South Dakota Teacher Receives 'Good News' from 8th Circuit
by Jim Brown
September 7, 2004
(AgapePress) - It's being hailed as the first ruling of its kind in the nation. A federal appeals court has cleared the way for a South Dakota public school teacher to participate in an after-school Christian club for elementary students.The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a decision by the Sioux Falls School District to bar Barbara Wigg from involvement in the Good News Club violated her right to "engage in private religious speech on her own time." The district had argued Wigg's involvement in the club was an unconstitutional establishment of religion.
Her attorney, Mat Staver with Florida-based Liberty Counsel, says the ruling is an extension of a 2001 Supreme Court decision that allows students to take part in after-school Christian clubs led by an adult. He calls it a "great victory" for many people.
Mat Staver | |
"[T]here are many teachers and other school employees all over the country who, immediately after the last bell for the day, would like to begin teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, teaching morals and character and the good news about the life-changing power of the gospel to students in the school," Staver says. "Up until now, these school employees have not been allowed to do so."According to Staver, the ruling is unprecedented. He says it "literally blows the door wide open" and "turns the clock back many, many decades" in allowing teachers to be able to participate in after-school religious clubs.
"This is a tremendous opportunity because teachers love to teach children, and they are already located on the school campus," he says. "So now, after the last bell, they can ... take off their teaching hat, put on their private hat, and begin teaching some of the same students that they teach during the day -- but this time, be able to teach them from the Bible."
The 8th Circuit ruled that the First Amendment requires equality in neutrality, meaning the school must treat the Christian club the same way it would treat a secular club.
