Title: Can students pray in public schools? Can teachers say ‘Merry Christmas’? What’s allowed — and what’s forbidden. - The Washington Post
Headings: Can students pray in public schools? Can teachers say ‘Merry Christmas’? What’s allowed — and what’s forbidden.
Answer Sheet
Can students pray in public schools? Can teachers say ‘Merry Christmas’? What’s allowed — and what’s forbidden.

Content: We know the courts have interpreted the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to mean that public schools cannot promote religious or antireligious beliefs, yet we know that teachers can teach about religion as long as (a) the content is tied to academic objectives and (b) teachers do not attempt to indoctrinate students to a certain religious belief or nonbelief. But does that answer the question about religious symbols? Use symbols as instructional aids, not as permanent display or decoration. While still contested in some areas, permanent displays of religious symbols on public school property violate current interpretations of the Establishment Clause. The Ten Commandments, for example, are unarguably religious in nature. Their permanent display in public schools communicates an endorsement for Christianity — just as hanging a Star of David in a classroom could make it appear that the school favors Judaism. The Ten Commandments could, however, be temporarily displayed in a comparative literature classroom as an instructional aid in a lesson on the Bible as a literary source for other works. Instructional aids, in this context, are objects referenced during instruction to help students understand a particular religious heritage. Another example might be a Muslim prayer rug to illustrate the Islamic practice of Salah, or a poster about the Crusades in a history classroom depicting people holding crosses. The question of “display” versus instructional use can be especially complex in art and music classes.