Religion & Law

As an Obama supporter, I will readily admit that some of the policies and proclamations emerging from the White House over the past couple of weeks have not been confidence-building.  One bright spot, though, is the President's announced intention to expand the number of charter schools.  To me, the most fascinating question in this area is whether we will provide the space needed for charter schools to carve out distinct moral identities, not just to embrace innovative pedagogical techniques.  Alert: self-promotion coming . . . I wrote an essay sketching some preliminary answers to that question for a symposium at the University of Maryland Law School a couple of years ago.  Here's an excerpt

As a matter of logic, the exit option made available by [charter schools] makes it less reasonable for a student to view herself as a political outsider simply because a particular school embraces a moral claim with which she disagrees. By way of obvious example, the existence of the Harvey Milk School hardly justifies a conclusion that gay and lesbian youth are ?insiders,? while those who disagree with the school?s premise are ?not full members of the political community.? What is not clear is whether the exit option changes the endorsement dynamic on religious matters. . . .

You can read the entire paper here.