From Battleground to Common Ground

N

6

Constitutional Law; Religion; School Districts; Public Education; Educational Change; Church Role; Intellectual Freedom; State Church Separation; School Administration; Change Strategies

California; Florida; Oklahoma; Texas

0036-6439

From northern California to southern Florida, there are just too many superintendents who are reluctant to touch religion with the proverbial 10-foot pole. Following the let-sleeping-dogs-lie approach to administration, they start to think about First Amendment solutions only after a fight breaks out. By then it is often too late to avert a bitter legal battle that divides the community and erodes support for public education. Even school districts with "religion policies" buried somewhere on the shelf still get into trouble because nobody remembers what the policies say. In this article, the author discusses several strategies school leaders can employ to be proactive when they are likely to get caught in the crossfire of debates involving deep religious and ideological differences. The author also describes what the school districts in Richardson, Texas and in Mustang, Oklahoma did in order to develop guidelines for their religious practices.

ERIC

2007

EJ757388