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Schools that don't allow students to pray outside the classroom or prohibit teachers from holding religious meetings among themselves could lose federal money, the Education Department said yesterday.
The guidance reflects the Bush administration's push to ensure that schools give teachers and students as much freedom to pray as the courts have allowed.
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"Public schools should not be hostile to the religious rights of their students and their families," Education Secretary Rod Paige said. "At the same time, school officials may not compel students to participate in prayer or other activities."
The instructions, released by the department late yesterday, broadly follow the same direction given by the Clinton administration and the courts. Prayer is generally allowed provided it happens outside the class and is initiated by students, not by school officials.
The department, however, also offered some significant additions, including more details on such contentious matters as moments of silence and prayer in student assemblies. And for the first time, the burden is on schools to prove compliance through a yearly report. [my emphasis]
"Public school districts that accept billions of dollars each year in federal education funds should be expected to respect students' constitutional rights," said Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee. "This is basic common sense."
Bush and Congress ordered the department to release the new guidelines as part of an education overhaul signed into law last year. But one leading critic said what emerged is a partisan push for more school prayer, not an attempt at clarification.
"They took the Clinton-era regulations, which just stated what the law was, and turned them into a wish list of what this administration wants them to be," said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.