Students may be taught about religion, but public schools may not teach religion. As the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly said, it “might well be said that one’s education is not complete without a study of comparative religion, or the history of religion and its relationship to the advancement of civilization.” It would be difficult to teach art, music, literature and most social studies without considering religious influences.

The history of religion, comparative religion, the Bible (or other scripture)-as-literature (either as a separate course or within some other existing course), are all permissible public school subjects. It is both permissible and desirable to teach objectively about the role of religion in the history of the United States and other countries. One can teach that the Pilgrims came to this country with a particular religious vision, that Catholics and others have been subject to persecution or that many of those participating in the abolitionist, women’s suffrage and civil rights movements had religious motivations.

Religion In The Public Schools: A Joint Statement Of Current Law

Other Resources

“From Battleground to Common Ground: Religion in the Public Schools Doesn’t Need to Be a Flash Point. . .” School Administrator. Volume: 63. Issue: 9. October 2006. Page Number: 10+

1. School officials must be neutral in their treatment of religion--neither inculcating nor denigrating religion. Public schools can (and should) teach about religion, where appropriate, as part of a complete education. Such teaching must be fair, objective and based on sound scholarship.

2. Students, however, are free to pray alone or in groups, read their scriptures and discuss their faith as long as they aren’t disruptive and don’t infringe upon the rights of others. Students also may distribute religious literature, subject to reasonable time, place and manner restrictions, and express their views about religion in class assignments as long as doing so is relevant to the subject under consideration and meets the requirements of the assignment. In secondary schools, students may form religious clubs if the school allows other extracurricular student clubs.

The widespread myth that the First Amendment bans God from the public schools may be popular fodder for attacking public schools, but it simply isn’t true.