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

DATE: SATURDAY, August 26, 1995                   TAG: 9508280065
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Medium

U.S. GIVES BLESSING TO PRAYER IN SCHOOL

Trying to defuse the politically volatile issue of school prayer, the Clinton administration has issued the first detailed guidelines on what kinds of religious activities public schools may permit under current law.

The four-page set of guidelines, prepared earlier this month by the Department of Education, stresses the extent to which student-initiated prayer or proselytizing can be accommodated so long as it is not disruptive, coercive or endorsed or organized by the school or by teachers.

Cast as recommendations for local school boards, the guidelines do not carry the force of law.

Confusion over what is legal in this emotional area has caused many school officials to clamp down on all expressions of faith, providing ammunition for those seeking a constitutional amendment to allow state-sanctioned religious activity in schools. Administration officials say they hope to clear up the confusion, but they acknowledge that they also hope to blunt the drive for a constitutional amendment.

``I won't say that it doesn't have that effect, and I think that would be a bona fide effect,'' said Richard Riley, secretary of education, in an interview Friday. ``Sometimes things are not necessary if they are properly analyzed and explained.''

The groups pushing most fervently for a school-prayer amendment, including a number of conservative Christian groups, are unlikely to be swayed by the administration's approach. But the president's strategy on school prayer, like other social policy issues, is not so much to win over the true believers of the right as to show the broader mainstream of religious voters that he and the Democratic Party are not hostile to traditional values.

``I think it's a very smart move on Clinton's part,'' said Robert Boston, assistant director of communications for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. ``It has cut the religious right off at the knees and put them on defensive. For years they have been saying the public schools are religious-free zones. Now, along comes a president who says, `No they are not.'''

Under the guidelines, students have the right to pray either individually or in informally organized prayer groups as long as they do not cause a disruption. They may also carry and read Bibles or other religious tracts in school; distribute religious literature; proselytize; and wear religious clothing, including yarmulkes and head scarves.

But organized prayer in classrooms or assemblies led by students, teachers or school officials is not permitted.

by CNB