Public School Vs. Public Schools

Christianity has a history of being laced with education in the United States. From colonization of the United States with Christian textbooks, to laws written to maintain Christianity in schools, and to now with Supreme Court cases banning Christianity from schools; it has always been a persistent force in America's education. The foundation of the entanglement of religion and education began with the creation of the nation’s first universities. After that, laws were mandated to maintain the religious mix, like the Northwest Ordinance. Significantly, the New England Primer and the McGuffey Readers were the basis of all basic education, as the religious contents influenced multitudes of American generations. Supreme Court cases have proven

"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government- lest it come to dominate the aspects of our lives, [religions, interests, and morals included]” (Patrick Henry). Our forefathers have explicitly demonstrated the pressing need of the separation of the church and the state in the constitution, but unfortunately this predestined wish fell through. In not only the United States but in the world as a conglomerate, the increase on a ban of religion within the public school system is becoming more and more evident and prominent. A few of the major reasons that this issue is becoming so prominent is that the world is shifting from a denominational

In schools, the place where Americans first learned critical fundamentals and values of freedom, religion is separated from home life to school life. In the United States, 89% of public school teacher’s cannot lead a class in prayer, 36% can teach a class comparing religions in different countries, and only 23% can read from the Bible for examples of literature (citation). Without religious instruction in schools, students are not granted with the option to display their faith and practice their religion in a school setting. Despite the advantages, some Americans argue that teaching religion in public schools can be dangerous and harmful to students. Schools disapproving of students practicing

he question of religious involvement in public education has been a controversial topic since before America was a country. Thomas Paine, one of our founding fathers, expressed, “As to religion, I hold it to be the indispensable duty of the government to protect all conscientious protesters thereof, and I know of no other business government has to do therewith,” (“20 Quotes”). While the separation of church and state was a necessity made clear by Thomas Jefferson in the first amendment of the Constitution, the question differentiating freedom of religion and freedom from religion remains intangible. The public university of Arkansas State confronted this debate in September of 2014 after the death of two of its esteemed football team associates.

Issues involving public schools and religion have been topics involving intense debate. It is difficult for the government to elucidate the appropriate boundaries of religion in the public schools. It is true that teaching about religion is permitted in the public education systems, but the real question is where the margin should be set between teaching religion and simply teaching about religion. It is almost impossible to teach about the history of the United States without teaching that religious beliefs associated with the history, artwork, and literature. More than the public is lead to believe, The Constitution permits religious activities in and around public school buildings. It is unfortunate that the

Since the founding of America, there has been concern with the church manipulating government. The separation of Church and State was to make sure the church did not become more powerful than government. In spite of wanting a separation of church and state, The United States of America became one nation under God. The earliest test of the separation of church and state with respect to education is McCollum versus Board of Education. This was a landmark case the United States Supreme Court in 1948 ended the power of a state to use its tax-supported public school system in aid of religious instruction. “The court case which prohibited the state from sponsoring specific prayers in public schools was Engel v. Vitale, decided in 1962 by an 8-1 vote.” (Cline p) It is unconstitutional to compose a school prayer and make students repeat it daily. Although these cases protect our religious freedoms, there is some fear that expelling God from public school has adverse effects. God can still be present; teachers can lead by example and teach behaviors and ethics that

High school students in public schools are being taught that same-sex marriage is right. They're being shown that it's okay to be pro-choice. Family values are being abandoned. Teens are being hooked into drugs and pornography right from high school. It is becoming increasingly difficult educating a child in this day and age. The government can kick God out of public schools, but they can't take God away from us. God has called we believers to be a light in this dark world. Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-15, "You are the light of the world- like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house."

With the many diverse characteristics of the Unites States, perhaps the most troubling is the rising gap in the distribution of wealth. As the wealth gap in the United States rises exponentially, the gap in the quality of public schooling rises with it. For a country that prides itself in prestigious outlets of education, the system of public schooling seems to be miserably failing. Public education, a system that some fight to destroy while others fight to preserve, is perhaps the only source of academic opportunity for many individuals living in this country. The fact that someone can live in a certain area and receive a higher quality of public education than someone else living in a different area in the same country—even in the same state—is a problem that should not trouble a ‘progressive’ democratic society. Unfortunately, areas of lower socioeconomic status receive much less funding than areas of higher socioeconomic status, where property taxes account for 45% of funding in public school districts. Naturally, the impoverished residents of poor neighborhoods pay a harsh price in this situation, sending their children to an underfunded school with little to no resources, where sometimes teachers must supply the classroom from their own pocket. As Rogerson and Fernandez note, “a system that allows the accidents of geography and birth to determine the quality of education received by an individual is inimical to the idea of equal opportunity in the marketplace”

I of course have my own opinion on this matter. I would have to agree with Mann’s idea. I feel that teaching your child values and morals, is a key aspect of life. I want my children to learn good values and morals, children today lack them if they aren’t getting them at home. I know when I was in school, we were able to pray or speak of our religion without being concerned of offending another person. Now working in the school, you alway have to watch what you say and to whom you say it to. God, needs to be in our schools. There has been so many tragic school shootings, that I strongly believe if God was brought back into our schools, they would be shielded by God’s protection. A lot of students lack the guidance God gives you. Even values and what is right and wrong is now nonexistent. So many teachers are afraid to say anything due to parents now coming in and defending their child. They fear for their jobs and families. This should not be. If we instilled, God, faith, family, love, values, and morals into our children from home to schools there would be a world of difference in our society today. I myself have a hard time separating my God from my daily life. I am who God made me. My values, religion and morals make me the person I am today. I do not feel religion should be forced on you. I do believe in “In God We Trust” needs to be brought back in to everyday life. Education and religion are truly very

Not only have Christians fought and died for freedom and religious rights in America, but many non-Christian families have sacrificed for this nation as well. They have just as much right to pray and shout their religious convictions from the school rooftop as Christians. So, doesn’t it stand to reason that rather than turn public schools into a religious battleground or marketplace for the souls of a captive audience, our children, that we as a society impose some restrictions on the role of religion in public

I also do not understand why a Christian religion is ignored in schools to the extent. American history of origins of freedom of religion and how it influenced the society should be included in curriculum and in my opinion, celebrated. The Bible is a fundamental document in American history, it had a great impact on Founding Fathers, for instance, one of the Founding Fathers and educator Noah Webster (1758-1843) had this to say: "The moral principles and precepts contained in the scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws. All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery, and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible."

how to present the material in a way so as to offend the least amount

Thesis: Private school students are more likely to have a better viewpoint in learning, a firm stance in education, and will be more successful in colleges than of public school students.

The public schooling system is not the same since they have been dwindling down the right for religion to be in schools. Religion needs to be put back into the school system so then maybe people will be more informed on things out in the real world. I am not saying that it needs to be a required course, however, give students the opportunity to learn about it. Among just making it a course in itself one course it could be reintroduced to is the science class. They talk about evolution but yet they do not teach about creationism. In history classes they can reintroduce religion because important religious facts (like Martin Luther King Jr. being a black priest) have been taken out of school text books so people do not get offended. When I say religion needs to be put back in the schooling system I mean most religions that are in the world today and not just Christianity.

Since public schools are in fact “public” institutions, related undeniably to the states, it would be illegal and unconstitutional to have them not distinctly separated from any church. Different would be, obviously, talking about private religious schools; those are in fact called “independent schools” or, more commonly, “nonstate schools” – which means, literally, not administered by any government, local, state or national. According to the Council for American Private Education (CAPE), even if the percentage of students attending Catholic schools has declined since 1995, it still reaches 12 %, which is an extremely high number; while among the top five reasons for parents to home school their children – with a 36 % agreement, as reported by the National Center for Education Statistics – appears “a desire to provide religious instruction.” This statement confirms that if parents do want their sons and daughters to learn about religion in a scholastic context, the only way to achieve