Legal Clips, [August 2007]Texas has enacted the Religious Viewpoints Anti-Discrimination Act (RVADA), which requires public school boards to adopt a policy allowing students a limited forum to air their religious viewpoints. The law would make graduation ceremonies, at the very least, an occasion for religious expression by a student leader, such as the senior class president. The law also prohibits discriminating against students for expressing religious views in their homework or other assignments. While the RVADA does not vary much from the guidelines established by U.S. Department of Education (ED) regarding religion in public schools, the law is raising concerns for school districts as they attempt to please all sides of the issue. Waco Independent School District board member David Schleicher believes ED’s guidelines on religion in public schools are clear and the new law may muddy the waters for Texas schools.
"In fixing something that’s not already broken, the Legislature risked breaking it," he says. Rep. Charlie Howard, who championed the legislation, contends it clears up the federal rules. "This bill leaves no doubt that individual religious expression is permissible in schools in a wide range of contexts," he says. "It is a win-win for students and school officials alike, both of whom are now uncertain how to navigate what has become muddied, constitutional waters." The main difference between ED’s guidelines and the RVADA appears to be that the new law not only allows students to express religious viewpoints, it requires districts to provide an outlet for those viewpoints.
According to Joy Baskin, director of legal services for the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), that mandate and its potential for controversy have some educators on edge. Ms. Baskin has written an analysis of the law that warns about the challenges districts may face, including litigation from minority-view families who feel the speeches are one-sided, majority-view families offended by hearing a minority view, people who object to the new law, and those who think the school district hasn’t implemented it enough. Tom Hutton, senior staff attorney with the National School Boards Association, contends that laws, such as RVADA, put school districts between a rock and a hard place because litigious advocacy groups are lined up on both sides ready to sue at a moment’s notice. He also notes that Texas is not alone in creating new legislation on the issue of faith in schools. "We see this all the time. It’s very difficult for school districts, politically as well as legally," he said. "It’s hard to make everyone happy."
TASB, which regularly leads Texas school districts through the maze of education policy, is trying to help make districts aware of the new law and the responsibilities that come with it. TASB sent its members the model policy that accompanied the bill’s text, as well as an alternative policy crafted by TASB. Ms. Baskin reports that she has heard from several districts that are taking the time to produce their own version of the policy to fit their local needs. "They don’t want to rush to adopt something that won’t work well," she says. "It really is going to be an instance of local control." She also points out that many school districts support letting students exercise their freedoms of religion and speech, but are concerned time and money will be spent to fight off lawsuits stemming from students speaking their minds on faith.
Waco Tribune-Herald
By Wendy Gragg
[Full story]
[Editor’s Note: To view the TASB guidance referred to in the news article excerpted above, see the first link below. For additional background on ED’s religion guidance, see the second link below.]
[TASB guidance]
[ED guidance]