Education Law Final Assessment

Running Header: Separation of Church and State

A Discussion of the Separation of Church and State in Education

Jodi Baker-Grenier

Southern Connecticut State University

EDL 602-02g

Dr. Corda

December 9, 2011

A Discussion of the Separation of Church and State in Education

Present Interpretation of the Law

The Constitutional issue of separation of church and state in public education has been interpreted and decided through many significant landmark decisions specifically with regard to the philosophical shift in the views of the Supreme Court on the role of religion in schools, prayer in schools and reading of the Bible, and the foundation for the Equal Access Act. The cases involved in these decisions have set precedents that give rise to the present interpretation of the law. The role of religion in public schools has been a topic tried before many courts including the Supreme Court of the United States in many landmark cases since the 1940s. The cases have molded and shaped the present interpretation of the separation of church and state in public school education. No matter what religion someone practices they can neither be discriminated against nor denied rights because of the religion they practice in the United States of America. Violations of the right to practice religion violate the First Amendment rights of an individual.

Historical Background

The United States of America was founded on the premise that one can practice his or her own chosen religion. In order to practice religion freely in the United States a separation between church and state exists. According to the Anti-Defamation League the right to freedom of religion is so central to American democracy that it was enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution along with other fundamental rights such as freedom of speech and freedom of the press (www.adl.org/issue_religious_freedom/print.asp). The right to practice religion freely was so...