religion will be an issue that we will encounter as administrators. Understanding these laws and the responsibility of the schools to protect these rights are very important to administrators. I find this case to be very interesting with its current relation to schools trying to implement religion classes in public schools.
Previous posts:
sucram54
I agree with the findings of the court and the blogger. This activity was not being used to educate children about literature or history but appears to be promoting a specific religion upon the students. This is a clear violation of the First Amendment and therefore must be considered unconstitutional.
This reinforces the importance of administrators knowing the law and educating their faculty about the law. There is a line drawn between "use for education" and "practice of religion" and precedence shows that if you cross it the court will not side with you.
Hunt74
kay82:
I would agree with the blogger. Making the students practice a certain religious act would violate the student's right to free exerecise and freedom of religion.
I would also have to agree with the findings of the court. The school probably had a good intention of requiring the students bring written consent; however, the school was still requiring the other students to practice this particular religious act.
I agree that the Bible should be used in schools when the teacher is trying to make a point or studying a particular era in time. In a school setting, teachers need to be aware of these religious issues and pay close attention to the legal requirements.
~Belle~
I also agree with the court decision regarding this case. The Bible readings and the reciting of the Lord's Prayer by the students did encroach on both the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
As school employees we need to be aware of what is allowable in the exercising of religion at school.
I agree with the blogger and the court being spot-on with this being a direct violation of the Establishment Clause. Reading the Bible, Koran, or Torah chorally in any public school gives the facade of school/state sponsored endorsement of religion.
In order to protect my freedom to be a Christian I fully agree that religion should not be in school. The "Free Exercise of Relgion" allows me to worship as I please without government interference. The "Establishment Clause" allows me not to have some other religion I do not agree with force their beliefs down my throat because the government thinks they should be in school.
The Texas Legislature in their infinite wisdom has allowed public schools to teach the Bible as a literature class. This allows the student to study one of the oldest history books that built a civilization and inspired many governments including our own.
However, reading it in class as a morning ritual is not studying it regardless if there was no comment on the reading.
As an administrator I must not allow any religious activity on my campus during school hours. By doing so I keep the playing field equal so that no one religious group has a monopoly on our students.
I agree with the blogger and the court being spot-on with this being a direct violation of the Establishment Clause. Reading the Bible, Koran, or Torah chorally in any public school gives the facade of school/state sponsored endorsement of religion.
In order to protect my freedom to be a Christian I fully agree that religion should not be in school. The "Free Exercise of Relgion" allows me to worship as I please without government interference. The "Establishment Clause" allows me not to have some other religion I do not agree with force their beliefs down my throat because the government thinks they should be in school.
The Texas Legislature in their infinite wisdom has allowed public schools to teach the Bible as a literature class. This allows the student to study one of the oldest history books that built a civilization and inspired many governments including our own.
However, reading it in class as a morning ritual is not studying it regardless if there was no comment on the reading.
As an administrator I must not allow any religious activity on my campus during school hours. By doing so I keep the playing field equal so that no one religious group has a monopoly on our students.
There seems to be two issues for open discussion here. One the use of the Bible as a religious tool in the study of culture and or history and the Prayer portion of the meeting. Since this is a before school activity and is not part of the curriculum of a class voluntary participation and prayer seem appropriate. But in the context of using the bible as reference in a classroom situation the prayer portion would most definitely violate the first amendment rights of someone somewhere. Using the bible as a reference book for the study of culture and history seems to be proved out as defendable.
RumRunner
guilo10
I agree with the blogger and the court ruling that this was a violation of relious freedon of the student's 1st amendment of free exercise clause, and establishment clause.
However, I also agree with the blogger about using the Bible and other religous text as reading teaching tool and is benefical learnig experience of any learner. Comparing different text to study history and human nature without studying the context of religions in and of themselves.
comment by Tiffany
I agree with both the blogger and the court in that requiring a Bible reading and prayer at the beginning of each day is a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The Bible reading and prayer were not being used for the academic teaching of history or literature but rather as a religious practice. A religious practice that might not be the custom of all involved.
By the school allowing students the right not to participate, with a written note, they were creating an environment for discrimination. Those students that chose not to participate took the chance of standing out and being ridiculed.
I believe that school is a place for learning academics not for forcing others views of religion upon one another. Each religion has its own time of teaching outside of public schools (ex: church services, mass, etc.)
As administrators, this will be a very real issue that we will have to deal with many times. We may not have to deal with it to this extent, but many of us have had those students that, because of religious beliefs, have not been able to recite the pledge or participate in classroom celebrations during the year. We need to be mindful of the Constitution and the rights we are ALL provided.
posted by: kido5150
I would have to agree with the blogger and so many others. This was a violation of the 1st Amendment and the Est. Clause. I do like that, as educators, we can discuss religion IF we discuss all religions in order to describe different aspects of other cultures. I know that I can relate this to my campus, in that there isn't any discussion of law - what is okay and what is not okay. As a teacher that is now aware, maybe I can present a short, factual workshop on the basics of Educational Law. In the future, as an administrator, I will try to provide an abBreviated in-service for my faculty/staff - just so that they can be aware.
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