Free Republic

CHICAGO - Today, Judge Robert W. Gettleman of the federal U.S. District Court in Chicago ruled that a state law mandating a moment of silence in Illinois public schools is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. He had previously put the Illinois Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act on hold while he considered the case filed by an atheist parent on behalf of his daughter. The Illinois General Assembly had passed the law to allow students the choice to simply reflect on the day’s activities or pray, and proponents argued that this did not compel religious practice. However, the court found...

An Islamic group has been banned from visiting classrooms in Seminole County schools after officials said it crossed the line between telling students about the Muslim culture and pushing its religion. The flap over the Academy for Learning Islam's visit to Lake Brantley High School also has caused the school system to re-evaluate who it lets into county classrooms to present educational programs and what they can talk about. By fall, teachers will have stricter guidelines. Speakers on religion, drugs, alcohol and nearly 50 other touchy topics will get closer scrutiny before they can speak on campuses, Superintendent Bill Vogel...

The Friendswood Junior High principal who outraged some parents by allowing an Islamic group to make a 40-minute presentation to students last month is now off the job. In a two-sentence statement sent late Wednesday, the school district said Robin Lowe "has accepted another administrative position effective immediately."

The curriculum at a charter school catering to Muslims complies with federal and state law, the state Education Department said Monday but it directed other changes be made in religious areas. The state said Tarik ibn Zayad Academy should change its busing schedule and its handling of Friday prayer services. The shorter prayer services on other days were found to be acceptable, but not the 30-minute service on school grounds on Muslim's holy day. The department said bus rides home should be available right after school ends; currently students must wait until after a voluntary after-school religious program. State law...

The state Education Department on Monday directed a Minnesota charter school to "correct" two areas related to religion at the school. Tarik ibn Zayad Academy, which focuses on Middle Eastern culture and shares a mosque with the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, came under fire after a teacher alleged that the school was offering religious instruction in Islam to its students. Charter schools in Minnesota are publicly funded and must be nonsectarian. The allegations first surfaced in an article by Star Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten. The Education Department subsequently began a review of the suburban Inver Grove Heights school and...

Hey.. how do you folks feel about prayers in public schools? It's a controversial issue so just wanted to hear what you guys have to say on the matter. In favor/opposed and reasons.

The Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy, a public charter school in Inver Grove, MN that “offers tuition-free education to all students upon admission” is in full swing with Islamic centered traditions at taxpayer’s expense. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that the school serves halal food- Islamic permissible food-and that students participate in ritual washing and prayers. It offers Islamic studies and requires students to study Arabic as a second language. The school’s calendar also reflects that it is closed for an entire week in October in observance of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan.

The East Brunswick school board was within its rights to tell a football coach he cannot kneel and bow his head as members of his team have a student-led pre-game prayer, a federal appeals court ruled today.  The ruling from the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia reversed a lower-court ruling made almost two years ago.  All three members of the three-judge panel wrote their own opinions on the issue, which pits the right to free speech against the freedom from official establishment of a religion.The judges agreed the East Brunswick Board of Education's policy barring school...

Recently, I wrote about Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA), a K-8 charter school in Inver Grove Heights. Charter schools are public schools and by law must not endorse or promote religion. Evidence suggests, however, that TIZA is an Islamic school, funded by Minnesota taxpayers. TIZA has many characteristics that suggest a religious school. It shares the headquarters building of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, whose mission is "establishing Islam in Minnesota." The building also houses a mosque. TIZA's executive director, Asad Zaman, is a Muslim imam, or religious leader, and its sponsor is an organization called Islamic Relief.

Via the magic of Ms Rabbit,we get to look at a case involving Americans United for Separation of Church and State v Marcus Borden : a football coach who won the right to bow his head or kneel respectfully when his team prays.

See You at the Pole™ is a student-initiated, student organized, and student-led event. That means this is all about students meeting at their school flagpole to pray—for their school, friends teachers, government, and their nation. See You at the Pole™ is not a demonstration, political rally, nor a stand for or against anything. See You at the Pole™ is scheduled annually on the fourth Wednesday in September, which is September 26 in 2007. The suggested starting time is 7 a.m. If that doesn't work for your school, choose a time that will work for your school, but let everyone at...

Prayer at the pole WHO CAN BLAME teachers and administrators for being confused about the proper relationship between religion and public schools? From "winter concerts" to "spring break," it seems safest just to ban issues of faith from the grounds. No risk of lawsuits or angry phone calls from parents--and just one problem: Outlawing expressions of faith is not constitutional. Tomorrow's "See You at the Pole" event is a case in point. Begun in Burleson, Texas, in 1990, SYATP is a student-initiated movement that encourages kids to gather at the flagpole before the opening bell on the last Wednesday in...

Among many parents at Rosemeade Elementary, he is viewed as a nuisance. But David Wallace Croft says he is fighting against the influence of "Judeo-Christian monotheism." He defines himself as an atheist, an "optihumanist" and a Libertarian. Over the past several years, he has fought any signs of religion at the Carrollton school his three children attend. He complained about Boy Scout rallies held during school, fliers sent home about Good News Bible Club meetings and the inclusion of "Silent Night" and a Hanukkah song in holiday concerts. The rallies and fliers stopped, and in some cases the songs were...

SAN DIEGO -- A San Diego school that drew international attention for setting aside time for Muslim students to pray in the classroom will no longer do so, it was reported Friday. Instead, Carver Elementary's schedule will be reconfigured so students can say their required midday prayers during lunch. Courts have long upheld students' rights to pray on their own during lunch or recess, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. When the new school year begins, Carver will have two lunch periods, including one that will fall when Muslims typically say their midday prayer -- between 1 and 2 p.m., the...

A Louisiana school district that has been riddled with religious lawsuits got some backing Wednesday after a panel of judges overturned a decision that had formerly barred them from opening their meetings with prayer. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled that the Tangipahoa Parish School Board – which has had five religious-related lawsuits brought against it in the past 13 years – could not be held accountable for an “offended observer” and has the right to have voluntary prayer at their meetings. According to attorneys from the faith-based legal group Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), the decision...

Political Correctness: Seems the ACLU couldn't care less that a San Diego public school has set aside 15 minutes of classroom instruction time for Muslim students to pray, while non-Muslims twiddle their thumbs. Right now it has no plans to legally challenge the budding madrassa as endorsement of a religion by government. Apparently the establishment clause only applies to the practice of Judeo-Christian rituals in public places. The special accommodations for Carver Elementary's nearly 100 Somali Muslims don't stop with organized prayer. The school cafeteria has banned pork and other foods that conflict with the Islamic diet.

As young people around the nation graduate from academic institutions of all types, I espouse that we all graduate in our understanding of what our Founders wanted for public education. A while ago, I read a few blogs in which skeptics were taking issue with information I presented in my column on our Founders' endorsement of the Bible being taught in public schools, which is even now happening in 373 school districts in 37 states, including my home state of Texas. Because my wife, Gena, and I are on the board of the National Council of Bible Curriculum in...

Religious expression in public schoolshttp://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA051507.01A.praying_kids.346b298.html http://tinyurl.com/2f9gzw Web Posted: 05/14/2007 11:03 PM CDT J. Michael Parker Express-News Religion Writer Zach Van Veldhuizen believes Jesus should be honored in public schools. The MacArthur High School senior doesn't understand why prayers or other religious expressions at school-sponsored events would be a problem. But Katina Rajunov, a Clark High School senior, believes that religious messages given at school-sponsored events might make students of differing faiths feel excluded. Enter the Texas Legislature, which has joined the fray most commonly the province of school district officials, who often face a conundrum in the religious freedoms of...

12 Washington State High School Students Suspended for Public Prayer Group By Gudrun Schultz VANCOUVER, Washington, March 6, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A number of students who formed an interdenominational prayer group at a Washington state high school were expelled by the administration last week over their refusal to hold a morning prayer session in a closed room, The Columbian reported March 2. Twelve students at Heritage High School in Vancouver, WA, were suspended last Friday after continuing to meet for morning prayer in the commons area of the school, despite a faculty order that they stop causing physical "disruption" to...

No Prayer in School? Millions of Students Will Pray at "See You At The Pole" Gatherings ORLANDO, FL - Wednesday, September 27, is the official day for the 17th annual "See You At The Pole" prayer rallies. The rallies are student-initiated, student-led events where students gather before school to pray for their classmates, teachers, schools, families, communities, states and nations. Each year approximately three million students from all fifty states and more than twenty countries gathered around school flagpoles to pray. Students in the United States have often met with resistance from school officials who are not educated about constitutional...