ABSTRACT
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees, in part: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. …” With our country's ever-increasing religious diversity and rise in persons with no religious affiliation, schools as well as the judiciary have struggled with the balance between avoiding a state-sponsored religion while still respecting/not inhibiting various religious (and-non-religious) beliefs. The cases presented in this chapter represent a wide range of issues that educators must address relative to religion and public schools. They include cheerleaders carrying religious banners at football games, fundamental Christian parents objecting to the school curriculum, a student giving a religious graduation speech, prayers at school board meetings and a teacher wearing religious garb (a Muslim headdress).
