Educators today are accustomed to discussing concepts of multiculturalism, race, class, and gender, but when it comes to religion, most new teachers and many seasoned teachers are confounded. This article provides a critical look at the treatment of religion in public education in the United States, and the potential marginalization of…

In the decade and a half after the Civil War, the American public school rose and fell as a central issue in national and state politics. After a relative calm on matters of education during and immediately after the War, the Republican Party and Catholic Church leaders in the late 1860s and early 1870s joined a bitter battle of words over the…