Groups’ Handbook Gives Guidelines on Religious Expression in Schools

Religious leaders, conservatives and liberals, temporarily set aside their differences Thursday and released a handbook giving parents and teachers guidelines on religion in public schools.

Citing widespread confusion over court rulings, the groups urged school boards, states and parents to use the handbook to solve local disputes without lawsuits.

“It is not illegal for students to pray. They do it all the time,” said J. Brent Walker of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs. “And we need to get the word out to the American people.”

Walker criticized Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) for telling a campaign audience this week that students should be allowed to voluntarily pray. “They already can,” Walker said.

On the other hand, many Christian conservatives said they hope the handbook will prevent teachers or principals from unfairly restricting students’ right to religious expression.

At a North Dakota elementary school, a principal recently refused to hang a little girl’s drawing of a cross, the American flag and the school, saying it violated the Constitution’s church-state separation, noted Forest D. Montgomery of the National Assn. of Evangelicals.

“Too many teachers, principals and school officials are confused about what the law does allow,” said Rabbi David Saperstein of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.

Students can pray privately in school, talk to classmates about religion, express religious feelings in assignments and use school buildings after-hours for religious clubs, the handbook notes. But teachers and principals cannot promote religion.

The handbook says teachers can prevent a student from discussing religion if it is irrelevant to the class lesson at hand.

But a student’s condemnation of abortion as against God’s law would be allowable during a sex education class, it says.

The book can be obtained by calling: American Civil Liberties Union, (202) 544-1681; American Humanist Assn., (800) 743-6646; American Jewish Congress, (212) 360-1545; American Muslim Council, (202) 789-2262; Christian Legal Society, (703) 642-1070, and National Assn. of Evangelicals, (202) 789-1011.