Religion & Law

School Learnin'

By John Pieret

The Spencer (Iowa) School Board, as reported by The Des Moines Register, is apparently pulling its hand off the stove before it gets burnt too much. Only licking a couple of singed fingers, the board has abandoned a policy that almost undoubtedly would have resulted in a constitutional challenge and diverted scarce resources into a lawsuit that could have been better spent on their real job, education, rather than half-assed efforts at social engineering.

According to Superintendent Greg Ebeling:

The right to pray or learn about religion in public schools is protected by the U.S. Constitution.

Most public educators have trampled those rights out of fear they'll be sued for violating the separation of church and state doctrine, Spencer school officials say.

Spencer's policy was an attempt to clear up confusion ...

A second crack at the policy will be scrutinized by attorneys, teachers and other groups before it's made public in September.

Full post as published by Thoughts in a Haystack on August 27, 2009 (boomark / email).