Prayer Never Disappeared From Public Schools — But New Laws Could Change Its Role
(ANALYSIS) Prayer and displays of faith in American public schools never truly disappeared — they just changed form: Whether overt school-sponsored religious instruction to subtler forms of faith-integration.
A series of new laws, however, may revert some public school classrooms in certain states back to the didactic, Christian-centered public education system of decades past — although the laws are likely to face further litigation and unlikely to have the same widespread cultural influence.
From the public schools of the early republic, which were partially intended to teach children how to read the Bible, through the Cold War era, when “Under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance (to link religion to democracy rather than communism), a Protestant version of Biblical teaching was considered the norm in public school classrooms.
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Only in more recent history were those norms challenged. Two Supreme Court cases, in 1962 and 1963, decided that government-sponsored prayer and Bible readings in public schools, even when they were voluntary for students, were unconstitutional.
What followed were a few decades of hashing out what these Supreme Court rulings meant on the ground. The Bible couldn’t be taught as the de facto moral rulebook, but it could be incorporated into a comparative religion or history class.
Many athletic coaches were told they couldn’t lead a pre-game prayer, but the student-athletes themselves could. States couldn’t require teachers to post the Ten Commandments in their classrooms because they didn’t serve a sufficiently secular purpose — but that litmus test is now being challenged by new state laws. The U.S. Supreme Court has shown an interest in allowing the display of religious texts to show their influence on Western history and development of American law.
Meanwhile, many conservative Christian parents opted out of the public school system altogether, finding the new public school landscape “godless” — and reckoning with new Federal laws that demanded racial integration of public services.
Dozens of segregation academies popped up in the South during the 1950s and ‘60s under the guise of Christian private schools. By the 1980s, homeschooling — once seen as a progressive way to “liberate” children from the rigid school system — had become largely an Evangelical cause, driven by families concerned about secularization in public schools.
Practicing Christian families that remained in public schools did so either due to geographic or fiscal restraints, better educational and extracurricular offerings at their local public schools or because they see their public schools as “mission fields,” where Christian students can teach others about Biblical values.
That last group seems to have popular support among the American public. A new Pew Research study released on Monday found that 78% of U.S. adults favor allowing students to voluntarily pray in student-led groups, and 46% favor allowing teachers to lead their classes in prayer.
There’s nuance, however, since most Americans seem to recognize students’ constitutional rights. Only 8% of respondents said students should be required to participate in those prayers.
In many ways, this tracks with now long-standing interpretations of the law. Student-led groups like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes have long been active in leading prayer before and after school or before athletic games. Its local chapters are among a lengthy list of ministries that participate in the annual “See You At The Pole” event, where millions of students across the nation gather around their school’s flagpole to pray for their fellow students and faculty members before school hours.
While the Ten Commandments may not be posted on every classroom wall, in many communities, especially in the South and Midwest, Christian values are infused into the school culture by the community and students themselves.
High schoolers decorate their lockers and parking spots with Bible verses, local churches still host off-campus religious Baccalaureate services for graduating seniors, and chances are, at least one teacher is the wife of a local youth minister. Churches partner with schools to provide affordable afterschool care, and in many instances, when a student or family needs food or other basic services, the local faith-based food pantry or shelter is a school counselor’s first call.
At the same time, the past few decades have seen increased racial diversity and religious diversity, especially in metropolitan areas. Educational professionals and institutions in these settings have largely adapted to accommodate the student-athletes who are fasting for Ramadan, Muslim students who may need modified dress codes or school uniforms and the growing chorus of parents asking that their culture’s religious holidays be represented on the school calendar, too.
For decades, aspiring teachers, even those attending religious universities, have been coached on the church and state divide at public schools. Years of case law have clarified that they may have their own personal religious convictions, but they have to leave the overt proselytizing and preaching to the students.
A slew of recent state-level laws introduced (and sometimes enacted) have muddied the waters. Texas, Alabama and Louisiana have passed laws requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in all public classrooms. Other states are trying to follow suit. The laws have attracted a litany of lawsuits from families, and according to The New York Times, some teachers have rebelled by adding other texts from other world religions to the display.
The Pew study found Americans were split on whether the Ten Commandments should be displayed in public school classrooms, with 50% in favor of the measure, and 48% against it.
Most teachers have been trained in the past six decades to carefully walk the line between embodying their personal, deeply held beliefs (a 2016 survey found that 74% of public school teachers identified as Christian) and using their public employment to protelitize.
In the new legal landscape, some may leap at the chance to try to convert their students, but most also deeply value inclusive learning environments where students from many religious backgrounds (or no religious background at all) are welcome. Over the years, teachers have been required to post various publications on their walls, ranging from mundane fire-drill plans to the dreaded Common Core learning objectives of the week — like those posters, a copy of the Ten Commandments can be posted in an inconspicuous spot, and largely ignored throughout the school year.
The data backs up these nuanced practices. The 2016 survey of more than 5,000 public school teachers found that 73% percent of teachers agreed that they had the right to participate in student-led prayer, but they opposed teachers leading a daily group prayer with a class, with only 19% agreeing with this idea. Only 35% of teachers agreed with placing religious items on the walls of the classroom.
For teachers, parents and students alike who desire to integrate their faith and learning beyond what public schools can offer, in many states, there’s been a proliferation of government-funded voucher programs for private schools, faith-based charter schools and even homeschooling programs.
Many state governments are making it easier and more affordable than ever before for students to access a truly Christian education — and if they choose a public school instead, well, they will likely find people of faith there, too. But their faith education will likely continue to be shaped by community traditions and relationships rather than by explicit theological training.
Cassidy Grom is the managing editor of Religion Unplugged. Her award-winning reporting and digital design work have appeared in numerous publications.