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Headings: Religion’s Legal Place in the Schoolhouse
Religion’s Legal Place in the Schoolhouse
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Content: Additionally, a federal court ruled in a 2000 case involving a Michigan charter school that teachers may address religious issues in more detail in response to student questions. The bottom line is that religious beliefs and practices may be discussed in the classroom in an academic, non-devotional manner. Theory of Evolution
The issue of what should be taught in public school science classes considering the origins of life and who should make that decision has again become prominent in the public eye. Although a strong majority of Americans have consistently supported the teaching of the strengths and weaknesses of Darwinian evolutionary theory, as well as its limitations, a Pennsylvania district court last December struck down a public school’s requirement that a disclaimer be read in all biology classes before the theory of evolution is discussed. While some observers proclaimed that this decision means that Darwinian theory now must be placed upon an untouchable pedestal in American science classrooms — regardless of any opposing view held by individual science teachers, parents and state and local school boards —that is simply not the case. Many school leaders would be surprised to learn that the Supreme Court said the following about evolutionary theory in Edwards v. Aguillard in 1987: “ We do not imply that a legislature could never require that scientific critiques of prevailing scientific theories be taught. . . . [ T]eaching a variety of scientific theories about the origins of humankind to schoolchildren might be validly done with the clear secular intent of enhancing the effectiveness of science instruction.” In other words, the intent of educators is all-important in considering whether a particular decision relating to evolutionary theory will be upheld by the courts. While the Supreme Court held that a school may teach “a variety of scientific theories about the origins of humankind” if it has the “clear secular intent of enhancing the effectiveness of science instruction,” schools may not alter the content of classroom instruction solely for the purpose of supporting or harming a particular religious view.