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Should public schools ban religious fliers?
NO
Charles Haynes
Safeguards make more sense than bans on fliers
Damned if you do—and damned if you don’t. That’s the no-win dilemma faced by educators when religious groups ask public schools to distribute fliers to students.
Say “yes” and get sued by those who believe the practice amounts to schools’ unconstitutional endorsement of religion. Say “no” and get sued by others who view exclusion of religious fliers as a form of discrimination.
Caught in the crossfire, what are beleaguered school officials supposed to do?
First, talk to your school district attorney about current law. Two recent appellate court decisions (4th and 6th Circuits) suggest a trend: Courts are upholding the constitutionality of distributing fliers from religious groups when the school disseminates literature from a variety of community organizations announcing events for students.
In the first case, administrators at two elementary schools in Maryland refused to include fliers from an evangelical group in the informational packet sent home with kids. The second case involved a school district in Ohio that was sued for distributing fliers to students from religious groups along with materials from other community organizations.
In both cases, the appellate courts held that schools can distribute religious fliers to students without violating the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. These rulings mean that public school officials in these two circuits may no longer exclude fliers from religious groups when disseminating fliers from other groups.
Some schools may react to these decisions by shutting down the forum for all community groups. But cutting kids and parents off from hearing about a wide variety of educational and recreational opportunities would be unfortunate—and could create a community backlash.
A better idea is to keep the forum open—but put safeguards in place.
For example, require all community groups—religious and nonreligious—to include a disclaimer on their fliers (e.g., “this activity is not sponsored by the school district”). School officials could also request that fliers from all groups be purely informational, straightforward announcements of activities.
By identifying safeguards, schools keep information flowing to students and parents while simultaneously putting appropriate distance between public schools and the mission of religious groups.
This approach won’t satisfy everyone. But it’s a great deal better than divisive lawsuits—and a whole lot cheaper.
Charles Haynes is senior scholar at the First Amendment Center in Arlington, Va.
YES
Barry W. Lynn
Public schools should not help advance religious missions
America’s public school system is under a sustained attack by the Religious Right. Its leaders are aggressively campaigning to force the nation’s public schools to promote the Religious Right’s fundamentalist beliefs. These groups have tried different tactics. For example, they’ve worked to control the curriculum, specifically trying to force public schools to teach creationism alongside evolution in science classes. They’ve also demanded that teachers and administrators post copies of the Ten Commandments or other religious messages. Others work to divert public funds to private religious academies through vouchers.
Another spreading tactic of the Religious Right involves setting up after-hours religious clubs on school grounds and then demanding that educators promote this missionary outreach.
Public schools should aggressively oppose the Religious Right’s agenda. In some cases, however, resistance is complicated by court decisions. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2001 that if public schools permit outside organizations to lease their facilities for after-school gatherings, they must allow Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) to lease space for “Good News Clubs” that proselytize youngsters.
Since that ruling, CEF has also pressured public schools to help promote its work. In Maryland and New Jersey, officials are being asked to distribute fliers to students advertising Good News Club events. Earlier this year, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of CEF, noting that Montgomery County (Md.) Public Schools allow secular groups to advertise events to students.
Montgomery officials, citing the separation of church and state, have appealed the decision but, in the meantime, have created a new policy limiting fliers to school-sponsored events.
This is a battle too important to lose. Our nation’s public schools must serve children of all faiths (and none) and not become tools for spreading Religious Right propaganda. Teachers and administrators should remain alert to this problem and take all necessary steps to protect the religious neutrality of our schools.
The Rev. Barry W. Lynn is executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ as well as a civil rights lawyer.
