First Amendment_ Religion and Education
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Philosophy
Date
Apr 3, 2024
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4
Uploaded by dmahaffey4
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First Amendment: Religion and Education
Danielle Mahaffey
Grand Canyon University
SPD-500-O500: U.S. and Arizona Constitution for Teacher Candidates
Dr. Moses-Thompson
12 March 2024
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Religion has been around for many years and it has been protected by the U.S.
Constitution’s First Amendment. The Amendment tells us that, “Everyone in the United States
has the right to practice his or her own religion, or no religion at all,” (ACLU, 2003). This means
students have the right to express themselves freely in schools. This can be in many forms, like
assignments, artwork, and even in student-ran religious groups.
The student that wrote their essay about Jesus being their hero did not violate any rules or
laws. Incorporating your own religious beliefs into an assignment is not prohibited. While
students are able to express their beliefs, teachers and administrators must stay neutral and allow
their students to express what they believe. The only limitations are that it cannot be during
instructional times, and is not being forced on others. On top of that, teachers must grade the
assignments in a neutral manner, without bias or discrimination. In the Peck vs. Baldswinville
Central School District, a kindergartener drew posters of Jesus saving the world. The topic was
about natural resources and conservation and the student got rejected due to its lack of relevance
to the original assignment and the student had to redo their work. The accepted work still had
Jesus, but also included images of people picking up trash (Peck vs. Baldswinville, 2005). As
long as the topic/subject is relevant to the assigned requirements, there is no reason why it cannot
be graded fairly.
Although permanent displays of religious symbols are not permitted, temporary
presentations that are integrated into a non-religious curriculum are (Anti-Defamation League,
2016). The court case, Stone vs. Graham in 1980 addresses this. Sydell Stone challenged
Kentucky’s state law and James Graham, the superintendent of public schools in Kentucky.
Stone felt that it was unconstitutional to display the Ten Commandments on the walls of every
classroom. Although the state legislature put notations in small print at the bottom of each
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display, “The Court found that the requirement that the Ten Commandments be posted ‘had no
secular legislative purpose’ and was ‘plainly religious in nature,’” (Oyez, n.d.). To add to this,
because of the First Amendment, if students are given a choice about a topic or an assignment,
teachers must grade accordingly. However, it is the teacher’s choice to display the students' art
work of the Last Supper. Like in Peck vs. Baldswinvile, the Pecks sued because their child’s
display was folded in half so people did not think religion was being taught. The government
dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction (Peck vs. Baldswinville, 2005).
When grading the student’s essay, there can be issues from both sides of the field.
Whether it’s a positive or negative grade, someone can view it as either promoting or tearing
down the religion, which does not go with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment
(ACLU, 2003). The case of Settle v. Disckson County School Board (1995) shows this. The
teacher rejected the student’s paper about Jesus and gave her a failing grade. The students were
able to choose their own topic if they provided the appropriate research. While the student
followed directions, the nature of the content was not deemed appropriate by the teacher. The
teacher was deemed in violation to the First Amendment rights of free speech and religion
(FindLaw, 1995). While there is a fine line when grading papers that include religion, not
remaining neutral is not an option.
As stated before, religion is a topic that causes many debates to this day. It does not
change the fact that students have the right to express themselves. Working in public schools
requires compliance with the First Amendment. When grading, displaying, and addressing
religion in schools, we must be mindful of the students rights and of our own biases so that we
can be fair to the students and uphold the law.
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References
ACLU. (2003).
Your Right to Religious Freedom.
https://www.aclu.org/documents/your-right-religious-freedom
Anti-Defamation League. (2016).
Religion in the Public Schools.
https://www.adl.org/resources/tools-and-strategies/religion-public-schools?gad_source=1
&gclid=Cj0KCQjwncWvBhD_ARIsAEb2HW-L-FG7VhvZW1GzuHdGKykBirZ0V4fm
eOID1NOU1_rGfjDQ0aQpP8saAmKeEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Peck v. Baldwinsville Central School District. (2005). FindLaw.
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-2nd-circuit/1150072.html
Settle v. Dickson County School Board (1995). FindLaw.
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-6th-circuit/1086350.html
Stone v. Graham. 449 US 39 (1980).
Oyez.
https://www.oyez.org/cases/1980/80-321