Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 13, 1995 TAG: 9509130047
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Students may read their Bibles or other scriptures, say grace before meals and pray before tests under federal guidelines for religious activities in public schools that have been issued at President Clinton's direction.
Students also may pray and discuss their religious views in informal settings outside of class, such as in the cafeteria and hallways, subject to the same rules that apply to other student activities and speech.
U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley has sent a four-page statement on religious expression in public schools to school superintendents nationwide.
The guidelines cover teaching about religion and values, access of student religious groups to school facilities and distribution of religious literature.
Riley doesn't make a recommendation on some sticky issues such as graduation prayers.
He points out that under Supreme Court rulings, school officials may not organize graduation prayers or religious baccalaureate services.
But Riley provides no recommendation on whether students can organize prayers at their own commencement ceremonies.
There are conflicting federal court rulings on that issue, and the Supreme Court has not ruled on it.
The Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said the guidelines appear to be appropriate.
"They seem accurate and reaffirm the students' right of religious freedom," said Kent Willis, executive director of the ACLU in Virginia.
"Contrary to what you hear from some groups, no one has removed the students' right to pray," Willis said. "Students do not have to leave their right of religious freedom at the schoolhouse door."
Riley said the guidelines are designed to help end the confusion over religious expression in schools.
Schools may not forbid students who act on their own from expressing personal religious views or beliefs solely because they are of a religious nature, he said.
Generally, schools must give students the same right to participate in religious activities and discussions as they have to participate in other extracurricular activities.
At the same time, schools may not endorse religious activity or doctrine, nor may they coerce participation in religious activity, he said.
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State said the guidelines are a fair representation of the law and recent court rulings on religious activities in schools.
"They are a statement of the law and reflect no ideological bias," said Rob Boston, a spokesman for the nondenominational organization in Washington, D.C.
"I think it was a good move by the Clinton administration - to try to put the brakes on the desire by some people to rewrite the First Amendment," Boston said.
The White House wants to blunt the push by conservative religious groups for a constitutional amendment on school prayer.
On Tuesday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch began hearings on whether Congress must legislate protections of religious liberty.
Riley's directive to public school superintendents ``is not likely to have much impact,'' Hatch, R-Utah, said. ``It contains no teeth, for there is no enforcement mechanism for violations of a youngster's religious liberty.''
But the ranking Democrat on the committee, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, defended the directive, saying ``all of us should lend our support to this brave new effort to set the record straight.''
Among those testifying Tuesday was Ronald Rosenberger, recent winner in a 5-4 Supreme Court decision that the University of Virginia had violated his First Amendment rights by rejecting funding for his religious magazine.
Some information for this story came from the Associated Press.
by CNB