Discusses Supreme Court interpretations of the Establishment clause of the First Amendment and the difficulties in getting public funds to assist in the financing of parochial schools. (WM)

Presented in its entirety is Judge Overton's decision in favor of the plaintiffs (including the National Association of Biology Teachers) who sued the Arkansas Board of Education, et al., on the grounds that the "Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science and Evolution-Science Act" was unconstitutional. (DC)

To uphold constitutionally approved teaching about religion (and refrain from unconstitutional religious indoctrination), schools are advised to adopt an approach that is academic, not devotional. Other responsibilities include, making sure that students' beliefs--especially those who are not religious or are otherwise in the minority--are never…

Describes two federal court cases concerning objections to public school textbooks. In "Smith v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County," parents attempted to eliminate objectionable content from textbooks through the Establishment Clause. In "Mozert v. Hawkins County Public Schools," parents wanted to remove children…

The Supreme Court has heard arguments in a suit prompted by the University of Virginia's denial of funds to "Wide Awake," a Christian newspaper, based on the doctrine of separation of church and state. The justices appear divided on the issue. (MSE)

This document reviews the impact of the Aguilar v. Felton Supreme Court decision requiring that Chapter 1 compensatory education services must not be delivered to students in private sectarian schools. The focus is on how these services have been implemented in such schools. Fifteen school districts were surveyed for demographic data, comments…

A court case comment traces establishment clause educational debates in cases leading to a Supreme Court decision in which it was found that a blind student otherwise eligible for financial aid could not be denied the aid just because the funds were to be used for religious education. (MSE)

The Supreme Court affirmed in "Mergens" that the Equal Access Act represents a legislative determination that secondary school students are mature enough to be exposed to an open forum. However, schools can either recognize noncurriculum-related groups, restrict student groups to curriculum-related activities, abolish student clubs, or…

In "Kiryas Joel," a sharply divided Supreme Court ruled that a New York law establishing a separate school district for a group of Orthodox Hasidic Jews was unconstitutional. Outlines the unusual facts in "Kiryas Joel" and summarizes Justice Souter's opinion of the Court, Justice Scalia's detailed dissent, and the four diverse…

Reviews a set of Supreme Court rulings that may dramatically alter the landscape of First Amendment jurisprudence: "Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah"; "Jones v. Clear Creek Independent School District"; "Lambs Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District"; and Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills…

"Rosenberger" prohibits public colleges and universities from discriminating against religious viewpoints in their allocation of student activities funds that are equally available to other groups. The Supreme Court decision also extends the range of facilities equally available to student religious organizations for free-speech…

The Supreme Court, in "Rosenberger," ruled against the University of Virginia when it denied student newspapers with religious perspectives equal access to student activities funds. Discusses decisions by all the courts and implications for future changes in the legal standard by which cases involving public assistance for religious…

"Rosenberger" revises Establishment Clause jurisprudence in several aspects: (1) ends "Lemon versus Kurtzman" as a main precedent; (2) alters First Amendment law by holding that government efforts to treat religious speech differently amounts to discrimination against people based on their "viewpoint"; and (3)…

Since the advent of the "Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms", the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has rendered judgments in four cases where individual educational stakeholders have alleged violations of their constitutional rights. In three of the cases, "R. v. Jones", "Eaton v. Brant County Board of Education",…

In light of two cases soon to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court--"Bob Jones University v. United States" and "Goldsboro Christian Schools, Inc. v. United States"--this monograph discusses the issue of freedom of religion and racially discriminatory private religious schools. After noting the statutory basis of tax-exempt…