Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/912628
Separation of church and state Two years ago, a teacher in the Central Valley was accused of handing out "Bible Cookies" to students. The story went viral, and the school community was up in arms. Eventually, the cookie story crumbled. The cookies were not Bible-shaped — nor did they contain Bible verses. They were store-bought cookies the teacher 's wife donated to the school-authorized Christian Club, which the teacher, a CTA member, advised. He was later vindicated. Yes, religion in public schools is a sensitive and hotly debated issue. The First Amendment reads in part: "Congress shall make no law respect- ing an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Today that clause is associated with the separation of church and state. The challenge for schools has been to balance that separation with religious freedom, which can be a fine line. The U.S. Supreme Court protects students' individual rights to pray, wear religious symbols and express their religious beliefs at school, yet prohibits such practices if they are perceived as disruptive, discrimina- tory or coercive to peers who don't share the same beliefs. Prayer at pub- lic school graduation ceremonies and sporting events has been eliminated for creating a coercive environment. Ben McLeod/Flickr Commons Can schools really teach about religion? It's a common perception that schools are not allowed to teach about reli- gion, says Fulton, but students have been studying religion's role in the historical, cultural, literary and social development of the U.S. and the world for decades. And in today's divisive world, increasing understanding about world religions has never been more important. Teaching students about religion in an objective, balanced and factual manner has been incorporated into California's History–Social Science (HSS) Content Standards since 1998, and is also part of the new HSS Framework, points out Juliana Liebke, a social studies curriculum spe- cialist for San Diego Unified School District, who says people are con- stantly surprised by this. "Teaching about religion is not th e s a m e a s t e a c h i n g re li g i o n , because we are not proselytizing. We are just teaching facts about belief systems of various religions, to understand how the narrative of world history has unfolded," says Liebke, San Diego Education Asso- ciation. "But you have to walk a fine line. We can't tell the students what they should believe. But we answer their questions and make it clear to students that they can ask whatever they want, although not all of their questions can necessarily be answered." For example, a student can ask whether Christians, Jews and Mus- lims believe in God and receive an answer. If a student asks Liebke if she believes God exists, she will say, "My personal religion is not for At Green Valley Middle School in Fairfield, Deago Tabangcura, Brandon Smith and Rylie Dombrowski discuss a lesson in David Fulton's social studies class. "As a teacher, you have to have balance, and you want to be fair. You want all students to feel safe and to feel comfortable." —AYISHA BENHAM, UNITED TEACHERS OF RICHMOND 52 cta.org H E A D Teaching & Learning