The secular curriculum

[Andrew Koppelman]

In this discussion of released time, I haven't yet heard anyone address the
objection the dissenters made in Zorach, which always seemed persuasive to
me.  Why not just shorten the school day, if time for religious activities
during the week is sought?  Justice Jackson raised this question and
inferred what seems to me a persuasive answer:  "The greater effectiveness
of this system over voluntary attendance after school hours is due to the
truant officer who, if the youngster fails to go to the Church school, dogs
him back to the public schoolroom.  Here schooling is more or less
suspended during the 'released time' so the nonreligious attendants will
not forge ahead of the Churchgoing absentees.  But it serves as a temporary
jail for a pupil who will not go to Church.  It takes more subtlety of mind
than I possess to deny that this is governmental constraint in support of
religion."

Isn't Jackson right?  (Incidentally, for what it's worth, Jackson sent his
own children to private religious schools.)

At 10:06 AM 8/27/97 -0500, you wrote:
>I agree. . . .and, as some on the list have ponited out, the amount to
>which religious and secular values are at odds may well depend on the
>variations on secular ideology from place to place as well.  However, if
>released time becomes part of the fabric of American life again, I would
>think that the instances of public school hostility to religious values
>would fade, since most established systems do "get the hint" and conform
>their educational ideologies to the current thinking.
>
>I don't see how there could be a religious discrimination problem if the
>only way to cure it would be to run afoul of the Establishment Clause.
>However, if there is a way to provide religious equality that does
>not--if, for instance, vouchers or tax credits are to be found
>constitutional--and the state cannot justify refusal to adopt them on any
>secular basis (i.e., taking the money away from public schools---if indeed
>that is happening--would gut them), I think this kind of argument would be
>appropriate.  Since the remedy of choice is usually to gut the new program
>rather than extend equality to the minority group, however, I would hope
>that religious minorities would not go after released time as a way of
>achieving their ends, or we would be back to square one.
>
> Marie Failinger
>
> On Tue, 26 Aug 1997, Mark Rahdert wrote:
>
>>         I find myself troubled by Rick Duncan's and Charles Haynes's
>> reference to "the problem" of a secular curriculum that released time
>> "doesn't fix."  It is probably accurate to say that released time doesn't
>> fix "the problem" for some individuals (almost certainly including Rick),
>> but it may very well suffice for others.  Whether it does or doesn't
depends
>> on how thoroughly at odds one's religious view of the world and the
schools'
>> secular view of the world are.  This seems to me to be the point of several
>> of Marie Failinger's recent posts.  Among religious groups, there is a
broad
>> spectrum of responses to the public school curriculum, ranging from those
>> who find it thoroughly congenial, to those who think it acceptable but in
>> need of supplementation, to those who would mix major elements of it with
>> their religious perspective, to those who would scrap virtually all of it
>> and start over.  Clearly, released time does not address the needs of the
>> last group.  But it might well address the needs of most people in the
>> second group (secular ed. is acceptable but needs supplementation).  Query:
>> does it violate establishment principles (Zorach notwithstanding) to set up
>> such a program, if we know that it will benefit some religious groups but
>> leave the needs of other religious groups unaddressed?
>>
>>         Mark Rahdert
>>         Temple University School of Law
>>
>

________________________________________

Andrew Koppelman
Assistant Professor
Northwestern University School of Law
357 East Chicago Avenue
Chicago, IL  60611-3069
(312) 503-8431
akoppelman at nwu.edu
________________________________________