ABSTRACT
During the early 1960s the Supreme Court entered the fray on teaching about religion in public schools. The courts continue to examine these issues today. The Court made it clear that while public school educators could teach about religion, they could not teach religion. In other words, educators in public schools can teach about all religions in various places in the world but cannot engage in sectarian instruction about one’s personal religion. Public school officials are thus charged with balancing free exercise rights of students while guarding against Establishment Clause violations by favoring particular faiths. This chapter examines challenges to the public school curricula related to teaching about religion in such areas as sex education programs, AIDS education, evolution, the music curriculum, release time programs, and books about same-sex families and related topics.
