Kevbo

Can someone point to some good resources discussing the issue of Church-State separation in public schools, federal guidelines on the issue, different opinions, court decisions, etc.?

I'm interested in the topic and how it has played out historically. I personally don't like the charade of "voluntary" prayer in school, but I'm not sure on when it should be allowed and when it should not be allowed. What are the key issuse in determining when religious expression in school is allowed or not? I have seen some arguments by theists claiming that student prayer is fine as long as it is not encouraged by school officials. What are the different opinions on this issue?

Kevbo

And any information specifically on "student-led" prayer would be great.

GaryP

http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/04-1995/prayer.html

This was published and signed in '95. I think most of the statements still reflect case law.

There have been some important ones since such as the Texas football prayer case and the after school evangelical group in elementary schools.

Toto

religioustolerance.org usually has a good discussion of issues:

RELIGION AND PRAYER IN U.S. PUBLIC SCHOOLS, LIBRARIES, etc.

A very good site in general:

Church and State: the Constitutional Issues

Scroll down 2/3 of the page to "Government Sponsored Prayer" for School Prayer Decisions and other useful links.

Americans United for Separation of Chuch and State is another good site:

Appellate case summary

I also recommend going to google.com and searching for "student led prayer".

There are some old threads in this forum on "See You At the Pole" days.

Toto

See You At the Pole

(I cleaned up the formatting)

Kevbo

Thanks, Toto, for the great resources.

Toto

You're welcome. Are you researching this for a school paper, or just your own interest?

Kevbo

Just for my own interest and seeing it discussed on another forum.