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Jay,

I think it's great that so many Americans want to volunteer for good causes, and I have no problem that many want to work with faith-based groups. Americans can volunteer for and/or donate to the charity of their choice; the government, however, cannot.

The First Amendment makes it clear that public funds should never go toward religious activities. Yet, certain people want to keep pushing programs that will do just that. One of those programs is happening right here in our backyard, and I would like to know how anyone can even justify it.  

The program I'm talking about is the "D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program," which thanks to a few select senators, may be reauthorized, despite the fact that it is unconstitutional and completely unsuccessful.

Barry, congratulations to your daughter on her graduation.  It is that time of year - my son just graduated from Regent University School of Law.

 

The New Jersey school sounds perfectly legitimate from a constitutional standpoint. The article states that the school "would steer clear of religion while teaching a vital 21st-century skill--a second language that would prepare students for the global economy." The school's co-founder said, "It's not a Jewish school. . . . We're not teaching any religion."

 

It sounds like the school's instruction is consistent with United States Department of Education Guidelines on Religious Expression in Public Schools updated in 1998, that state:

I think the first four people who responded to your last post claiming the cross isn't necessarily religious are completely on the mark, particularly emphasizing that all deceased war veterans are not Christian.  I'd be happy to leave them have the last word.

Moving to another topic, we now have questions being raised about a new public "charter school" in New Jersey.  To me, such institutions pose two questions.  First, are they really subterfuges for having taxpayers shell out money for religious schools?  I have complained about the content of some curricular material at a similar Jewish "culture" charter school in Florida and changes were made.  On the other hand, some Jewish and Islamic charters do manage to confine their lesson plans and curricular materials to non-theological matters.  Obviously, it is impossible to know what teachers do or say that is not in the publicly available materials from such schools.  Over at Americans United, we'll be taking a close look at the New Jersey plan.

Barry, I think the one thing we can agree on is that as long as graduation ceremonies take place across the country, there will be questions - concerns - and ongoing debate about what's proper and what it not.

What I don't understand is why some public school officials find it necessary to censor student religious speech - even at graduation.

Even as I write this, we're working with the parent of an 8th grade student in California who auditioned to perform a tap dance number at her graduation ceremony that will take place in a few weeks. The graduation committee was impressed by her dance and invited her to perform at the ceremony, but they told her that she had to change her song selection or use an instrumental version with no words. The reason? The song mentions God.

Barry, as you know, many graduation ceremonies are held in churches around the country every year.  The reason for this is simple and has nothing to do with religion:  the church facility, in many communities, provides the space needed to accommodate students, parents and friends for the graduation gathering.

 

Unfortunately, with your lawsuit in Wisconsin, you're creating a constitutional showdown that is off base. You cite that your plaintiffs are not comfortable attending the graduation ceremony in a building where they disagree with what you call the church's 'conservative viewpoints' on a host of issues.  Okay.  But this is a graduation ceremony - not a church service.  There will be no preaching.  No evangelizing.  It seems to me that you and your clients don't like the theological teachings of this church.  That's fine.  But, that has absolutely nothing to do with using the facility to host a graduation ceremony. By holding the graduation ceremony at the church facility, the school district is not 'endorsing' any religious viewpoint.

Well, Jay, let's move from the national scene to a local one. Americans United has now filed a precedent-setting lawsuit challenging the use of a church for a public high school graduation ceremony in Wisconsin. We had asked a number...

Barry, what's wrong with giving parents a real choice about what school to send their children to? Parents are in a much better position than you or I to decide whether the public schools in their community are providing a...

Barry, there's another troubling development in the education world - this one is not about stimulus funds for higher education facilities - this centers on high school curriculum and focuses directly on what's being taught in many Christian high schools...

Barry, you are right on target.  It is certainly up to President-elect Obama and his wife to make the best decision possible for the education of their two daughters.  This is a private, family matter. But, as we both know,...