In the United States, the school serves as a primary institution in regards to the education and socialization of any given community’s children. Over the course of the nearly two-hundred-year history of public education in America, the school has come to replace other significant institutions, such as the church and family, in the daily lives of most students. Children between the ages of 7 and 18 spend a majority of their time in school learning content in addition to being socialized to fit within societal norms. Joel Spring’s Goals of Public Schooling, the introductory text to the course, provides historical insight into the development of the school’s role in society. From the era of Thomas Jefferson’s meritocracy ideology where school’s sole purpose was to enable children with basic skills to Edward Ross’ declaration of school being “a form of social control” a sense of societal liability has been bestowed upon schools.…
What is the main issue of this case, and background of the case? The Santa Fe Independent School District Vs. Jane Doe 2000, Before the year of 1995, a student was elected from its schools High School Student Council, who would say a prayer over the speaker before every varsity football game. The given issue with this case was when a Mormon and Catholic family filed a suit, this challenged the practice under the Establishment clause of the 1st Amendment.…
Having prayers in schools has been a subject to discussion as there are some people who think having prayer in schools is against the constitution. As children are too young to distinguish right and wrong, and they have no idea about religion, exposing them to religious matters and prayer is controversial. One of the articles that favors having prayer in schools is “We Need More Prayer” that is written by Armstrong Williams. Also, one of the articles that discusses against having prayer in schools is “How Can School Prayer Possibly Hurt? Here’s How,” written by USA Today.…
Vitale there was a few things that I noticed about this Supreme Court case. The first thing I noticed about this case was that this Supreme Court case all started because a PARENT had a problem with the school having their students recite a nondenominational prayer during class. From what I can understand after researching this Supreme Court case is that the student didn’t have a problem with reciting this prayer. He participated in the recitation of the prayer.…
If they were deeply rooted in their morals, simply hearing a prayer would not have much effect on what they believed. I believe that this court case placed a limitation on freedom of speech along with religious freedom. Both sides of the case were not viewed equally. Even though the new families were offended by the public prayer, in no way were their children threatened. They had the option not to participate, so the school board was respectful of the public.…
The court case Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925) occurred after World War I. During this time-period, there was an influx of immigration and Catholicism. States worried that immigrants and Catholics would influence the values of the American people. Moreover, the influence of the Ku Klux Klan to Walter M. Pierce, governor of Oregon, caused a negative view on parochial schools (Mizia, 2000).…
The 1980 court case, Armstrong V. Kline, drew from parents of children with exceptionalities becoming upset with the education system’s 180-day school year rule1. Beginning in January of 1980, they decided that enough was enough and they needed to do something before summer vacation came so, their child/children would not lose everything they learned during the school year1. The parents took on the court case, filing three class action lawsuits, all of which were against Caryl Kline, the secretary of education and chief official of the Department of Education1. The result of this particular case relieved me but, the fact it had to become a court case, I found to be absolutely ridiculous. Also, the terminology they used while describing the…
Subsequently, the case Committee for Public Education and Religious Liberty v. Nyquist (1973) questioned a program, called the “Elementary and Secondary Opportunity Program,” which “provided tuition reimbursements to parents of children attending elementary or secondary nonpublic schools and a form of tax relief for those who failed to qualify for this reimbursement” (Wells & Biegel, 1993, p. 220). When looking to the Lemon test, the Court found that this program failed the second and third prong. With the state giving reimbursements, it demonstrated that these parents could continue to send their child to this religious institute in the future while it “carries potential for entanglement in the broader sense of continuing political strife…
Religion has played integral role in shaping American society since its founding, almost two-hundred and fifty years ago. From the Declaration of Independence, which acknowledged “the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God,” to George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, which established “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer” in recognition of “the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God… and humbly to implore His protection and favor,” many of America’s founding fathers freely recognized the authority and importance of religion. Yet, the First Amendment of the Constitution forbids Congress, and, by the Fourteenth Amendment, states, from making any “law respecting an establishment of religion.” The tension between this vague Constitutional limitation and the inseparability of religion from American society has generated countless court cases. Since Everson v. Board of Education (1947)—in which Justice Black famously asserted that the First Amendment has built a “wall of separation between church and state……
In the 1950s the united states were facing a time period where racial inequalities and segregation existed. In little rock Arkansas, an phenomenal event had took place and marked a change in history forever. Little rock nine was an incident where nine black students decided to challenge racial segregation. At this time many states across the nation had mandatory segregation laws, requiring African-American children and Caucasian children to attend separate schools .“The crisis at Central High” had occurred in September of 1957 when the nine colored students had decided to enroll into an all-white school.…
It is a completely formal publication written for the purpose of explaining the history of conflicts concerning religion in school and the rights that students, parents, and teachers have regarding the issue. The writer appeals to ethos and establishes credibility prior to the audience reading the article because the Pew Research Center is a well-known and trusted source. The writer also appeals to logos by including statistical information such as the quote, “According to an August 2006 survey by the Pew Research Center, more than two-thirds of Americans (69%) agree with the notion that ‘liberals have gone too far in trying to keep religion out of the schools and the government’” (Lupu et al para. 4). The article also contains many facts relating to Supreme Court rulings, such as “In Engel v.Vitale (1962), the Supreme Court held that the Establishment Clause prohibited the recitation of a school-sponsored prayer in public schools” (para. 9).…
If Chief Justice Earl Warren would have ruled in favor of the Board of Education, everything in America would be different today. Segregation might have never been abolished, and racism might have stayed very obvious up until today. This case dealt with segregation of schools, which affected almost every person in America in some way or another. Because of this, it’s unlikely that any other decision in the twentieth century affected so many people, so drastically. Education determines how someone’s life will be like, so this decision affected many young children for the rest of their lives.…
“Does the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance merely acknowledge the role that religion has played in American history— without even presuming the existence of God? Such an interpretation appears to be unwarranted, since the Pledge makes no mention of the nation’s history or any of the aforementioned events,” (Kao, G. Y., & Copulsky, J. E. 2007). The students should not be required to stand and recite the pledge of allegiance due to the second amendment. It strips the students of the rights that the school system teaches them. They have the right to freedom of religion.…
It is who we are and what we do.” However, there is a part of our history not known too many. And only recently have they established this to be taught as part of our school curriculum. That is, the forgotten history behind residential schools.…
Today, one area of concern for the public involves the issue of prayer in schools around the nation. Now, there are some who feel that prayer should not be allowed in schools; alternatively, many others contend that prayer should be allowed in schools. While this complex issue, upon delving into the subject further, it becomes apparent that prayer should not be prohibited in schools, because it supports the freedom of religion principle, acknowledges religious heritages, and offers many social benefits. When examining any issue, it is critically imperative to analyze it from all aspects; one must be certain to acknowledge the advantages of prayer in school and why it would be beneficial to include it in schools worldwide. Numerous school cases…