by Jorge Gomez • 4 minutes
Many public schools in America appear to have a serious problem with prayer and religious expression.
School districts are discriminating against students who want to pray, read the Bible or get together to encourage one another through their faith. Teachers, coaches, and staff are also being attacked for expressing their religious beliefs.
While stifling religious freedom, school districts seem to be comfortable with forcing radical ideology on students and teachers, often in violation of their religious beliefs. In many cases, parents are kept in the dark or told they can’t opt their children out from controversial materials being shown in the classroom.
And it’s happening all across the country.
A California school district has repeatedly told students that their Good News Club cannot meet at an elementary school. Meanwhile, other student-led, after-school clubs are allowed to use the facilities to meet. The Child Evangelism Fellowship—which oversees the club—recently had to file a lawsuit in federal court to stop the district’s religious discrimination.
In New York, a school district recently tried doing the same thing to our client, eighth grader Elijah Nelson. The school initially denied Elijah’s request to start a Bible club connect with classmates who share his faith. He was told the school could not “officially” recognize, “fund,” or “sponsor” his club as it would any other club. Elijah reached out to First Liberty, and we quickly resolved the matter. Just in time for Christmas, the school reversed course and approved Elijah’s Bible club.
Even though the school district ended up doing the right thing, it doesn’t change the fact that a student had to get legal help just to exercise his religious freedom. Elijah—or any student— should never be in that position in the first place. The Constitution and federal law are clear that students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gates.
First Liberty’s landmark Supreme Court victory in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District made clear that employees and students have a right to express their faith in public schools, which includes expressing their religious beliefs through voluntary clubs. What’s more, in Good News Club v. Milford Central School, the nation’s highest court held that schools must grant religious clubs the same access as any other non-curricular club.
Despite the Supreme Court’s clear direction, school districts persist in keeping students from meeting to pray or read Scripture. In some cases, school officials won’t let students hear or see any kind of religious content.
Some districts even defy statewide directives to incorporate the Bible, Ten Commandments, or other religious texts into curricula and classrooms, even though the Supreme Court has said this is perfectly constitutional. Coaches, teachers and other school employees are also threatened or even terminated for publicly displaying their faith.
The list is vast, but consider the discrimination and attacks in California, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington.
And as school districts say “No!” to prayer and religious expression, they say “Yes!” to radical indoctrination.
First Liberty is fighting in federal court on behalf of two California families who were told by a school district that they could not opt their children out of books promoting controversial gender ideology.
These families’ sons were required to read a book titled “My Shadow is Pink,” which exposes children to radical views about sexuality and gender. It depicts a boy who sees his shadow as pink and describes it as “your inner-most you.” He then wears a dress to school, and his dad changes his beliefs and puts on a dress too.
The parents we represent have a deeply held conviction to raise their children consistent with their Christian faith, and the content of the book violates their beliefs. They approached the school district and asked for notification when sensitive topics would be read in school and to allow their children to opt out of future participation. But their requests were denied.
First Liberty won a similar case in Minnesota in which several Muslim families were denied opt-out requests for their kids from books about sexuality. We sent a letter to the school district explaining how their denials violated the First Amendment. The school district implemented a new system under which families can request opt-outs and alternative learning—protecting students in elementary, middle and high schools.
There’s no denying that families nationwide are suffering from policies that harm religious freedom and parental rights. So it’s good news that the U.S. Supreme Court will soon tackle this issue. The Court will hear arguments on April 22 in a case involving more than 300 religious parents in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Anti-religious bias in public schools—combined with a forceful push of ideology—is also hurting religious teachers and staff.
First Liberty is representing Connecticut schoolteacher Marisol Arroyo-Castro, who was suspended without pay and placed on administrative leave, because she displayed a small crucifix at her workspace. That’s unconstitutional and we’re demanding that the New Britain School District restore Marisol to her job.
Other teachers in Kansas, Wisconsin, Ohio and Virginia—to name just a few—also had to go to court to vindicate their rights. Like Marisol, many of them were put in the difficult position of choosing between their faith and their job. Why? Because school districts decided to elevate woke indoctrination above religious freedom.
Many school districts and officials either ignore—or simply don’t know about—the seismic shift that’s happening in religious liberty law. Because of multiple landmark victories First Liberty has secured at the U.S. Supreme Court, students and public employees have renewed protections to express their religious beliefs. Harmful legal precedents that silenced and censored religion on public property have been overturned.
Government certainly should not and cannot coerce any citizen toward religion. But it also cannot and should not inhibit religious freedom and expression. The days when the law forced faith to be hidden are gone.
If you’re a public-school teacher, administrator or student, this means your freedom to live out your faith at school is more protected now than it has been in more than a generation. Americans of any faith and religious affiliation can engage in private expression of their faith on campus—without censorship or punishment.
Wouldn’t it be better if America’s schools did what the law required and gave students and staff an opportunity to pray, read the Bible or learn about our nation’s religious heritage? We think so.
Radical ideology and woke indoctrination do not belong in our schools. School districts would do well to follow the law and get back to what America’s Founders intended: for our schools to be a place where the free exercise of religion is protected and encouraged.
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