Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 22, 1990                   TAG: 9005220451
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CHURCH AND STATE IN COUNTY SCHOOLS

Administrators at a Shenandoah County elementary school are among those apparently in need of reminding. After finding that students were being pressured to attend privately run Bible classes, U.S. District Judge J. Harry Michael Jr. last week issued a temporary restraining order against the School Board.

The judge didn't demand too much: only that the school stop violating the U.S. Constitution.

Sad to say, Shenandoah County schools aren't the only ones needing remedial education in public/private distinctions. In Botetourt County, religious educators conduct classes in trailers on public property adjacent to schools. In Pulaski County, children are bused to Bible classes in nearby churches. All three counties hold Bible classes during school hours.

It's not as though the youngsters who don't attend Bible classes go home instead or play outside. They remain in school. The Bible classes are, in effect, part of the school day for those who attend.

An astonishing 80 percent to 95 percent of Botetourt County's fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders are enrolled in the Bible classes, according to the director of the county's religious education program. Can administrators really claim there's no pressure to attend?

Instead of a wall between church and state, these schools have erected a busy passageway. Teachers distribute enrollment cards for the Bible classes, help sign up students, even encourage them to join.

According to the lawsuit that prompted last week's ruling, children at the Shenandoah County school were given candy or other rewards for returning sign-up cards with the signature of a parent or guardian. A third-grade boy was allegedly harassed by teachers when his parents refused to allow his attendance.

Compliance with the Constitution at these schools has progressed at about the pace of evolution. Only in 1983 did Botetourt County end its practice of holding Bible classes in the school buildings themselves. Only now are plans under way to move religious classrooms from where they have been held - in trailers on public property adjacent to the schools, such as school driveways.

Religion belongs in the public-school curriculum, and is far too often absent. There can be no proper teaching of history, for example, that ignores the impact of religious beliefs and institutions on the course of history.

Nonetheless, between teaching about religion and inculcating religion, a world of difference lies. The proper places for children to acquire their religious beliefs are at home and at places of worship.

As state-supported institutions, public schools may have nothing to do with religious inculcation. That is the constitutional law, as the courts have interpreted it.

This means no Bible classes on public property next to schools. It means no encouragement or pressure, subtle or otherwise, for students to attend private instruction. And it should mean no Bible classes during regular school hours.

This all seems evident enough. Until it's evident enough to recalcitrant school boards and administrators, at least the courts are there to provide special education.